Imam Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Al-Musawi Al-Khomeini: A Journalistic Perspective – Mohamed Hassanein Heikal as a Model

Abstract

The personality of Imam Ayatollah Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini (may God be pleased with him) was and still is the focus of attention and interest of the Islamic and Arab world alike, especially after the rise and success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran was linked to him, which had a geopolitical impact, on the political and military levels, in the regional and international environment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which adopted a political system for which Imam Khomeini (may God be pleased with him) laid solid foundations, and accordingly Iran transformed from a dictatorial monarchy supported by the West, primarily the United States of America, to an Islamic republican system according to the rule of the jurist, the most prominent features of which are hostility to the United States of America and”Israel". Iran thus emerged from the axis of imperialist alliances to the axis of resistance to imperialism and Zionism. Therefore, these political liberal changes in the Islamic Republic of Iran were a source of interest and follow-up for the international and Arab press, which sought by all means to explore this unique experience, and among the most prominent journalists who undertook this task were The Egyptian journalist and writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, whose interest in Iranian affairs dates back to 1951, when he published his first book on the subject entitled (Iran on a Volcano), then followed it up in 1982 with another book entitled (The Ayatollah’s Cannons: The Story of Iran and the Revolution), so that Iran, according to Mohamed Hassanein Heikal’s vision, would become one of the main influential states in the Arab world, especially after the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.