By Robert S. Allen

Iran Shah May Be Ousted

WASHINGTON — Recent spectacular Egyptian history may be on the verge of being repeated in chaos-stricken Iran.

Shah Riza Pahlevi [Mohammad Reza Pahlavi] may be forced to abdicate and to flee the country—as his one-time brother-in-law, ex-King Farouk, was compelled to do last spring.

The dethronement of the Shah is the secret aim of the real master of Iran today.

He is virtually unknown outside that country, but he is all powerful there.

He is Mullah Kashani, a fanatical Moslem and nationalist, who wields iron sway over the political party that Premier Mossadegh heads. [National Front]

Actually, the aged and weepy Premier is little more than a puppet.

Mossadegh is completely under Kashani’s domination, and lives in mortal fear of him. So do virtually all Iranian officials, including the Shah, whose slaying has twice been attempted.

These attacks were made by terrorists ruled by Kashani.

THE MOSLEM fanatic controls a large number of assassins and extremists who do his bidding unhesitatingly—on pain of their own death, Kashani boasted of the murder of Mossadegh’s predecessor and is demanding the assassins be freed from Army prisons where they are serving life terms. Kashani lauded the killers as “true patriots and heroes.”

One of the first things the Mullah did when he had himself made presiding officer of parliament last spring was to propose a law to liberate and reward the murderers.

It was Kashani who forced Mossadegh to break off diplomatic relations with Britain.

The Premier did not want to do that, and stall [sic — stalled] and maneuvered to avert it for weeks. But Kashani finally gave Mossadegh a 24-hour time limit and he knuckled under.

Inside diplomatic word is that Kashani compelled the breach as a preparatory step toward kicking out the Shah.