How Imam Khomeini Was Under Siege in Baghdad

Translated by: Zahra Hosseinian

2023-5-10

Ahmad asked me [Dr. Fatemeh Tabatabai] not to talk to anyone about the upcoming plans and the decisions sometimes made. We traveled from Najaf to Karbala by bus in one hour. All the way, I was worried and anxious. When we returned, Ahmed said: ‘We will leave Iraq in two days.’ I was shocked. I asked bewilderedly: ‘What happened? He replied: ‘The situation worsened in these two days, the siege has become more intense, and the Baathist agents haven’t allowed anyone to visit Imam; in fact, the house is under siege. They’ve asked him to refrain from interview with reporters and public speech, and not to make any statements. They’ve imprisoned him in his own house. However, Imam is worried about his friends and says: ‘I’m afraid that my friend be in trouble and the Baathists take worse actions against them in the future. So, I have to leave here as soon as possible.’ Therefore, he decided to travel from here to Kuwait and stay there.’

It was very hard for me to hear these things. ‘We’ve given our passports to Mr. Doaei to get a visa.’ Ahmad continued.

I asked in wonder: ‘Do you think they’ll agree to your departure?’ He answered: ‘I don't know what will happen. They may be prevented due to the obligations between the Iraqi government and the Shah. By the way, Imam decided, and of course, he’s made plans. We should care that no one knows about this. If we left, you don’t stay at home alone! Go and stay with his wife! Our fate is not known, if you want, go back to Iran. When my child was born, tell her/him that his father loves her/him very much. His wife also was told to do whatever she wants and sees fit. It was very difficult to hear and bear these things. It was really a hard time. I tried not to worry Ahmed, but it’s apparently written all over my face. Ahmed once again reviewed the situation of the struggle and his life and said: ‘Today, we’ve reached a more sensitive stage. Of course, there were problems from the beginning of our life, and I was always worried about you because of the unknown fate of me, but today, because I’m with the Imam, and he’s thrown to the wind, from studying to authority and life, he’s taken the path of emigration. The situation is much more difficult, and the risks are greater and wider. You have to be stronger than ever. Of course, devoting religiosity and seeking truth are difficult. Becoming a good human is not easy. Going through a crisis makes a person strong. So, don't let fear enter your heart, and trust only in God; pray for me, and tell my child, daddy Ahmed loves you.’ He hugged and kissed Hassan and said to him: ‘Take care of your mother in my absence!’

I went to Imam’s house while I was confused. His firmness and calmness calmed me down, so that I only thought about staying away from him.

That night [the last night], I stayed at the Imam's house with Masoumeh, our children, and Faridah, who had come from Lebanon. Imam, as always, left the room to rest at the appointed time, and while he is getting up, he said to us: ‘I entrust all of you to God, and I ask for forgiveness from all of you. Be patient! My departure is a divine duty; I can’t avoid the divine duty by being silent. I can't keep quiet to live a comfortable life. If it does so, how can I answer God? An hour and a half before the morning call to prayer, he got up for the night prayer according to his routine. After the Morning Prayer, he left for the journey. When saying goodbye, he once again advised everyone to stand up and persevere and said: ‘Try to make your rise and fall for God. "Qiyamullah" is an uprising that does not have any losses. The uprising for God does not have a specific and definite time and limit, and everywhere and at any time, the man is the addressee of God, who said “Say: I only admonish you with one thing that you stand up for God in pairs and singulars.”

Undoubtedly, such an interpretation of the Quran verse could be the reason for his cheerfulness, patience, and satisfaction in prison, exile, and now in the unknown journey ahead. After they left the house, I looked at the alley. In addition to Imam’s students, an unknown person who didn’t wear turban, also caught my attention. I asked Ahmed who is he? He replied: ‘He is Dr. Yazdi. He came from America to meet Imam. We will take him with us.’

After they left, we each took refuge somewhere. After a while, Imam’s wife invited all of us for breakfast. Everyone said something and analyzed. Someone said: ‘It got very bad.’ Another said: ‘The struggle also causes these problems.’ The other one asked: ‘why go to Kuwait?” And I heard again that he must have had to choose there. These boring questions and answers continued until Imam’s wife interfered and said: ‘There is no use in talking about a decision that had been made and implemented. So, don't waste your time with such useless discussions.’

It was one or two hours before noon when the doorbell rang. A female friend entered, very upset and worried. According to Ahmad’s request, we should not talk about his trip until he settled in Kuwait. She asked crying: ‘Where’s Imam?’ Maryam answered calmly: ‘In his position.’ She asked: ‘Are you sure?’ Maryam replied: ‘Yes.’

That lady entered the courtyard and saw all of us have gathered. She greeted briefly, said goodbye, and left. After a few minutes, the door was knocked again. The housekeeper opened the door. Another woman asked with tears in her eyes: ‘Where’s Imam?’ The housekeeper answered: “he is where he should be.’ she asked again: ‘Can I go to his room?’ The answer was: ‘Yes, but I have to get permission.’ That lady also gave up, and returned.

