circumstances, the ayatollah believed his son’s death had been
ordered by Shah Pahlavi and carried out by secret police.
Even if Khomeini’s son had not died, revolution was in the
air. Pahlavi tried to defuse it with concessions to the protesters.
Pressured by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to adopt more liberal
human rights policies, Pahlavi’s regime freed several hundred
political prisoners. The shah groped for other ways to make
peace with his opponents. He took economic steps to counter
inflation and made changes in his government.
It was all futile. When Pahlavi made a state visit to Washington,
D.C., in late 1977, he was greeted by organized protesters. They
had to be dispersed with teargas. The Carter administration
apparently did not realize the deep trouble this suggested for the
shah and for America because of its relations with him. In an
embarrassingly famous statement made during a visit to Tehran
at year’s end, Carter told Shah Pahlavi, “Iran is an oasis of stabil-
ity in a sea of trouble, and I am sure that the reason for this is the
just, the great, and the inspired leadership of your majesty.”^25
In Iran, people who considered their government to be stable,
just, great, or inspired were a dwindling minority. A clash of
historic proportions was coming. Khomeini demanded that
the Iranian military depose the shah and turn over control of
the country to the people. Revolutionaries organized epic
demonstrations. Protesters wielded posters and flags bearing
the stern image of Khomeini.
What could the government do to quell the frenzy? In January
1978,Eta’laat, a government-controlled newspaper in Tehran,
published an article severely attacking Khomeini politically and
personally. It went so far as to suggest that he was a British
agent, not the champion of Iranian nationalism he claimed to
be. Khomeini’s supporters responded with more marches and
demonstrations in three dozen cities. Government troops put down
the protests, sometimes with force. Several protesters were killed at
Qom, where Khomeini, though long absent personally, now was a
virtual idol to radical students. Later, more than a hundred died in
Tabriz, where tanks were used to break up the mob.
The Shah’s Government Collapses 47