The Satanic Verses controversy in 2000. Meanwhile, in America, the director of the Near East Studies Center at UCLA, George Sabbagh, told an interviewer that Khomeini was "completely within his rights" to call for Rushdie's death. In May 1989 in Beirut, Lebanon, British citizen Jackie Mann was abducted "in response to Iran's fatwa against Salman Rushdie for the publication of book the Satanic Verses and more specifically, for his refuge and protection in the United Kingdom". He joined several Westerners held hostage there. Two months earlier a photograph of three teachers held hostage was released by Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine with
Ayatollah Haj Muhammmad-Hassan Jazayeri was a classmate of Ayatollah Khomeini when at quran school. At the age of 40, he was invited to Ahvaz to be the Supreme Religious leader of all the Imams of Khuzestan. He set the times of prayers (Aathaan) for Khuzestan. He had 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls. He was very respected by the Shah of Iran Mohammmad Reza Pahlavi and his wife Farah Pahlavi. He led a very spiritual life and he was a very important Ayatollah in his time. He died in 1343 (1965) at the age of 73. He was buried in a tomb in