AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

and networking with western student movements throughout the 1960s. Just as Berkeley was a
hotbed for American student protest, it also played a major role in the Iranian student movement.
An Iranian Marxist study group consisting of nationalists, Muslims, and secular leftists was
founded in Berkeley in 1966. After interacting with American radicals in the late 1960s, they
adopted an exclusively Maoist ideology and formed the Organization of Revolutionary
Communists in 1970. The group became a largely influential in Iranian leftist politics
throughout the 1970s. 386
The ISA also was highly active in the Berkeley area, and it published
articles in numerous student newspapers, including The Berkeley Tribe in 1971. 387
Despite the shah’s attempts, the Iranian student movement remained a force to be
reckoned with in the United States and Europe. By the end of the 1960s, about 500 students in
the United States were extremely well organized and vocal in their opposition to the shah. These
students held meetings, disseminated publications, and held demonstrations, especially during
the shah’s visits. Students in the United States, Germany, Austria, and England were “a major
irritant to the Shah,” and “strained relations with host governments and have often led to
supersecrecy and extremely tight security measures during his trips.” 388 The strenuous
opposition of these students towards the shah’s regime led the CIA to believe that the shah would
never be able to win student support, and that student resentment of the shah’s authoritarianism
would continue to pervade student organizations throughout the 1970s. 389
The Iranian student movement bore both similarities and differences to those of
American and European students. There was a radical drift that took place amongst anti-war and
386 Maziar Behrooz, Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran (New York: I.B. Tauris, 1999), 92-3.
387 “Iranian Students Demands,” The Berkeley Tribe, No. 97 (28 May 1971), 155.
388 Helms to Kissinger, “Student Unrest Abroad” 2 September 1970, FRUS 1969-1976, Vol. E-4,
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/ (accessed on 26 February 2008).
389 Helms to Kissinger, “Student Unrest Abroad” 2 September 1970, FRUS 1969-1976, Vol. E-4,
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/ (accessed on 26 February 2008).
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