Sunday, January 17, 1999 — North Shore News — 3

north shore news

UNDAY FOCUS

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NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge

NADER Khalighi holds a photograph depicting
him during the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.

later

Mike Wakafiekd
REZA Alavi was a newscast anchor in Iran when
the revolution ousting the Shah broke out in 1979.

y Year

Two Iranian men recall Iran’s bloody coup

which ousted a Shah

Robert Galster

News Reporter robert@nsnews.com

“The blow by which kings fall causes a long
bleeding.”
— 17th century playwrigit Pierre Corneille

TWENTY years have passed since a revolu-
tion swept aside 54 years of Shah rule and
ushered in an era of strict Islamic funda-
mentalist rule in Iran.

When the 60-year-old Reza Shah Pahlevi fled the
country two decades ago today, he left little behind to
hold. off the rise of Islamic domination. Within wo
weeks of his departure, the remaining, loyalist forces
crumbled and a man calling himself Ayatollah Khomeini

ed the reigns of pow

North Vancouver's Nadir Khalighi graduated from
university in the spring of 1979 and together with a
couple of friends had set up a real estate company in
Tehran. As 2 young man in his mid-20s, Khalighi was
full of life and optimism, but the events of January 1979
altered the course of his life forever. With the capital in
the throes of bloody civil strife, he observed the events
unfolding before him and managed to stay out of trou-
ble.

“T was in the heart of it — the activities. There was
shooting, lots of people in. the streets with guns,”
recalled Khalighi. “A lot of killing of soldiers in the
strects.”

As is often ts case when chaos rules, inforn.. “+n
was scant, but nvo wecks later a man bearing a grave
complexion and a healthy dose of religious zealotry
announced to Iran and the rest of the world that he was
in charge.

Three years before the upheaval, Reza Alavi had
graduated from journalism school and landed a job as an
anchor at one of Iran’s national networks. By 1979,
Alavi had been working at the station for three years. As
ordinary people like Khalighi huddied around radios
and televisions to find out what was happening, Alavi
and his staff gathered the scarce pieces of reliable infor-
mation and did their best to inform their audience.

“My memory of that time is intcresting because |
happened to be at the station when the revolution was
announced,” recalled Alavi.

He was referring to a visit a group of revolutionary
guards made to the station’s newsroom.

“About half-an-hour before the news started they

and changed a nation

came and said you have to announce that the govern:
meat of [ran has changed,” he said. “(But) we did not
have any specific orders from our managers to say any-
thing.”

By 8:15 that evening, his superiors were on side and
Alavi went on to make the following historic announce:
ment to his countrymen just 15 minutes later.

“DP announced the Islamic revolution has been done
and it’s a victory for the people of Iran,” said Alavi. “It
was a very exciting and unforgettable moment, and not
just for me.”

Ic is impossible to ascertain whether the majority of
Iran’s citizens grected the news with open arms.
Dissident voices were not tolerated. Opposition groups
were forced underground.

“Revolutions have never lightened the burden of
tyranny. They have only shifted it to another shoul-

der.”
— George Bernard Shaw

Neither Alavi nor Khalighi were active in their sup-
port or opposition for the new regime, though Khalighi
had some misgivings over a cleric ruling the country.

“I wasn’t pro-Ayatollah. I was against him,” said
Khalighi. “I don’t believe in religion ruling the country.

“The Shah wasn’t a perfect guy either but he wasn’t
as bad as he was portrayed. We'll have to leave it to his-
tory to judge.”

Over time it was becoming increasingly clear to
Khalighi that the country was taking a turn for the
worse and the promises the new rulers were making
appeared more and more hollow.

“The things he (Khomeini) was telling people I
didn’t think were true,” said Khalighi. “It sounded real-
Sy crazy to me but unfortunately there were a lot of une-
ducated pcople at the time and educated people too
(who believed his promises).”

In spite of his insurgent ideas, Khalighi managed to
continue with his life relatively unscathed —- probably
because he kepe them to himself. Unconfirmed and
unofficial estimates peg the number killed in the first
two days of the m TT east maiarity of
those were scl:

One day
growing reign ut i: _
street minding his own vusdiiss when ofticials of the

See Memories pane 9