The World - News from March 22, 1987

Iran’s leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, appealed for national unity, “particularly among those in charge,” in an address broadcast live over national television and radio to mark the Persian New Year. In the address, monitored in Nicosia, Cyprus, Kohmeini urged Iranians “from whatever stratum and tribe they may be,” to “safeguard their fraternity and remain brothers.”Khomeini did not mention any specific discord among authorities or institutions. But foreign observers noted indications of a power struggle between a faction aligned with Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, and one backing the Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, designated Khomeini’s successor.