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 archive.guardian.co.uk/.../getFiles.asp?... 1/2
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 archive.guardian.co.uk/.../getFiles.asp?... 2/2