I was reading about Abolhassan Banisadr, the first president of Iran, in wikipedia, but it did not answer all my questions about him. Why was he impeached? I know wikipedia sucks, but that is the only place I could find anything at the time. I am curious for more details. Here is what wikipedia said: Abolhassan Banisadr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Banisadr was impeached on June 21, 1981 by the Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) in his absence, allegedly because of his moves against the clerics in power, in particular Mohammad Beheshti, the head of the judicial system at the time. Khomeini himself appears to have instigated the impeachment, which he signed the next day. Even before Khomeini had signed the impeachment papers, the Pasdaran had seized the Presidential buildings and gardens and imprisoned newspaper writers who worked for a newspaper closely tied to Banisadr. Over the next few days, they also executed several of his closest friends, including Hossein Navab, Rashid Sadrolhefazi, and Manouchehr Massoudi. Montazeri was among the few people in the government in support of Banisadr, but he was soon stripped of his powers and jailed. It was revealed later that the group of guards who were assigned to capture Banisadr were told to kill him rather than get him to jail. At the same time the Iranian goverment made all parties (except Islamic Republic Party party) illegal and government forces arrested and imprisoned the members of other parties such as People's Mujahedin , Fadaian Khalgh, Toodeh, and Paikar. Banisadr went into hiding two days after his removal, and hid in remote areas of western Iran, protected by the People's Mujahedin (PMOI) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). He attempted to organize an alliance of anti-Khomeini factions to retake power, including the PMOI, KDP, and the Fedaian Organisation (Minority), while eschewing any contact with pro-Shah exile groups. He met numerous times while in hiding with PMOI leader Massoud Rajavi to plan an alliance, but after the execution on July 27 of PMOI member Mohammadreza Saadati, Banisadr and Rajavi concluded that it was unsafe to remain in Iran. On July 28, they were smuggled aboard an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707 piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, which followed a routine flight plan before deviating out of Iranian airspace, and eventually landing in Paris. In exile in Paris, Banisadr and Rajavi were given political asylum, with the proviso that they not engage in anti-Khomeini activities from France. This restriction was effectively ignored once France had evacuated its embassy in Tehran, and Banisadr with Rajavi set up the National Council of Resistance of Iran. However, soon after founding the council Banisadr fell out with Rajavi accusing him of having dictatorship and violent ideologies. Furthermore, Banisadr opposed the armed opposition as initiated and sustained by Rajavi and sought support for the Iranian side during the Iran-Iraq war." I am curious for more details. What exactly did Banisadr do to make the ayatollah so mad he executed everyone associated with him?
Here are more details. One cannot help but wonder it the two helicopter crashes were really assassination attempts. This is copied from this website: Abolhassan Banisadr - Biography of Abolhassan Banisadr ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Banisadr was not an Islamic cleric: Ayatollah Khomeini had insisted that clerics should not run for positions in the government (he changed his mind later). In August and September, 1980, Banisadr survived two helicopter crashes near the Iranian border with Iraq. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Banisadr soon had a falling-out with Ayatollah Khomeini, because he did not accept Ayatollah's Khomeini's condition to remain quiet, and let the opposition groups be destroyed. Mr. Khomeini sent him an ultimatum. Something to the effect of either you remain quiet, and you will have all the powers, or oppose this, and you will be done. Banisadr sent him many letters, and warned against dictatorship. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 2ndly, he had also uncovered, illegal diplomatic relations between candidate of presidency in USA, Ronald Reagan and some leaders of the Islamic Republic Party ran by Mr. Beheshti, and had formally complained to Iran's Justice department for investigation. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3rdly, Banisadr's popularity was rising, because after 6 months of war which started because Mr. Sadam Hosein invaded Iran using Iraqee armies full force, and with the blessing of US; Iraq, and some of the gulf region countries had aggreed to pay repairation, about $60 Billion, and basically, agreed to all Iranian terms for stopping the war. Mr. Rafsanjani argued, that if they let Banisadr finish the war, he will sit on his tank, and march to Tehran, and not even Khomeini would be able to touch him. The famous quote from Mr. Rafsanjani in one of the secret meeting where Mr. Hosein Khomeini was present, "It is better if half of Iran is destroyed than for Banisadr to have won the war". ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Accusing Banisadr of a weak performance in leading Iranian troops in the Iran-Iraq War, Khomeini forever stripped the Presidency from holding the power of commander-in-chief and instead assigned it to his own office on June 10, 1980. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Banisadr was impeached on June 21, 1981 by the Iranian parliament, allegedly because of his moves against the clerics in power, most specifically Mohammad Beheshti, head of judicial system at the time. Ayatollah Khomeini appears to have instigated the impeachment, which he signed the next day, on June 22. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Even, before Ayatollah Khomeini had signed the impeachment papers, they Coup-de'eta Pasdaran, who were guided by Mr. Rafsanjani, or May be Mr. Beheshti, had seized the presidential areas, and imprisoned newspaper writers which worked for a newspaper closely tied to Mr. Banisadr. In the next few days they also executed several of his closest friends, including Mr. Hossein Navab, Rashid Sadrolhefazi, and Manouchehr Massoudi. It was revealed later, that the group who were tasked to capture Mr. Banisadr, were told to finish him off, even before he gets to the jail. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Banisadr soon left Iran to reveal the organic and secret relationship between Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, and Reaganisem. He fled to France along with Masoud Radjavi ,leader of Mojahedin,, where (as of 2005) he still lives, has published many articles about Iran.
