Banisadr, Iran's First President After 1979 Revolution, Dies

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : Banisadr became a member of the cleric's Revolutionary Council and became the head of the country's Foreign Ministry just days after the Nov. 4, 1979, seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by hard-line students.
53% : 'Even in the womb, I was a revolutionary'Born March 22, 1933, in Hamadan, Iran, Banisadr grew up in a religious family.
51% : Tape recordings of Khomeini's statements were sold in Europe and delivered to Iran.
50% : Those differences only isolated him as the nationalist sought to implement a socialist style economy in Iran underpinned by a deep Shiite faith instilled in him by his cleric father.
49% : He authored books and tracts on socialism and Islam, ideas that would guide him later after entering Khomeini's inner circle.
47% : True power remained firmly wielded by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, whom Banisadr worked with in exile in France and followed back to Tehran amid the revolution.
42% : "For me, it was absolutely sure, but not for Khomeini and not for lots of others inside Iran," Banisadr told the AP in 2019.
38% : Abolhassan Banisadr, Iran's first president after the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution who fled Tehran after being impeached for challenging the growing power of clerics as the nation became a theocracy, died Saturday.
38% : Those messages laid the groundwork for Khomeini's return after the shah, fatally ill, fled Iran in early 1979, though the cleric remained unsure he had the support, Banisadr once said.
38% : After leaving Iran, Banisadr and Rajavi formed the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
37% : However, after Reagan's 1981 inauguration, U.S. arms began flowing to Iran through Israel in what would become known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
36% : Banisadr would never consolidate his grip on the government he supposedly led as events far beyond his control -- including the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis and the invasion of Iran by Iraq -- only added to the tumult that followed the revolution.
33% : Banisadr would withdraw from the council in 1984 after the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq partnered with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as his war against Iran continued.

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