Student Leads Marchers; Rally Held in Westwood : Some L.A. Muslims Mourn While Others Are Celebrating

Nearly 300 Muslims marched in a procession in Los Angeles on Sunday to express their grief over the death of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini but thousands more gathered later in Westwood rally to celebrate the passing of the impassioned religious and political leader of Iran.

“We are very sad and sorrowful,” said Mohammed Hassani, a USC student leading the pro-Khomeini ceremony. Hassani carried one of several ribbon-draped portraits of the imam and, with the crowd, chanted, “Long live the Islamic movement.”

The marchers gathered at the Islamic Center of Southern California at 4th Street and Vermont and proceeded to Wilshire without incident.

Hundreds of Muslims inside the center prayed for Khomeini and at least several wept.

Reflections on Death

“We suspended our regular program and we dedicated the program to reflections on the death of Ayatollah Khomeini,” said Dr. Maher Hathout, the center’s director. “Our people felt the loss of one effective, successful leader who toppled a tyrant regime.”

Meanwhile, leaders of the anti-Khomeini rally passed out candy, balloons and small Iranian flags. “We are celebrating his death and the death of a brutal regime,” said Ardavan Mofid, 43.

But many Iranians in the Little Tehran section of Westwood expressed concern about what would now happen in Iran.

“Most people are happy, but they’re worrying what’s next,” said Mohammed Sharif, 26. “People are happy because maybe there won’t be any more killing, any more killing of innocent people.”

Iran’s parliamentary assembly named President Ali Khamenei as the new spiritual leader, but some Western analysts were predicting Sunday that Khomeini’s passing could lead to civil strife in a country already ravaged by a now-ended war with neighboring Iraq.

‘Like Lebanon’

Several Iranians agreed. “I think it’s going to be like Lebanon,” said David Cohen, 32, an employee of Persian Books in Westwood. “There is going to be fighting in the streets.”

Many Iranians were dependent on television and radio broadcasts for the latest news. “I can’t reach any of my family,” said Cohen. “They cut the wires.”

Few Iranians interviewed said they expected to return home any time soon.

Parisa Zadeh, 20, left Iran in 1985 after living for several years under Khomeini’s regime. “I still love Iran very much, “ she said. “But I don’t think I will go back.”

Khosrow Taleghani, 31, and Zadeh said there was euphoria in Iran when Khomeini ousted the Shah in 1979 and rallied their compatriots around the idea of a global Islamic community.

“When the ayatollah came to power during the revolution, he was popular,” said Taleghani. “Iran then was one of the best places in the world to live. People were happy.”

But after the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Iran in November, 1979, Taleghani and Zadeh said the mood in Iran worsened because of inflation, international conflicts and a splintering of factions among Khomeini’s followers.

‘Mode of Crisis’

“He ran the country under a mode of crisis, one after another,” said Taleghani. “Now, God is in crisis in Iran. People had strong religious beliefs but they were shaken fundamentally.”

But Khomeini’s backers criticized Iranians who denounced him.

“I think they have not yet grasped the range of the revolution, which stands for the rights of the oppressed and weak,” said one supporter. “The thoughts and teachings of the imam are planted in the hearts of millions of Muslims. In the coming years, you will see the strength of the revolution.”

Elsewhere, former U.S. Embassy hostage Barry Rosen told reporters in New York after learning of Khomeini’s death: “I do feel to a certain degree that that part of the nightmare is over.”

Warren Christopher, former U.S. State Department negotiator and now a Los Angeles attorney, commented: “I felt so long as he was alive there would be little improvement in U.S.-Iran relations. He had such a monstrous hatred for the U.S.”

Asked whether Khomeini’s death would boost hopes of freeing Western hostages held in Lebanon by supporters of Iran, Christopher said: “Iran certainly plays a significant role in that. His hatred so dominated the relationship we couldn’t go forward. Over time, I would expect a more favorable relationship.”

Added former Beirut hostage Father Lawrence M. Jenco: “I hope that the Beirut hostages now also have a chance to be free.”