Republic of Hate - Podcast Ten - The Ayatollah Returns Home

Hello and welcome to Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism, in which we explore Iran’s hatred of Israel, Jews, and the West. These are essays by Dr. Mark Silinsky, president of Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to the field of national security. And now to podcast The Ayatollah Returns and History is Erased             Iran's economy grew during the 1950s and 1960s, especially after oil revenues surged following 1973. However, wealth was not shared equally, which widened social divisions and class gaps. The shah’s support declined as former allies turned against him. In the 1950s and 1960s, most Iranian clerics remained silent on political matters. But the shah’s Westernization efforts alarmed the devout and aging mullahs. Students and workers were unhappy about wage gaps and the display of sudden wealth in Tehran. This led to organizing across different social groups and generations, from shaggy-haired university students to bazaaris whose social standing and influence had waned. As the shah’s allies abandoned him, Khomeini’s well-organized followers filled the growing power vacuum.             The growing frenzy to overthrow the shah was relentless, organized, and loud. Jews were well aware that social support had shifted away from the shah. Some evidence was visual, including placards and defacement of symbols of the Pahlavi regime. As instructed by the Ayatollah, every evening at 8:55 p.m., supporters turned off their lights and went to their open, flat rooftops or balconies. Then, at nine o'clock sharp, the city erupted in a roar. Loud and forceful, hundreds of thousands of people stood in the cold and shouted, “Allahu-akbar. Allahu-akbar. Allahu-akbar.” The rallying cry of revolution echoed throughout the city.             Several left-wing Western celebrity professors and activists traveled to Iran to observe the unrest. In January 1979, three prominent leftists went on a fact-finding trip to Iran. Professor of international law at Princeton Richard Falk, former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark, and Christian activist Don Luce stopped in France to meet Ayatollah Khomeini, who was still in exile.              Khomeini gained Falk’s trust, and the Princeton professor stated in the New York Times that, “The depiction of him (Khomeini) as fanatical, reactionary, and the bearer of crude prejudices seems certainly and happily false." Falk was inspired by Shia Islam, citing "its concern with resisting oppression and promoting social justice." He concluded, "Having created a new model of popular revolution ... Iran may provide us with a desperately needed example of humane governance for a third-world country." Other observers were less optimistic. Regarding Khomeini’s view of Jews, Dr. Falk explained, “He expressed the opinion that Judaism was ‘a genuine religion’ and if Jews do not get too involved in support for Israel, they would be fine in Iran ... it would be a tragedy for us if they left.” But most Jews would leave.             In 1979, the Pahlavi era finally fell apart amid widespread street protests, strong opposition groups, and a loss of support for the regime. Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran, replacing the secular, modernizing monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with a theocratic republic. The cancer-afflicted shah fled abroad, where he eventually died.             Immediately after the revolution, there was a surge of state-ordered destruction of symbols and totems of the old regime. Khomeini ordered Reza Shah’s tomb demolished, which surprised few Iranians. Soon, however, the wreckers turned to Baha’i tombs; any tombstones and crosses had been broken in the Armenian graveyard in Isfahan, along with other non-Muslim religious sites. Ancient Persian sites such as Persepolis and Cyrus the Great’s tomb were temporarily spared. Earlier, Ayatollah Khomeini told Richard Falk that he planned to hold a trial similar to the ‘Nuremberg Trials,’ which prosecuted Nazi Germany's war criminals. The tribunal was supposed to try top political, bureaucratic, financial, and intelligence officials. There were no international courts of law administering justice after long debates and courtroom sparing. Instead, the new regime began killing its enemies.              The initial wave of killings targeted the deposed shah’s close associates. Many generals and key political figures were quickly executed and photographed as trophies of the hunt. Four generals had been found guilty of crimes against the people. They were shot with machine guns, and their bodies were publicly displayed and documented in photographs.             Most Jews were uncertain how to interpret Khomeini’s return. While some students and professionals were glad the shah was gone, they felt unsure about what the future held. Immediately, some Jews feared a return to the degraded dhimmi status of earlier times. Yellow badges, religious taxes, and systemic religious discrimination are relics of the past. The mullahs’ rhetoric signaled the rise of a new dark age for Iranian Jewry. Mohammad Mohammed Shah supplied Israel with petroleum during the Yom Kippur War, and a thriving trade existed between the countries. The Shah’s SAVAK had some, though exaggerated, connections with Israeli personnel. Would businessmen involved in that trade be indicted as Israeli agents? Though the future of Iran’s Jews seemed uncertain, the sentiment of Iran’s new ruling circle toward Israel was clear. He had a pathological hatred for the Jewish state. Many Jews fled the country if they could, and others prepared for bleak days.             A Jewish teenager during the revolution recalled a powerful symbol of despair. Walking home from synagogue services, she was alarmed by the proliferation of Jewish-owned houses that were “pinned all around the neighborhood, in local shops, on tree trunks and light poles, and on the exterior walls of buildings.” Jews were emptying their bank accounts and selling their belongings at bargain prices in desperation to leave Iran as soon as possible. Her prestigious school lost most of its students in the first year of the revolution. Her class of forty-five students lost all but twelve, who emigrated with their families. Of the remaining dozen students, only three were Jews. The Jewish teachers also left. This concludes this episode of Republic of Hate – Iran, Israel, and Anti-Semitism. We look forward to reading your comments. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Israel, Hamas, and the World, will be available for purchase in summer 2026. Nothing in this podcast or any of Dr. Silinsky’s other podcasts reflects the official position of the United States Department of War, the United States Intelligence Community, or any other U.S. government agency. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening, and goodbye until our next podcast.