Ghotbzadeh left the Freedom Movement in 1978. He became a close aide of Ayatollah Khomeini when the latter was in exile in France. Ghotbzadeh along with Mostafa Chamran was part of the faction, called "Syrian mafia", in the court of Khomeini, and there was a feud between his group and the Libya-friendly group, led by Mohammad Montazeri. Ghotbzadeh was an Amal sympathizer and close to Lebanese Shii cleric Musa Al Sadr. Khomeini appointed him a member of the follow-up mission to search for fate of Al Sadr following the latter's disappearance in August 1978.