When in 1979 the Air France flight carrying ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran after 15 years of exile landed in Tehran, nobody knew what the future had in store. Not the USA, caught by surprise by the events unfolding in what was at the time one of its major allies in the Middle East; nor the Iranians, who were demanding justice and freedom, and had just gotten rid of a government perceived as corrupt and authoritarian; probably not even Khomeini himself. When asked by an American journalist how he felt about his return, he replied: "Hichi” (Nothing). And yet, the seemingly impossible revolution became one of the most significant events of the Twentieth century. What has happened since then? At what cost can the survival of the State be combined with the survival of the Revolution? What is left of the ideals of the revolution, and of the generation of revolutionaries, in the changing Iranian society? And how has the Islamic Republic interacted with a region – and a world – that has often failed to accept its full normalization?
