Anonymous Letter
The Daily Illini — October 23, 1969
The Daily Illini — October 23, 1969
| The Mossadegh Project | April 7, 2014 |
This letter to the editor ran in The Daily Illini, the student newspaper of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), then in its 99th year of publication, on Thursday, October 23, 1969.
Iranian situation
To the Editor:The Shah of Iran is making a three-day visit of the United States. Since taking power in Iran 28 years ago, the Shah has been ruling Iran by a firm and even brutal reassertion of monarchial power.
Sixteen years ago, the C.I.A. architectured the coup d’etat of 1953 and the overthrow of the popular national government of Dr. Mossadegh Ever since, imperialism and feudalism have continued to oppress the people of Iran.
During these 16 dark years the Iranian people have risen to fight their oppressors many times; however, these struggles have thus far been crushed and heavy casualties have been inflicted upon them by the Shah’s army equipped with Russian and American weapons. Many people have been imprisoned, tortured, and executed, and many others have died due to the horrible conditions of the prisons. Today, 20,000 patriots are crowded into the Shah’s political prisons.
He has recently carried on some token reforms to deceive the public and to preserve his own power. The goal of the Shah’s visit to the United States is also to deceive the American public and to fill his pockets with American dollars so that he can buy sufficient arms, to carry on his reactionary plans.
Names Withheld
Search MohammadMossadegh.com
Related links:
Iran—Another Rustam To Fight the Dragon — The Daily Collegian, November 8, 1968
Thought on Mossadegh — The Daily Illini, November 17, 1953
Reader Forecasts the Shah’s Demise in Letter to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 27, 1973
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
