20 Years Since Suspicious Death; Who Was Ahmad Khomeini?

Five years after his father's death, Ahmad Khomeini passed away on March 16, 20 years ago, just four days after the publication of his last critical interview. The official cause of his sudden death was announced as a heart and brain stroke, although rumors and ambiguities surrounding the death of the second son of the first leader of the Islamic Republic have never ceased. Ahmad Khomeini had a strong interest in Ali Shariati and sports, especially wrestling and football, during his teenage and young adult years. Ali Parvin recounted how he attended several training sessions of the Persepolis football team in the years 1968 and 1969. His close associates stated that he also had a particular interest in gymnastics and once nearly fell to the ground while balancing on the edge of a building roof in southern Lebanon due to the sun, but was saved by Mostafa Chamran. Ahmad Khomeini spent much of his father's exile in Qom and Lebanon, occasionally traveling to Iraq to visit his parents. His passport and travel permit were issued through the mediation of Amir Abbas Hoveyda. Ahmad Khomeini's multiple and sometimes lengthy trips to Lebanon were aimed at meeting members of the Sadr family, who were his wife's relatives. However, during the peak of Arab guerrilla movements against Israel, these trips also provided an opportunity for basic training in armed activities and how to work with weapons. But in Aban 1356 (November 1977), when his older brother passed away, Ahmad Khomeini's role and position changed. He settled permanently in Najaf and became the successor to Mostafa Khomeini in managing his father's office and apparatus, a responsibility that remained with him until the end of Ruhollah Khomeini's life. Mohammad Sadr stated that while the religious and jurisprudential persona of Mostafa Khomeini overshadowed his political and practical persona, the opposite was true for Ahmad Khomeini, who was practical and political unlike his older brother. The loyal and astute aide of Ruhollah Khomeini traveled from Najaf in Iraq to Neauphle-le-Château in France, a few kilometers from Paris, the media center of that time. Ahmad accompanied him. This trip transformed Ayatollah Khomeini from a Shiite marja into the leader of the new Iranian government, and his only son into the head of the Islamic Republic's office. Ahmad Montazeri, the son of Hossein Ali Montazeri, the only deputy leadership in the Islamic Republic and a Shiite marja, told Radio Farda that it is an old tradition in the offices of marjas that their sons or sons-in-law take on the responsibility of managing the office: 'Those who had more interaction with the late Haj Ahmad Khomeini said he was very intelligent and astute and knew people and groups. But what was seen in him to an extreme degree was his love for his father, to the extent that the first issue for him was to maintain the dignity and sanctity that existed among the people, so that it would not seem that Mr. Khomeini made a mistake.' Mohsen Sazgara, a revolutionary from those days who was present in Neauphle-le-Château, told Radio Farda that Ahmad Khomeini did not have a role beyond being a loyal aide for his father: 'The first time I saw him was in Neauphle-le-Château, France, when he came with Mr. Khomeini, and especially when Mr. Khomeini was moved to the building opposite that apple orchard and lived there with his family, he was more of a liaison, bringing and taking messages from Mr. Khomeini. My judgment of his character at that time was not very serious or deep. Neither in political discussions nor in religious discussions did he have serious, strategic, or decisive words. Rather, I would say he played the role of a loyal aide close to Mr. Khomeini. Otherwise, at least I did not see him speak seriously anywhere.' The influential associates of Ayatollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Château were mostly the so-called national-religious forces. Ibrahim Yazdi, Abolhassan Banisadr, and Sadegh Khatamzadeh were advisors who communicated and negotiated with the media and officials of Western governments on behalf of the future leader of Iran. Ahmad Khomeini had a close relationship with these individuals. Alireza Noorizadeh, a journalist who closely witnessed the events of the early years of the Islamic Republic, says that the son of the first leader of the Islamic Republic remained more connected with the national-religious intellectuals and the Mojahedin-e Khalq after the revolution. Mr. Noorizadeh told Radio Farda: 'Ahmad Khomeini had a fundamentally youthful spirit and was inclined towards national groups and entities that I can easily say did not wear turbans. He was not very pleased with the turbaned ones and made extensive criticisms. For example, on the day we went to Refah School together and saw the prisoners, he showed great respect for the late Jafariyan, the deputy of radio and television. Similarly, he spoke very friendly