Iran A Frenzied Farewell

By Jill Smolowe

He did not go gentle into that good night. The funeral of the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini ignited an emotional outpouring from his fanatical followers that Westerners found as bizarre, frightening -- and ultimately incomprehensible -- as the passions he stirred during ten turbulent years as leader of Iran. Even after his burial, Khomeini excoriated his enemies in the outside world, raging in his will against "the atheist East" and "the infidel West," branding Jordan's King Hussein a "criminal tramp," accusing the leaders of Egypt and Morocco of "treason," and denouncing the U.S. as an "inborn terrorist" organization.

While the Ayatullah's body lay in state inside a refrigerated glass box, the crowd of mourners in Tehran became so thick that eight were reportedly crushed to death. The next day, as a helicopter brought the open wooden coffin containing Khomeini's remains to the city's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, nearly a million mourners thrust forward in the blistering heat and choking dust, many wailing and pounding their heads as they groped to touch the body and snatch a piece of the linen burial shroud.

Some managed to surge past a force of Revolutionary Guards, clambering into the casket to plant kisses on the Imam's face. The corpse spilled to the ground, bare feet protruding from beneath the white shroud. As the Guards beat back the crowds, firing shots in the air and spraying fire hoses, other soldiers shoved the body and coffin back into the chopper. It lifted off with the casket hanging precariously out the door.

Some five hours passed before there was another, successful attempt to deliver the body to its final resting place, this time encased in a metal coffin. Again arms flailed and chants of "Death to America!" filled the air as the helicopter touched down. Although barricades held most of the crowd at bay, the Guards were forced to make a frantic push past the outstretched hands to deliver the coffin to the grave site. At the last instant, the metal lid of the casket was ripped off, and the body was rolled into the grave, in keeping with an Islamic tradition that requires that the dead be interred in only a shroud. The grave was quickly covered with concrete slabs and a large freight container to prevent delirious mourners from exhuming the corpse. By the end of the ceremony, more than 440 people had been hospitalized and an additional 10,800 had been treated for injuries.

That frenzied send-off seemed a fitting coda for a man who returned a decade ago from exile in Paris to an equally hysterical welcome. But it gave little indication of what will follow. Khomeini was the glue that held together Iran's political radicals and religious extremists. Many Iranians fear that their country will now be torn asunder by bitter factional struggles. "All the people say things will be worse now," warned a 23-year-old student. "We were united when Khomeini was alive."

One potential source of conflict is outside interference from such groups as the Iraq-based People's Mujahedin of Iran. There is also the danger of a new burst of Iran-sponsored international terrorism as rival organizations contend for power. "As the factionalism builds up, there will be more free-lance terrorism and less control from the center," warns Gary Sick, who monitored Iran for the National Security Council under the Carter Administration.

Iran's clerics may have thwarted those threats, at least temporarily, by moving swiftly to fill the power vacuum created by Khomeini's passing. Less than 24 hours after his death, the 83-member Council of Experts designated President Ali Khamenei the country's new spiritual leader. While it is uncertain that Khamenei can retain the post, his quick appointment headed off the ascent of more radical potential successors. The Revolutionary Guards, the regular army and several of Iran's leading political figures, including Parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, quickly closed ranks behind the new leader. "For the moment," says Bernard Hourcade, a French expert on Iran, "the clerics have shown exemplary moderation."

Khamenei, 49, who upon his selection was apparently elevated from a lower clerical rank to the status of ayatullah, was a compromise choice. During his career, he has played the role of both hard-line mullah and political pragmatist. A moralistic religious scholar who comes from a family of religious scholars, Khamenei has gained public renown by delivering fiery speeches at Friday prayers. Arrested at least six times during the Shah's reign, Khamenei has also been the target of the opposition People's Mujahedin. In 1981 he was seriously injured by a bomb. His right arm was permanently crippled, and his vocal cords were damaged. Since that year, Khamenei has held the post of President and has seesawed between denouncing the West and seeking to renew Iran's ties with it.

Khamenei, however, is no Khomeini. In the months ahead, he could be vulnerable to power grabs by other contenders to the throne. They probably do not include Ahmed Khomeini, a radical cleric who played an increasingly visible role in the months his father lay dying. Although revered by some, the younger Khomeini is ridiculed by others, who perceive him as a weakling.

But Speaker Rafsanjani, who is also Commander in Chief of the armed forces, is definitely somebody to watch. Last week he announced his candidacy for the presidency, and he is expected to win the contest, scheduled for August. Though he is a leader of the relative pragmatists within the government, Rafsanjani's reputation for moderation has yet to be tested. On those occasions when the political winds in Iran have blown toward less hostile relations, Rafsanjani has expressed a desire to improve ties with the outside world.

Western leaders are wisely remaining cautious about the fickle mullahs. It is unlikely that Iran's attitude toward its enemies will take a pronounced turn for the better anytime soon. While some Western analysts detect signs that Iran's foreign policy will eventually moderate, others warn that none of Khomeini's heirs can run the risk of appearing to betray the Ayatullah's revolution. "They believe that challenging the West is what gives them legitimacy," says former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

That bodes ill for the 13 Western hostages, nine of them Americans, currently being held in Lebanon. Last week President Bush adopted a wait-and- see stance. He called on Iran to help seek the hostages' release and dismissed the prospect of any overtures toward Tehran's new leadership. "They have been a terrorist state," Bush said. "As soon as they move away from oppression and extremism of that nature, we will review our relationship." Iran, meanwhile, announced that it will not assist in seeking the hostages' freedom until frozen Iranian assets are released by the U.S. and unless Washington helps locate four Iranians missing in Lebanon.

The first reliable indications of Iran's future course are not likely to emerge until after the presidential election, scheduled for Aug. 18. At that time, voters will also be presented with a referendum proposing constitutional changes that would strengthen the presidency. If Rafsanjani wins as expected, he will be faced with reviving an economy so dysfunctional that only a thriving black market prevents widespread shortages of basic commodities. If Khamenei proves to be a weak leader, he could be toppled at that time. Once its new leadership is in place, Iran will confront a fundamental decision: whether to remain in a medieval morass or re-enter the modern world that the Imam so breathtakingly defied.

With reporting by David S. Jackson/Tehran and Frank Melville/London