The situation in Iran; the Shah’s American reforms

The situation in Iran; the Shah’s American reforms

ID: 41948 | Date: 2015/12/08


Speech


 


Date:  October 13, 1978 [Mehr 21, 1357 AHS / Dhul-Qadah 10, 1398 AH]


Place:  Neauphle-le-Château,  Paris ,  France


Subject:  The situation in  Iran ; the Shah’s American reforms


Addressees:  A group of Iranian students and residents in  Paris


 


 


In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful 


 


The Iraqi government and prevention of the Imam’s political activities


As a result of pressure from the Iranian government,  Iraq  asked us to    back down somewhat and to put an end to our activities against  Iran . I    refused this request. Then they sent an official notice to me via the Security    Organization of Najaf which I took from them and put to one side I did not    reply to the notice but instead continued with my activities. It was about a    year later that their relentless pursuit intensified, that being the time when we    had become increasingly active and when, in addition to making statements    and engaging in other activities, I had also begun to give interviews to  Le    Monde  and other foreign newspapers. [1]  This time the head of Public Security [2]     came to see me in person. He reiterated former requests, saying something to    the effect that I could engage in whatever activities I chose but that I was not    to give interviews. This was of no concern to me for I was not used to giving    interviews anyway. I therefore gave him no reply. Later however, I gave yet    another interview with some people who had come from  France , following   
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which the latter were detained by the Iraqis as they were leaving my house.     After this it was stressed that I was to treat Iraq as my own home—to use    their own words—and that I was to live as I pleased, but I was not to engage    in political activities. The gist of their argument was that a clergyman should    confine himself to preaching and to discussing religious questions, to which I    replied: “Islam is not separate from politics. Islam is not like religions found    elsewhere, it is not like other religions which confine themselves to prayer    and worship. In Islam, politics is seen in the same light as other religious    precepts. Hence, I shall continue to interfere in political affairs; I shall both    issue statements and record my messages on cassette tapes; and should I    deem it necessary, I shall say what I have to say from the pulpit for this is a    religious duty of mine.” They then said: “But we have certain commitments    toward the Iranian government in the light of which we cannot allow this    kind of thing to take place.” I responded by saying something like: “That    may well be so, but I too have certain commitments toward Islam and toward    the Iranian nation; and I too am unable to ignore these commitments.” Our    discussion ended with them again saying that I was not to engage in political    activities, and with me saying that I had every intention of continuing to be    engaged in such activities. They then placed me under house arrest. It wasn’t    that they told me not to leave my home of course, but it was a case of them    preventing anyone from entering it. Those Iranians who used to visit me in    my home were now prevented from doing so, and on one day in particular all    but two or three people from a group of religious students were refused    permission to see me. Thus throughout this period I did not leave my home,   
‎ and this gave rise to certain incidents in  Iran  of which you are all aware.    Then I realized that were I to remain at home and do nothing, and were I to    confine my activities to studying and…then this would be against my    principles.


 


Silence, contrary to conscience and faith


Many lives have now been lost in  Iran . They have killed both children    and adults, and they continue to do so, on a daily basis. This kind of thing is    also going on now in the universities. The newspapers in  Iran  tell of how,    either yesterday or the day before, eighty-odd, eighty-five people were    wounded in the university. It is plain to see what went on—the Iranian    government has given the go-ahead and so many have been killed as a    result. [5]  They are attacking this nation tooth and nail. Not only do they take    whatever the people of this nation possess away from them, they are now    taking away their lives too. How can we sit by and watch while things like    this are taking place? How can our consciences permit us, how can our faith    permit us to sit by and watch while they gun down and kill the children of    Islam? We shall make our voices heard as much as we possibly can, as much    as the various governments allow us to, in order to tell the world of the kind    of situation that prevails in  Iran .


