Iran prepares succession to Khomeiny

Press, 5 March 1982, Page 14

Iran prepares succession to Khomeiny

By

LIZ THURGOOD,

in London

Ayatollah Kohmeiny took the unusual step last month of breaking a three-week holy retreat to broadcast to the nation. “The person you are supposed to have killed is listening, to you now,” he told the radio audience. Khomeiny had not been scheduled to surface from his meditations until March 4. The break with tradition was an indication of the regime’s mounting irritation over the spate of rumours that had him not praying but dying. The stories said that Khomeiny was confined to his bed; that relatives, including his grandson, and senior religious leaders were gathering at the village of Jamaran in north Teheran where Khomeiny now lives; and that a three-man council had not only been named but was poised to take over the Ayatollah’s duties. According to Khomeiny’s opponents in exile, he, was already dead. The rumours were started inadvertently by President Ali Khamenei, who in an interview officially discussed, for the first time in three years, the choice of Kho-

meiny’s successor. Telephone lines to Teheran promptly jammed, and the President’s Office was forced to issue a hasty statement blaming the confusion on foreign news agencies “distorting his interview” and “using misleading headlines.” ' But the whole affair raised the question that most Iranians prefer to ignore: after Khomeiny, what next? Most seem to expect another Islamic strongman but a council of leaders has always been more likely. A step-by-step process for finding a Khomeiny replacement lies in Article 107 of Iran’s new Constitution. In the absence of a new “faghih” or natural leader — which would certainly be the case if Khomeiny died today — an elected Committee of Experts would choose a new leader or Leadership Council made up of three or five men. Qualifications to sit on such a council would include “piety, learning, courage and strength.” Contenders would also possess “the necessary administrative abilities” — not,

perhaps, Khomeiny’s strength — and “political and social perspicacity.” Although members would be “equal before law with all other citizens,” the Leadership Council would wield immense powers: in addition to naming the head of the Supreme Court, six members of the 12-man Council of Guardians (to ensure the Islamic hue of the Constitution), and the three armed forces commanders, it would also be able to declare war, mobilise troops and dismiss the President. Elections for the Experts Council are scheduled to take place in the second month of the Iranian calendar, either at the end of April or in early May. On the radio last month, a Government spokesman, Ahmad Tavakoli, denied recent reports that Iran’s Grand Ayatollahs — Golpayegani, Marashi and Najafi — or Ayatollah Montazari, would automatically be chosen to replace Khomeiny.. That the Grand Ayatollahs would readily join the Leadership Council is a moot point. They have always banded together in times of crisis, but traditionally work as individual leaders in religious and

scholarly pursuits. The Leadership Council may thus be manned by five relative unknowns who will make up in piety and number what they lack in national authority. Ayatollah Montazari was until recently tipped as Khomeiny’s chosen successor, but years spent in the Shah’s jails have damaged his health and he now has a liver complaint. Observers believe that Iran is keen to get the Leadership Council set up as soon as possible, allowing its five members to benefit from Khomeiny’s authority before his death, and thus ensuring continuity. Khomeiny himself may return to the holy city of Qom later this year. Despite all the speculation, Khomeiny is believed to enjoy reasonable health. Although the recent wave of bomb attacks and nationwide assassination attempts has forced him to reduce his public appearances, he daily consults Government and religious leaders and regularly receives small groups of well-wishers. A minor heart condition in early 1980 does not seem to have seriously reduced his working day. — Copyright, London Observer Service.