It still rankles': the French town living in the shadow of being an ayatollah's refuge

"Every February, members of the Iranian diaspora descend on an abandoned plot of land in an unremarkable street in the French town of Neauphle-le-Chateau, a 90-minute drive west of Paris. On the nominated Sunday, a marquee is hastily thrown up and framed photographs of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini hung on the canvas. Green baize is laid on the muddy garden path between posts painted with equal bands of green, white and red, the colours of the Islamic republic's flag."

"The fact this is commemorated every year in a small town in Ile-de-France evokes a deep grievance among local people, and particularly this year. That their home has become synonymous with a regime in Tehran accused of killing thousands, some say tens of thousands, in a continuing crackdown, feels, they say, like a betrayal. Rather than remembering, they would rather forget. People prefer not to speak of it."

Every February, members of the Iranian diaspora gather on an abandoned plot in Neauphle-le-Chateau to commemorate Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, erecting a marquee, displaying framed photographs, and decorating the path with green baize and flag-coloured posts. The event marks Khomeini's four-month stay in the town in the late 1970s before his return to Tehran as leader of the Islamic revolution. Many local residents feel deep grievance that their town has become associated with a regime accused of killing thousands in a continuing crackdown. Locals say the sanctuary was imposed without consultation and express a preference to forget and avoid the topic.

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