Who led the Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic Republic?

• A. Reza Shah Pahlavi
• B. Ayatollah Khomeini
• C. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
• D. Ali Khamenei

Answer: (B)

Ayatollah Khomeini led the revolution that established the Islamic Republic. He had spent years opposing the Shah’s secular, autocratic rule and, after returning from exile in 1979, became the unifying figure who brought together religious scholars, students, workers, and other groups around a vision of governance grounded in Islamic law. His leadership directed the movement’s direction and legitimacy, helping topple the Shah and set up a new constitutional framework with clerical authority at its core, the Islamic Republic under velayat-e faqih. The other figures are connected to earlier times or different phases: Reza Shah Pahlavi founded the dynasty that preceded the revolution; Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was the last Shah who fled during the upheaval; Ali Khamenei would later become the country’s leader, but he did not head the 1979 revolution.