Ruhollah Khomeini’s Rise & Fall
Did Khomeini change Iran forever?
4.1 (19)
75 mins
Explore how Khomeini transformed Iran from a monarchy into an Islamic Republic that reshaped the Middle East forever. Discover the rise of revolutionary ideology, clerical rule, political repression, and the global tensions born from the 1979 revolution.
Ep 1:
The Coffin That Couldn't Rest
A funeral descends into terrifying chaos as millions swarm Khomeini's coffin—while centuries earlier, Persia's fierce independence set the stage for revolution, oil wars, and a CIA-backed coup.
Ep 2:
The Orphan Who Would Rule Heaven
Born into tragedy and raised in sacred scholarship, young Ruhollah Khomeini quietly reimagines Shi'ite theology—just as the Shah's dazzling White Revolution masks a nation ready to fracture.
Ep 3:
A Slap Heard Round Iran
A slap in a Prime Minister's office ignites deadly riots and assassination, forcing Khomeini into exile where his radical vision of clerical rule begins to take shape.
Ep 4:
The Cassette Tape Uprising
From Najaf's exile, Khomeini smuggles revolution into Iran on cassette tapes, while mysterious deaths and a deadly forty-day mourning cycle push the Shah's regime toward collapse.
Ep 5:
The Imam Comes Home
As protests engulf Iran, Khomeini charms Western media in a Paris suburb while secretly plotting theocracy—setting up the Shah's shocking downfall and his own triumphant, tearful return.
Ep 6:
Blood, Chemicals, and Fatwas
Khomeini seizes total power through purges, hostages, and betrayal, dismantling the very revolutionaries who helped him rise, while Iran plunges into a brutal internal reckoning.
Ep 7:
The Golden Dome's Shadow
Saddam's invasion ignites eight brutal years of war and chemical horror, while Khomeini's final years bring secret executions, a deadly fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and his death.
Discussions (5)
Desmond
Level 5 · 5 mo agoThe Western press falling for Khomeini is so strange to me. They crowned him a peaceful leader just because nobody bothered translating his actual books.
Kirk
Level 5 · 5 mo agoI had no idea the Shah kept his cancer a secret. That completely explains his terrible judgment.
Andy
Level 5 · 5 mo agoIt always makes me laugh when people still blame SAVAK for the Cinema Rex fire XD The evidence clearly proves radical Islamists burned those 400 people alive. Glad you actually got this fact right.
