Word: loyalities
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...schism. Suddenly, guns were everywhere, in every hand, as self-styled "freedom fighters" liberated weapons from police stations and army barracks. In Tehran, Tabriz and other cities, sporadic fighting raised the death toll for the week to an estimated 1,500. A bewildering motley of forces was involved: troops loyal to the Shah, ethnic separatists, mojahedeen (literally crusaders) who backed the new government of Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, and, ominously, Marxist fedayeen (sacrificers) who felt that the revolution had not moved far enough to the left...
...outburst of anti-Americanism, long latent in Iran but never before so viciously expressed. At midweek, leftist gunmen attacked the U.S. embassy in downtown Tehran (see following pages), taking 70 American prisoners, killing one Iranian employee and injuring two Marines. One of the prisoners was Ambassador William Sullivan. Forces loyal to Khomeini were able to lift the siege after two hours, but the Carter Administration (as well as the British and several other Western governments) concluded that the lives of foreigners in Iran could no longer be protected. On Friday, in the first stage of an exodus from anarchy...
...automatic-weapons fire raked the compound. Two Marine guards were wounded and an Iranian embassy employee was killed. After two hours of skirmishing, the attackers seized the embassy and took its occupants, including Ambassador William H. Sullivan, as prisoners. It is likely that only the intervention of forces loyal to the Ayatullah, who responded to Sullivan's desperate call for help, prevented even more mayhem...
Another perplexing problem was the growing tension between the military forces loyal to Khomeini and the leftist fedayeen. The former, who probably number between 10,000 and 15,000 throughout the country, are devout Shi'ite Muslims. For several years the mojahedeen conducted a terrorist campaign aimed at, among others, American businessmen and military officers based in Iran. But last week they were among those most willing to obey Khomeini's order to lay down their arms...
Like most revolutions, the one in Iran has enemies both beyond and within its ranks. Prior to Khomeini's victory, the most serious threat was from military leaders loyal to the Shah, who is currently in Morocco and said to be considering abdicating. Now the threat is posed by impatient young Marxists eager to expand and control the revolution. Their next step could prove crucial. Says a U.S. expert on Iran: "If things should reach the point where the revolution is threatened, and the idea of an Islamic republic is in jeopardy, it would not be surprising...