Imam Khomeini in Huyser's diaries

Irdc.ir: Imam Khomeini, the leader of Islamic Revolution, was being observed by the analysts inside and outside of the country. His political activities against Pahlavi regime was analized and reported to related countries. Huyser's book mentions the political evolution of Iran and analizes the character of Imam Khomeini and his reactions to the Pahlavi regime. Huyser was sent to Iran by Carter in January 1979. His mission was to observe the news and incidents, due to mass of paradoxical unreliable news from Iran. He also had to help Pahlavis to remain in power, and negotiate with Imam Khomeini when necessary. He entered Iran secretly on January 4. Hossein Fardoost notes: "What was Huyser's mission in Tehran? I have no idea. It's weird that he didn't contact me at all and I never met him. I was aware that his office was in the army headquarters and he had some officers at his service. Qarebaqi was in touch with him. The only thing he told me about Huyser's mission was that he had come to remove a device from F-14 planes and remove all the spying Soviet radars from north of Iran".

The firm and strong character of Imam Khomeini is mentioned repeatedly in Huyser's book. He believed that his irreconcilable character was preventing the settlement between the supporters and adversaries of Pahlavi regime, and he thought of it as a deadend sign for Pahlavis. He notes: "The era of the crown is really over. The irreconcilable position of Imam Khomeini, as he had invited the army to join him, his speech about exiling the foreign advisors and etc. were all signs of hard times ahead Shah and his supporters".

Other foreign authorities in Iran had also noticed this aspect of Imam's character. Persons believed that nothing would satisfy him but taking down Shah. Imam generally made deliberate decisions and acted without any middleman. In meetings with the deputies of the West and their supporters, he acted like he didn't care about the discussed subjects. Negotiation as we know it, had no place in his thoughts. There was no way leading to compromise. Huyser was aware of all, so his plan was based on negotiating with him or preventing him from entering Iran. His options were: 1.Trying to postpone his trip peacefuly. 2. Sending Bakhtiar to Paris to negotiate with him and 3. Closing down the airport, even with the cost of conflict with his supporters. The last option was to let him in, and decide about the way to deal with him due to the circumstances.

His message to the army, had a great role in speeding up the revolution. Huyser says: "Ayatollah asked the armed forces not to give up to the orders of foreign advisors, and come back to their own people. He didn't mentioned any individual or any country, but he did what he intended to do. Now the problems were rushing towards us. Most people knew what he was talking about... He had clearly recognized that the relationship between Bakhtiar and the army was standing on his way".

Welcoming Imam Khomeini when he arrived at Tehran, people showed represented the great influence of him once more. Husyer writes: "People had gathered in the streets and it was the time to go check the streets by helicopters. At 8:30 there were 750.000 - 1.000.000 people on the streets. They were moving peacefully and no tension was felt. Millions were heading to the airport to welcome Imam Khomeini".

Until the last moments Huyser was hoping to keep Pahlavis in power. Some mention his plan for a coup. When the army faced lack of fuel because of the protest of the employees of the oil company, Huyser suggested to transfer fuel from US military bases in Bahrain to Tehran. The news raised the hatred towards Huyser. 

Huyser says: "The fire around was eventualy starting to burn." Death to Huyser" was being heard and seen all over the city".

Huyser had to leave Iran just two days after Imam's arrival".