 


Fruitlessness of a military government


I doubt whether any other nation is like that of  Iran  at the present time,    for right now  Iran  is being governed throughout by martial law. Martial law    has been enforced in all the major Iranian cities—that is in about twelve    cities which constitute the principal cities of the country—and it is also in    force elsewhere in  Iran , meaning that the Iranian military is now running the    country. [6]  And now, according to the regime, a member of the military is to   
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become the Prime Minister. They say that Fereidun Jam is to become Prime    Minister. He too is a member of the armed forces. But no matter what they    do, these people (the regime) can no longer survive. The Shah can no longer    survive, other than under the military flag or behind the bayonets of the    military—a military which itself is being held at the point of the bayonets of    America . Who knows whether the Iranian army would in fact continue to    obey the regime as it now does if it weren’t for the American bayonet. The    army has also now awakened; it too is comprised of human beings; it too is    Iranian; it too can see what is going on in  Iran . Not a day goes by without the    people showing their discontent in some city or other, upon which they are    immediately beaten and killed or whatever.  


 


Human rights claims, tool with which a weak nation is plundered


But in spite of the present state of  Iran , despite the turbulent situation    which now prevails in this country, these great nation states make claim to    being philanthropists! They claim to support human rights! This is sheer    nonsense. These things which they have set up for the sake of human rights,    security and so on, neither provide security for mankind nor do they protect    their rights. The whole set-up is to enable them to devour these weaker    nations. All of the efforts which are seen to be made by these ‘superpowers’    toward the protection of human rights etc., are but a cover-up; they form part    of an organized plan—the plan being for these ‘superpowers’ to devour the    Eastern countries, the weaker countries. 


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‎ There are many reserves in the East. [8]  There are many oil reserves in the    East; in  Kuwait  for example, [9]  or the Hijaz, [10]  or in  Iran . [11]  Yes, here the reserves    are so great that all of these foreigners have their eyes fixed on them, and    they are just being allowed to take them away free of charge. Do you imagine    that  America  gives  Iran  money for these reserves? Indeed not; instead it    establishes a military base for itself there and these weapons which they    claim to have sold to Iran have in fact been given in exchange for oil. They    are the weapons which  America  itself wants to have in  Iran  along with its    military bases, so that it can ensure that the  Soviet Union  never launches an    attack. It is not a case of them having given us something. This is all part of a    game they are playing with us.


 


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‎ The true colors of socialists and communists


These ‘superpowers’ which go by different names—one being called    ‘communist’, another ‘communist China’, yet another being called ‘socialist’    whatever, and again others being known as some ‘-ist’ or other—these are all    out to devour us irrespective of their names. At least four thousand were    killed during the wholesale massacre which took place in Tehran [12] —one    report put this figure at twenty thousand but this is an exaggeration, the    actual figure being four thousand; four thousand is the figure which is    repeatedly quoted and which has been said to agree with the number of    burials performed at that time at Tehran’s cemetery. [13]  Yet you all saw how,    on that very same day, as these very murders were being committed, the    leader of ‘communist’ China—a China which is said to be ‘communist’,    which supposedly advocates fairness with the people and so on, and which    some of our youngsters mistakenly regard as worthy of emulation—came to    Iran and shook hands with this tyrant, the Shah. He never uttered a word    about what was going on, but instead offered the Shah his support. [14]  He didn’t    even bother to ask why on earth the Shah was killing these people or what    they had done to deserve this. What they had in fact done was to say that they    want freedom and to demand other human rights. They had said that they    want to be free; their cry was for freedom and independence. But    nevertheless, this Chinese Premier didn’t even bother to point out that these   
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were human beings that were being killed; nor did he take the trouble to ask    why they were being treated so. They are now killing small children, primary    school children; it is as if adults were no longer within their reach.  The news    of such occurrences reaches us here on a daily basis. Even within the last two    or three days they killed a number of small primary school children    somewhere—twelve small boys and girls were killed by them on this    occasion. Yet this person never said a thing to that vicious individual (the    Shah) to ask what on earth he was doing. Instead he came and shook hands    with him. The two greeted each other with open arms, and later the Chinese    leader departed, laughing as he did so at the poor masses of people he was    leaving behind him in the troubled country of  Iran . Our youngsters are    mistaken; they are making a grave mistake in believing that these communist    people can serve them in any way. As for those who sit in the Kremlin, their    country actually expressed its support for the Shah in the Russian press with    regard to Khordad 15—the day that 15,000 Iranian people were killed. And it    has now expressed support for the Shah again, despite all the killings which    take place in some Iranian city or other each day. These (imperialist powers)    only do these things because one of them wants  Iran ’s gas, and another wants    its oil: one is taking the country’s gas, and the other its oil.  They are all    trying to keep this weak nation in a state of backwardness; they are trying to    ensure that it does not wake up. Their propagandists and the propaganda    disseminated by them always carry a message which is anti-religion and anti-   clergy in an attempt to alienate the people from these two forces. They want    to drive a wedge both between the people and religious faith, and between    the people and the clergy, leaving the people to quarrel among themselves   
‎ while they sit back and make the most of the situation.  We are to lose lives    while Muhammad Rida Khan is to capitalize from the situation: his superiors    having even more to gain than himself from this state of affairs.


