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Hossein Khomeini, the grandson of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, has suddenly returned to his native Iran after several months in Iraq and a quick visit to America. Iranian news agencies laconically reported the event on Saturday, but it will shortly become a major cause celebre, since Hossein Khomeini had been unstinting in his criticism of the Iranian regime ever since his arrival in Baghdad shortly after the fall the city, when he announced his delight in being able to live in a free country. Hossein Khomeini is not a major religious figure in Iran, but his bloodline gives him considerable...

Khomeini Kin Assails Fundamentalist Rule September 26, 2003 The Associated Press George Gedda WASHINGTON -- The grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, symbol of Iran's Islamic revolution, said Friday his countrymen live in a depressed state that will persist until they are freed from strict fundamentalist rule. Hossein Khomeini, who bears some resemblance to the man who launched the uprising against the pro-American shah's government 24 years ago, said the lack of organized resistance to the mullah-led system makes him pessimistic about the prospects for change in his homeland. "The Iranian people want democracy," Khomeini said. "Religion and government...

Today NASA director Frank Borman has announced that the next shuttle mission is going to include the grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenini, Hossein Khomeini, as a crewmember on the next Space Shuttle Launch. “We have decided to use the space shuttle as a diplomatic tool.  There is limited amount of science to be done on the next few space shuttle missions so we have decided to use the space shuttle to shoot Islamic Clerics into outer space for a few days.” When asked of the motivation for the idea, NASA director Frank Borman responded that he got the...

HIS grandfather believed the United States was the "Great Satan", but Hossein Khomeini is no enemy of the "great liberator". It is little surprise that the 45-year-old podgy Iranian cleric is constantly watched by armed bodyguards for fear of assassination by his own people - because he believes that the use of force by the US could be the only way to topple what he terms the world’s "worst dictatorship". Hossein’s cousin, 30-year-old Hassan Khomeini, who runs the shrine dedicated to the memory of the Ayatollah, remains close to the regime. However, Hossein is of a different view. "The best...

Conversation With Khomeini The ayatollah's grandson calls for a U.S. invasion of Iran. By Christopher Hitchens Posted Monday, October 6, 2003, at 11:03 AM PT I have no respect for the hereditary principle and neither does Shiite Islam, which considers earthly kingship to be profane. But no one can be completely uninterested in heredity per se, and my first thought, on meeting Hossein Khomeini, was that he has his grandfather's eyebrows. Still, our conversation quickly banished the notion that this 45-year-old cleric is the least bit interested in running for his grandpa's job. He is a relatively junior cleric—a sayeed—but...

The ayatollah's grandson calls for a U.S. invasion of Iran. I have no respect for the hereditary principle and neither does Shiite Islam, which considers earthly kingship to be profane. But no one can be completely uninterested in heredity per se, and my first thought, on meeting Hossein Khomeini, was that he has his grandfather's eyebrows. Still, our conversation quickly banished the notion that this 45-year-old cleric is the least bit interested in running for his grandpa's job. He is a relatively junior cleric—a sayeed—but he wears the turban and robe with some aplomb and was until recently a resident...

I have no respect for the hereditary principle and neither does Shiite Islam, which considers earthly kingship to be profane. But no one can be completely uninterested in heredity per se, and my first thought, on meeting Hossein Khomeini, was that he has his grandfather's eyebrows. Still, our conversation quickly banished the notion that this 45-year-old cleric is the least bit interested in running for his grandpa's job. He is a relatively junior cleric—a sayeed—but he wears the turban and robe with some aplomb and was until recently a resident of Qum, the holy city of the Iranian Shiites and...

The grandson of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is in Washington this week and giving his blessing to the United States should it decide to invade Iran and throw the clerics out of power. "The establishment of democracy should be taken very seriously in Iran," Hossein Khomeini said in an interview. "Even if the situation necessitates for the United States to take military action in Iran, they should not hesitate," Mr. Khomeini said. He called Americans liberators for invading neighboring Iraq and throwing out the regime of Saddam Hussein. Hossein Khomeini has his grandfather's eyebrows, dark bushy lines...

