Iran Will Permit Khomeini To Return

TEHRAN. Iran--The Iranian government yesterday said Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, the exiled Islamic religious leader, could return to Iran.

Government officials gave Air France permission to fly the Ayatullah from his exile in France to Iran. Meanwhile the American Embassy ordered U.S. government dependents out of Iran "at the earliest feasible date" because of attacks on three Americans.

Khomeini will return to continue his efforts to replace the constitutional monarchy headed by Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar with an Islamic Republic.

The Ayatullah was a major force in the demonstrations which forced Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to leave the country for what many believe is a permanent exile.

The Iranian announcement said Khomeini could return early Wednesday, but his spokesman in Paris said the trip would be delayed.

Khomeini is expected to name an Islamic revolutionary council upon arrival and to outline his proposals for an Islamic state.

A spokesman for Khomeini said the Ayatullah will not return until Thursday so that the welcome could be bigger. Sources here said the government decided to let Khomeini return because it would be impossible to keep the popular religious leader out and the airports closed for a long period of time.

The evacuation of American government dependents was ordered after two Americans were beaten by a crowd of angry Iranians in Isfahan late Monday following a shooting in which an Iranian taxi driver was wounded.

A year of strikes and riots backed by Khomeini forced the Shah from the country on an indefinite "vacation." The Shah is in Morocco but has not announced future plans.