Word: reza
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Meanwhile, the U.S. was trying to find a way to help calm the continuing upheaval in Iran. Even as the White House was assertively supporting Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, George Ball, an Under Secretary of State in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, now acting as a special consultant to Carter, was reportedly recommending that the U.S. encourage civilian rule. Finally, Carter was getting ready for a Western summit Jan. 5 and 6 on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe with British Prime Minister James Callaghan, French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt...
...gained, at best, some breathing time in which to come to terms with his massive opposition. Oil workers were still on strike, costing Iran as much as $60 million a day in lost revenues and cutting production to as little as one-fifth of the normal flow. Premier Gholam Reza Azhari went on television to appeal to the oil workers to go back to work, declaring that their strike was "bending the backs of 34 million Iranians." Azhari said he was "ashamed to admit" that petroleum-rich Iran was being forced to import kerosene, which most Iranians use for heating...
Hour after hour they marched westward along Tehran's Shahreza Avenue. In an extraordinary demonstration of solidarity, hundreds of thousands of Iranians last Sunday protested against the 37-year reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Men waved their fists and responded to their leaders' rhythmic chants of "Allah Akbar" (God is great). Women in traditional black chadors, some clutching children, carried banners ("We want an Islamic republic"). The marchers were militant in support of their exiled religious leader, Ayatullah Khomeini, but they were also disciplined and peaceful. Army and police were nowhere in evidence along the route...
Since September, all political activity has been banned by the military government of Premier Gholam Reza Azhari, an army general. In an effort to avoid a bloodbath, the Shah finally decreed that the government would consider the protest parade a legal demonstration of national mourning. By exercising such restraint, he tacitly acknowledged that, for the moment, the opposition forces controlled the streets. More important, he averted the risk of having the huge parade turn into a battle. Whether he also increased the chances of his own political survival remains to be seen...
Significantly, a number of Iranian religious leaders also favor the proposal. And, though most of them look for leadership to the exiled Khomeini, some do not agree with his basic position that the Shah must go before anything else can be discussed. One such moderate mullah is Abdul Reza Hejazi, 42, who has suddenly become a political figure of some importance. "At the moment," said Hejazi, surrounded by rich red Persian carpets in his Tehran living room, which provided a sharp contrast to his severe black robe and turban, "one side is shooting and the other is screaming. We must...