 


The meaning of ‘freedom’ and ‘progressive society’ from Carter’s view


What is this nation left with? What remains for the people other than    suppression and military rule; other than martial law; other than the beating    and killing of whoever ventures out of his home? The situation in which  Iran     now finds itself is an exceptional situation. Just consider whether a similar    situation exists at all anywhere else in the world. Is there anywhere else in    the world where martial law is in force throughout the entire country; a    martial law which cannot be lifted? Indeed, they can’t lift martial law in  Iran     even if they want to, because the people are in a defiant state; they are    standing up and challenging the regime. Even now, while martial law is in    force they are standing their ground. But just what is it they are shouting as    they stand in confrontation? Are they saying that which Mr. Carter said    yesterday? Mr. Carter had said that the Shah is only too willing to grant    freedom to the people; that he wants to grant absolute freedom and create a    progressive country, a progressive society, but that the people of  Iran  oppose    this! [18]  So it is a case of the people having risen up in opposition because they    don’t want freedom and the Shah wanting to force it upon them at bayonet-   point! (Laughter from the audience). Bayonets are being used to bludgeon    people into accepting freedom! People don’t want a ‘progressive’ society, so    the bayonet has come and said: “You have to want it!” One is made to    wonder about this Mr. Carter. Does he know no better than this? Or is this    the best trick he can pull? Is he trying to fool someone? Who on earth is he   
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trying to fool? Perhaps he wants to fool those who are oblivious of the    situation in  Iran , those who are unaware of what is going on there, because    both you and I are fully aware of what is presently going on in the country,    and we know only too well what the people want and what they are shouting    out.


 


Land reforms, the foundation of poverty and homelessness


The people are shouting: “We want our oil to be ours for goodness sake;    we want our country’s agriculture to return to what it once was.” They have    truly made a mess of our agriculture. These ‘land reforms’ which were    proposed by the gentleman himself (the Shah) and about which he spoke so    grandiloquently, were ‘land reforms’ which were to be implemented in    accordance with the orders of the American government. These reforms were    to take place in order to create a market in which the Americans could sell    their goods: that is to say our agriculture was to fall into ruin, rendering us    dependent upon others for our agricultural needs. [19]  And sure enough, today    we can see how whatever we want has to come from abroad. This is the state    to which our agriculture has been reduced; and that is what they did to it for    it to end up this way i.e. they introduced ‘land reforms.’ Naturally, people    poured into the cities; those poor farmers who could no longer live there on    the land poured into the cities and into  Tehran . [20]  Many shanty towns can now   
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be seen in  Tehran —between 30 and 40, according to the report sent to me—   which consist of homes made from mud, homes which have nothing; or of    small tents in each of which ten family members have to live throughout the    bitter cold winter. These homes have no water. They are situated in a deep pit    from where some fifty to sixty steps have to be climbed in order to reach the    street’s surface. Once the surface has been reached and water has been    collected, it then has to be taken all the way back down these steps again to    be given to the children. But why have things turned out this way? It is    because he (the Shah) ordered for ‘land reforms’ to be carried out! It was    these land reforms which caused the peasants’ undoing and which    consequently forced them to make for the towns. Thus they indeed came to    the towns and this is the result. Those poor souls ended up living like this and    our agriculture ended up in ruins. According to experts and those who have    made the necessary calculations, Iran, which was once an important    agricultural centre whose province of Azerbaijan alone probably produced    enough agricultural produce to meet the needs of the entire nation, the    country’s remaining produce having to be exported, now has only enough    agricultural produce to meet domestic demand for a thirty-three-day period,    its remaining needs having to be brought in from abroad!


