Iran enters week that may decide future of crisis

Press, 5 December 1978, Page 8

Iran enters week that may decide future of crisis

NZPA-Reuter Teheran After three nights of street defiance of martial-law forces by 7 curfew-breakers in the capital, Teheran, Iran yesterday entered a week of potential serious turmoil that may determine the form of any solution to its persistent political crisis.

Rain and a two-hour power cut dampened post-: • curfew demonstrations on [Sunday night by people .shouting religious slogans 'from rooftops and in the I streets. The demonstrations, on The third day of the Shiite ,mourning month -of Moharram, lasted two hours in many parts of the capital. Shooting Was heard, but ; i in most areas it was sporadic land there was little autoimatic fire — indicating ai I lower casualty rate than Friiday and Saturday nights, ’when the Government rej ported that 12 people had ’been killed and 55 wounded. ’ ’ Many residents of the capital, confined to their homes by the overnight curfew, believe many more died lon those nights. Street reports of several (hundred dead were common ‘yesterday, but Government ■ officials strongly denied ■them and said most of the ‘shooting was into the air. The three nights ; of curfew (defiance and scattered daytime shooting- on protesters, in which Opposition sources reported several deaths, made an ominous start to ’ Moharram. i Street protests had not been expected until shortly i before the most intense

mourning day, Ashura, nextMonday. The protests indicated that devout Muslims were prepared to defy a ban imposed by the military-led Govern-, ment on customary Mohar- ’ ram mourning processions, ; which reach their peak on ’ Ashura, anniversary of the death nearly 1300 years ago of the founder of the Shiite sect followed by most Ira-, nians. After months of mounting unrest and opposition to the Shah, the curfew defiance was a clear act of political protest — though most of the slogans were religious. The Prime Minister (General Gholamreza Azhari) has accused “enemies of Iran” of fomenting the trouble, play’ing on religious feelings for their own political ends. In addition to the three (separate Opposition censure .motions in Parliament over’ ithe shootings, an Opposition ‘member of Parliament cen-. [sured the Government, appointed by the Shah a .month ago to quell street i unrest against his regime, 'for what he called “suppression and censorship” of the 'lranian news media. Another group of deputies , tabled a question asking the 'Government why two lead- ’ ers of the Opposition National Front Party, Dr Karim, Sanjabi and Mr Daruish

Forouhar, were still under] arrest when, they said, I i charges of unconstitutional; statements against them had’ been found not proven. - The two men were arrested three weeks, ago ’shortly after Dr Sanjabi returned from talks in Paris, with the Shah’s exiled chief 'religious opponent, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny. Economic activity in the; capital remained badly dis-! rupted by sporadic strikes’ and go-slow action and acontinuing atmosphere of crisis. Banking sources said a' strike in the Capital Bank had dried up the flow of rial! currency and foreign ex-1 change to commercial banks,| and some branches had; closed because they, were’ out of ready cash. I The operations of an off-1 shore oil venture by the; Iran-Panamerican company were halted by a workers’l strike, marginally reducing; normal production. The I operation had only just re-j covered from a three-week; strike, that crippled the oil .’ industry. However, continuing political and street turmoil pushed Iran’s economic problems — thought to be building up into a serious .economic crisis — into the background for the moment.