5/27/2011
Article - Untitled Article
Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: Jul 11, 1979; Section: None; Page: 7
Sacked general
is reinstated
by Khomeini
Prom Liz Thurgood
in Tehran
The case of lran s dismissed
gnne rat who rettrs t to leave
his post last night threatened
to develop into yet another cri-
tical test in the Government's
bid to wrest a'tthority from the
powerful Ayatollahs.
The personal bureau of Aya-
tollah Khomeini , Iran's de In-
tar Head of Stateryrsterday
confirmed that the centrover-
sial general Azziaollah Amir
Rahimi had been told to re-
main at his post as head of the
country's Military Police, there-
by overruhng an eThcial notifi-
vatlon of dismissal from
General Taojpl Blahi, the Mi i i-
Later of Detente.
The incident follov.'ed outs-
poken remarks at a prest curt-
feren'ce on Monday in which
General tiaMmi claimed to
tare uncovered a plot by
senior officers aimed at ousting
bin and weakening the Ayatol
lab Khomeini's leadership. The
general. ‘who went to work as
usual at his office yesterday
morning, had earlier said that
all 7.000 sold!ers at the re-
named .Jamshidlch Garrison
were behind him.
Underlining the Sense of
Clisis was an attack yesterday
en a young member of the
elite Slab Jameghan (black-
clad) guard which s currently
acting as the general's body-
zuard. The guard. Abmad
Nuuri, was shot twice in the
stomach not far from the garri-
son and rushed to hospital
where his condition was later
renorted to be satisfactory.
His three assailants escaped by
car.
General Rahimi said vester-
üy that he had received some
10 anonymous calls threatening
his l Ife. “I don't know who
These people are, but they have
Threatened to come back and
kill all of us. but we are well
prepared.”
The barracks and his home,
where he intended to return
]ast night, were t&.ng heavily
guarded by members of the
Fedayeen Khomeini, pledged to
protect the life of the uroffi-
‘1al Head of State. and armed
with UZL hand machine car-
bines and automatic rifles,
between The Government and
ihe religious leadership follows
high- level talks in the religious
centre of Qoni ten days ago be-
tween the Prime Minister, Dr
Mehdi Bazargan, Ayatollah
Khomeini. Immediately alter
the meeting there was specula-
tion among Iranians that the
Prime Minister itisd agreed not
to submit his resignation in re-
tuna for more freedom in run-
ning the country.
As an unelected Provisional
Government. Dr Baiargan's
Cabinet is subjict to the wilt
of the secret Revolutionary
Council in Qom. believed to he
made up of leading clergymen
Meanwhile, confusing reports
from Iran's troubled Western
border”wlth Iraq speak Of
several thousand Kurds encir-
cling a tribal area-rrrd—holding
a local chieftain as hostage.
According to the State radio,
“between six th ousand and ten
thousand armed members of
the Kun]isb Democratic Party
have . uiinded the Zarra
region In West Ayarbaijan and
are threatening a massacre.”
Reports from the area din-
ing The past week have warned
that “counter revolutionarac ”
led by General Palirban, the
Shalt's former chief of Army
counter intelligence, were stir-
ring up trouble.
Reuter adds? Ger ra1
Raltinti, who served several
gaol sentences under the
Shah's regime, is a tough dis-
ciplinarian who believes in re-
establishing law and order in
post-revolutionary Iran by assi-
milating the couzltrfl anned
militias into the armed forces.
Informed sourees said that he
was also at odds with other
members of the mititan' hier-
archy over the question of
employing foreign advisers to
retrain and re-equip Iran's Isla-
mic armed forces. ——
He was Poled by the Shah
for criticising the supply of
used United States Army uni-
forms to the Iranian forces
and for protesti ., 5 c 5 an st the
Shah's acceptance of an honor-
ary British generalship.
His nationalist standpoint
has more recently led him to
make outspoken ennaments in
favour ol preserving Ti-an's ter-
ritorial integrity in th tpe of
autonoinig movements in the
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5/27/2011
Article - Untitled Article
The nut!(ary crisis has
vassed unnoticed by most
Iranians. Yesterday Was a holi '
day, and there were no news-
papers. The on ly word oa The
crisis was a one•sentencc
announcement by the official
State radio on Monday that
General Rahimi had been dis .
missed.
The latest clash of interests
provinces.
Genera! Rai Lmi's special re
lationship with Ayato'lah Rho-
nielni is underslood to be
LbaSed on The general's close
association with g r a i i p s.
opnosed to the Shah, that
helned create the Bevolution.
Homes of the rich 1 page 15
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