Source : WikiLeaks
1978 December 18, 00:00 (Monday)
Canonical ID:1978SHIRAZ00201_d
Original Classification:CONFIDENTIAL
Current Classification:UNCLASSIFIED
From: Iran Shiraz | SHIRAZ OR-M
Markings: Sheryl P. Walter
Declassified/Released US Department of State
EO Systematic Review 20 Mar 2014
To:Secretary of State
1. ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, DEC 13 A GROUP OF MUSLIMS BEGAN TO BURN THE HOUSES AND SHOPS OF BAHAIS LIVING IN THE VICINITY OF THE POET SAADIS TOMB IN NORTHEAST SHIRAZ. WHAT EXACTLY PROMPTED THIS IS NOT COMPLETELY CLEAR, BUT IT APPEARS THAT MOST OF THE MUSLIMS INVOLVED HAD JUST ATTENDED A GATHERING AT A LOCAL MOSQUE WHERE SPEECHES ATTACKING THE BAHAI COMMUNITY WERE MADE. THE LATTER WERE ACCUSED, INTER ALIA, OF HAVING TURNED MUSLIMS WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY PARTICIPATED IN ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES IN TO MARTIAL LAW AUTHORITIES. IN ANY EVENT, A FAMILY MEMBER OF ONE OF THE BAHAI HOMES ATTACKED WAS AN ARMY SARGEANT WHO WAS EITHER ALREADY ON THE SCENE OR ARRIVED SHORTLY AFTER THE BURNING BEGAN WITH A GUN. HE AND TWO RELATIVES, WHO APPARENTLY WERE ALSO ARMED, BEGAN FIRING INTO THE MUSLIM CROWD. THE NUMBER KILLED IS STILL UNCERTAIN--SHIRAZ SECURITY OFFICIALS SAY 10 TO 12, LOCAL HOSPITALS INDICATE AS MANY AS 42--BUT THE SHOOTING ENDED ONLY WITH THE ARRIVAL OF MARTIAL LAW FORCES WHO STORMED THE THREE BAHAIS' HOME, KILLING THEM ALL IN THE PROCESS.
3. THE NEXT DAY, DEC 14, SMALL GROUPS OF MUSLIMS, MOSTLY TEENAGERS, BEGAN TO ATTACK, LOOT AND SET FIRE TO HOMES AND SHOPS OF PEOPLE ALLEGED TO BE BAHAIS IN THE VICINITY OF SAADI'S TOMB AND NEARBY NEIGHBORHOODS. WHILE MOST OF THE PROPERTIES HIT DID INDEED BELONG TO BAHAIS, IT APPEARS THAT THE OCCASION WAS SEIZED TO SETTLE GRUDGES AGAINST SELECTED MUSLIMS AS WELL. THE PEPSI COLA PLANT, A COMPANY THAT HAS LONG BEEN A FAVORITE TARGET OF ANTI-BAHAI ATTACKS, WAS ALSO BURNED. MARTIAL LAW FORCES DID WHAT THEY COULD TO BRING THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL BUT WERE HINDERED BY THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT (CLOSELY PACKED HOUSES WITH NUMEROUS SIDE STREETS) AND TAUNTS THAT THEY THEMSELVES WERE BAHAIS. THE TROOPS APPEARED TO BE UNDER STRICT ORDERS NOT TO FIRE THEIR WEAPONS EXCEPT INTO THE AIR, AND THEN ONLY IN EXTREMES. THE POST'S IMPRESSION IS THAT THEY EXERCISED CONSIDERABLE RESTRAINT AND DID A REASONABLY CREDIBLE JOB UNDER EXTREMELY DIFFICULT CONDITIONS.
4. NIGHTFALL AND CURFEW A FEW HOURS LATER BROUGHT A DEGREE OF CALM TO THE AREA, BUT THE BURNING AND LOOTING RESUMED THE FOLLOWING MORNING. AN ON-THE-SPOT CHECK BY CONSULATE OFFICERS ABOUT MID-DAY REVEALED AN ALMOST CARNIVAL-LIKE ATMOSPHERE IN THE AREA, WITH WHAT WERE CLEARLY FAMILY GROUPS OUT TO WATCH THE YOUNG ARSONISTS BEING CHASED BY THE TROOPS. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, A MEMORIAL SERVICE AT A DOWNTOWN MOSQUE FOR SOME OF THOSE KILLED WEDNESDAY NIGHT DEGENERATED INTO AN UGLY DEMONSTRATION ON THE CITY'S MAIN STREET. WHEN CONSULATE OFFICERS ASSESSED BY THE AREA, IT APPEARED THAT THE TACTICS OF THE MARTIAL LAW FORCES WERE TO CONTAIN THE MOB RATHER THAN TO BREAK IT UP BY FORCE. SUBSEQUENTLY, TEAR GAS WAS USED TO DISPERSE HARDCORE REMNANTS. ABOUT MID-AFTERNOON THE ARSONISTS AND LOOTERS IN THE NORTHEAST QUARTER OF TOWN LOST THEIR ENTHUSIASM (OR RAN OUT OF KEROSENE) AND BEGAN TO DRIFT AWAY FROM THE AREA. REMARKABLY, THERE APPARENTLY WERE NO FATAL CASUALTIES OR EVEN SERIOUS INJURIES DURING THE TWO DAYS FOLLOWING THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT SHOOT-OUT, THE DAMAGE BEING LIMITED TO THE PROPERTY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIETIES.
5. BY SATURDAY MORNING, DEC 16, MUCH OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY WAS BEGINNING TO FEEL THE EFFECT OF ITS OWN CAPACITY FOR SAVAGERY. ONE OF SHIRAZ'S MOST INFLUENTIAL MULLAHS, AN OUTSPOKEN OPPONENT OF THE REGIME AND A SELF-STYLED FOLLOWER OF AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI, ISSUED AN ELAMIEH (CIRCULAR) URGING HIS CO-RELIGIONISTS TO RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF BOTH THE IRANIAN MINORITIES AND THE FOREIGN COMMUNITY LIVING IN THEIR MIDST. AND THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR GENERAL ORGANIZED THE BUREAUCRACY TO FEED, CLOTHE AND HOUSE THE BAHAIS WHO HAD LOST THEIR HOMES AND POSSESSIONS.
7. THAT WAS THE GOOD NEWS. THE BAD NEWS WAS THAT THE PERSIAN CONSPIRATORIAL MILL WAS RUNNING FULL SPEED. A PAHLAVI UNIVERSITY FACULTY TEAM, SELF-APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE THE INCIDENT, CONCLUDED THAT SAVAK AGENTS PROVOCATEURS HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WHOLE THING. IT IS DOUBTFUL THAT THE FULL STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED WILL EVER BE KNOWN, BUT THE EVIDENCE THAT IS AVAILABLE HARDLY SUPPORTS SUCH A THESIS. HOWEVER, IN IRAN FACT AND WHAT IS PERCEIVED AS REALITY ARE OFTEN QUITE DIFFERENT, AND SHIRAZ'S MUSLIM-BAHAI CONFLICT, AS THE ABADAN FIRE A FEW MONTHS AGO, IS LIKELY TO BE REMEMBERED BY MOST IRANIANS AS ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT INTRIGUE. SULLIAN
CONFIDENTIAL
Sheryl P. Walter Declassified/Released US Department of State EO Systematic Review 20 Mar 2014
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