World: One Man's Word Is Law

And Khomeini is the archon of the oilfields

At the behest of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, 37,000 militant Iranian oil workers and technicians had virtually closed down the country's production, reducing the oil flow from 6 million bbl. a day to a drip of 75,000 bbl. Last week, as if to demonstrate his absolute mastery, Khomeini ordered workers to allow enough crude production from the fields to satisfy Iran's 900,000-bbl. domestic needs—but no more. TIME Correspondent Dean Brelis visited the oilfields in the southern province of Khuzestan as militant workers returned to their jobs. His...