Only a few days ago we wrote in these columns of Mohammed Mossadegh being the “weak strong man” of Iran. The same day those words were printed, the Iranian Army rose in wrath and kicked out Mossadegh and his Communist (Tudeh) Party backers, and called for the exiled Shah to return to Iran from Italy.

So did the weak strong man of Iran become simply a weak man. Period.

And, although Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi has ordered the new premier, Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi, to protect Mossadegh’s life (because the little weeping, fainting former premier was placed under arrest) it stands to reason that the man who conspired with the Communists to take over the oil-rich Near East nation will be tried as a traitor, and sentenced to death.

In the Near East, lives mean little when Mohammedan justice in such cases usually is swift and strictly to the point, with little of mercy being shown to such a culprit. Therefore, to all intents and purposes, little Mossadegh and his Communist pals in Iran have taken a blistering from the loyal Iranian Army, and Russia again has received a serious setback in its bid for Iranian oil, one of the most coveted items necessary for a war.

Of course, Soviet Russia still could march into Iran and seize the country with little military immediately set off World War III, and well the Kremlin knows that fact. Russia is not ready at this moment for war. She does not want a world war thrust upon her until she IS ready. And when that time comes, as it no doubt will, the men at Moscow will set the tune themselves, when and where they want it.

But, in the meantime, little Iran and the West has been given a breathing spell by the loyal Iranian Army, which does not hold any truck with Communism. And fainting Mohammed Mossadegh, the former “weakling strong man” of Iran, spends his days weeping in a cell at Terhan, under guard from a public aroused by his perfidy. [sic—Tehran]

May leaders of other countries, who have been flirting with Moscow, take heed of Mossadegh’s ultimate fate. May they profit by his discomforture. [sic—discomfiture]