She went. After a few minutes, the wife of another one of Imam's companions came. After greeting, she asked: ‘What's up?’ We said: ‘What about you?’ She answered: ‘I was at a friend's house; she was very sad.’ I asked her: ‘Why?’ She said: ‘I don't know.’ She didn’t say a word. She asked Imam’s wife whether she has permission to bring that lady here in order to become calm down as always by visiting the Imam’s wife. And then she went.

She returned with her friend who was younger than her. After greetings, she tearfully said: ‘My husband has done unusual things, and he is very bitter for seven or eight days. Whatever I ask him, he does not answer. He comes and goes slowly. I put up with this, but when he came home last night, he had bought some eggs. I asked: “What are these for?” He did not answer. He cooked them and put them in a basket. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw that he was gone.’

After hearing her friend's words, the younger lady said: ‘My husband has also done the same; In the past few days, his behavior has become unusual. Last night he came home with some tomatoes, washed them and put them in a basket. No matter what I asked why you bought so many tomatoes, he didn't answer and left home at midnight.’

They added: ‘We went to our other friend's house to see what was going on there. We did not say anything about our situation. We asked her: ‘Are you alone? Your Husband isn’t at home?’ she replied: ‘Don't get me started that I'm getting crazy’ we sked: ‘What happened?’ she answered: ‘Because my husband came home last night in a depressed mood. He did not answer anything I asked him. I told him that I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I have to go to Baghdad. But he said: Get help from your friends. Put yourself in the place of those whose husbands have been martyred or are in prison. In the midst of these cold conversations, I saw that he had bought some cucumbers. He washed them and put them in a container. I asked: “What did you buy this amount of cucumber for?” He did not answer. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that he had taken the cucumbers and gone.’

The women continued: ‘We went to another friend's house. At first, she put a good face on it. We asked her: ‘What’s going on; where is her husband?’ She, who was more restrained than us and tried to control herself, answered: ‘He is in class. And I'm busy preparing lunch.’ We said to ourselves that maybe her husband did not go with our husbands.

We saw another friend who was in the same status; with furrowed eyebrows and very bitter. We asked her: ‘Why are you upset?’ she answered: ‘Last night my husband bought a package of bread and brought it home and left the house at midnight.’

From these women's words, we found out that a number of Imam's students left Najaf with him, and their purchases were a form of providing food for the journey.

Those ladies realized that they all have a common problem, for which they could not find a solution. They asked wondering: ‘What kind of trip is this? Why they didn’t say anything? Whenever they wanted to travel and told us, we stopped them that now they have done such thing. Near the noon call to prayer, they all returned to their homes with sadness and a lot of unanswered questions and waited for their husbands to return.

It was night and we didn’t hear anything from Imam and his companions. We were very worried. Imam’ wife said that maybe they stayed on the way to rest, eat, or pray, and maybe other things like that, to reduce our worries, but it was of no use. We were getting more anxious every moment, until a person arrived with good news. I do not remember his name. He said: ‘All of them are safe and sound, and they’ve asked me to inform you to prepare a simple meal for Imam. I'll be back in two hours and pick it up.’ While we were happy to hear about Imam, but we were very worried about the message of preparing food, and we found that the Imam has not reached Kuwait. The only way was to ask the messenger, who was supposed to come home at night to take the food. But he didn't say anything either. When he came, we asked him: ‘Where are they now?’ He said: ‘I don't know.’ We asked: ‘How did you find out they are safe and sound?’ He replied: ‘They called me.’ We said: ‘So, where are you taking this food now?’ He wanted to be tight mouthed and not say a word. He gave ambiguous answers, but our anxiety and concern did not allow us to stop asking questions. Therefore, we asked: ‘at least you know where to take this meal, don’t? The message has been delivered to you by phone, but you have to hand over the food somewhere; where is that?’ Seeing our insistence, he said: ‘The fact is that Imam went up to the border of Kuwait, but the Kuwaiti government prevented him from entering. So, he had to return. Now he is in Baghdad, until to go somewhere else, I really don't know where he is? It is supposed to go to Baghdad to reach them where they will tell me.

Upon hearing this news, our concern intensified. We were worried that, what will happen if the Iraqi government does not allow entry while Imam’s and Ahmad's passports are stamped with Exit? Even if he is allowed to enter, in addition to the fatigue of the journey and the heat, the Imam's return to Najaf is very difficult in his scientific, political and social status; because, despite the secrecy of his friends, it was only a few hours before the news of his departure was revealed. And this could be understood from the indirect words that some of them say. Therefore, if Imam returned to Najaf, we should expect the Iraqi authorities to deal more severely with the Imam and his companions and friends, in addition to hearing reprimands.