 


The nation’s protest against the Shah and America


Not surprisingly, the Iranian people united in protest. All Iranians are    now expressing discontent and strike action is being taken nationwide. If the    military and this military law were removed, the people would dispose of this    regime in no time, because they have seen its evilness. Can the case really be    that they want to give these people freedom, but it is the people who do not    like to live in comfort?! Don’t these people like to have a good life?! Do they    insist on having to sleep in holes beneath the ground?! Or is it in fact that    these poor people can see how their wealth is being taken away while they   
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are having to live beneath the ground, and it is to this situation that they    object? Yes, this is what they are in fact shouting. So look at what Mr. Carter    has said and look at what the people are saying. The people are asking why    their oil is being taken away, and free of charge at that. They (the    imperialists) take away our oil and the gentlemen here say that they have    bought weapons in its stead. But what do you want with weapons? The    weapons they have bought are weapons with which  Iran  is unfamiliar.  Iran     cannot put these weapons into use. These things which the imperialists have    manufactured can only be operated by the fiends themselves; those in  Iran     don’t know how to operate them. Foreign advisers came to  Iran  to establish a    presence there. They have gone to turn our regime into a parasitic regime,    which indeed it now is, and to study better ways to partake of this prize catch    and to keep things the way they are. They want to maintain the status quo    and for the Iranian nation to say nothing. A nation that speaks up is an    uncivilized nation! The nation that cries out: “For heavens sake, allow us to    be free” is an uncivilized nation! A nation that cries out: “Don’t devour our    wealth” is an uncivilized nation! But they, the imperialists and their puppets,    are not uncivilized. They are progressive. They have to devour the people’s    wealth. They have to pillage and plunder! Our nation, from its small children    to its elderly, is now making its discontent heard because the people can see    their country collapsing before their very eyes; they can see it disintegrating.    Instead of the regime heeding the nation’s cries, as indeed it ought, we see    how people are losing their lives and how their children are being killed, and    the regime insists that this is something which it has to do. Therefore it    continues to kill. Hence, there you have the current state of affairs in  Iran  and    the way things stand between these powerful governments and ourselves.


We are duty-bound. You and I who are now seated here, have a duty to    join the Iranian people in their cries of protest; that is we must do what we    can to help them. And in doing so we will actually be helping ourselves and    not some outsiders, for the people in  Iran  have risen up in revolt for your    sakes. Their blood is now being spilled for your sakes. It is for you that their    children are being killed—their youngsters, their sons and their daughters.     We must help these people. We mustn’t think that because we are here,    abroad, then we are not obliged to help them. Our consciences, our religion,    and reason, all oblige us to join the people in their struggle, to offer these    oppressed people our support—these people who have risen up in revolt with    the intention of claiming what is rightly theirs and what is rightly ours also.     We can write an article or have something printed in the press. We can tell    the people here, abroad, including those in the universities which we attend,   
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as much as possible about what is happening there in  Iran . You are to    publicize these issues. My good men, no matter where you may be, each and    every one of you must make the situation in  Iran  known to the public. Speak    out and do so from the bottom of your hearts. Even though the newspapers    here sometimes write about these issues, this is not good enough; it must    come from you—you are the ones who must do the talking or the writing.     The whole world must be made aware of this agitated state in which  Iran     now finds itself.


