My Reading Notes

Unrest in Iran

Continuing Dreyfuss' Hostage to Khomeini;

August 1978; Trouble for a year, since Jan 1978 speech by Carter praising Iran as an "Island of Stability"; (visible revolts began after this speech);
Shah had changed prime ministers a year earlier, the new PM slowed the development push, oriented investment towards agriculture and away from industrialization and high tech sectors;

New PM also adopted curious position viz the clegery; superficially he was opposed to them, but his actions only accelerated their campaign; Unilaterally suspended the payments the regime had been making to the clergy, causing signs of unrest in the mosques; A police raid against an Ayatollah in May 1978 fueld the unrest;

Shah continued placing trust in the SAVAK;

Man in charge of SAVAK was General Hossein Fardoust, childhood friend of the shah's who went to school w/ him in Switzerland (Le Rosey) in the 1930s; Fardoust was the ringleader of the "inside" track of the revolution; He organized support for the Revolution in the military "Americans have decided to get rid of the Shah, we have to save ourselves; will you join us?" would be his question; Fardoust was probabl;y put in charge of Khomeini's secret police, the Savama; His home was linked to Dec 1979 murder of Prince Shariq in Paris;

In August 1978, terrorism hit Iran; 400 peopel died on August 19 when a fire ranged through the Rex Cinema in Abadan; charges that SAVAK was involved;

Most Iranians understood that the movement led by Khomeini was being organized in London;
The government created instant unemployment by halting development projects; arriving in cities, these peasants were shunted right into the mob violence that was gaining new strength w/ every new action;

Not a political revolution, but a process of cult building; of conditioning a fearful and desparate battering ram into self-destruction; drugged by opium and told by the Mullah's they be saved if they died;
In sept 1978, the Shah declared martial law; that it had not been declared motnsh earlier was due to AI; 500 demonstrators were killed in "black friday";

Then, word got out that the White House had decided to get rid of the Shah;
(*) French columnist Paul Marie de al Gorce reported: "It was clear, over hte last several days, that the calcultions of the Shah aiming to reconcile the moderate elements fo thei Shiite clergy was in the process of failure. There were other solutions being prepared in other Washington cirlces";

posted by Paul Sholtz @ 4:46 PM