THE POPE received a curt reply 1o his appeal for the hostages being held at the American Embassy in Tehran — go and speak to President Carter, it's in his hands to send the Shah back to Iran.
Many colamn inches in the press have been devoted to the suffering of the American hostages. But that pales into insignificance when compared to the tens of thousands tortured and killed at the hands of the Shah.
Much has been said of American feelings running high, and of the danger of retaliation *gainst Iranians in the United States. policy of hounding Iranians as 'illegal in ranian nitri biggest Iranian encouragement he could mobs attacking protestors.
Contrast In contrast, little has been said in media in support extraditing the Shah, yet these same newspapers. TV, and radio stations fervently attack authorities for not extraditing Irish republicans. They are interested in extradition when it suits the When harbours a mass murderer remain silent.
It is the Iranian people suffered decades of repression under it is for them to decide what penalty he now pays for those crimes.
Certainly, the Shah should be extradited, and in that way Carter can free the American hostages.
But behind the headlines on the embassy occupation lies another story the growing crisis of Khomeini and his regime in Iran.
About Turn While Khomeini denouncing Carter and rerusing to American representatives, weeks ago his foreign minister Carter's ¡ecurity advisor, Brzezinski, Algiers.
Only (WO days scenpation of the embassy, which was november unarmed demonstrators and met no resistance from the permission for a demonstration to the emhassy had heen denied by Islamic authorities.
Then on November gnvernment led hy Mehdi Bazargan Registered the of the But Carter's biggest give to the Iranian American only Carter resigned, they country, Underlying the who inability to the Shah.
remnants Kurdish today and American Despite the medi denial of the was autonomy national in the executing them.
by Islamic guards, the Post Office as. a leaving the Islamic Revolutionary Council to govern the forced sudden American stance of Khomeini is his weeks.
meet the needs and aspirations of the Iranian people who faced torture and death to bring down Despite Khomeini's attempts to deny the right of self-determination to the national minorities in Iran, the Shah's shattered army and the Islamic Guards have been unable to crush the resistance of memo people. Khomeini's regime has been forced to negotiate with Kurdish leaders who previously were attacked as 'enemies of God'.
imprisonment of socialists who protested against the Kurds' demand for militants of the Fourth - an campaign of protest has forced the Islamic courts to draw back from Nearly a fifth of the working population is unemployed and oil production is at less than two-thirds the butput achieved under the Shah. The oil warkers whose strikes brought down the Shah are not pleased with Bazargan and the threat of wage cuts, and fishers in the (aspian Sea recently