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.
