Ayatollah Khomeini had been in exile for more than 14 years

For more than 14 years, Ayatollah Khomeini had been in exile, mostly in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf. On November 4, 1964, he was originally dispatched to Turkey, where he spent less than a year in Bursa. After then, he was welcomed at his home by Turkish Colonel Ali Cetiner of the Turkish military intelligence organization.

He was then given permission to go to Najaf, Iraq, in October 1965, and he stayed there up until Vice President Saddam Hossein forcibly ordered him to leave in 1978. He then moved to Neauphle le Château in France.

Ayatollah Khomeini delivered a series of lectures on the Islamic government in Najaf in the early 1970s while having been in exile, these lectures were eventually collected in a book with the working titles Islamic government or right guardian of Islamic jurists. One of his most well-known and significant pieces expressing his opinions on government at the time is this one.

However, Ayatollah Khomeini took cautious not to spread his views on clerical control outside of his Muslim network, which he developed and solidified over the course of the following decade. Copies of lectures on cassette that vehemently criticized the Shah, such as "Jewish agent, American snake struck by a rock," gained popularity in the Iranian market and contributed to the fall of the Shah's and his reign's dignity.

Ayatollah Khomeini's reputation and power developed with the opposition. Reporters, admirers, and celebrities clamored to interview him during the final few months of his life in exile in order to learn more about the spiritual leader of the revolution.