Khomeini and a rising, vocal minority of ulama openly
opposed the shah’s modernization policies, most notably
land reform and women’s suffrage. In addition, Khomeini
despised Iran’s close relationship with the United States,
Israel, and multinational companies, which he viewed as
a threat to national independence, Muslim life, and Islam.
From his pulpit, first in Qum and later from abroad,
Khomeini incited and galvanized people against foreign
influence. He condemned the United States as “an enemy
of Islam in all its policies, this hostility being particularly
apparent in its support for Israel and the nature of its influence
in Iran.”19 Yet despite these clear and longstanding
commitments to the transformation of the political and
social order, the Iranian revolution unfolded in stages