series of strong verbal attacks on the united states, including several statements from the ayatollah khomeinitoday, the ayatollah voiced support for the students' action. i was attending classes at the university when i was approached by some of the students, who told me that the students inside the embassy, they need you, and they are asking for you tojoin them. we were young people. personally, i was a young student. i had no military experience, no experience in dealing with reporters, or dealing with such a serious responsibility. the students started making contact with their friends in the states. other iranian students who were there. they started constructing a delegation of american people. they would be invited to visit iran for about a week. directly, they could come and see what's happening in iran, what's happening with the students, who these people are. we had arranged everything and they arrived one by one from the airport. naturally, very tired. we went together to visit a localfactory in tehran. the workers there started speaking about the problems that they had during the s

ayatollah khomeini became the west. and a fear of islamic fundamentalism would soon begin to spread its message and what many would see as a clash of civilizations and then a fear of islam itself which became the new evil. 'd following the 1st oil crisis and 1973. she emerged as an invaluable and inexhaustible alternative to counter fluctuating prices on the global oil market. french television at the time broadcast promotional films featuring the background of. nuclear energy was acclaimed as the product of human effort and intelligence and the perfect child for mankind. it was a dream that would become a nightmare on march 28th 1979. the partial meltdown of the 3 mile island reactor led to what is still the most serious nuclear accident in american history . fearing the release of radioactive gases the authorities evacuated pregnant women and children within a radius of 8 kilometers around the plant 200000 people fled the region. ultimately the reactance 3rd layer of protection held firm and the meltdown was contained

to say that it was primarily ayatollah khomeini during the run-up to the revolution on the streets, which was highly orchestrated. it was khomeini who was highly determined from the outset to make this a revolution rather than a project to rein in or impose reforms on the monarchy. and it was khomeini who drove that train. as it was once described, he was not the driver of the train but the ayatollah khomeini was. and so there was so much political -- there was so much conflict and competition within the revolutionary coalition. there was such a wide variety of ideological perspectives. there was no clear end state for this effort other than khomeini's determination to evict the shah and, of course, as we all know, there was really no consensus about what was intended to follow the monarchy. and so khomeini's return on february 1st after the shah has left the country leads to this question of what will happen and there's about a two-week period or ten-day period celebrated in iran today as the ten days of dawn in which there's this uncertainty about whether the reform-oriented prime minis

they are followers of the ruler of iran, ayatollah khomeini.ed at the church on the upper west side of manhattan. and, i guess, we were taken to kennedy airport and we took off to tehran. there were many members of the delegation from different parts of the country, but they seemed to be, you know, of the same mind. that they wanted to help. i felt very purposeful. very committed. very focused on my mission. that i would employ every fibre of my being to make it successful, to reach out to the hostages and to comfort them at a very difficult time. when we landed at the airport, here was an airport like a terminal atjfk, ripped off all the signs and just pictures of the revolution. —— there where militants. it was hard to be one—on—one with these people. i just remember empathising, but really not have much interaction with the ordinary people, the people in huts, the people in poverty. i remember it being very intense and iran, like every moment of the day was prayerful, it was dedicated, it was acutely alert, all of the senses. the day we saw

has means the party of god it was formed at the request of the late supreme leader of iran ayatollah khomeini and he wanted a brigade that protect the ideology of what he did in iran with the islamic revolution that is what took place in the 1980 s. and that started in lebanon and since then the ideology is what is referred to when you hear the name hezbollah and that is the case that happened in iraq in 2003 so this brigade was not in any way shape or form by iran or iran's backing but the ideology is what stemmed from the islamic republic and i told the khomeini himself when it comes to what they do that is really within the realms of the iraqi government but the ideology is one of shia islam and that they are protecting their interest in their own country and that is really what we believe to be the case when it comes to the term hezbollah the party of god it's an ideology that is strongly strongly supported of course by iran and its leadership here wherever they may be this particular group in iraq is an example of what the united states has been using to target and put more pressure on i

