Khomeini decides to travel to France

Officials and local elites tied to Rastakhiz could no longer present it as a channel for popular participation.

Dissolution did not satisfy a movement increasingly committed to ending monarchical rule.

After nearly thirteen years in Iraq, he left when authorities made continued political activity impossible.

Border authorities denied him admission, preventing relocation to another neighboring Muslim country.

The attempted move drew attention to efforts by regional governments to contain the Iranian revolutionary message.

His arrival in France unexpectedly placed the exiled leader within reach of global journalists and Iranian activists abroad.

Frequent interviews helped transmit revolutionary demands to audiences inside and outside Iran.

Telephone links, cassettes and visiting supporters accelerated communication with the movement.

The move to France expanded rather than reduced Khomeini's political influence.

The village outside Paris became the principal public center of the revolutionary leadership in exile.