Tom Odom wrote:

"But the collapse of American influence in Iran cannot simply be laid at his feet. It started well before Carter assumed the office of President. And the Shah himself--with his extravagant life style and excess along with the SAVAK did much to set the ground for Khomeini."
Agreed. CIA operations in Iran were crippled under Nixon and Kissinger at the Shah's behest, a policy the Carter administration continued and compounded by refusing to listen to what little information that could be gleaned by the IC regarding Khomeini's actual intentions. The State Department bears responsibility here for encouraging and reinforcing Carter's naive delusions in regard to the 1979 revolution.