Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines

Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks

Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane

Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad

Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces

ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army
Khamenei in 2022
Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.
MEK leader Massoud Rajavi with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
A teenage Khamenei
Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.
MEK forces killed during Operation Mersad (Operation Forough Javidan)
Khamenei in a protest during Iranian Revolution in Mashhad
Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex
John Bolton speaking at a MEK event
Ali Khamenei in military uniform during Iran–Iraq War
Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.
MEK demonstrators carrying Lion and Sun flags and those of 'National Liberation Army of Iran'
Khamenei in the hospital after the assassination attempt
The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border
Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, James T. Conway, Bill Richardson and other American politicians at the MEK event in 2018
Ali Khamenei has shaken hands with his left hand since the unsuccessful assassination.
Destroyed Iranian C-47 Skytrain
Bomb debris after assassination of President Mohammad-Ali Rajaei and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar in 1981
Khamenei as Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam in 1979
Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles.
Letter in Persian requesting that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union lend any amount of money (up to US$300,000,000) to the Mujahedin Organization and requesting that the supporters of the Mujahedin Organization be allowed to cross the Soviet-Iranian border and be granted a temporary asylum; memorandum to the TsK KPSS from Olfat
Khamenei reading Will of Ruhollah Khomeini in Assembly of Experts
Resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Iranians in Khorramshahr slowed the Iraqis for a month.
The Nahj al-Balagha, a 10th century collection of the sayings of Ali ibn Abi Talib was the main source of inspiration for the MEK in its early years.
Khamenei in 2018
Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront
Entrance Gate of Ashraf City when populated by PMOI exilees
Khamenei in 2020
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of MEK and the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCRI) in 1988.
Stamp in memory of martyrs of the 7th Tir bombing
Khamenei at the Great Conference of Basij members at Azadi Stadium, October 2018
The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.
Mohammad-Reza Sa'adati, executed on charges of assisting the MEK
Khamenei during a meeting with Qaris
Iranian soldier holding an IV bag during the Iran–Iraq War
International Holy Quran Competition's participants meeting with Khamenei, June 2013
Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during Iran-Iraq war
Participants of 31st International Islamic Unity Conference meeting with Khamenei, December 2017
Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran
Khamenei and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
Khamenei with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani in 2011
Saddam Hussein in 1982
Khamenei at a public speech, 2018
An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."
Khamenei casting his vote in 2013 presidential election
95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.
Khamenei in meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 23 November 2015
Furthest ground gains
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016
Iranian POWs in 1983 near Tikrit, Iraq
Khamenei with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, 11 February 2017
Iranian child soldier
Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, Tehran, 2017
Iraqi POW who was shot by Iranian troops after they conquered the Iraqi Majnoon oil field in October 1984
Pro-government Syrians with portraits of Assad, Ayatollah Khomeini and Khamenei, April 2018
Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer
Khamenei speaking to Iranian Air Force personnel, 6 February 2016
Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H
Khamenei meeting with Hajj authorities, 2018
Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)
Iranian women with portraits of Khamenei, 2014
A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".
Khamenei in 2022
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016
Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War
Operation Dawn 8 during which Iran captured the Faw Peninsula.
Iranian soldier killed during the Iran–Iraq War with Rouhollah Khomeini's photo on his uniform
The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war
IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.
The Iranian frigate IS Sahand burns after being hit by 20 U.S. air launched missiles and bombs, killing a third of the crew, April 1988
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
USS Vincennes in 1987 a year before it shot down Iran Air Flight 655
MEK Soldiers killed in Operation Mersad in 1988
Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.
Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Isfahan
Iranian Martyrs Museum in Tehran
An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013
An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.
USS Stark (FFG-31) listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
Victims of the 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now powerful Revolutionary Guards which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him.

- Ali Khamenei

There were a number of proxy forces operating for both countries—most notably the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) – the dominant organization within the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which had sided with Iraq, and the Iraqi Kurdish militias of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which had sided with Iran.

- Iran–Iraq War

Khamenei narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the Mujahedin-e Khalq when a bomb, concealed in a tape recorder, exploded beside him.

- Ali Khamenei

Near the end of the Iran–Iraq War, a military force of 7,000 members of the MEK, armed and equipped by Saddam's Iraq and calling itself the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA) was founded.

- People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran

One faction, comprising Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, President Ali Khamenei, Army Chief of Staff General Ali Sayad Shirazi as well as Major General Qasem-Ali Zahirnejad, wanted to accept the ceasefire, as most of Iranian soil had been recaptured.

- Iran–Iraq War

The MEK also failed to assassinate some key figures, including Iran's current leader Ali Khameni.

- People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran
Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines

Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks

Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane

Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad

Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces

ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army

3 related topics with Alpha

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Ruhollah Khomeini

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Ruhollah Khomeini's birthplace at Khomeyn
Khomeini as a student with his friends (second from right)
Khomeini in 1938
Khomeini's speech against the Shah in Qom, 1964
Khomeini denouncing the Shah on 'Ashura (3 June 1963)
Khomeini in prayer
Khomeini in exile at Bursa, Turkey without clerical dress
The Entrance of Khomeini's House in Najaf, Iraq
Khomeini at Najaf
Khomeini in the 1970s
Ayatollah Khomeini in front of his house at Neauphle-le-Chateau in a media conference
Khomeini in 1978
Arrival of Khomeini on 1 February 1979. When asked about his feelings of returning from exile in the plane, he replied Hich; "None."
Khomeini and the interim prime minister, Mehdi Bazargan
Khomeini with people
Carpet given to Khotan mosque by Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini with Ahmad Khomeini and Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Mourning men in residence of Khomeini around his seat area, Jamaran, 4 June 1989.
Khomeini and his successor, Ali Khamenei
Khomeini's State Portrait
Murals of Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, Shah Mosque in Isfahan
Khomeini in the 1980s
Khomeini and a child.

Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988.

He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.

Despite their ideological differences, Khomeini also allied with the People's Mujahedin of Iran during the early 1970s and started funding their armed operations against the Shah.

Mass demonstrations at College Bridge, Tehran

Iranian Revolution

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Series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt.

Series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt.

Mass demonstrations at College Bridge, Tehran
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi official coronation photo 1967
Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (revolutionary leader).
People of Tehran in the demonstrations of 5 June 1963 with pictures of Ruhollah Khomeini in their hands
Two armed militants outside the Embassy of the United States, Tehran where diplomats are held hostage. Behind of them is a banner written: "Long live anti-imperialism and democratic forces". Photograph by Abbas, dated 1979, from the Iran Diary series
The Shah of Iran (left) meeting with members of the U.S. government: Alfred Atherton, William Sullivan, Cyrus Vance, Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977
Pro-Shah demonstration organized by the Resurgence Party in Tabriz, April 1978
Demonstration of 8 September 1978. The placard reads, "We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini".
Demonstration of "Black Friday" (8 September 1978)
Victims of Black Friday
Ayatollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Château surrounded by journalists
Mohammad Beheshti in the Tehran Ashura demonstration, 11 December 1978
"The Shah is Gone" —headline of Iranian newspaper Ettela'at, 16 January 1979, when the last monarch of Iran left the country.
A protester giving flowers to an army officer
Shah and his wife, Shahbanu Farah leaving Iran on 16 January 1979
Cartoon depicting Shapour Bakhtiar and Mosaddegh on 22 January 1978 issue of Ettela'at, during the revolution
Iranian prime minister Mehdi Bazargan was an advocate of democracy and civil rights. He also opposed the cultural revolution and US embassy takeover.
Iranian armed rebels during the revolution
Iranian women protesting
Khomeini told questioners that "the religious dignitaries do not want to rule."
A revolutionary firing squad in 1979
Executed Generals of Imperial Army: Reza Naji, Mehdi Rahimi, and Manouchehr Khosrodad
Kazem Shariatmadari and Khomeini
Banisadr in 1980
People celebrating anniversary of the revolution in Mashhad in 2014.
An injured revolutionary during protests against Pahlavi regime.
Protests in summer 1978.
Revolutionary victims.
Current Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei in a Revolutionary protest in Mashhad.
Shah visiting Bakhtiar cabinet before his exit from Iran.
People celebrating Shah's exit from the country.
Removal of Shah's statue by the people in University of Tehran.
Khomeini at Mehrabad Airport.
People accompanying Khomeini from Mehrabad to Behesht Zahra.
Khomeini in Behesht Zahra.
Khomeini before a speech at Alavi school.

Other factors include the underestimation of Khomeini's Islamist movement by both the Shah's reign—who considered them a minor threat compared to the Marxists and Islamic socialists —and by the secularist opponents of the government—who thought the Khomeinists could be sidelined.

At the same time, events that made up both the crisis and its resolution were the Iran hostage crisis, the invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and the presidency of Abolhassan Banisadr.

To honor the 40th anniversary of revolution around 50,000 prisoners were forgiven by order Ali Khamenei to receive "Islamic clemency".

Iranian students crowd the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4, 1979)

Iran hostage crisis

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On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and seized hostages.

On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and seized hostages.

Iranian students crowd the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4, 1979)
Iran attempted to use the occupation to provide leverage in its demand for the return of the shah to stand trial in Iran
Anticipating the takeover of the embassy, the Americans tried to destroy classified documents in a furnace. The furnace malfunctioned and the staff was forced to use cheap paper shredders. Skilled carpet weavers were later employed to reconstruct the documents.
Two American hostages during the siege of the U.S. Embassy.
Barry Rosen, the embassy's press attaché, was among the hostages. The man on the right holding the briefcase is alleged by some former hostages to be future President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, although he, Iran's government, and the CIA deny this.
An anti-Iranian protest in Washington, D.C., in 1979. The front of the sign reads "Deport all Iranians" and "Get the hell out of my country", and the back reads "Release all Americans now".
A headline in an Islamic Republican newspaper on November 5, 1979, read "Revolutionary occupation of U.S. embassy".
A group photograph of the fifty-two hostages in a Wiesbaden hospital where they spent a few days after their release.
A heckler in Washington, D.C., leans across a police line toward a demonstration of Iranians in August 1980.
Americans expressed gratitude for Canadian efforts to rescue American diplomats during the hostage crisis.
Vice President George H. W. Bush and other VIPs wait to welcome the hostages home.
The hostages disembark Freedom One, an Air Force Boeing C-137 Stratoliner aircraft, upon their return.
A protest in Tehran on November 4, 2015, against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
The November 2015 protest in Tehran.
Simulation of the first day of the event, 3 November 2016, Tehran
Iran hostage crisis memorial
Operation Eagle Claw remnant in the former embassy
The former US embassy, known as the "espionage den," "den of espionage", and "nest of spies" by the Iranians after the crisis.

In September 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, beginning the Iran–Iraq War.

Leftist People's Mujahedin of Iran supported the taking of hostages at the US embassy.

When the authorities encouraged them to chant "death to America," the protesters instead chanted "death to the dictator" (referring to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and other anti-government slogans.