The Shah Mollifies the Mullahs

His new Premier cools tempers by cutting back on modernization

If there was something faintly incongruous about Chinese Chairman Hua Kuofeng's state visit to the imperial court of Iran last week, neither the guest nor his host, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, seemed to notice it. Hua did ask, in advance, that he be driven into town from the airport in an automobile instead of the horse-drawn golden carriage in which the Shah normally transports his most honored guests. But otherwise the visit passed uneventfully, with talks about cultural exchanges and expanded trade. Though the subject was not announced, the two leaders undoubtedly discussed something else that concerns them both: the Soviet presence on Iran's borders. Western observers noted that Hua was accompanied to Tehran by several ranking Chinese military officials who had not been with him on his stopovers in Europe.

The truth was that the Chinese Chairman's visit came at a notably awkward time for his Iranian hosts. For months the country had been rocked by religious rioting, culminating with the burning of an Abadan moviehouse last month in which 377 people were killed. Last week violence continued: Muslim youths battled police in 15 cities, leaving eleven persons dead. The trouble was fomented by the leaders of Iran's 32 million Shi'ite Muslims, who have grown increasingly restive as the Shah has pursued a rigorous modernization campaign for his ancient country. The motive power of the mullahs (religious leaders) is Islamic puritanism, but in their discontent they have been encouraged by both the Soviet Union and George Habash's radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

For the past year Premier Jamshid Amuzegar had made a valiant effort to restore the country's economy. He cut inflation from 31% to 8%, cracked down on wealthy tax dodgers, purged the civil service of crooks and incompetents. But the reforms came far too late, and the rioting only grew worse. Early last week the Shah replaced Amuzegar with Jaafar Sharif-Emami, 67, a former Premier who is himself known as a devout Muslim. The Shah's charge to his new Premier: mollify the mullahs.

Sharif-Emami proceeded to do just that. Within 48 hours his government declared that the Shah's recently restored imperial calendar would be scrapped and replaced by the old Islamic calendar that the Muslim religious leaders had been demanding.* The government further announced that the country's eight big gambling casinos, including the four owned by the Shah's charitable Pahlavi Foundation, would be shut down. The post of Minister of State for Women's Affairs was abolished to appease the mullahs, who claimed that liberalization policies in women's rights were undermining the sanctity of the Islamic household. Half a dozen religious leaders who had been jailed for leading or inspiring rioting were released, and press censorship was lifted for the first time in 15 years.

The new program virtually amounted to social retrogression, stalemating the Shah's dream of turning Iran into a modern industrial state. But he was convinced that to do otherwise would only invite more rioting. Revolution could follow, bringing an end to his dynasty, and, no doubt, fresh opportunities for the Soviets.

The Shah's new program seemed to satisfy some religious leaders. "We have no intention of implementing the traditional Islamic criminal codes such as cutting off thieves' hands or stoning adulterers to death," said one moderate leader, Ayatullah Sharietmadari. "We don't want to turn Iran into another Saudi Arabia or another Libya. But we shall demand strict adherence to the Islamic precepts of our country's constitution." Many members of the Western-educated elite were predictably appalled at the latest turn of events. "The Shah's concessions will only make the opposition demand more," complained one Iranian businessman. "Mark my words: we are headed for civil war." Fortunately it was much too early to tell how the Shi'ite Muslim majority would react to the Shah's about-face.

* The imperial calendar dates from the founding of the Iranian monarchy by Cyrus the Great in 559 B.C., the Islamic from the Prophet Mohammed's Hegira from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622.

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