When the shaky government of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan collapsed earlier this month, civilian administration in Iran virtually ceased to exist. In its place stood a powerful, 15-member committee composed of six Islamic mullahs and seven secular figures (there are two vacancies at present) and officially called the Islamic Revolutionary Council. Ayatullah Khomeini, the de facto ruler who declined to manage the government himself, gave the Council a mandate to rule Iran during a two-month transition period until the voters could approve a new theocratic constitution and elect a National Assembly and a...
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