From the airport Imam Khomeini was driven through the packed streets towards the Behesht- e Zahra cemetery on the south side of the city. Mohsen Rafi qdust drove the car – no simple task, because more than once it was mobbed and almost overwhelmed by the crowd. Rafiqdust later said that he nearly lost control several times. Several of Khomeini’s followers rode on the outside of the vehicle (a white four- wheel- drive) to fend off the people, and Rafi qdust drove bumper- to- bumper behind a Mercedes bus some of the way so that the bus could force a way through (and to prevent people jumping on the front of the car or going under the wheels). Imam Khomeini’s son Ahmad accompanied him – as they went along, Ahmad had to explain to his father where they were, because building over the previous fi fteen years had transformed this part of the city. Eventually the crowds in the streets became so thick that a helicopter had to take him the last part of the way. At Behesht- e Zahra, Imam Khomeini spoke again, denouncing Mohammad Reza Shah and the remnants of his government under Bakhtiar: [The Shah] destroyed our country and filled our cemeteries. He ruined our country’s economy. Even the projects he carried out in the name of progress pushed the country towards decadence. He suppressed our culture, annihilated people and destroyed all our manpower resources. We are saying this man, his government, his Majlis are all illegal. If they were to continue to stay in power, we would treat them as criminals and would try them as criminals. I shall appoint my own government. I shall slap this government in the mouth.
Revolution at the Heart of Monarchy: Arrival of Angel and Departure of the Demon
