1989 letter from Iranian to Soviet leader
Khomeini's letter to Mikhail Gorbachev |
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Created | 7 January 1989 |
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Author(s) | Ruhollah Khomeini |
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Media type | Letter |
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Subject | Invited Gorbachev to consider Islam as an alternative to communist ideology |
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On 7 January 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini, supreme leader of Iran, sent a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union.[1] This letter was Khomeini's only written message to a foreign leader.[2] Khomeini's letter was delivered by the Iranian politicians Abdollah Javadi-Amoli, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, and Marzieh Hadidchi.[3] In the letter, Khomeini declared that communism was dissolving within the Soviet bloc,[4][5] and invited Gorbachev to consider Islam as an alternative to communist ideology.[3][6]
- ^ "Imam Khomeini's historic epistle to Gorbachev". Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ Goodman, Melvin Allan (1991). "Afghanistan". Gorbachev's Retreat: The Third World. New York City, New York, United States: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 61. ISBN 9780275936969 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b Khomeini, Rudollah (2003). "Translator's Introduction". The Greatest Jihād: Combat with the Self. Alhoda UK/Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works. p. 15. ISBN 9789643355579 – via Google Books.
- ^ Saivetz, Carol R. (1990). "The Soviet Union and Iran: Changing Relations in the Gorbachev Era". In Rezun, Miron (ed.). Iran at the Crossroads: Global Relations in a Turbulent Decade (1 ed.). New York City, New York, United States: Routledge. pp. 181–198. doi:10.4324/9780429043376-11. ISBN 9780429043376. S2CID 195489148.
- ^ Axworthy, Michael (2013). "5. The End of the War, the Death of the Emam, and Reconstruction: Khamenei and Rafsanjani, 1988—97". Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic. New York City, New York, United States: Oxford University Press. p. 301. ISBN 9780199322268 – via Google Books.
- ^ Rzepka, Marcin (1 January 2013). "Religion, diplomacy and identity. Some remarks on the ayatollah Khomeini's letter to Gorbachev" (PDF). Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia. 5 (2). Kraków, Poland: Pontifical University of John Paul II: 79. doi:10.15633/ochc.1034. Retrieved 30 January 2022.