Word: ites
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...plan required him to accept the dictates of the long ignored 1906 Iranian constitution, and, in effect, begin to restore Iran to the constitutional monarchy it once was on paper. He would turn over control of the national budget to an appointed Cabinet. A panel of Shi'ite mullahs, his most vociferous critics, would be given the power to veto new laws that were not in conformity with Muslim doctrine. The Shah, however, would retain command of his 280,000-man army, and this was a condition that few Shi'ites, or few other Iranians, for that matter...
...addition, many companies and countries made large oil purchases during the last three months of 1978 anticipating the 14.5% price increase announced two weeks ago by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But if the Shah were replaced by a fundamentalist Shi'ite government eager to cut back on his modernization schemes, the subsequent reduction in Iranian exports would push prices even higher, with the result, in the view of one oil expert, that "we'd all fall...
...Monday, the Shi'ite Muslim day of mourning known as Ashura, the parades were much more hostile, with thousands chanting "Death to the Shah!" By tradition, the faithful demonstrate their sorrow over the slaying of Husain, the grandson of Muhammad, in the 7th century A.D. by flagellating themselves with chains. But this year the Ashura ceremonies were in reality political parades led by turbaned mullahs. When asked what had happened to the ancient observance that had dominated the day of mourning for more than 1,300 years, one young marcher in Tehran replied: "We have more important things...
...demonstrations subsided, the struggle between the regime and its opponents became increasingly one of rumor and propaganda. At one point, word spread through Iran's Shi'ite Muslim community that Ayatullah (Sign of God) Qumi of Mashhad had dreamed that he had been visited by Imam Reza, a saint of ancient times. In the dream, Reza complained that Shi'ite Leader Ayatullah Khomeini had been turning Muslim against Muslim and that his teachings were thus running counter to Islamic law. Among the faithful, many were stunned; others dismissed the report as a government trick...
...strict Shi'ite, Amini believes what he hears on the Khomeini cassettes. "The Shah must go," Amini says, "and a government faithful to the Koran must replace him. The army must change too. It has too much arrogance." He believes "Iran must be Iranian. Too much Iranian money ends up in America. Too much Iranian oil ends up in Israel, to be used against our Muslim brothers...