There have been longstanding theoretical differences among Iranian thinkers regarding the relationship between Islam and democracy or republicanism and Islamism. Given Imam Khomeini’s pivotal role in the dominant discourse, this research is an attempt to study the reading and narratives of Iranian researchers of Imam Khomeini’s thought. In the first place, this will help us find out what narratives are there about the relationship between republicanism and Islamism in Imam Khomeini’s thought; and, secondly it will be useful in finding out the weight of these narratives, which will show which narrative is the dominant one. Employing documental method in studying the findings of the works of Persian researchers inside Iran, attempts have been made to provide answer to the research questions. The findings of this research indicate that there are four narratives about this relationship: The researches arguing that Imam Khomeini had an instrumental approach to republicanism; the researches arguing that Imam’s approach to republicanism was an important and original part of his thought; the researches arguing that Imam’s approach to republicanism was based on the imperatives of time and was an inevitable principle; and the researches that lay emphasis on the legality of the idea of republicanism in Imam’s thought. However, the second approach is the dominant one. Hence, it seems that the understanding of the academic community of Imam’s thought is that of originality of the idea of republicanism in Imam’s thought. Moreover, according to this, there is no essential contradiction between republicanism and Islamism, rather each should take its proper place and analyzed from the same perspective.