AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

Iranian general recalled that when the shah “received the news of Kennedy’s death, he asked for
a drink to celebrate.” 89 These feelings were the result of Kennedy’s emphasis on reform, the antishah
sentiment that was prevalent among many high-ranking American politicians, and the
consistently vocal protests of Iranian students in the United States throughout the early 1960s. 90
The student problem exacerbated the already tense relations between Washington and Tehran,
and this became a major issue in 1960, only a few months before Kennedy was elected president.
Throughout the 1950s, the ISAUS enjoyed strong support from the AFME. However, in
1959 the AFME noticed that the ISAUS was having organizational difficulties due to the large
number of students in the United States, and because of the contrasting views of its members. 91
By 1960 there was curiously no mention of the ISUAS in the annual report of the AFME. 92
This
anti-shah sentiment was gaining strength, and an abrupt change was about to take place in the
relationship between Iranian students and their patrons in the AFME.
This change occurred at the eighth annual convention of the ISAUS, which was held
from 29 August to 2 September 1960 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. 93 170 students from 25 states
attended the convention, and it marked a turning point in the political behavior of the
organization. Ardeshir Zahedi, who was ambassador to the United States and supervisor of
Iranian students abroad, witnessed the transformation. Zahedi gave a speech at the convention
that was received negatively after he referred to the events of 1953 as a national uprising.
Following the speech, Zahedi used obscenities with the microphone still on to tell one of his
89 Rafizadeh, Witness, 124.
90 Besides Robert Kennedy and William Douglas, Democratic senators such as Hubert Humphrey, Frank Church,
and William Fulbright were adamantly anti-shah. See James Bill, The Eagle and the Lion, 136.
91 AFME, American Friends of the Middle East, Annual Report, 1958-1959 (AFME, New York, New York), 16.
92 AFME, American Friends of the Middle East, Annual Report, 1959-1960 (AFME, New York, New York).
93 Pendar, Vol. 2, Nos. 1-2 (Fall 1960 – Winter 1961), 22-3. Pendar was an independent publication of Iranian
students from New England. It was edited by Majid Tehranian who held office in the ISAUS, with the help of Roy
Mottahedeh; also see Afshin Matin-asgari, Iranian Student Opposition to the Shah, 11, 38.
29