‘Islamic Marxists’

But surely,” I heard on all sides while the revolutionary anarchy was building up in Teheran, “the Russians don’t want an Islamic republic on their doorstep?” This argument was normally held to dispose of any suggestion that the Soviets were helping to destabilize Iran; and, indeed, the conventional diplomatic wisdom, as distilled by the State Department and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was that they were just as keen on keeping the Shah on his throne as were the British and Americans.

The argument has enough substance to merit something better than instant dismissal. The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic runs along the northern Iranian frontier, and its population, although largely Sunni Moslem (and therefore perhaps immune to the charisma of the Shi’ite Ayatollah Khomeini), might get ideas of religious and theocratic self-assertion from the stirring events to the south.

BC

About the Author

Brian Crozier

Featured Tags

But surely,” I heard on all sides while the revolutionary anarchy was building up in Teheran, “the Russians don’t want an Islamic republic on their doorstep?” This argument was normally held to dispose of any suggestion that the Soviets were helping to destabilize Iran; and, indeed, the conventional diplomatic wisdom, as distilled by the State Department and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was that they were just as keen on keeping the Shah on his throne as were the British and Americans.

The argument has enough substance to merit something better than instant dismissal. The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic runs along the northern Iranian frontier, and its population, although largely Sunni Moslem (and therefore perhaps immune to the charisma of the Shi’ite Ayatollah Khomeini), might get ideas of religious and theocratic self-assertion from the stirring events to the south.