<p>The grandson of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is in Washington this week and giving his blessing to the United States should it decide to invade Iran and throw the clerics out of power.</p> <p>"The establishment of democracy should be taken very seriously in Iran," Hossein Khomeini said in an interview.</p>

WASHINGTON (AFP) - "Welcome Mister Khomeini," read the unlikely sign hanging on the 12th floor of a Washington building, home to a conservative think-tank hosting the Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson. Facing journalists and researchers in dark suits, Hossein Khomeini, dressed in a traditional white jacket and black turban, took easily to the question-and-answer routine. "Do you think that Iran today holds an atomic weapon?" fires an Iranian-American journalist in Farsi. Khomeini's piercing eyes darkened as his eyebrow furrowed. "I have no specific information. But it is such a troublemaker regime that I won't be surprised. And if they don't have it...

Washington -- Hossein Khomeini, grandson of the late Ayatollah Rohallah Khomeini, who led the Iranian revolution, called "freedom and democracy a basic means of life and living." During a September 26 appearance at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, he said there is no one in Iran at present to lead the Iranian people's struggle for freedom. Referring to the Iranian Revolution, he stated that "25 years ago the Iranian people hoped for freedom." "An important goal for the revolution was the creation of democracy and freedom," the younger Khomeini declared. "This was not achieved. There are no freedoms in...

WASHINGTON - A grandson of Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Hossein Khomeini, called on US President George W. Bush on Friday to intervene by force against Iran's ruling religious leaders who were installed by his grandfather. "Mr Bush should act like Churchill when he gathered around him the British population to fight against Hitler," Hossein said in reference to Britain's World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The grandson of the founding father of the modern-day Islamic republic spoke at the American Enterprise Institute here, a conservative Washington think-tank. Asked if he thought the exiled son of Iran's late Shah...

The grandson of the architect of Iran's Islamic Revolution was in Washington on Friday to talk about the need for reform in his homeland. His call for separation of mosque and state contradicts the philosophy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini whose revolution toppled Shah Reza Pahlevi in 1979. Hossein Khomeini is related to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by blood but not by the policy he espouses. The young religious cleric says he grew disenchanted with his grandfather's Islamic republic about two years after it was established. The Iranian cleric Hossein Khomeini, who has the same piercing look as his grandfather, told a...

Sunday, September 28, 2003 Khomeini’s grandson urges George Bush to intervene in Iran WASHINGTON: A grandson of Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Hossein Khomeini, called on US President George W Bush on Friday to intervene by force against Iran’s ruling clerics who were installed by his grandfather. “Mr. Bush should act like Churchill when he gathered around him the British population to fight against Hitler,” Hossein said in reference to Britain’s World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The grandson of the founding father of the modern-day Islamic republic spoke at the American Enterprise Institute here, a conservative Washington think-tank....

WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (AFP) -- A grandson of Iran's late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Hossein Khomeini, called on US President George W. Bush to intervene by force against Iran's ruling clerics who were installed by his grandfather. "Mr. Bush should act like Churchill when he gathered around him the British population to fight against Hitler," Hossein said in reference to Britain's World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The grandson of the founding father of the modern-day Islamic republic spoke at the American Enterprise Institute here, a conservative Washington think-tank. Asked if he thought the exiled son of Iran's late Shah...

Mr. Hossein Khomeini will give a speech at American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC on Friday September 26. Mr. Hossein Khomeini, grandson of the Ayatollah Roohollah Khomeini who ushered in Iran's current theocracy, will join us to discuss the situation in that country. Mr. Khomeini recently left Tehran for Baghdad, where he was outspoken in his criticism of the Iranian regime, and where he was the target of an assassination attempt. Mr. Khomeni will speak on the record and take questions after his prepared remarks. Start: Friday, September 26, 2003 3:30 PM End: Friday, September 26, 2003 5:00 PM Location:...

The Iraqi newspaper "Al-Zaman" has confirmed, in its yesterday edition, a news stating about the presence of Rouh-Ollah Khomeni's dissident grandson on the US soil. The presence of "Hossein Khomeini", grandson of the founder of the Islamic regime and a man who qualified the US as the "Great Satan", follows his escape to Iraq and his public calls for a radical change seeking the replacement of the theocratic system by a secular regime. Hossein Khomeini is said to have been received by several US officials during meetings which have take place since Sept. 19th. The Bush Administration is seeking for...