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Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...

Montazeri, Hossein Ali

(Encyclopedia)Montazeri, Hossein Ali, 1922–2009, Iranian Islamic scholar and political leader. A follower of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Montazeri objected to Khomeini's arrest and exile, and became involved in ...

Revolutionary Guards

(Encyclopedia)Revolutionary Guards, officially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) or Pasdaran, Iranian military group formed in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution by young Islamic activists loyal to Ayato...

Khamenei, Ali

(Encyclopedia)Khamenei, Ali (Mohammad Ali Hoseyn Khamenei) mōhämädˈ älēˈ hōsānˈ khamānāēˈ [key], 1939–, Iranian religious and political leader, b. Mashhad. A Shiite Islamic cleric who was the son of...

Hoveida, Amir Abbas

(Encyclopedia)Hoveida, Amir Abbas ämērˈ äb-bäsˈ hōvāˈdä [key], 1919–79, Iranian political leader, prime minister of Iran (1965–77). After serving (1958–64) with the National Iranian Oil Company, he ...

fatwa

(Encyclopedia)fatwa, in Islamic law, an opinion made by a judicial/religious scholar (a mufti) on a legal, civil, or religious matter. The fatwa is usually a valuable source of information on any subject for privat...

Mousavi, Mir Hossein

(Encyclopedia)Mousavi, Mir Hossein mēr hōsānˈ mo͞osävēˈ [key], 1941–, Iranian political leader and architect. Active in Islamic groups and in the opposition to the Shah's rule, he was (1979) a founder of ...

Rowhani, Hassan

(Encyclopedia)Rowhani, Hassan häsänˈ rōhänēˈ [key], 1948–, Iranian cleric and political leader, b. Sorkheh, ...

Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi mo͞ohämˈmäd rĭzä shä păˈləvē [key], 1919–80, shah of Iran (1941–79). Educated in Switzerland, he returned (1935) to Iran to attend the military academy in Teh...

Shiites

(Encyclopedia)Shiites shēˈītz [key] [Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a political moveme...
 

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