After the 12-day Israel-Iran war, an unexpected village in India has entered global focus. Kintoor, a village in Uttar Pradesh, is the ancestral home of Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. His grandfather, Syed Ahmad Musavi, was born there before migrating to Iran in the 1800s via Iraq, retaining “Hindi” in his name to honor his Indian roots. Khomeini’s rise from this legacy shaped modern Iran’s theocratic system. As geopolitical tensions rise, Kintoor’s forgotten link now highlights a deep historical and cultural bridge between India and Iran.
