Word: mashhad
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Some of the worst fighting of the war occurred over the New Year's weekend in the city of Mashhad, with its blue mosque and shrine to the 8th century Shi'ite Imam Reza, the holiest sites in Iran. "Three days after the rioting," reported TIME Correspondent Roland Flamini, "gutted buildings smoldered in Mashhad, and burned-out trucks and cars littered the semideserted streets. Though the city seemed calm, the army, which had withdrawn to barracks, did not appear in control. A bus full of foreign journalists who had been flown from Tehran was escorted by five truckloads...
...American Society building and the home of the sole U.S. military adviser in the city. The adviser was not at home, but his Iranian guard was killed. The two days of rioting left 170 dead by the government's count, but more than 700 according to the opposition. "Mashhad used to be a very nice place," said one army general laconically. "Now it's a disaster area...
...small-scale clashes with the citizenry continue. In Najafabad, located near the industrial city of Isfahan, security forces were reported to have gone on a rampage against political dissidents. In the holy city of Qum, soldiers fired on a group of marchers. In the northeastern town of Mashhad, troops and police burst into a hospital and beat up the staff for having tended injured protesters...
...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...
Opposition sources claimed huge marches were also held yesterday in Mashhad, Tabriz and several other provincial cities. The official news agency said marches were held in all of Iran's provinces...