Iran: Blast from The Past

Blast from The Past

As the leader of the only opposition party tolerated in Iran, former Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan is one of a handful of political figures allowed to voice mild criticism in public of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini. Bazargan has usually exercised the privilege with restraint. But last week Iranian exiles in Paris distributed copies of an open letter to Khomeini, said to have been written by Bazargan, in which the Ayatullah was accused of having created a "despotism worthy of the pharaohs."

The letter charged that Khomeini stooped to "collaboration" with Israel in order to secure U.S. weapons, sponsored terrorists who have "filled...

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