Commemorating the death of Caliph Ali (A.D. 600-661), who is revered by Iran's 34 million Shi'ite Muslims as the only true successor to Muhammad, is always a solemn occasion. But last week's observances were especially subdued. Tehran was tense and quiet. The Club Discotheque, normally a place of frenzied activity for Iran's newly rich upper middle class, was shuttered. Hotels and restaurants decreed a four-day prohibition of alcoholic beverages. Television stations broadcast readings from the Koran and Islamic sermons in place of Cannon and Police Story.
It seemed that Iran's uncertain advance into the 20th century had stumbled again, and that the nation had been thrust back into the dark Islamic puritanism of the 18th century. Since the holy month of Ramadan began Aug. 5, the conflict between Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and an unlikely coalition of left-wing extremists and conservative Muslims who oppose his modest modernization campaign had reached new zeniths of terror. Before arsonists set fire to the Rex cinema in Abadan, killing 377, Iran had been rocked by sectarian violence that resulted in at least 16 other deaths. Outraged by Western-style diversions that they consider affronts to Islamic tradition, fanatic Shi'ites had set fire to 29 movie houses and scores of restaurants and nightclubs. In Babol on the Caspian Sea, a mob tried to prevent the opening of a touring Italian circus, retreating only after its owner threatened to let loose his lions on the crowd.
Abadan, meanwhile, was anything but subdued. The Rex tragedy unleashed a flood of bitterness, aimed equally at the arsonists who ignited the theater and the incompetent local authorities whose bungling had surely contributed to the death toll. Witnesses reported that nearly half an hour elapsed before the first fire fighters arrived at the burning theater. Once they got there, they discovered that none of the hydrants were working. The mobile water tanks they brought to the scene ran dry before the fire could be brought under control. The screams of the dying carried into the streets as would-be rescuers stood by helplessly. One witness charged later that the police—whose station is located only a block from the Rex—made no attempt to free those trapped in the inferno.
The anger erupted into a new round of rioting after more than 10,000 weeping, screaming citizens gathered to lament the dead. Mourners became ravagers who roamed the streets shouting anti-Shah slogans, smashing windows and starting fires. Government forces sent warning shots into the air in an attempt to restore order. The U.S. embassy warned American citizens to "maintain the lowest profile possible" while the unrest continued.