The Bloody Uprising of 15 Khordad
Today the 15th of Khordad is one of the important days and a turning point in the history of Iran's developments. On this day 45 years ago, although the uprising of the Iranian people was suppressed by foreign colonialism and the Pahlavi dictatorship and a large number of Iranian people were martyred, the sparks were lit for the eventual triumph of the people's movement, a movement that gained a resounding victory 16 years later in 1979 with the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime, the final end of foreign hegemony, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
In 1960 with the coming to power of President John F. Kennedy the US sought to strengthen its illegal presence in Iran. The US presence in Iran which started after World War two was always opposed by the Iranian people.
The people were highly resentful of the August 19, 1953 US-British coup that toppled the national government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and restored the hated Shah to the Peacock Throne. The US thought that it had suppressed for ever the freedom movement of the Iranian nation, and began to spread its negative influence in the different political, economic, cultural, social and military fields. In the early 1960s the presence of US advisors and companies in Iran increased, and the regime of John Kennedy by ordering the Shah to impose the so-called economic reforms sought to change the structure of Iran in order to turn the country into a mass consumer of western commodities. The US plan that intended to destroy Iran's economy, culture, agriculture and society, was so harmful that it was passed secretly by the rubber stamp parliament of the Shah in a way that even the MPs were not aware of the contents of the capitulation bill that turned Iran into an American satellite and made the Americans immune to all judicial laws of Iran. At the same time, US-backed Zionist circles spread their presence in Iran.
Imam Khomeini (May his soul rest in peace) was the first religious-political figure who voiced his protest to the harmful consequences of the so-called US economic reforms.
The Imam embarked on revealing the colonialist nature of the so-called reforms by releasing statements and delivering speeches. He made the famous remarks that even if the dog of an American was to bit the Shah, the king of Iran would have no authority except to approach courts in the US. This was utter humiliation for the proud Muslim nation of Iran. In early 1963, the Imam delivered some important speeches against US-Zionist meddling in Iran and the dictatorship of the Pahlavi regime, the most famous of which was his speech of 15th Khordad. Following the Imam's speech, the people of different cities of Iran rose against the regime and its foreign masters. American writer James Bill, in his book titled "The Eagle and the Lion" wrote in this regard: The movement led by Imam Khomeini once again paved the ground for the Iranian people's grassroots campaign against Pahlavi dictatorship and the US. With the peaking of the people's protests, the US-backed Shah decided to arrest the Imam in the hope of suppressing the Iranian people's movement. The notorious Savaak detained the Leader of the Islamic movement, but to their horror their move infused new life into the movement and the Iranian people's determination to rid the country of all vestiges of foreign rule.
This measure of the Pahlavi regime outraged the Iranian people and resulted in the 15th of Khordad uprising, which had a basic difference with all previous protest campaigns of the Iranian people.
The people of Iran were determined to overthrow the decadent monarchic regime, create a fundamental change in the structure of Iran's political system and make Islam prevail. The slogans of the Iranian people on this day 45 years ago were: "Death to the Shah", "Death to the US" and "Either Death or Khomeini". The Pahlavi regime realized that its survival was in danger and with unprecedented violence and savagery tried to suppress the people's movement. The uprising thus has a special place in Iranian history and the shaping and victory of the Islamic Revolution 16 years later. For the first time in 1963 the US was identified as the archenemy of the Iranian people and the liberation of Iran from the domination of the US and its local lackeys was the main goal for the Iranian people.
Actually the seed of the Islamic Revolution was sown this day and irrigated with the blood of the martyrs of the 15th of Khordad uprising.
Today the vain US efforts to stop Iran's peaceful nuclear activities are part of the same failed policies. As the Iranian people made it clear in 1963 they will never yield to the unprincipled desires of the White House leaders.
Other links:
Cineastes to commemorate Flight 655 victims in Bandar Abbas
The Liberation anniversary of Khorramshahr City
Iran’s Islamic Revolution events (20 &21 Bahman,1357)
The 17th of Shahrivar, 1357; "Black Friday"
12 Farvardin, Islamic Republic of Iran's Day
