AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

Iranian student protests in the early 1960s had two main causes. The first was the
controversy that arose concerning the status of Fatemi and Qotbzadeh’s passports after they
became openly anti-shah. The second was the White Revolution and the brutal repression of
political dissidence inside Iran that followed. The vocal protests that began in 1961 combined
with the attitude of the Kennedy administration towards Iran to create problems in U.S. – Iranian
relations throughout the early 1960s.
In February 1961, Officer in Charge of Iranian Affairs John W. Bowling reported that “A
very recent and burgeoning element in these organizations arises from college and secondary
school students.” 108 In April 1961, Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Qods-Nakhai recognized
that the Iranian government was having problems with its students, “particularly those
overseas.” 109 Fatemi and Qotbzadeh were two of the most vocal students, and in mid-1961 the
Iranian government revoked their passports. This led the State Department to recommend that
they be deported. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Phillips
Talbot believed that their presence “had a serious impact on our relations with Iran” because the
shah believed that the United States was working with these students and protected elements that
promoted his overthrow. 110 However, while the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
denied Fatemi and Qotbzadeh’s requests for a renewal of their passports, it did not enforce their
departure. 111
Many Iranian students took to the streets to protest in defense of Fatemi and Qotbzadeh.
These protests bore many similarities to the tactics employed by the Civil Rights Movement of
108 John W. Bowling, “The Current Political Situation in Iran,” 11 February 1961, FRUS Volume XVII, 1961-1963,
Near East 1961-1962 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994), 57.
109 Memorandum of Conversation from the United States Observer Delegation of the Ninth CENTO Council
Session, “Courtesy Call on the Iranian Foreign Minister,” FRUS 1961-1963, Vol. XVII, 89.
110 Talbot to Rusk, “Agitational Activities of Anti-Shah Iranian Students in the United States,” 5 October 1963,
FRUS 1961-1963, Vol. XVIII, 724.
111 Talbot to Rusk, “Agitational Activities of Anti-Shah Iranian Students in the United States,” 5 October 1963,
FRUS 1961-1963, Vol. XVIII, 724.
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