AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

that the revolution “ended the rule of one of the most brutal regimes in the world, and further
exposed to the world the reactionary polices of the US.” 542 One of the major goals of the ISAUS
by the late 1970s was “overthrowing the Shah’s regime and kicking out all imperialists from
Iran.” 543 Authors Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin argue that there were no partial victories
available to the anti-war movement in the United States; “the movement would either force the
United States government to end the war, or it would fail.” 544 However, the Iranian student
movement did achieve a partial victory. While the movement’s goal of overthrowing the shah
was accomplished, they failed to assist in the implementation of a form of government that was
any more liberal than the shah’s regime. The ISA argued in 1982 that “after three years,
everyone realizes the emptiness of the regime’s promises,” and that “The Islamic Regime…has
brought society to the brink of collapse.” 545 The leftist tendencies of the Iranian student
movement of the 1960s in Iran were not realized because of a fractured coalition.
Payman Piedar, who studied in the United States in the mid to late 1970s, articulated how
the secular left was alienated when Khomeini came to power. While studying in the United
States, he was a staunch supporter of the Organization of the Iranian People’s Fada’i Guerrillas.
While initially a Marxist-Leninist, he became influenced by Maoism and Guevarism. Piedar
believed that the return of Khomeini to Iran was a counter-revolution against the forces that
initiated the revolution, and that the establishment of the Islamic Republic was a death sentence
for the organized left. He emphasized that the shah’s regime was hated, however, the Islamic
regime was a severe impediment for progressive change in Iran. 546 Secular leftists like Piedar
542 ISAUS, The Iranian Revolution: Gains and Obstacles! (Berkeley, California: Iranian Students Association in the
United States, 1982), 1.
543 ISAUS, U.S. Involvement in Iran, Part 1, 77.
544 Isserman and Kazin, America Divided, 189.
545 Sazman-i Chirik’ha-yi Fada’i-i Khalq-i Iran. Iranian Students Association; Program of Action (United States:
Reprinted by the ISA, 1982), 3.
546 “Interview with Payman Piedar,” http://www.nefac.net/node/1731 (accessed on 1 August 2008).
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