Forced exile empowered Khomeini even further, providing him with the freedom to speak out against Iran's ruling élite. "He became the main speaker of the opposition inside Iran... he was continuously attacking the Shah's brutality and because of that he gained the popular support of the people," says Ebrahim Yazdi, who was Iran's deputy prime minister in 1979.
The charismatic religious scholar managed to overthrow one of the strongest and most oppressive régimes in the world - and set Iran on a collision course with the West. But who was Ayatollah Khomeini and what is his legacy? Al Jazeera spoke to those who knew the man behind a revolution that shook the world. This documentary was originally broadcast on Al Jazeera English in January 2009
