Fundamentalist Islamic cleric (1900-1989).
Ruhollah Khomeini was taught
Islam in his home and in
school, and in the
1950s, was named an
ayatollah, or
supreme religious leader, by the
Shiites in
Iran.
Khomeini was
exiled from Iran in 1964 for criticizing the
Shah -- he relocated to
Iraq, but Saddam Hussein kicked him out in 1978. He lived in
France until the Iranian
revolution deposed the Shah's
secular government; he returned to Iran in 1979 and declared the country an Islamic republic, creating the
modern theocracy of Iran.
Khomeini and his
followers cracked down on secular customs in the nation and promoted anti-
Western, anti-
Israeli, and anti-
U.S. beliefs. His followers stormed the
American embassy and took numerous
hostages, who were held for 444 days. He also presided over Iran during the disastrous
Iran-Iraq War. Since his
death in the late
1980s, Iran has been softening its
hard line against the
United States.
Research from http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0827559.html