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The comments
of
Mr. Mehdi Bazargan
Find out
more about
Mr. Bazargan
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(These comments
are extracts from The Story of the Revolution produced by the BBC Persian
Service.)
Chapter
two: 1st comment
"There was a lengthy discussion in the Revolution Council about
the appointment of prime minister. Since no other name came to mind, the
gentlemen proposed me as the most suitable candidate. Mr Khomeini was
obliged to accept the proposal of these gentlemen. He said: ' You put
my mind at rest. It was a good choice, which the two sides should be content
with.' It seemed by the phrase the two sides, he meant the Nationalists
or the non-clerics and the ulema or the clergy. An assembly was convened
in the hall of Alavi School. First the leader of the revolution delivered
a speech and afterwards, his decree appointing me to the premiership was
read out by Mr Hashemi-Rafsanjani. I replied, accepting the position.
These two developments, that is, his decree and my acceptance of the premiership
with my gratitude, were translated into English and French by Dr Yazdi
and Dr Tavassoli. There were many reporters, who kept asking various questions.
We answered all those questions and the close-circuit television, which
had been installed unofficially and without permission, broadcast the
whole proceedings. The transmitting power of this system was about two
kilometres, reaching the surrounding streets. A couple of days later,
we invited reporters to arrive at Tehran university, where I issued a
statement in my first speech."
Chapter
Two: 2nd comment
"Yes, I remember I said something like that. I said that my provisional
government was like a Volkswagen car, which could not move on uneven and
bumpy surfaces. I said that we needed smooth and favourable land to move
forward on and added that it was beyond me to undertake revolutionary
tasks and crash programmes. I said that we were not bulldozers to move
forward forcefully and demolish everything in our path."
Chapter
Two: 3rd comment
"I
remember that after my appointment, I delivered my first speech in Tehran
University. I that speech I called upon Dr Bakhtiar and said: `You are
a member of the Lor tribe, and you are a free-spirited Lor, so now show
that same spirit of generosity and accept the inevitable winning force
of this revolution. If you do so, we can solve the whole problem in a
sincere and peaceful manner.` That was our whole plan and all our shuttle
diplomacy, through Mr Amir-Entezam and Dr Sahabi and the participation
of some of Bakhtiar's cabinet ministers, was in pursuit of the same objective.
We wanted to solve the problem peacefully to avoid hostility, personal
insults or bloody confrontation. The use of force would have led to bloodshed
and waves of executions after the revolution. We did not wish to take
a sledge hammer to crack a nut. The army was like this nut and we wanted
to keep it from breaking up. We did not want the nation to turn against
itself. We wanted people to remain in harmony and take charge of their
own affairs. That is all that we wanted."
Chapter Three: 1st comment
"At the time Mr Khomeini said no and rejected the
curfew. We too issued a statement, which asked the people not to obey
the curfew order. However, at the time we guessed, and Mr Khomeini had
predicted, that basically they, that is the military governor, intended
to make the city quiet and the streets empty of people, so as to go and
arrest him. Therefore, this action of not obeying the curfew order of
the military governor, was an appropriate cautious measure to stop the
implementation of the plan."
Chapter Four:
1st comment
"Everyone was happy, thankful and full of hope.
No-one could guess at the time, when the pages of history were turning,
what the future had in store for them. Perhaps we could guess many of
their concerns, but no-one could ever predict the outcome, which followed."
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