On land and sea, Khomeini's enemies abroad keep fighting
The bold act of piracy was as bizarre as it was successful. As three spanking new Iranian missile boats steamed leisurely in the Atlantic Ocean off the southern Spanish port of Cadiz last week, they were pursued by a slow-going Spanish tugboat. When the tug reached one of the French-built warships, about 15 raiders from the commercial vessel stormed aboard. They hauled down the flag of Iran's Islamic Republic and replaced it with the green, white and red banner, emblazoned with the imperial, sword-bearing lion of the late Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The boarders heartily sang Iran's old imperial national anthem. As the action took place, a passing yacht radioed for Spanish help, which soon arrived. Then the two uncaptured boats headed under escort for the Spanish port of Algeciras, and later for Iran, while the hijacked ship turned toward Tangiers, making a successful escape.
In Paris, an Iranian exile group called the Azadegan (Free People) Organization claimed credit for the hijacking, which was aimed at keeping the new missile boats out of the hands of Iran's fundamentalist Islamic regime. The pirate force was led by Admiral Kamal Habibollahi, a former commander of the Shah's imperial navy. Habibollahi's military colleagues in the organization have equally imposing records: their leader is former Four-Star Iranian General Bahram Aryana, onetime chief of staff of the Iranian imperial armed forces. The organization wants to restore the old order in Iran, and possibly reinstall the Pahlavi dynasty, currently headed by the Shah's son Reza. The group's leader, General Aryana, reportedly left Paris three weeks ago in order to set up a clandestine military headquarters close to the Iranian-Turkish border.
If the loss of the gunboat infuriated the followers of the Ayatullah Khomeini (who charged that the CIA was behind the exploit), the deed may well have brought a few quiet smiles to the faces of French officials. They had finally granted delivery of the ships only days before fears arose over the safety of 106 French citizens, whose departure from Iran was delayed by Islamic extremists two weeks ago. As the Iranians had promised, the French nationals were returned home last week just before the strange hijacking. The French government quickly disclaimed any responsibility for the three warships after they were turned over to Iranian crews on Aug. 1 and left French waters.
What made the boatnapping particularly odd was the fact that the warships were armed with cannons and could easily have blown the attacking tug out of the water if their crews had wished. The speedy gunboats could also have outdistanced the pirates with ease. There was speculation that some members of the ships' crews were in collusion with the pirates—a sign of continuing unease among the Iranian military.
As the chaos grows at home, Iranian exile organizations of all political stripes are staging protests and demonstrations around the world. The spectrum of the organizations runs from monarchists like the Azadegan group, to centrists who support onetime Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar (currently in exile in France), to a branch of the Marxist-Leninist Fedayan-e Khalq guerrilla organization. Their common aim: to build international opposition to Khomeini.