AN AUGURY OF REVOLUTION: THE IRANIAN STUDENT ...

CHAPTER IV – THE RADICALIZATION OF IRANIAN STUDENTS IN THE ERA OF THE
NIXON DOCTRINE, 1969-1972
When Richard Nixon became the thirty-seventh president of the United States on 20
January 1969, the shah breathed a sigh of relief. While the shah had firmed up relations with
President Johnson, the brief possibility that a Democratic candidate such as Robert Kennedy or
Hubert Humphrey would take up residence in the White House evoked concern in Tehran. The
shah knew what he was getting in Richard Nixon. The shah was an ardent supporter of Nixon’s
two bids for the presidency in 1960 and 1968. 379 As previously noted, the relationship between
Washington and Tehran was ultimately decided at the highest level. While Kennedy was more
attuned to the concerns of the Iranian population, including Iranian students in the United States,
Richard Nixon was not. SAVAK chief Rafizadeh noted that “Never had I seen him [the shah] so
weak as when he met Kennedy, and never so mighty and arrogant as when with Nixon.” 380 U.S.
– Iranian relations were shaky in the early 1960s, however, the election of Richard Nixon in
1968 solidified and expanded upon the policy decisions that were made by Lyndon Johnson
throughout the middle of the decade.
The shah wrote that his “friendship with Richard Nixon dates back to 1953 when he was
Eisenhower’s vice president.” 381 This relationship began when Nixon visited Tehran in
December 1953, only four months after Operation Ajax. Nixon’s 1953 trip infuriated Iranian
students. 382
Upset that Nixon was given an honorary degree at Tehran University, students at the
university staged a massive demonstration on 7 December 1953. Because the shah wanted to
“preserve the calm of the university at all costs,” the shah’s troops opened fire on the
379 Bill, The Eagle and the Lion, 130.
380 Rafizadeh, Witness, 247-8.
381 Pahlavi, Answer to History, 16-7.
382 Nixon’s 1953 trip to Iran was similar to his 1958 “goodwill” tour of Latin America. Nixon’s car was attacked in
Caracas, Venezuela, and the incident highlighted the anger in Latin America regarding American Cold War foreign
policy. The protests in Tehran in 1953 highlighted Iranian resentment of American involvement in Operation Ajax.