Iran’s First President Accuses Khomeini of Betraying 1979 Islamic Revolution, Reports Reuters

By John Irish and Michaela Cabrera

VERSAILLES, France – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini betrayed the principles of the Iranian revolution following his rise to power in 1979, according to his first president, leaving a "very bitter" taste among those who returned with him to Tehran in triumph.

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who has opposed Tehran’s clerical rulers ever since he was ousted from office and fled abroad in 1981, reflected on how he believed, four decades ago in Paris, that Khomeini’s Islamic revolution would lead to a path of democracy and human rights after the Shah’s regime.

"When we were in France, everything we shared with him was embraced; he announced it like it was scripture without hesitation," recalled Bani-Sadr, now 85, during an interview at his home in Versailles, where he has resided since 1981. "We were convinced that a religious leader had committed to these principles, marking a historic change for our country."

Khomeini had fled Iran in the mid-1960s, avoiding a crackdown on his teachings by the Shah, and eventually settled in a modest home in a village near Paris, where he ignited unrest in Iran and fostered the future Islamist revolution.

Bani-Sadr, the son of a prominent Shi’ite cleric and a former economics student in Paris, had strong family connections with Khomeini and aided his relocation to France after periods spent in Turkey and Iraq, becoming one of his closest aides.

"France was the hub for ideas and information, which is why he chose it after Kuwait refused to host him," Bani-Sadr explained. "During his time in France, he was an advocate for freedom; he feared that the movement might not succeed and that he might have to remain there."

For many Western observers, Khomeini seemed to embrace a modern interpretation of Islam that separated religion from politics, suggesting that Iran would move away from the Shah’s dictatorship. However, Bani-Sadr noted a drastic change upon Khomeini’s return to Iran. "When he descended from the plane, he transformed… The mullahs influenced him, redirecting his destiny towards the dictatorship we witness today."

Bani-Sadr was elected president on February 5, 1980, through a popular vote. Yet under the new Islamic Republic’s constitution, Khomeini held the true power—a scenario that has persisted since his death in 1989 under his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Bani-Sadr recounted visiting Khomeini in Qom months after their return, expressing concern over pressure from religious authorities to impose the veil on women, which contradicted promises made in Paris that women would have the right to choose. Khomeini responded that while he had made convenient statements in France, he was not bound to them and would say the opposite if necessary. "It was a very, very bitter moment for me," Bani-Sadr recalled.

Despite his disillusionment and extended exile, Bani-Sadr stated he did not regret being part of the revolution. He cautioned that economic sanctions aimed at Iran by former U.S. President Donald Trump would only backfire, ultimately harming the ordinary Iranian populace while reinforcing the existing regime.

"If the Trump administration had left Iran alone, you would see that the system is much more fragile than imagined. We don’t need another revolution," he remarked.