10. Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini was one of the toughest enemies of the United States, and preached against the “Great Satan,” his name for America. He was responsible for the Iranian hostage crisis that basically cost Jimmy Carter the presidency. But reports have emerged recently that suggest a link between Khomeini and the west. A series of cables between Khomeini and the Carter administration were exchanged just before Iran’s Islamic Revolution. It seems that Khomeini was basically begging the United States not to interfere when he returned to Iran, and allow him to stage his revolution. These messages show that once he was in power, Khomeini clearly expressed to the United States that he was not opposed to American interests in Iran. Khomeini had previously expressed support to the Kennedy administration years earlier.
But after a short time in power, Khomeini turned on the US, and it was clear all of his messages to the United States were simply lies in order to gain America’s trust and allow him to travel back to Iran unimpeded by the United States. Later, Khomeini shocked the world by attacking the U.S. embassy and taking several hostages. He later released them immediately after Reagan was elected. He continued to be an enemy of the United States, although many people feel that these newly discovered messages between the two countries is evidence of a conspiracy between Khomeini and the States. Some even go so far as to say that Reagan was in contact with Khomeini and urged him not to release the hostages until after he was elected, in order to make Carter look bad.
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