In his treatise on Islamic governance, Iran’s revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, raged at the idea of political leadership passing down through family lines. Monarchy and hereditary succession were “sinister” and “evil” and “invalid,” he wrote. They “have no place in Islam.” The revolution that he led, in 1979, centered on ending dynastic rule in Iran, specifically of the U.S.-backed Pahlavi family. The Islamic Republic has, nevertheless, just created a new dynasty. Early on Monday morning, amid the pounding of U.S. and Israeli bombs, Tehran defiantly announced, on state-contro
In his treatise on Islamic governance, Iran’s revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, raged at the idea of political leadership passing down through family lines. Monarchy and hereditary succession were “sinister” and “evil” and “invalid,” he wrote. They “have no place in Islam.” The revolution that he led, in 1979, centered on ending dynastic rule in Iran, specifically of the U.S.-backed Pahlavi family. The Islamic Republic has, nevertheless, just created a new dynasty. Early on Monday morning, amid the pounding of U.S. and Israeli bombs, Tehran defiantly announced, on state-contro