with the late Hoveyda and said, 'I will not forget your kindness to me, and I saw my father.' He was truly astonished when he saw that they executed all of them so easily and said that they wanted to eliminate everyone.' Alongside Massoud Rajavi; supporter of the embassy occupation. At the memorial service for the fortieth day of Mahmoud Taleghani's death, Ahmad Khomeini stood next to Massoud Rajavi, gave a speech, and cried intensely. Massoud Rajavi embraced him. A few weeks later, although he claimed to be unaware of the planning for the occupation of the American embassy, he defended the actions of the Muslim students following the line of Imam by attending the occupied embassy. He also stated that 'this action is not considered the occupation of the American embassy, but our brave youth have seized the den of spies to drive out the occupiers.' Abolhassan Banisadr, who was elected as Iran's first president, sought to reveal a card against his opponents in the Islamic Republic Party, asking Ruhollah Khomeini to agree to Ahmad Khomeini's premiership. The response of the then leader of the Islamic Republic to Mr. Banisadr's request was negative. Alireza Noorizadeh, pointing to Ahmad Khomeini's close relations with Abolhassan Banisadr, says: 'Both he and Hossein Khomeini, his nephew, had close relations with Mr. Banisadr. They had very good relations with national groups, with some prominent figures of the National Front, with the Freedom Movement, and with the late Bazargan, the late Dr. Sahabi, and examples like them. Thus, Ahmad Khomeini could be a mediator between the leadership of the revolution, his father, and the non-turbaned or intellectuals of the revolution.' According to Mr. Noorizadeh, Ayatollah Khomeini opposed the assumption of executive responsibilities by clerics in the early revolution, and for this reason, he also opposed his son's premiership. The main supporter of Assadollah Lajevardi. Although Alireza Noorizadeh mentions Ahmad Khomeini's opposition to the early revolution executions, it does not take long before he becomes the main supporter of Assadollah Lajevardi, the notorious revolutionary prosecutor of those years and head of Evin Prison. Ruhollah Khomeini explicitly stated that in the complaints made against Mr. Lajevardi, no one defended the former prosecutor as much as his son did and considered 'his presence necessary for Evin Prison and his dismissal a disaster.' Ahmad Khomeini is also accused by Ayatollah Montazeri and many others of being one of the factors behind the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988. Mr. Montazeri stated in his memoirs that the execution order for prisoners was written in his son's handwriting, not his own; a similar claim has also been published regarding the letter prohibiting the activities of the Freedom Movement against him. This letter was published after Ayatollah Khomeini's death while it was apparently in his son's handwriting, and it instructed the then Minister of Interior to prohibit the activities of the Freedom Movement. Ahmad Khomeini later denied this accusation in a letter to his uncle, stating that his father wrote this letter while walking. However, he never provided a similar explanation regarding the letter written about the trial and execution of political prisoners in 1988. Ahmad Montazeri states that Ayatollah Montazeri's opposition to the sanctification of individuals and personalities laid the groundwork for Ahmad Khomeini's enmity with him. Mr. Montazeri adds that his father 'strongly opposed the method that some, including Ahmad Khomeini, had adopted regarding the sanctification of Ayatollah Khomeini, believing that no one is infallible and immune from criticism. These criticisms continued until they reached their peak in the executions of 1988. Ayatollah Montazeri could not tolerate that they wanted to execute several thousand people who were serving their prison sentences without legal permission. Ahmad Khomeini could not tolerate these issues.' A series of contradictions. However, Alireza Noorizadeh states that Ahmad Khomeini, who 'supported the Mojahedin-e Khalq in the early revolution, did not expect them to take up arms and attack the regime': 'Naturally, in the atmosphere that had been created, one could not expect Mr. Khomeini's son to oppose the executions. Even Mr. Montazeri, who opposed the executions in 1988, recommended to Mr. Raisi and others in 1980 or early 1988 to deal violently with those who were arrested with weapons. I want to say that the cleansing of opponents, especially armed opponents, was widespread.' Despite these explanations, Mr. Noorizadeh states that Ahmad Khomeini was 'a strange collection of contradictions': 'This same Ahmad Khomeini supported Lajevardi at times but stood against Khalqali. However, in general, Ahmad Khomeini's spirit was contrary to his father's spirit. For Mr. Khomeini, killing was very easy.' Contrary to Alireza Noorizadeh, Mohsen Sazgara believes that Ahmad Khomeini