For three days last week, Teheran was a battleground; crowds shrieked, machine guns chattered, and smoke from smoldering rubble mixed with clouds of tear gas. Ironically, it was a battle against progress.
That most unusual, reform-minded monarch, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi has long struggled to turn his shaky, feudal nation into a modern, stable state. The opposition is formidable. Corrupt bureaucrats and operators are determined to preserve pishkash (a bribe) as a way of life. Big landlords try to sabotage the Shah's ambitious land re form drive; they even opposed his intention...
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