TEHRAN, June 14 (UPI) -- The grandson of Iran's revolutionary Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini says the republic has devolved into a dictatorship that should be toppled by other countries.
Speaking to the al-Arabiya network on the 17th anniversary of the republic's founding by his late grandfather, Ayatollah Hussein Khomeini denounced the "dictatorship of clerics" leading the fundamentalist Islamist state.
"My grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course," he said.
He went on to suggest U.S. President George Bush should send troops to occupy Iran, al-Arabiya said.
"Freedom must come to Iran in any possible way, whether through internal or external developments. If you were a prisoner, what would you do?" Khomeini told the network.
He said while he personally favors women wearing a hijab, or veil, Iran needed to "pass a law which makes the wearing of the hijab an optional choice for Iranian women."
For the last three years, Iran has kept Khomeini under surveillance and has banned him from giving interviews to the Iranian media, the Middle East Media Research Institute said.
