Hussein Khomeini
Iranian scholar and reformist cleric (born 1959)
Hojat ol-eslam Sayyid Hussein Khomeini (Persian: سید حسین خمینی; born 1958–1959) is an Iranian scholar and reformist cleric. He is the grandson of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the son of Ruhollah's first son, Mostafa Khomeini, and his wife, Masoumeh Haeri Yazdi, daughter of Morteza Haeri Yazdi.
Views
Unlike his grandfather, Khomeini is a liberal secularist and an outspoken critic of the theocratic Islamist government in Iran. Khomeini has denounced the Iranian government as the "dictatorship of clerics". In 2003, he declared Iran's reformist movement "finished", questioned the theocratic principle of velayat-e faqih, and "called for a referendum to decide how the country should be governed in the future." He has also advocated for a nonclassical interpretation of Islamic law applied in the country.
His mentor is thought to be Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri. However, Montazeri was against the invasion of Iraq and called for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. In strong contrast to his grandfather's politics, Khomeini is a cleric who has spoken out against the Islamic Republic system. He is sympathetic to American neoconservatives, and has lectured at the American Enterprise Institute.
Arrest
Hossein Khomeini was arrested in 1981 for saying "the new dictatorship established in religious form is worse than that of the Shah and the Mongols." He was then placed "under virtual house arrest."
Trips outside Iran
After the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, Hossein relocated to the holy city of Karbala.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hussein Khomeini” is iranian scholar and reformist cleric (born 1959). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hussein, Khomeini and Iranian, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “iranian scholar and reformist cleric (born 1959)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5949822. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1959, 2003 and 1981.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hussein Khomeini”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hussein Khomeini primary sources, Hussein Khomeini archive and Hussein research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hussein Khomeini”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hussein Khomeini” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.