On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran
from exile and quickly cemented his leadership by galvanizing
a wide array of political groups under the banner of Islam,
Iranian nationalism, and a rejection of foreign influence.9 The
monarchy was dismantled and replaced with a theocratic republic
guided by Islamic principles. Despite the drastic shift
in political power, many of the human rights abuses and political
unrest that occurred under the shah continued through
the early days of the Islamic Republic. Domestic political turmoil
spilled over into international relations when, on November