In early September, approximately a hundred thousand
Khomeini supporters staged a march in Tehran. They demanded
a new Islam-centered government with Khomeini in authority
and the shah deposed. Martial law was ordered. Demonstrators
on September 8, 1978, ignored the curfew (some may have been
unaware of it) and assembled in Zhaleh Square. By certain
accounts, militants among them rushed the soldiers who had
been sent to control the situation; according to other versions of
the story, soldiers started the violence by firing into the crowd.
Whatever the case, the military resorted to using armored
helicopters and tanks to break up the demonstration. The
government said eighty-seven lives were lost; opponents said
thousands were killed or injured. Khomeini’s disciples labeled
the day “Black Friday.” To them, history was repeating itself after
thirteen hundred years. The dead were proclaimed martyrs—
like the followers of the ancient martyr Husain. They were slain
by wicked government forces who allegedly represented the
Muslim imposter Yezid.
The breach between the shah and his people could not be
repaired. Even middle-class Iranians, while not inclined to
protest in public, were losing confidence in the regime.
Still hoping to appease the opposition, Pahlavi purged
government officials who were accused of abusing their power.
Sharif-Emami was replaced as prime minister by General Gholam-
Reza Azhari. The shah even withdrew from his governing role. He
acknowledged that his regime had made mistakes and called on
the opposition to give him a chance to implement reforms.
Meanwhile, his regime persuaded the Iraqi government to
banish Khomeini from its country. Refused entry into neighbor-
ing Kuwait, Khomeini in October 1978 accepted an invitation of
the Iranian Student Committee in Paris to relocate to France.
The French government, not wishing to muddle Iran’s internal
politics, first asked the shah if Khomeini’s residence in France
would be acceptable. Believing the sheer distance would remove
this revolutionary threat, Pahlavi consented.
Although Khomeini had not wanted to move so far away, the50 AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI
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