 


Iranians will never surrender 


If a whole nation stands up and demands its rights, then there is nothing    the bayonet can do to stop it. The bayonet is by no means capable of taking    on the human flesh in combat. It is a mistake to believe that human flesh    alone cannot fight against the bayonet. Once a nation unanimously refuses to    do something, even if all the great powers in the world join forces, they    cannot force that nation to comply. They cannot now force  Iran  to accept the    Shah; they are simply not able to do this. The Shah has been placed upon the    Iranian throne; but the people do not accept him as their ruler. They cry out    that they don’t want the Shah. None of the people have ever been prepared to    consent to this matter. The Iranian people have never, and will never resign    themselves to this disgrace, for they have seen how this person has let go of    whatever was best for Islam and for the country, while at the same time he    has claimed to have granted freedom to the people and to have made the    country progress! We can all see for ourselves what is happening in our    country; and this is the progress of which he speaks. As for freedom, this he    has granted us at the point of a bayonet! 


 


To assist the movement, everyone’s duty


We have a duty to do all we can to serve the people in  Iran ; to help those    helpless souls, to help those who have lost their young. We are human beings    and must therefore do all we can to serve them. Yet helping them also means    helping ourselves, meaning that we along with other Iranians are all partners    and all stand to share whatever assets the country may have. Were our    country autonomous, were it independent and in a state of calm, then we too    would be able to live in calm and comfort for we too are a part of that    country. Those in  Iran  have risen in revolt and we too must follow suit. It is    no use making apologies with the excuse of being in Europe or  America  or    wherever, while they who have risen are in  Iran . This is no excuse.  Although    you are abroad those of you who are in America are to assist in this struggle   
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as much as you can; those of you who are in Paris are to assist in this struggle    as much as you can; I too, who am here in Paris, am to assist as much as I    can. Now, as I am holding an audience with you, I can fulfill my duty by    speaking to you and by advising you; and this is something which I shall    continue to do. You in turn must speak to your friends, with those who are    resident here in  Paris , with those who live abroad or wherever; and together    you must decide how to help this movement which is under way. Never    before has history witnessed a movement like that which is now taking place    in  Iran . Never before in Iranian history has there been such a movement    whereby the whole of  Iran  has risen up together; where small children have    shouted: “Death to the Shah”; where old men have also cried out: “Death to    the Shah”. No—such a movement has never been witnessed before in  Iran .    Do not allow this movement to fade away, keep it alive so that we can get rid    of those who now rule us, so we can get rid of this governing body and    replace it with an honorable, uncorrupt government.


May God Almighty preserve you all; may you be successful. May God    Almighty remove this evil from rule over the Muslims; may He remove the    evil of these ‘superpowers’ so they will never again appoint their puppets to    rule over the Muslim lands (the audience cries “Amen”). 


Someone in the audience:  [“May God preserve you.”]


Imam:  “May you be successful.”


 


 


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  • Imam was not fond of giving press interviews. He himself explained the reason for this when he said: “The international press are more concerned with sensationalism and tittle-tattle than with the misfortunes of the Iranian people or the repression they have to suffer”. On April 24, 1978 (Ordibehesht 4, 1357 AHS], Lucien George, a correspondent for the illustrious and widely-read French newspaper Le Monde, made a request to interview Imam Khomeini. For a long time, those in the West had been waiting for Imam to agree to speak to them to find out the reason for his opposition to the Shah’s regime and to discover what his future plans were with regard to the revolution—that is, they wanted to hear Imam himself, this great ShiAh marja, explain the reasons behind the national and religious struggle. Initially Imam did not want to consent to an interview with Le Monde, but once he became aware of the paper’s past record and of how it had published certain truths in the past about the state of Iran thus disclosing some of the crimes committed by the Shah, he eventually granted their request to interview him. The interview which was subsequently held was totally frank and explicit and turned out to be extremely important, for it had a truly positive impact and stirred much interest in the West, not least because of the paper’s high reputation and its wide readership.

  • The Security Organization.

