Role of Sheikh Sadeq Khalkhali in Islamic Republic’s Confrontation with the So-called Liberal Current

After the victory of Islamic Revolution in Iran, the so-called Liberal political groups such as the National Front and to some extent Freedom Movement of Iran publicized their belief in Westernization, nationalization, and secularism. They had their own attitudes toward the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic system of government. These groups gradually opposed the Islamic Republic system. Sheikh Sadeq Khalkhali, a senior official and a member of the Imam’s Line of Thinking, played a key role in confronting these groups.
The principal question of this paper is this: How and why the confrontation between forces loyal to Imam’s Line of Thinking and Liberals took place and what was the role of Sheikh Sadeq Khalkhali?
The answer to this question will be found through a descriptive-analytical method.
This paper hypothesizes that the confrontation between Imam’s Line of Thinking and the Liberals was due to the type of their world view and their attitude toward the role of religion in politics and the nature of the government.
The findings of this paper show that the two political groupings maintained opposing world view and political perspectives, wherein Khalkhali has played a key role in handling this confrontation.