Mostafa Khomeini
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Mostafa Khomeini | |
|---|---|
مصطفی خمینی | |
 Khomeini in the 1970s | |
| Born | 12 December 1930 |
| Died | 23 October 1977 (aged 46) |
| Resting place | Najaf |
| Alma mater | Qom Theological Center |
| Spouse |
Masoumeh Haeri Yazdi
(m. 1956) |
| Children | 3, including Hussein |
| Parents | |
Sayyid Mostafa Khomeini (Persian: سید مصطفی خمینی; 12 December 1930 – 23 October 1977) was an Iranian cleric and the eldest son of Ruhollah Khomeini.[1] He died before the Iranian Revolution.
Activities
Mostafa Khomeini participated in his father's movement.[2] He was arrested and imprisoned after the 1963 events and also, after his father's exile.[5] On 3 January 1965, he joined his father in Bursa, Turkey, where he was in exile.[5] Then he lived with his family in Najaf, Iraq, from October 1965.[2][6] There he had contacts with the Iraqi Shia activist Hassan Shirazi.[6] Mostafa and his brother Ahmad became part of Khomeini's underground movement.[7] The group also included Mohammad Beheshti and Morteza Motahhari.[7] In 1970 Khomeini asked Hassan Shirazi, who had been released from prison, to go to Lebanon to find individual and institutional supporters.[6] Shirazi carried out this activity in Lebanon until 1974.[6]
Personal life and death
Khomeini married Masoumeh Haeri Yazdi (died 2024), a daughter of Morteza Haeri Yazdi.[8] Khomeini died of a heart attack in Najaf on 23 October 1977.[9][10] His father, Ruhollah Khomeini, did not attend the funeral, due to grief.[9] He was buried in Najaf within the shrine of Imam Ali.[11]
His death has been regarded as suspicious by both the followers of Ayatollah Khomeini and common people of Iran due to various reports that SAVAK agents were present at the scene.[12] Hence, his death was attributed to the Shah's secret police, SAVAK.[9][10] His father later described Mostafa's death as a "martyrdom" and one of the "hidden favours" of God, since it fueled the growing discontent with the Shah and finally produced the Iranian Revolution, just slightly more than one year after Mostafa's death.[12][13] By contrast, Morteza Haeri Yazdi, who was close to the Khomeini family, attributed Mostafa's death to natural causes.[14] Memorial services for Mostafa Khomeini were organized in different cities of Iran which became nationwide protests against the Pahlavi rule.[13]
