Word: tehran
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...signs last week of the turmoil that has engulfed it for the past two months. Oil production was almost back to normal, following a three-week walkout by workers at the country's refineries and rigs. A wildcat strike by power workers caused blackouts in the capital of Tehran, but after soldiers took over the power stations the workers returned to their jobs...
...while last week Foggy Bottom was a morass of recriminations and alibis. Almost everybody agreed that the U.S. should have anticipated the Shah's troubles much sooner-but that somebody else was responsible for the failure to do so. Some State Department officials complained that in Tehran, U.S. Ambassador William Sullivan had suppressed pessimistic, and prophetic, cables from underlings. Others blamed Presidential National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose theory it is that the U.S. must bolster "regional influentials" like Iran. That theory, said the critics, was based on the false assumption that military might plus oil wealth equals political...
...combination of strikes and street violence has brought a crisis of confidence. Tehran airport has been jammed by wealthy Iranians trying to get out, carrying with them an estimated $20 million to $50 million in savings a day. Poorer villagers, hurriedly withdrawing money from the suddenly vulnerable banks, have been stuffing their mattresses with currency and buying gold. On the black market the value of the Iranian rial has plunged...
Foreign confidence is dwindling. American firms with Iranian operations are cutting commitments. The once bulging Hilton and Inter-Continental hotels are less than half full. The U.S. embassy in Tehran has drawn up mass-evacuation plans in case the troubles grow worse. Foreign workers have been quitting the country, and almost overnight Iran's five-star credit rating on the international capital markets has disappeared. Says one U.S. banker: "You don't lend when the tanks are in Constitution Square...
...large and varied force is an advantage to the Shah rather than a potential threat to his continuing rule. "A large military establishment," Graham writes, "enables the Shah to fragment individual power bases, making it much more difficult for dissident elements to mount a cohesive opposition." A graduate of Tehran's Military College, the Shah has involved himself deeply in the promotion of all officers, even at middle-grade levels. Liaison between the army, navy and air force, which were separated into three military bureaucracies in 1955, is handled at the top by a royal military staff. That makes...