Iran Pulling Out Militia in Pre-Vote Concession to Kurds
By Michael Weisskopf Washington Post Staff Writer
..he Washington ..Post (i974 Currentfifr); Jan 22, 1 980;
ProQuest H istorical Newspapers: The ••W ashington Post (18774994)
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Iran Pulling Ou C Militia in P e- Vote concession to Ku rdw
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Associated Pres8
Radio reporter Alex Paeu leaves embassy in Iran after delivering mail and tapes
By Michael Veisskopf
Wa hln ton Po,t 8l efi Wr t r
Iranian authorities made a signifi
cant concession to the country's re-
beillous Kurdish minority last night
in an evident effort to increase voting
in Friday's presidential election and
to present a unified image against a
perceived Soviet threat
At its nig?itly meeting, the ruling
Revolutionary Council agreed to with-
draw government militiamen from the
Kurdish cities of Sanandaj and Maha-
bad, bowing to longstanding, Kurdish
deth nds for local confrol of law en-
forcement in their province in west-
ern Iran,
As the American hostages endured
their 79th day in captivity, the Iranian
government continued to shift its at-
tention to the problems of provincial
unrest and the Soviet presence in
neighboring Afghanistan
Iranian officials are believed to fear
that antigovernment violence in the
provinces and minority-group threats
to boycott the nation's first presiden-
tial election give the appearance of
national weakness and increase the
potential for Soviet military interven-
tion
In recent days, top Iranian leaders
have warned that the Soviets may
move troops across the Afghan bor-
der, and the Revolutionary Council
was reported last night to have con-
sidered official support for Afghan
rebels who are fighting the Soviet
oCcupation forces.
Afghanistan continUe to dominate
,tbe presidential campaign yesterday
with th front-runner, Finance Minis-
ter Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr, declaring
that Iran was likely to pull out of this
year's Olympics in Moscow If he is
elected
“How can we go to Moscow when
we know Soviet troops are killing our
Moslem brothers in Afghanistan?” he
asked before setting off for a cam-
paign, tour o central Iran,
Another presidential contender,
Foreign Minister Sadegh Ghotbzadeh,
who first denounced the Soviet occu-
pation Saturday, continued his attacks
yesterday, saying fran's “own borders
are in danger,” according to the offi-
cial Pars news agen
As Iran readies fOr Friday's Impor-
tant presidential contest, officials
have moved to quiet provincial dis- -
sent and attract large numbers of vot-
ers for the first real referendum on
the nation's leadership dnce last Feb-
ru ry's revolution,
The Revolutionary Council's deci-
sion to pull back the central govern-
ment's paramilitary guards from the
two Kurdish cltie marked the first
concession to local authorities who
have sought . to use thew own police
forces to handle law enfOrcement
duties
The paramilitary troops, known as
Revolutionary Guards, were organized
after the revolution by Iran's religious
and political leader, Ayatollah Ruhol-
lab Khomeini, who sent them to each
province to help augment local law
enforcers.
Soon after their a±rlval, the young,
heavily armed guards irritated provin-
cial reridents by fl unting their mod-
ern automatic weapons and paying lit-
tle attention to local cUstoms, Several
regional uprisings in recent Weeks
have centered On demands for the
guards' removal,
In the provinces of Kurdistan in the
west and Baiuehistan Sistan in the
southeast, the guards, nho are follow-
ers of Khomeini's Shlae wing of Is-
lam, .were accused of trampling ‘on re
ligious rights of residents who belong
to the Sunni branch of the religion.
The two Islamic seats. have been di-
vided sinae the new constitution en-
acted in a referendum last month
made Shilsm the official religion .of
fran,
Inan earlier gesture appar ntIy de-
signed to stop Sunnis from boycotting
Friday's election Khomeini, said' he
was prepared to have the constitution
amended to pernilt th Sunnis to set
u their- own courts in areas where
they predominate over Shiltes,
Although some Sunni leaders ap-
plauded Khomeini's announcement,
Kurdish leaders continued to threaten
an election boycott because their fa-
vorite candidate, Massoud Rajavi, had
been disqualified from the race on
grounds that he failed to vote for the
con titutiOn .
it was too early yesterday to deter-
mine, whether the council's decision to
withdra* Revolutionary Guards frain
Kurdistan would appease the nomadic
tribesmen who have fought govern-
ment forces and staged sit-ins in gov-
ernment offices for weeks to back
their demand. -
Moreover, no one could estimate
what impact the council's decision
would have on other autonomy move-
ments in ‘provinces like East and West
Azerbaijan, whose Turkish-speaking
miüorlty makes up the largest na-
tIonal ethnic group in Iran.
The region's religious leader, Aya-
tollah Kazem Shariatmadari, was re-
ported over state radio to have en-
couraged his followers to vot in Fri-
day's election, Nevertheless the Turk-
ish-speakers have grown increasingly
dissident after weeks of clashes witl
Khomeini's backe ,
As election day nears and Iranian
officials turn their attention to domes-
tic unrest and foreign threats, the
hostage issue seems to attract less
and less interest in government circles
and the streets of Tehran around the
U. S Embassy.
According to news reports from
Tebran, the normally large and noisy
crowds that gathered in front of the
embassy to shout support for the .Is-
lannic militant occupiers holdi'ng the
hostages have dramatically dwindled
In recent days.
The normal embassy routine was in-
terrupted briefly yesterday when
American radio reporter Alex Paen,
of KMPC radio of Los Angeles, deliv-
ered a broadcast tape of the Super
Bowl football game for listening by
the American Captives. Paen said he
received assurances that the cassettes
would be given to the hostages.
Paen was allowed to remain in Teh-
ran three days after other American
reporters were ordered to leave the
country so he could .deiiver the tapes,
In a effart to limit reporting
on the Americans being held
prisoner inside the U.S. Embas-
sy in Tehran, the Iranian gov-
ernment has expelled American
reporters, including those of The
Washington Past, The Past will
continue to report the siege of
the embassy, which today' enter-
ed its 80th. day, by usi?lg reports
of news organizations still func-
tioning in Iran.