was 'the facilitator of the crimes' of Assadollah Lajevardi, especially against the Mojahedin-e Khalq, and in this way suddenly forgot all his previous history with the Mojahedin. Mr. Sazgara, who was the political deputy of Mohammad Ali Rajai, the former president of Iran, refers to a meeting held in Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti's office, where he participated as a representative of the government. According to Mohsen Sazgara, midway through the meeting, the political phone of Mr. Beheshti's office rang, and after the then President of the Supreme Court answered it, he said that Ahmad Khomeini was on the other end and conveyed orders from his father regarding the suppression of the Mojahedin. Ahmad Khomeini's groundwork for his leadership. The impact of the political prisoners' executions in 1988, most of whom were members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq, on the political atmosphere of Iran was profound. With the intensification of disagreements between the then leader of the Islamic Republic and his deputy, Ruhollah Khomeini issued the order for Hossein Ali Montazeri's dismissal from his succession in the early days of 1989. While Alireza Noorizadeh describes Ahmad Khomeini as the 'director' of this incident, Mohsen Sazgara states that the son's goal at that time was to solidify his position as the future leader after his father's death: 'In the years 1986 and 1987, I and many others like me did not know that Mr. Khomeini had cancer, but Ahmad knew and was quickly preparing the groundwork for his leadership, hoping to position himself and eliminate rivals so that after his father, power would remain in his household, and perhaps he would also become the leader or at least be part of the leadership council. For example, he sent Abdullah Nouri as the representative of the Imam to the IRGC and similarly in other places. For this work, both Mr. Montazeri was undermined, and the massacre of political prisoners in 1988 was created.' However, if Ahmad Khomeini was so eager for his father's succession, why did he immediately support Ali Khamenei's election as the second leader of the Islamic Republic and at least appear to easily accept this matter? Mohsen Sazgara states that this issue has two reasons: 'First, Mr. Khomeini died sooner than his son's plan. Perhaps if he had lived two more years, Ahmad would have firmly established his position and placed his people in various places. Therefore, he had no power, and when he realized that the council leadership would not be voted for, the game changed. The second point relates to his personality, which, during the ten years after the victory of the revolution, due to not being a strong, self-made, and hardened person, quickly turned in the political events. In fact, it suited his personality that after he saw Khamenei had become the leader and his hand was no longer tied, he would turn and humbly defend his leadership.' After Khamenei's leadership, Ahmad Khomeini, after his father's death and at the Assembly of Experts meeting for electing his successor, recounts a memory of Ruhollah Khomeini that positively indicated the first leader's view towards Ali Khamenei's succession. A similar memory is also expressed by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and ultimately, Hojjatoleslam Khamenei both ascends to leadership and gains the title of Ayatollah. Ahmad Khomeini firmly supports this selection and announces the support of himself and Ruhollah Khomeini's family for the new leader. Ayatollah Khamenei also deems it necessary to maintain Ahmad Khomeini's respect by referring to him as 'the Imam's legacy' and appoints him as a member of the Supreme National Security Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, and the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council. However, Ahmad Khomeini's position in the Islamic Republic after his father's death never returned to its previous state. Hashemi Rafsanjani recounts in his memoirs from June 9, 1990, how the new leader ignored two of the former leader's son's requests: 'That night we were guests of the leadership, the decisions of the Security Council were discussed and approved by the leadership, Ahmad asked for part of the naval base for his father's tomb, which the leadership postponed to the future, and Ahmad also suggested that Friday prayers be held at the Imam's shrine, which was accepted only on special occasions.' After a while, Ahmad Khomeini moved to a remote area in the deserts between Tehran and Qom and engaged in farming and gardening. That place was named 'Ahmad Plain.' The beginning of public criticisms. After a while, Ahmad Khomeini began to express harsh and public criticisms of the country's conditions. He met with officials from the Ministry of Intelligence and expressed regret that 'today the blood of the oppressed is being sucked by both large and small capitalists'; that 'a group of predatory capitalists, under the pretext that...