TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/061989/06198900.026

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 7.9 KB | 155 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 38

IRAN

A Frenzied Farewell


The Imam is gone, and his power is up for grabs

By Jill Smolowe


    He did not go gentle into that good night. The funeral of
the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini ignited an emotional outpouring
from his fanatical followers that Westerners found as bizarre,
frightening -- and ultimately incomprehensible -- as the
passions he stirred during ten turbulent years as leader of
Iran. Even after his burial, Khomeini excoriated his enemies in
the outside world, raging in his will against "the atheist East"
and "the infidel West," branding Jordan's King Hussein a
"criminal tramp," accusing the leaders of Egypt and Morocco of
"treason," and denouncing the U.S. as an "inborn terrorist"
organization.

    While the Ayatullah's body lay in state inside a
refrigerated glass box, the crowd of mourners in Tehran became
so thick that eight were reportedly crushed to death. The next
day, as a helicopter brought the open wooden coffin containing
Khomeini's remains to the city's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery,
nearly a million mourners thrust forward in the blistering heat
and choking dust, many wailing and pounding their heads as they
groped to touch the body and snatch a piece of the linen burial
shroud.

    Some managed to surge past a force of Revolutionary Guards,
clambering into the casket to plant kisses on the Imam's face.
The corpse spilled to the ground, bare feet protruding from
beneath the white shroud. As the Guards beat back the crowds,
firing shots in the air and spraying fire hoses, other soldiers
shoved the body and coffin back into the chopper. It lifted off
with the casket hanging precariously out the door.

    Some five hours passed before there was another, successful
attempt to deliver the body to its final resting place, this
time encased in a metal coffin. Again arms flailed and chants
of "Death to America!" filled the air as the helicopter touched
down. Although barricades held most of the crowd at bay, the
Guards were forced to make a frantic push past the outstretched
hands to deliver the coffin to the grave site. At the last
instant, the metal lid of the casket was ripped off, and the
body was rolled into the grave, in keeping with an Islamic
tradition that requires that the dead be interred in only a
shroud. The grave was quickly covered with concrete slabs and
a large freight container to prevent delirious mourners from
exhuming the corpse. By the end of the ceremony, more than 440
people had been hospitalized and an additional 10,800 had been
treated for injuries.

    That frenzied send-off seemed a fitting coda for a man who
returned a decade ago from exile in Paris to an equally
hysterical welcome. But it gave little indication of what will
follow. Khomeini was the glue that held together Iran's
political radicals and religious extremists. Many Iranians fear
that their country will now be torn asunder by bitter factional
struggles. "All the people say things will be worse now," warned
a 23-year-old student. "We were united when Khomeini was alive."

    One potential source of conflict is outside interference
from such groups as the Iraq-based People's Mujahedin of Iran.
There is also the danger of a new burst of Iran-sponsored
international terrorism as rival organizations contend for
power. "As the factionalism builds up, there will be more
free-lance terrorism and less control from the center," warns
Gary Sick, who monitored Iran for the National Security Council
under the Carter Administration.

    Iran's clerics may have thwarted those threats, at least
temporarily, by moving swiftly to fill the power vacuum created
by Khomeini's passing. Less than 24 hours after his death, the
83-member Council of Experts designated President Ali Khamenei
the country's new spiritual leader. While it is uncertain that
Khamenei can retain the post, his quick appointment headed off
the ascent of more radical potential successors. The
Revolutionary Guards, the regular army and several of Iran's
leading political figures, including Parliamentary Speaker Ali
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, quickly closed ranks behind the new
leader. "For the moment," says Bernard Hourcade, a French expert
on Iran, "the clerics have shown exemplary moderation."

    Khamenei, 49, who upon his selection was apparently
elevated from a lower clerical rank to the status of ayatullah,
was a compromise choice. During his career, he has played the
role of both hard-line mullah and political pragmatist. A
moralistic religious scholar who comes from a family of
religious scholars, Khamenei has gained public renown by
delivering fiery speeches at Friday prayers. Arrested at least
six times during the Shah's reign, Khamenei has also been the
target of the opposition People's Mujahedin. In 1981 he was
seriously injured by a bomb. His right arm was permanently
crippled, and his vocal cords were damaged. Since that year,
Khamenei has held the post of President and has seesawed between
denouncing the West and seeking to renew Iran's ties with it.

    Khamenei, however, is no Khomeini. In the months ahead, he
could be vulnerable to power grabs by other contenders to the
throne. They probably do not include Ahmed Khomeini, a radical
cleric who played an increasingly visible role in the months
his father lay dying. Although revered by some, the younger
Khomeini is ridiculed by others, who perceive him as a weakling.

    But Speaker Rafsanjani, who is also Commander in Chief of
the armed forces, is definitely somebody to watch. Last week he
announced his candidacy for the presidency, and he is expected
to win the contest, scheduled for August. Though he is a leader
of the relative pragmatists within the government, Rafsanjani's
reputation for moderation has yet to be tested. On those
occasions when the political winds in Iran have blown toward
less hostile relations, Rafsanjani has expressed a desire to
improve ties with the outside world.

    Western leaders are wisely remaining cautious about the
fickle mullahs. It is unlikely that Iran's attitude toward its
enemies will take a pronounced turn for the better anytime soon.
While some Western analysts detect signs that Iran's foreign
policy will eventually moderate, others warn that none of
Khomeini's heirs can run the risk of appearing to betray the
Ayatullah's revolution. "They believe that challenging the West
is what gives them legitimacy," says former U.S. Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger.

    That bodes ill for the 13 Western hostages, nine of them
Americans, currently being held in Lebanon. Last week President
Bush adopted a wait-and-see stance. He called on Iran to help
seek the hostages' release and dismissed the prospect of any
overtures toward Tehran's new leadership. "They have been a
terrorist state," Bush said. "As soon as they move away from
oppression and extremism of that nature, we will review our
relationship." Iran, meanwhile, announced that it will not
assist in seeking the hostages' freedom until frozen Iranian
assets are released by the U.S. and unless Washington helps
locate four Iranians missing in Lebanon.

    The first reliable indications of Iran's future course are
not likely to emerge until after the presidential election,
scheduled for Aug. 18. At that time, voters will also be
presented with a referendum proposing constitutional changes
that would strengthen the presidency. If Rafsanjani wins as
expected, he will be faced with reviving an economy so
dysfunctional that only a thriving black market prevents
widespread shortages of basic commodities. If Khamenei proves
to be a weak leader, he could be toppled at that time. Once its
new leadership is in place, Iran will confront a fundamental
decision: whether to remain in a medieval morass or re-enter the
modern world that the Imam so breathtakingly defied.


-- David S. Jackson/Tehran and Frank Melville/London