HISTORYAT A GLANCE |
The Coming of the Revolution(Part 4.)
Once installed as prime minister, Bakhtiar took several measures designed to
appeal to elements in the opposition movement. He lifted restrictions on the
press; the newspapers, on strike since November, resumed publication. He set
free remaining political prisoners and promised the dissolution of SAVAK, the
lifting of martial law, and free elections. He announced Iran's withdrawal from
CENTO, canceled US$7 billion worth of arms orders from the United States, and
announced Iran would no longer sell oil to South Africa or Israel. Although
Bakhtiar won the qualified support of moderate clerics like Shariatmadari, his
measures did not win him the support of Khomeini and the main opposition
elements, who were now committed to the overthrow of the monarchy and the
establishment of a new political order. The National Front, with which Bakhtiar
had been associated for nearly thirty years, expelled him from the movement.
Khomeini declared Bakhtiar's government illegal. Bazargan, in Khomeini's name,
persuaded the oil workers to pump enough oil to ease domestic hardship, however,
and some normalcy returned Bakhtiar sought unsuccessfully to persuade Khomeini to postpone his return to
Iran until conditions in the country were normalized. Khomeini refused to
receive a member of the regency council Bakhtiar sent as an emissary to Paris
and after some hesitation rejected Bakhtiar's offer to come to Paris personally
for consultations. Bakhtiar's attempt to prevent Khomeini's imminent return by
closing the Mehrabad Airport at Tehran on January 26, 1979, proved to be only a
stopgap measure.
Khomeini arrived in Tehran from Paris on February 1, 1979, received a
rapturous welcome from millions of Iranians, and announced he would "smash in
the mouth of the Bakhtiar government." He labeled the government illegal and
called for the strikes and demonstrations to continue. A girls' secondary school
at which Khomeini established his headquarters in Tehran became the center of
opposition activity. A multitude of decisions, and the coordination of the
opposition movement, were handled here by what came to be known as the
komiteh-ye Imam, or the Imam's committee. On February 5, Khomeini named Mehdi
Bazargan as prime minister of a provisional government. Although Bazargan did
not immediately announce a cabinet, the move reinforced the conditions of dual
authority that increasingly came to characterize the closing days of the Pahlavi
monarchy. In many large urban centers local komitehs (revolutionary committees)
had assumed responsibility for municipal functions, including neighborhood
security and the distribution of such basic necessities as fuel oil. Government
ministries and such services as the customs and the posts remained largely
paralyzed. Bakhtiar's cabinet ministers proved unable to assert their authority
or, in many instances, even to enter their offices. The loyalty of the armed
forces was being seriously eroded by months of confrontation with the people on
the streets. There were instances of troops who refused to fire on the crowds,
and desertions were rising. In late January, air force technicians at the
Khatami Air Base in Esfahan became involved in a confrontation with their
officers. In his statements, Khomeini had attempted to win the army rank and
file over to the side of the opposition. Following Khomeini's arrival in Tehran,
clandestine contacts took place between Khomeini's representatives and a number
of military commanders. These contacts were encouraged by United States
ambassador William Sullivan, who had no confidence in the Bakhtiar government,
thought the triumph of the Khomeini forces inevitable, and believed future
stability in Iran could be assured only if an accommodation could be reached
between the armed forces and the Khomeini camp. Contacts between the military
chiefs and the Khomeini camp were also being encouraged by United States general
Robert E. Huyser, who had arrived in Tehran on January 4, 1979, as President
Carter's special emissary. Huyser's assignment was to keep the Iranian army
intact, to encourage the military to maintain support for the Bakhtiar
On February 8, uniformed airmen appeared at Khomeini's home and publicly
pledged their allegiance to him. On February 9, air force technicians at the
Doshan Tappeh Air Base outside Tehran mutinied. Units of the Imperial Guard
failed to put down the insurrection. The next day, the arsenal was opened, and
weapons were distributed to crowds outside the air base. The government
announced a curfew beginning in the afternoon, but the curfew was universally
ignored. Over the next twenty-four hours, revolutionaries seized police
barracks, prisons, and buildings. On February 11, twenty-two senior military
commanders met and announced that the armed forces would observe neutrality in
the confrontation between the government and the people. The army's withdrawal
from the streets was tantamount to a withdrawal of support for the Bakhtiar
government and acted as a trigger for a general uprising. By late afternoon on
February 12, Bakhtiar was in hiding, and key points throughout the capital were
in rebel hands. The Pahlavi monarchy had collapsed.
to the bazaar in the wake of Bakhtiar's
appointment. But strikes in both the public and the private sector and
large-scale demonstrations against the government continued. When, on January
29, 1979, Khomeini called for a street "referendum" on the monarchy and the
Bakhtiar government, there was a massive turnout.
government, and to prepare the army for a takeover, should that become
necessary. Huyser began a round of almost daily meetings with the service chiefs
of the army, navy, and air force, plus heads of the National Police and the
Gendarmerie who were sometimes joined by the chief of SAVAK. He dissuaded those
so inclined from attempting a coup immediately upon Khomeini's return to Iran,
but he failed to get the commanders to take any other concerted action. He left
Iran on February 3, before the final confrontation between the army and the
revolutionary forces.
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