AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

was dubious of the secular nature of the group. 286
However, pragmatism led Khomeini to
instruct his followers to cooperate with secular leftists in the 1960s. 287 While this relationship
was tenuous, it represented the variety of groups that held the common interest in their hatred of
the shah. While the shah’s plans for modernization alienated the traditional and religious groups
of society, his lack of political freedoms infuriated newly emerging groups and classes, such as
the growing number of students and university educated Iranians. 288 The impact of the shah’s
rule could clearly be seen on the Iranian student movement of the 1960s.
Both secular leftists and Islamists offered an alternate political discourse for the future of
Iran. While they often cooperated in order to form a broad anti-shah coalition, these diverging
ideologies played a major role in the splits that eventually occurred in the CISNU. This uneasy
tension can be seen in the relationship between Qotbzadeh and Fatemi. Early on, even as there
was solidarity between the two while they fought deportation during their days in leadership of
the ISAUS, tension grew between them. “As much as he loved Sadegh for his intelligence and
commitment, Fatemi grew wary of Sadegh and his politics of Islam,” and this forced them to
drift apart. 289 The treatment of the clergy in Iran further radicalized Iranian students, and
Islamists such as Qotbzadeh began to form their own groups. However, while Islamists and
secularists drifted apart, there was not full-blown animosity between the groups in the mid-
1960s.
While the shah acted forcefully against any opposition in Iran, anti-shah demonstrations
continued throughout the United States. By the autumn of 1965, the shah was still aggravated by
the reluctance of the U.S. government to do anything about their behavior. His concern with
286 Matin-asgari, Iranian Student Opposition to the Shah, 72-3, 85.
287 Hoveyda, The Shah and the Ayatollah, 27.
288 For a discussion on social classes in Iran refer to Keddie, Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution.
289 Jerome, The Man in the Mirror, 57.
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