Some time in early November 1978 an initially secret Council of the Islamic Revolution had been formed at Khomeini’s behest to coordinate action against the Shah’s government. Now Imam Khomeini and the Council set up their base at the Refah school, near the parliament building in the centre of the city. The school had been founded in 1968 to educate girls according to Islamic principles; several personalities associated with the school were signifi cant in the revolutionary movement. Khomeini gave a press conference there on 3 February, again urging the military not to use their weapons against the people. The Council had already made contact with some of the leaders of the armed forces, and with the US ambassador, William H. Sullivan, but their first priority was to set up a provisional government to supplant that of Shapur Bakhtiar. On 5 February, Imam Khomeini announced the appointment of Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister of the provisional government. Bazargan agreed to this only after a day or more of reflection, and after warning Khomeini of his continuing commitment to democratic, moderate principles. There were some striking similarities in the political backgrounds of Bakhtiar and Bazargan – also in the political predicaments in which they found themselves. Both had a lifelong commitment to liberal, democratic, nationalist principles – the principles of the revolution of 1905 – 11and the constitution of 1906 . Both had been educated in France at the end of the 1930s, and while there both had volunteered to fight with the French against the Nazis. Bakhtiar had served in the nationalist government of Mohammad Mossadeq in the early 1950s as deputy minister of labour; Bazargan had been the first head of the nationalized oil company (the National Iranian Oil Company) at the same time. There were differences; Bakhtiar came from a privileged position as a member of one of the leading families of the Bakhtiari tribe, had studied politics in Paris and had a more secular outlook, refl ecting also the influence of Mossadeq and his membership of Mossadeq’s National Front.
Imam Khomeini and a New Paradigm for Interaction of Power and People
