Word: ayatullah
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Popularity Unsuspected. One who heard the news early was Mullah Ayatullah Kashani, the opportunistic, fanatic religious leader who was still smarting over the spanking Mossadegh gave him last January in Parliament. Quickly Kashani alerted his street toughs. When it became public that the Shah would leave the country, Kashani was ready. A paroxysm of protest seized Teheran. The Kashani-influenced bazaars closed down (always a sign of trouble), and Kashani gangs choked the streets shouting, "Our Shah or death!" Kashani, who is Speaker of the Majlis, dispatched a delegation to urge the Shah to stay...
...extremists. In Teheran, with the galleries screaming approval, the Majlis voted a full pardon to bearded Khalil Tahmassebi, the nationalist fanatic who murdered moderate, pro-Western Premier Ali Razmara in March 1951. Then, to the second most powerful post in Iran, president of the Majlis, it elected the Mullah Ayatullah Kashani, spiritual chief of the assassins. Extremist Kashani arranged the Nationalist-Red alliance that battered Qavam out of power and brought Mossadegh back (TIME, Aug. 4). He still fancies himself smart enough to use the Reds without being used...