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Going into exile was a long-established tradition in Iranian politics. Before Khomeini seized power there were virtually no political killings in the country. Those who won always spared the lives of the defeated by sending them into exile or banishing them to remote provinces. The reason for this magnanimity was that the winners and losers in Iranian politics were often related by blood or marriage: they could not put a member of the family to death. Khomeini, however, brought to power entirely new groups: people who had no relationship to the preceding rulers. Thus the losers could be massacred by the winners. (p. 260) (it) |
