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- <text id=89TT1481>
- <title>
- June 05, 1989: World Notes:Iran
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- June 05, 1989 People Power:Beijing-Moscow
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 33
- World Notes
- IRAN
- Surgery for an Ailing Imam
- </hdr><body>
- <p> For a man who has been rumored to be dying of a heart
- condition or cancer for much of the past decade, the Ayatullah
- Ruhollah Khomeini, 89, has displayed remarkable longevity. Last
- week, though, doctors performed surgery on the religious leader
- to stop what was officially described as "bleeding in his
- digestive system." Providing a rare and somewhat bizarre glimpse
- at the Imam's private life, Iranian television actually
- broadcast scenes from the operating room.
- </p>
- <p> Khomeini's illness has focused new attention on the
- question of his successor. Since he fired his appointed heir,
- Ayatullah Ali Montazeri, 65, in March, the spotlight has turned
- to Khomeini's son Ahmed, 43, who has been increasingly visible
- lately. The extent of Ahmed's influence became more apparent
- last week, when a 110-page memo surfaced in which he accused
- Montazeri of disloyalty. Khomeini the younger, however, must
- contend with powerful Parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi
- Rafsanjani, who last week emerged from a visit with the
- Ayatullah to declare, "God willing, we will see the Imam for
- long years, healthier and stronger."
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-