  • On September 14, 1978 [Shahrivar 23, 1357 AHS], a group of news reporters from French radio and television came to Baghdad, supposedly in response to an invitation by the Iraqi Radio and Television Broadcasting Company. During the night, this group secretly made for Najaf where they visited Imam and conducted an interview with him. Once the interview and filming had finished, the Iraqis, who had somehow found out about the whole affair, detained the French reporters. Friends of Imam managed to hide the sound tapes on which the interview had been recorded, but any film and photographs taken during the interview were destroyed by the Iraqis.

  • Because of Imam’s house arrest, none of his messages were transmitted for a two-week period. Meanwhile, a flood of letters protesting about the situation in Najaf began to arrive. Maraji, ulama, clergymen and various Iranian political groups and figures from both within Iran and from abroad objected to the Iraqi government’s actions. In addition, workers, civil servants and members of the bazaar inside Iran expressed their disgust at the behavior of both Iran and Iraq by engaging in a general shutdown and strike. Strike action was taken on September 24 [Mehr 2] by workers at the Abadan oil refinery; on September 25 by employees of the Tehran Telecommunications Company; on September 27 by workers at the Khark oil refinery; and on September 29 by employees of the Water Board and the State Railways.

  • See the IttilaAt newspaper of October 15, 1978 [Mehr 23, 1357 AHS].

  • Isfahan was the first city in which martial law was declared. On Thursday and Friday, August 10 and 11, 1978 [Mordad 19-20, 1357 AHS], huge demonstrations and marches were staged in this city, which, due to the intervention of government troops, resulted in a vast number of demonstrators being killed and wounded and a number being held in custody. It was following this that on August 11, 1978, martial law was declared in Isfahan. The first statement to be made by the military governor of Isfahan (Major General Rida Naji), announced the imposition of a curfew which prohibited the circulation of people between 8 pm and 6 am, and declared the formation of any kind of social grouping in excess of three people categorically forbidden. The following day, Saturday, August 12, 1978, martial law was also declared in Najafabad. Due to the movement’s expansion and the continued demonstrations, on September 8, 1978 [Shahrivar 17, 1357 AHS], an official statement was issued which announced that in addition to Isfahan, martial law was also to be declared in Tehran, Qum, Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz, Kazerun, Abadan, Ahwaz, Karaj, Qazvin and Jahram. Between 2 pm on Saturday, February 9, 1978, and the morning of Sunday, February 10, the military governor of Tehran issued four different statements numbered 40, 41, 42, and 43. Statement number 40 specified that the hours of curfew were to be from 4.30 pm until 5 am. However, word immediately spread throughout the city that Imam Khomeini had proclaimed the military governor to be without legitimate authority, and thus people were not to obey these regulations. On hearing this, people began to collect sand and sacks and by building barricades across the streets they in effect broke the imposed curfew. Some of these people carried side arms and were covered by a group of youngsters who were equipped with firearms, and who turned the streets into fields of combat during the hours of the curfew.

  • Fereidun Jam, the first husband of Shams Pahlavi and a general and commanding officer of the armed forces, later became appointed as the Iranian ambassador to France. He came to Iran during Bakhtiyar’s premiership, and it was rumored that he had refused an offer of a position in the Ministry of Defense, after which he went to England. Mr. Jam, who was sixty-four years old at the time, said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph: “Iran has a bleak future; a future stained with blood.” For further information on this loyal monarchist refer to the memoirs of the former General Husayn Fardust in The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty, vol. 1, pp. 63, 244.

  • Apart from the oil of Iran, Arabia and Kuwait, the amount of oil produced by other Eastern countries was as follows:Iraq - 31 billion barrels in 1980Oman - 2.4 billion barrels in 1980Qatar - 5.6 billion barrels in 1978United Arab Emirates - 31.3 billion barrels in 1978Syria - 2 billion barrels in 1980Bahrain - 270 million barrels in 1978

  • Kuwait possesses almost 20% of the world’s oil deposits. This oil is extracted by the National Oil Company of Kuwait in which the Kuwaiti government has a 60% shareholding, the remaining shares belonging to American, British and Japanese companies. Kuwait’s oil reserves amounted to over 65.4 billion barrels in 1980 and its enormous fields of gas reserves are seen as one of the country’s great national assets. Seventy-five percent of Kuwait’s national revenue comes from oil, 15% from foreign investment and trade and the remainder from non-oil industries.

