I think it's also important to note that young, educated, Iranian communists -- living in exile in Europe because of the Shah's hatred of communists -- were the ones who popularized Khomeini's words by recording them in Europe and smuggling them into Iran. Pamphlets were not enough, the rural population was largely illiterate, and since mosques were monitored by the Shah's secret police, the tapes were key.

The communists saw Khomeini and his followers as useful idiots: they intended to use Khomeini's religious rhetoric to whip the masses into an anti-monarchist frenzy, and once the Shah was gone, the communists thought they could take over power.

As we know know, the communists underestimated the Mullahs' power and brutality: once the Shah was gone, the Islamists turned on the communists.

There have been some heart-breaking expressions of remorse from these communists in recent years The Cassette Tapes that caused the Iranian Revolution.