IRAN: More Trouble for Khomeini

The Ayatullah faces yet another barrage of criticism

"You West-worshipers, you aliens, you hollow men, come to your senses and be with us." So pleaded an obviously agitated Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini last week in a nationally broadcast speech marking the anniversary of a 1963 uprising against the Shah in which 15,000 Iranians may have died. Khomeini went on to blast writers, journalists, lawyers and academicians for "using their pens and tongues against the Islamic revolution after it gave them freedom." That revolution, the Ayatullah insisted, "was made solely by the clergy, supported by the whole population." In an explicit warning to those who differ with his views, Khomeini said that "I advised the Shah to mend his ways 16 years ago. He did not pay attention to me, and see what happened to him. If you don't want to follow the Islamic path, go back to where you came from."

The strident tone of Khomeini's address suggested that he may be worried about increasing criticism of his autocratic and erratic leadership of the country's unfinished revolution. Last week an open letter by the National Democratic Front, a breakaway political movement from the larger National Front, all but accused Khomeini of being a dictator. "Prior to the revolution's success," the letter read, " 'unity of word' in your opinion was unity of purpose in overthrowing the monarchy. But now it practically means 'unity in obedience to me.' " The NDF, which is led by a grandson of onetime Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, contrasted the Ayatullah's professed support for freedom of the press with the censorship and book burning that has been endemic since the revolution. The document concluded: "Today we find that your leadership is not as it once was."

Even more of a challenge to Khomeini is the fact that some high-ranking Islamic clerics share this view. The most notable opposition comes from Ayatullah Kazem Sharietmadari, 79, whose popularity in Iran is second only to that of Khomeini himself. In an interview with Tehran Bureau Chief Bruce van Voorst last week, Sharietmadari implicitly criticized Khomeini—though he never mentioned him by name. Said Sharietmadari: "In politics, all people are equal. I don't think religious edicts should bind citizens to particular political viewpoints. Politics is a matter of opinion. Religious authority may not be called upon to support specific political objectives."

The Ayatullah, who is one of Iran's most respected Islamic scholars, rejected Khomeini's proposal that the 160-article constitution, now being drafted, should simply be put to a yes-or-no public referendum instead of being debated at an elected representative assembly. Sharietmadari's view was that a constituent assembly was the "only way to reconcile expertise with popular representation." Sharietmadari will openly oppose a referendum. Says he: "It is like asking the man in the street to vote on this or that method of curing cancer."