  • Oil was firstly discovered in the Hijaz in the year 1933 and began to be exported from this country from the year 1938. The Hijaz has the capability of extracting 12 million barrels of oil per day, an amount which it can potentially increase to 16 million barrels. In 1984 its daily oil production amounted to between 7 and 8 million barrels and its total oil reserves have been estimated at approximately 160 billion barrels which constitutes 25% of the globe’s proven reserves! Other estimates of the oil reserves in the Hijaz however, have quoted an even greater figure of 250 billion barrels. For a more extensive report refer to OPEC va Atharat-e Takhribi- ye Qaymat-e Naft [OPEC and the Destructive Effects of the Oil Price], p. 73.

  • Massive oil reserves are to be found in many parts of Iran such as Khuzestan, Bakhtaran, Lorestan, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Gorgan, Mazandaran, Semnan, Qum and Baluchistan. The major oilfields in which oil extraction currently takes place comprise: the oil wells of Masjid- e Sulayman, Haftgol, Aqajari, Paznan, Gachsaran, Ahwaz in addition to other wells situated in both on-land and off-shore regions. In 1971, Iran’s oil reserves were estimated at 80 billion barrels (although the book OPEC va Atharat-e Takhribi-ye Qaymat-e Naft quotes a figure of 58 billion barrels). Yet forecasts made by experts suggest that Iran’s actual oil reserves in fact greatly exceed its proven reserves. For further information refer to Naft, Siyasat va Kudeta [Oil, Politics and Coup], vol. 3, from p. 146 onwards.

  • Once the demonstration and marches staged on Thursday, September 7, 1978 (Shahrivar 16, 1357 AHS) had come to an end, it was announced that the following day’s demonstration was to take place at Shuhada Square (Zhaleh Square). On Friday morning people set off to reach the Square and by about 6 am those who had gathered numbered 100,000 people. However, armed forces had cordoned off the Square on all four sides and their rifles were aimed toward the people from all directions. At this point the unexpected announcement declaring that martial law was in force both in Tehran and ten other cities was made over the radio and the regime’s forces immediately began to fire at the people. On this day, which later became known as “Black Friday”, over 4,000 were actually martyred and hundreds wounded. The Shah’s regime, however, announced that only 58 people had been killed and 25 wounded!

  • The bodies of a number of those martyred on Black Friday [Shahrivar 17] were laid to rest in a section of Behesht-e Zahra cemetery which has since been named “The Martyrs of Shahrivar 17”.

  • On August 29, 1978 [Shahrivar 7, 1357 AHS], just when the movement was escalating, Hua Kuo-feng, the Chinese Premier, came to Iran by invitation of the Shah on a four-day visit. His stay coincided both with the dissolution of Jamshid Amuzegar’s government and the appointment of Sharif Imami’s government, and with the burning of the Rex Cinema in Abadan. The Shah boastfully sensationalized the fact that great nation states such as China still regarded him as a powerful sovereign and that they had pledged their support for him. Hua Kuo-feng, however, was hopeful that by accepting the Shah’s invitation to come to Iran, he would be able to gain further important concessions from her.

  • For further information concerning the participation of school-children in demonstrations and their embroilment with martial law officers, refer to the newspapers published at that time.

  • It refers to those misled and uninformed youngsters who, as a result of political propaganda, espouse Communism.

