Word: shahs
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...seemed that Iran's uncertain advance into the 20th century had stumbled again, and that the nation had been thrust back into the dark Islamic puritanism of the 18th century. Since the holy month of Ramadan began Aug. 5, the conflict between Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and an unlikely coalition of left-wing extremists and conservative Muslims who oppose his modest modernization campaign had reached new zeniths of terror. Before arsonists set fire to the Rex cinema in Abadan, killing 377, Iran had been rocked by sectarian violence that resulted in at least 16 other deaths. Outraged by Western-style...
...anger erupted into a new round of rioting after more than 10,000 weeping, screaming citizens gathered to lament the dead. Mourners became ravagers who roamed the streets shouting anti-Shah slogans, smashing windows and starting fires. Government forces sent warning shots into the air in an attempt to restore order. The U.S. embassy warned American citizens to "maintain the lowest profile possible" while the unrest continued...
Police detained six suspects. Among them: the owner of the Rex, who was charged with negligence for having ordered his employees to lock the exits to prevent terrorists from entering the theater. But opposition groups outside Iran accused SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, of setting the blaze in order to provoke a backlash against dissident groups. Many Iranians, however, blamed Ayatullah Khomeini, a Shi'ite mullah (religious leader) who has lived in exile in Iraq since 1963. Khomeini swore unrelenting enmity to the Shah after hundreds of his followers were killed while protesting the monarch's land-reform program...
...division among the Shi'ites could provide the Shah with a chance to isolate the extremists. That would allow him to pursue his plan to hold free parliamentary elections next year. So far, however, the otherwise efficient Iranian regime has not been able to take advantage of its opportunities. The Shah's forward-looking Premier, Jamshid Amouzegar, had better luck coping with the problems of industrialization than negotiating with Shi'ite mullahs. Unable to bridge the gap between mullahs and modernists, the otherwise able Amouzegar resigned early this week, and the Shah quickly replaced him with Jaafar Sharif-Emami, chairman...
During the next four months, Dayan flew incognito to many Muslim countries. He met at least twice with Jordan's King Hussein and Egyptian officials and three times with King Hassan II of Morocco. He also met twice with the Shah of Iran, who had taken an active role in trying to encourage a Middle East settlement...