Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran

Part of a series on the
History of the Iranian revolution
Topics Timeline Background Consolidation Casualties Ideology Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists
Revolutionary leaders Mohammad Javad Bahonar Abulhassan Banisadr Mehdi Bazargan Mohammad Beheshti Mostafa Chamran Sadegh Ghotbzadeh Hassan Habibi Hashemi Rafsanjani Ali Khamenei Ahmad Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini Mahdavi Kani Hussein-Ali Montazeri Morteza Motahhari Mousavi Ardabili Mohammad Ali Rajai Ezzatollah Sahabi Yadollah Sahabi Ali Shariati Mahmoud Taleghani Ebrahim Yazdi
Parties and organizations CCA Guerrilla groups Freedom Movement Fedai Islamic Republic Party MIRO Student Followers of the Imam's Line OIPFG MKO Tudeh
Official institutions The Interim Government Islamic republic Sepah Basij Assembly of Experts for Constitution
Events Movement of 15 Khordad Black Friday Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran Hostage crisis Cultural Revolution
See also Human rights in Iran
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Ruhollah Khomeini’s return to Iran on 1 February 1979, after 14 years in exile, was an important event in the Iranian Revolution. It led to the collapse of the provisional government of Shapour Bakhtiar and the final overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 11 February 1979.

Ruhollah Khomeini, known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini,^[1] was an Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, philosopher, revolutionary and politician.^[2] Prior to his exile, Khomeini had been a prominent opponent of the Shah. Upon his return, he was greeted by crowds of millions, and within 10 days the revolution would be successful. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader, a position created in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Khomeini's return and the 10 days following are now celebrated in Iran as the Fajr decade.