the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini's word became, more or less, law.hrine from all over the country. ♪ a national holiday, khomeini died on this day in 1989. his funeral attended by over 10 million iranians. >> man: down with ignorance. viva wisdom! >> man: thanks. >> anthony: don't want to miss the bus. ♪ south of tehran the landscape opens up. nearly 300 miles of iranian highway stretching to the city of isfahan. isfahan is iran's third largest city. "half the world," as the saying went, back when this was the capital of persia and beyond. the city is renowned for its architecture. the grandest bridges and mosques, dating back to the middle ages. ♪ >> shayan: where are you from? >> anthony: the usa, from america. where are you from? from isfahan? or from tehran? >> shayan: tehran. >> anthony: well, nice to meet you. >> shayan: nice to meet you too. ♪ ♪ i'm guessing from the décor this is a former wrestlers' hangout? ♪ ♪ tucked deep in the labyrinth of isfahan's bazaar, the smell of something very, very good. this shop has been here doing the same thi

inaudible] all of you what is thecontent of this book , this book is very important book of ayatollah khomeini, this first supreme leader of iran. the first leader of the islamic republic of iran and i'm going to show you an example of these people values in this book. i'm going to describe the ideology of the islamic republic of it ran by way of example. please read this line. >> which part do you want me to read ? >> i think that's a little graphic so maybe not. it's graphic, let's justput it that way. it's not polite. my mother might be watching, i can't . >> come here, please. >> is this allowed in the state department? it's graphic content so if you want to just closeyour ears . okay. should i read it? okay. i'm glad that the state department is r-rated. >> we don't talk about that inpublic . this is the book of supreme leader of iran. this is one of many books that the irani and government used for islamic growth, who are these people? what is their plan for us? i'm talking to you, to policymakers, topoliticians , to both leaders, you can trust thisgovernment . you can negotiate with the

. >> ayatollah khomeini became the enemy of the united states the minute he replaced the shah.reignty. >> when khomeini saw large crowds gathering in support in front of the embassy, he made the decision, i'm not going to stand against this wave, i'm going to ride it. >> there has been a persistent belief in many quarters here in iran that the united states government was plotting to restore the shah to power here. >> from the iranian standpoint, it wasn't terrorism. they looked at the embassy as an occupying force. the embassy was actually the agent for controlling iranian politics. >> khomeini issued a new warning. he said if the americans try military force to rescue the hostages, the students will kill them all and blow up the embassy. >> because of the distance to tehran from the arabian sea, a raid to rescue the american hostages is considered unlikely. >> how much longer can you go on doing this? >> we are ready to go on until martyrdom. martyrs are alive in islam. martyrs do not die. martyrs are not destroyed. >> so the bullets do not really kill? >> the bullets do not

on of all places ayatollah cocait khomei khomeini's website. and too this day, whenever i go into an iranian store here in washington, whenever i meet iranian friends, sometimes i'll travel abroad and there might be some iranians there. this happened i think at took kapi palace in istanbul. people will say, oh, i remember you. you're the one who met with khomeini and told him "x," "y" and "z." this is very much appreciated by iranian and instructors in persian tell me they used this interview as a mixture of the use of language and culture to make a very strong point. this was, as i say, a small triumph. it was not, i did not save the world, i did not solve the hostage crisis, but i think what i was able to do was to uphold the values of our service and our profession. which are that there are certain norms and rules of interaction and to violate those, to go against those, violates thousands of years of rules of human interaction. interaction. so when i think about that story, i still get some satisfaction from it. >>> all week, we're featurin

he was no less than the son of the ayatollah khomeini. if he had told him to release the hostages, there is no doubt they would have peered he didn't. instead he gave him the ayatollah's support. most were students mainly from tehran, zealous and conservative, angry at the government for maintaining normal relations with the united states, so in october, 1979, 30 or 40 of them met to plan in action, against the iranian government and the united states. as incredible as it sounds, the seizure of the u.s. embassy was only supposed to last three to five days. when the government proved incapable of stopping the students in the ayatollah signaled his support publicly, the students found they had started something worth continuing. with massive popular support, including elements of the military, they demanded the return of the shaw as a way to end the takeover. >> the hostages are here because this is the only thing we can have here against america, and we tell them we do have the hostages until they send shaw here. >> the iranians were lookin

