Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the religious leader who led the Iranian Revolution of 1979, overthrowing the Shah and establishing an Islamic Republic that fundamentally challenged both Western liberalism and secular nationalism. A senior Shia cleric, Khomeini was exiled in 1964 for opposing the Shah's reforms but continued to inspire opposition from Iraq and then France.
The 1979 revolution united diverse opposition groups—Islamists, leftists, liberals, nationalists—but Khomeini outmaneuvered secular allies to establish clerical rule through the doctrine of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist). The new constitution made him Supreme Leader with authority over all state institutions.
Khomeini's Iran challenged both superpowers, taking American hostages and fighting Saddam Hussein's Iraq for eight years. His fatwa against Salman Rushdie for The Satanic Verses shocked the world. Khomeini died in 1989, having created a durable theocratic system. His Islamic Revolution inspired and terrified in equal measure, reshaping Middle Eastern politics.