Shayan Ghajar

The grandsons of Ayatollah Khomeini, the father of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, paid a visit last week to the family of Seyyed Ali Mousavi, the slain nephew of prominent opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi.

The late Ayatollah’s grandsons, Hassan Khomeini, the current patriarch of the family, and Yaser Khomeini, gave their condolences to the Moussavi family for the murder of Ali Moussavi on Ashura, the Shii’te day of mourning for the Prophet’s grandson Imam Hossein. The opposition movement alleges he was murdered by government agents as a warning to Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Hassan Khomeini is a known supporter of Mir Hossein Moussavi. As the head of the Khomeini family and as the custodian of his grandfather Ayatollah Khomeini’s tomb—which is an important religious and national site in post-revolution Iran—Hassan Khomeini is a symbol of his grandfather’s legacy.

Consequently, Hassan Khomeini’s support for Moussavi and the opposition is a thorn in the side of the hardliners in the government and provides yet another example of a schism between moderate conservatives and hardliners.

The past few months have seen a fierce battle in the Iranian political sphere over who represents Ayatollah Khomeini’s legacy. Hardliners accused the opposition in December, 2009 of desecrating a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini. Opposition web sites responded with dozens of editorials quoting Ayatollah Khomeini and discussing the ways in which the Green Movement is a return to the original principles and ideals of the Islamic Revolution.

This visit by Hassan and Yaser Khomeini to the Mousavi family is yet another blow to the hardliners’ claims to be the defenders of Ayatollah Khomeini’s legacy.