Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (روح‌اللّه مصطفوی موسوی خمینی, Persian pronunciation: [ruːholˈlɑːhe muːsæˈviːje xomeiˈniː], 22 or 24 September 1902 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader — a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation – until his death.

Khomeini was a marja ("source of emulation") in Twelver Shi'a Islam, author of more than forty books, but is primarily known for his political activities. He spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last Shah. In his writings and preachings he expanded the Shi'a Usuli theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult (clerical authority)" to include theocratic political rule by the Islamic jurists. This principle (though not known to the wider public before the revolution) was installed in the new Iranian constitution after being put to a referendum.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

Seyyed Hassan Khomeini (born 3 December 1972, Persian: سيد حسن خمينی) is a "mid-ranking"Iranian cleric. He is the grandson [1] of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, and son of the late Hojat-Ol Eslam Ahmad Khomeini. His mother is Fatemeh Tabatabai. Of Khomeini's 15 grandchildren he has been called "the most prominent" and the one "who many think could have a promising political future." He is in charge of Mausoleum of Khomeini where his grandfather and father are buried, and has had official meetings with officials such as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. He is also studying in the holy city of Qom, and is expected soon to publish his first book on Islamic sects.

He has been described as having "expressed frustration with some policies of a regime dominated by fundamentalists," such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In an interview in February 2008, Hassan spoke out against military interference in politics. Soon after, in what some observers believe may have been retaliation, an article in a publication tied to president Ahmadinejad accused him of corruption, "claiming that he drove a BMW, backed rich politicians and was indifferent to the suffering of the poor." this was "the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic" that one of Khomeini's offspring was "publicly insulted," according to the Iranian daily newspaper Kargozaran. More recently, Hassan met with reformers before the 2009 election and has met personally with defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi and "supported his call to cancel the election results."