  • Later the followers of Socialism went even further, whereby on June 8, 1963 [Khordad 18, 1342 AHS], only three days after the bloody event of Khordad 15 when many were martyred, the newspaper Ezvestia of the official Communist Party in Russia, wrote: “Yesterday in the capital of Iran (Tehran), as well as in Mashhad, Qum and other major religious centers of that country, groups of revolutionaries were encouraged to create riots by the religious leaders. They were opposing the governments land reforms and took advantage of the fact that this coincided with the religious ceremonies performed annually to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. Shooting proved to be an unsuccessful plea to stop. A few young fanatics looted shops and several cars were overturned. The implementation of anti-feudalist land reforms and the decision to give women the right to vote was opposed by land owners and religious leaders from the very start; and now these reactionaries are trying to move from verbal to active opposition” (published in IttilaAt and Kayhan, June 10, 1963).

  • On October 15, the IttilaAt newspaper quotes Carter as saying: “Strategically-speaking, enjoying good relations with a strong and independent Iran is a matter of vital importance.” Carter then pays tribute to the Shah for having established ‘democratic principles’ in Iran saying: “We are aware of the fact that certain people…oppose the establishment of democracy. This current opposition to the Shah has arisen due to the establishment of democratic principles in Iran, a country where anti-government demonstrations have recently been incited by Leftists and Conservatives”! Carter thus held that the reason for the people’s opposition to the Shah was that they had been ‘granted freedom’! Furthermore, in a meeting held on June 7, 1978 [Khordad 17, 1357 AHS] with the Iranian Affairs Investigative Committee for the Shah-People Revolution, the Shah said: “True patriots must tolerate the turmoil which has arisen for the present and they are only to make a move when the time is ripe… There are those who claim that the granting of freedom has given rise to this uproar and has been the cause of attacks on banks and of window-smashing. Nevertheless, I say to you that this is the price we have to pay in order to achieve our goal—that being to grant as much freedom as possible within the constraints of the law.” Refer to Rastakhiz, June 7, 1978.

  • Land Reform was one of the main principles of neo-colonialism, which was urged on all the countries under the dominance of colonialism, from Latin America to Asia and Africa, and was implemented by the governments of these countries in a very similar manner. In 1962 [1342 AHS], the Shah launched the land reform program as the first tenet of his six-point ‘White Revolution,’ later renamed the ‘Shah-People Revolution.’ This ‘Revolution’ was not a revolution at all, rather it was put into effect on the one hand to win the confidence of American capitalism; to show his approval of and co-operation with the new strategy; and to open a new market for the Western economy, and on the other to curb internal discontent and actually prevent a revolution! The reform program, which was dependent on foreign, especially American investment, dragged the Iranian agrarian economy into bankruptcy, such that a few years after its implementation the country had been changed from a wheat exporter to a major wheat importer. In addition, as a result of the migration of villagers into the towns and cities and their attraction as a cheap work force to the industries and the service sector, over a period of eleven years from 1966-1977 [1345-56 AHS], 20,000 Iranian villages became uninhabited! Refer to Farhang-e Danestaniha, p. 239 and Tarikh-e Novin-e Iran [The Modern History of Iran], p. 219.

  • Before the so-called ‘White Revolution’, 25% of Iran’s entire population resided in cities, while the remainder worked as cattle or crop farmers in villages and small towns. Implementation of the tenets of the ‘White Revolution’ caused the population of Tehran to rise from 1,300,000 in 1961, to 3,000,000 in 1971, 4,500,000 in 1975 and 5,500,000 in 1978! Rural migration came about because the government appropriated the farmers’ land which it then used to set up agricultural shareholding companies. These companies however, did not have the expertise of specialists and experts to draw on; and following the development of various companies in both agriculture and industry, the remaining land which had been shared among the farmers was also snatched from the latter by giant investment companies both in Iran and abroad. As a consequence, the farmers’ situation seriously deteriorated. Hence, in a state of poverty and misery they automatically became drawn to the big cities where the lure of city life, the privilege of working for the foreign-affiliated industrial factories and the prospect of easily-obtained employment offered new hope. However, their migration not only upset the urban way of life but also critically impaired the agriculture in Iran, whereby Iran very soon became transformed into a consumer market for foreign goods. Refer to the memoirs of the former General Husayn Fardust in The Rise and Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty, vol. 1, p. 273.