Third World Solidarity and Anti-Apartheid Advocacy
Despite his confrontations with the West, Khomeini developed close ideological ties with anti-colonial and anti-apartheid movements. The Iranian media, under his direction, regularly covered non-Muslim revolutionary groups such as the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, the African National Congress (ANC), and the Irish Republican Army. He condemned the apartheid regime in South Africa, earning admiration from figures like Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. During the U.S. embassy hostage crisis, he ordered the release of African-American and female staffers as a symbolic act of solidarity against racial oppression.
Views on Economics
Khomeini expressed deep concern for the mustazafin—the oppressed and dispossessed. He envisioned an Islamic economy that would ensure social justice, fight poverty, and eliminate class disparity. However, he famously dismissed the science of economics as irrelevant to Islam, saying, “Economics is for donkeys.”
His disdain for economic theory contributed to erratic fiscal policies and inefficiencies. Although institutions like the Foundation of the Oppressed (Bonyad-e Mostazafan) were created to redistribute wealth, corruption and mismanagement plagued these efforts. By the 1990s, shantytown dwellers and war veterans rioted over poor living conditions, reflecting the regime’s failure to fulfill its populist economic promises.