HISTORYAT A GLANCE |
The Coming of the Revolution(Part 3.)
fired into a crowd of demonstrators at Tehran's Jaleh Square. A large number of
protesters, certainly many more than the official figure of eighty-seven, were
killed. The Jaleh Square shooting came to be known as "Black Friday." It
considerably radicalized the opposition movement and made Scattered strikes had occurred in a few private sector and government
industries between June and August 1978. Beginning in September, workers in the
public sector began to go on strike on a large scale. When the demands of
strikers for improved salary and working benefits were quickly met by the
Sharif-Emami government, oil workers and civil servants made demands for changes
in the political system. The unavailability of fuel oil and freight transport
and shortages of raw materials resulting from a customs strike led to the
shutting down of most private sector industries in November.
On November 5, 1978, after violent demonstrations in Tehran, the shah
replaced Sharif-Emami with General Gholam-Reza Azhari, commander of the Imperial
Guard. The shah, addressing the nation for the first time in many months,
declared he had heard the people's "revolutionary message," promised to correct
past mistakes, and urged a period of quiet and order so that the government
could undertake the necessary reforms. Presumably to placate public opinion, the
shah allowed the arrest of 132 former leaders and government officials,
including former Prime Minister Hoveyda, a former chief of SAVAK, and several
former cabinet ministers. He also ordered the release of more than 1,000
political prisoners, including a Khomeini associate, Ayatollah Hosain Ali
Montazeri.
The appointment of a government dominated by the military brought about some
short-lived abatement in the strike fever, and oil production improved. Khomeini
dismissed the shah's promises as worthless, however, and called for continued
protests. The Azhari government did not, as expected, use coercion to bring
striking government workers back to work. The strikes resumed, virtually
shutting down the government, and clashes between demonstrators and troops
became a daily occurrence. On December 9 and 10, 1978, in the largest
antigovernment demonstrations in a year, several hundred thousand persons
participated in marches in Tehran and the provinces to mark Moharram, the month
in which Shia mourning occurs.
In December 1978, the shah finally began exploratory talks with members of
the moderate opposition. Discussions with Karim Sanjabi proved unfruitful: the
National Front leader was bound by his agreement with Khomeini. At the end of
December another National Front leader, Shapour Bakhtiar, agreed to form a
government on condition the shah leave the country. Bakhtiar secured a vote of
confidence from the two houses of the Majlis on January 3, 1979, and presented
his cabinet to the shah three days later. The shah, announcing he was going
abroad for a short holiday, left the country on January 16, 1979. As his
aircraft took off, celebrations broke out across the country.
compromise with
the regime, even by the moderates, less likely. In October the Iraqi
authorities, unable to persuade Khomeini to refrain from further political
activity, expelled him from the country. Khomeini went to France and established
his headquarters at Neauphle-le-Ch�teau, outside Paris. Khomeini's arrival in
France provided new impetus to the revolutionary movement. It gave Khomeini and
his movement exposure in the world press and media. It made possible easy
telephone communication with lieutenants in Tehran and other Iranian cities,
thus permitting better coordination of the opposition movement. It allowed
Iranian political and religious leaders, who were cut off from Khomeini while he
was in Iraq, to visit him for direct consultations. One of these visitors was
National Front leader Karim Sanjabi. After a meeting with Khomeini early in
November 1978, Sanjabi issued a three-point statement that for the first time
committed the National Front to the Khomeini demand for the deposition of the
shah and the establishment of a government that would be "democratic and
Islamic."
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