AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

Iranian exile and resident of West Berlin since 1964, was one of the most virulent critics of the
shah in West Germany. On 22 November 1967, he gave a lecture in Zurich entitled “The
Permanent Counter-Revolution – Persia and the West,” which drew 500 paying attendees along
with a large overflow crowd which consisted mainly of students. The “usual bearded hippie
element was present,” and the lecture, which was the first of six seminars on the problems of
developing nations, was sponsored by the Progressive Students’ Affiliation. 332 Nirumand’s
philosophy served as an indication of the shift that took place in Iranians abroad as they adopted
a more revolutionary philosophy. He cited the people’s democracies of China, Cuba, and North
Vietnam as being progressive forces in the world, and he was a proponent of Cuban ideology and
their path towards development. The American embassy noted that Nirumand’s lectures and
writings played a large role in inciting the earlier demonstrations in Berlin. 333
By the late 1960s the U.S. State Department fretted that the behavior of Iranian students
abroad had “caused a continuous irritation in our diplomatic relations with the Shah and his
Government.” 334 The tension that Iranian student protests created between Washington and
Tehran was a major concern during the shah’s visit to the United States in August 1967. The
shah’s visit was originally scheduled for 12 June but it was postponed because of the outbreak of
the Six Day War. The shah was delighted at Egypt’s humiliating defeat because he saw Nasser
as the most serious long-term threat to Iranian security. 335 After being postponed, the shah’s
visit was rescheduled as a two-day trip from 22 August until 24 August. American Ambassador
to Iran Armin Meyer was supposed to brief President Johnson on 7 June for the shah’s visit.
332 Airgram from American Consul in Zurich to the Department of State, “Talk by Bahman Nirumand at Zurich
University,” 18 December 1967, General Records of the Department of State, Central Foreign Policy Files, 1967-
1969, box 2214, Folder POL IRAN (1/1/67), RG 59, NA.
333 AC Zurich to DOS, “Talk by Bahman Nirumand at Zurich University,” 18 December 1967, RG 59, NA.
334 Background Paper Prepared in the Department of State, “Visit of the Shah of Iran August 22-24, 1967, Anti-Shah
Activities in the U.S.,” 15 August 1967, FRUS 1964-1968, Vol. XXII, 407.
335 Intelligence Memorandum, “The Shah of Iran and His policies in the Aftermath of the Arab-Israeli War,” 18
August 1967, FRUS 1964-1968, Vol. XXII, 411.
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