an embarrassing guess they had been hosting for several months the exiled iranian cleric ayatollah ruhollah khomeini the voyage of states came to a decision that the shah would have to resign and leave iran and the aging cleric who they knew little about would be allowed to return to stabilize the country and preserve the economic interests of the west. and i heard about this why the long conference i think he was there that. if the show i put may need such a disaster for the west. all of the sudden the mainstream of. this started talking about me as a big shot at the big white over the shah which was not. a lot of money. there was this great propaganda strategy and the european media fell into the trap because that image was really to idel like almost like a garden of eden. khomeini khamenei never failed to state that everything he did would be determined by islam sooner pavel islam he had always dreamt of you know state in the sharia law which ruled a very important part of it was the rights of women the family law and everything that was why he had been sent into exile because he had objected to

if on the 5th or 6th of november carter would have sent a private message to ayatollah khomeini that either you let our people out or we are going to bomb you, what was the reaction of the iranian? what do you think -- put yourself in that framework of november '79. you know, not iran as it is today. what do you think, suzanne? let's start with you. then we'll go down the line. >> you know -- again, you ask the toughest questions. i don't know. i think if there had been a decisive response from the united states before the crisis took on a life of its own and before it had become clear to khomeini and others that it had a real political utility for them in terms of consolidating their authority, there might have been -- you know, we can speculate that iran when faced with overwhelming force might have sought to preserve its gains and avoid massive destruction. i do think, you know, the question itself gets to the dilemma that bruce and malcolm described, this debate within the administration which was in many ways a legacy of the debate that had been going on since the crisis since t

an embarrassing guess they had been hosting for several months the exiled iranian cleric ayatollah ruhollah khomeini the voyage of state came to a decision that the shah would have to resign and leave iran and the cleric who they knew little about would be allowed to return to stabilize the country and. preserve the economic interests of the west. and i heard about it who are the local conference packing it was there that they decided that if the show goes on to form a new company it's not such a disaster for the west. all of the sudden the mainstream of medio this started talking about khomeini as a big shot at the big actually flight of the shah which it was not to. have lost my hearing. there was this great propaganda strategy and the european media fell into the trap because that image was really too ideal like almost like a garden of eden a school saying so then. you need khomeini never fail to state that everything he did would be determined by islam soon apocalypse slump he had always dreamt of you know state in the sharia law which ruled a very important part of it was there rights of women

people teachers, doctors, professionals, lawyers, all out there marching behind the banner of ayatollah khomeini and calling for the islamic republic without knowing what an islamic republic would bring them. president carter, afterall, he had gone to iran in late december and early january in 1978, and 1977, 1978, and made this effusive speech, toast at a dinner there which he spoke about iran being a island of stability in a turbulent region. well, a year later, the shah was gone, and iran was in chaos. if i might make one more comment on this from the shah's point of view, and the shah believed this, and he believed exactly what the viewer said, and he believed for some reason that president carter and other western leaders had decided to get rid of him for reasons that he didn't know. because they were super powers, and they could do whatever they wanted, and they didn't have to tell him. and so from his point of view, looking at it from his point of view, when he got in trouble in 1978, president carter would not as he went to president carter and said what should i do, and president carter

khomeini was not a high-ranking ayatollah.e was not even an ayatollah when he became the supreme leader. so, but still he had some revolutionary backgrounds. he had some relationship with the ayatollahs and grand ayatollahs, so he has had some legitimacy, and he's been trying to create some allies within the houses, as they call the different grand ayatollahs. his successor, if it's raisi, has no connection whatsoever with those grand ayatollahs. so the regime has been transforming from its theocracy into a quasi-military dictatorship, and when , any -- when khamenei dies, that process, i think, will be expedited, and the regime becomes more of a military regime rather than a theocracy. david: so let's go to the audience, and let me ask you, please, to identify yourselves. there's a microphone that will come to you. keep your questions short, please. make sure they really are questions. yes? gentleman in the third row. >> thank you. pyotr from sisen amnesty. yes. so i was at the talk in may at the atlantic council and it was j