Editing Iran (section)

=== War and Leadership Transition ===
Khomeini served as leader of the revolution or as [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] from 1979 to his death on 3 June 1989. An early event in the history of the Islamic republic that had a long-term impact was the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. Following the admission of the former Shah of Iran into the United States for cancer treatment, on 4 November 1979, Iranian students [[Iran hostage crisis|seized US embassy personnel]], labeling the embassy a "den of spies."<ref name="carterpbs">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/sfeature/sf_hostage.html PBS, American Experience, Jimmy Carter, "444 Days: America Reacts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119224031/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/sfeature/sf_hostage.html |date=2011-01-19 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref> Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days until January 1981.<ref>Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam, Mark Bowden, p. 127, 200</ref> 

During this political and social crisis, Iraqi leader [[Saddam Hussein]] attempted to take advantage of the disorder of the Revolution, the weakness of the Iranian military and the revolution's antagonism with Western governments. On 22 September 1980, the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the [[Iran–Iraq War]]. The attack took revolutionary Iran completely by surprise.

Although Saddam Hussein's forces made several early advances, Iranian forces had pushed the Iraqi army back into Iraq by 1982. Khomeini sought to [[export of revolution|export his Islamic revolution]] westward into Iraq, especially on the majority Shi'a Arabs living in the country. The war then continued for six more years until 1988, when Khomeini, in his words, "drank the cup of poison" and accepted a truce mediated by the United Nations.

On his deathbed in 1989, [[Khomeini]] appointed a 25-man Constitutional Reform Council which named then president [[Ali Khamenei]] as the next Supreme Leader, and made a number of changes to Iran's constitution.<ref>Abrahamian, ''History of Modern Iran'', (2008), p.182</ref> A smooth transition followed Khomeini's death on 3 June 1989. While Khamenei lacked Khomeini's "charisma and clerical standing", he developed a network of supporters within Iran's armed forces and its economically powerful [[Bonyad|religious foundations]].<ref name="ReferenceA">"Who's in Charge?" by Ervand Abrahamian ''London Review of Books'', 6 November 2008</ref>