Ahmad Khomeini
Sayyid Ahmad Khomeini (Persian: سید احمد خمینی; 14 March 1946 – 17 March 1995)[1] was the younger son of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and father of Hassan Khomeini. He was the "right-hand" of his father before, during and after the Iranian Revolution. He was a link between Ruhollah Khomeini and officials and people. He had several decision-making positions.
Ahmad Khomeini
He died of heart disease and was buried next to his father.
Early life and education[edit]
Ahmad Khomeini was born in Qom on 15 March 1946 (although several sources have given his birth year as 1945),[3] where he did his primary and secondary education in Owhadi and Hakin Nezami school, respectively[4] and then started seminary studies and accomplished primary and secondary hawza courses. He secretly joined his father, Ruhollah Khomeini, after his father was exiled to Najaf.[1]
Personal life[edit]
His wife was Fatemeh Soltani Tabatabai, daughter of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Soltani Tabatabai Borujerdi, niece of Imam Musa Sadr, the Shia religious leader of Lebanon.[16] She was the sister of Sadegh and Morteza Tabatabai.[16]
Death[edit]
According to pro-government media, Ahmad Khomeini suffered a cardiac arrest on 12 March 1995, and went into a coma. He died five days later, on 17 March 1995, hours after being connected to life support machinery.[6] Iran government announced two days of national mourning after Ahmad Khomeini's death.[6] Ahmad Khomeini is entombed next to his father in a grand shrine south of Tehran, where his son, Hassan Khomeini, is the superintendent.
At least one author regarded his death as suspicious, stating that "he died in his sleep", without mentioning the heart attack five days prior and subsequent coma.[17] According to Assembly of the Forces of Imam's Line, the Tehran Times reported that the rumors regarding Ahmad Khomeini's death was originally published by Alireza Nourizadeh, an alleged "British spy". Under duress, his son, Hassan Khomeini "confirmed" this, calling the rumors "baseless" and repeated the claim that they were created by a "British spy".[18]
However, non-government sources claim that Ahmad Khomeini was indeed killed after falling foul of the supreme leader revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and the then president, Hashemi Rafsanjani.[19] On multiple occasions, Hassan Khomeini himself publicly claimed that his father was poisoned by the Iranian intelligence agents with the help of pills that his father had received at the hospital.[20]