Ghotbzadeh left the Freedom Movement in 1978. He became a close aide of Ayatollah Khomeini when the latter was in exile in France. Ghotbzadeh along with Mostafa Chamran was part of the faction, called “Syrian mafia”, in the court of Khomeini, and there was a feud between his group and the Libya-friendly group, led by Mohammad Montazeri.
Sadegh Ghotbzadeh (1936 – 1982) was a close aide of Ayatollah Khomeini during his 1978 exile in France, and foreign minister during the homeland hostage crisis following the Revolution. In 1982, he was executed for allegedly plotting the assassination of Ayatollah Khomeini and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Ghotbzadeh was born in Isfahan in 1936. He had a sister and a brother. His father was a wealthy lumber merchant.As a student, he was active in the student branch of the National Front following the toppling of Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953.
