• THE UPRISING OF THE 15TH OF KRORDAD (JUNE 5):
The month of Muharram, coinciding with Khordad 1342, came about. Imam Khomeini made good use of this opportunity to incite the people to rise against the dictatorial regime of Shah. On the day of Ashura (10th of Muharram = martyrdom of Imam Hosein a.s.). a crowd of about 100 thousand, carrying photos of the Imam, staged a walking demonstration in front of the Marmar Palace (the seat of the Shah) and, for the first time in the capital city, voiced the slogan of "Down with the Dictator!" On the following days demonstrations were held in the University, the Bazaar and in front of the British Embassy.

In the afternoon of Ashura, year 1383, a.h.l. (= 13th Khordad, 1342= June, 1963) Imam Khomeini delivered his historic speech at the Faiziyya School which marked the start of the Uprising. A major part of the Imam's speech was about the harms of the Pahlavi monarchy and revealed the hidden relations between the Shah and Israel. In this speech Imam Khomeini addressing the Shah said: "Mister, I advise you, 0! Mr, Shah!, 0! Excellency Shah! I counsel you to stop your actions. Mister, they fool you! I don't want to see the people thankful for your departure if some day they make you leave. If they dictate something for you to read, think about it...accept my advice...what is relating the Shah to israel that makes the Savak say "do not speak of Israel... is the Shah an Israeli?"
The words of the Imam fell upon the soul of the shah, like hammer blows, upon him, who was mad by power and vanity. The Shah issued orders to put out the sound of uprising. First a large number of the Imam's friends were arrested in the evening of Khordad 14th and at 03:00 A.M. of Khordad 15th, hundreds of commandos sent from Tehran put seige to the Imam's house and arrested him while he was saying his overnight prayers and hurriedly took him to Tehran and placed him first under detention in the Officers Club and in the evening they transferred him to the Qasr Prison. The news of Imam's arrest quickly spread in the city of Qum and its suburbs. Men and women from the suberbs and those in the city left their homes and villages and flocked to the house of the Imam; their essential slogan was: "Either Khomeini or Death!". Voices chanting this slogan could be heard from every corner of the city. People's anger was so vehement that it made policemen flee the scenes at first and returened when they were fully equipped. Auxiliary forces from garrisons around Qum were sent to the city. As soon as the flood of people came out of the shrine of Hazrat Maasuma (a.s.), they were strafed with volleys of machine gun bullets. Sever encounter followed lasting several hours. Blood bath ensued. Military aircraft took off
from Tehran and broke the soundwall in the sky of Qum to create more fear. The uprising was controlled by use of force. Military trucks quickly cleared the streets and alleys of the slain bodies and the wounded, and took them to unknown places. That evening the city of Qum had a sad, war beaten atmosphere.
In the morning of 15th Khordad news of the arrest of the leader of the Revolution reached Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and other cities and a situation similar to that in Qum ensued. The people of Varamin and the surrounding towns marched on Tehran. Military forces equipped with tanks, met the marchers at a fork in the Varamin-Tehran road and engaged them, and many marchers fell in their blood. A large crowd had gathered around Tehran's Bazaar and at the City Center and marched on the Shah's palace chanting: "Either Khomeini or Death." From south of the City, the population flood walked up to the City Center led by Tayyib Haj Rezai and Haj Ismail Rezai (21) two gallant men of the south of Tehran. These two were arrested later and on Aban 11, 1342 met the firing squad, and their Supporters were exiled to Bandar Abbas.
The closest person to Shah, Gen. Hosein Fardoust (22) writes in his memories about the employment of the experiences and cooperation of America's choice of political and security agents in suppressing the uprising. Also an account is given in said memoris about the alarm and confusion of the Shah, his court, the army generals and Savak

members. It is narrated that the Shah and his generals were madly issuing orders to suppress the uprising. In describing the graveness of conditions, general Fardoust writes: "I told Ovaisi, commander of the special guard army that the only thing to do is to arm all kitch helps, cooks, cleaners and storemen. "At last military forces and the Shah's police, by use of all the weapons they had, and by firing point blank at the people, were able to overcome the uprising. In his memoires, concerning this day, Prime Minister Asadullah Alam, addressing the Shah has written: "If we had retreated, the unrest would have spread to the four corners of Iran and our Regime would meet a shameful fall. I even told you (Shah) that even if I be overthrown from my position of power, you can always, save yourself, by condemning and executing me as the perpetrator of all that has happened. Martial Law was declared on the 15th of Khordad in Tehran and Qum. Inspite of this, however, extensive demonstrations were staged the following days, each ending in bloodshed.
The 15th of Khordad, 1342 was the start of the Islamic Revolution of the Iranian people. After 19 days of imprisonment, in the Qasr prison the Imam was transferred to a jail in the Eshratabad Military Base.
Two days after the 15th of the Khordad uprising the Shah called the people's revolution, a savage rioting resulting from the union of the black and reactionary agents and tried to ascribe it to agents abroad, to persons like Jamal Abdul Naser (23) The shallowness of the Shah's repeated claim was not unknown by anyone. Left wing elements and communists had no part, whatever, in this uprising. Morover, the Tudeh

Party and other Iranian communists used Moscow Radio accounts of the uprising in their writings and to justify their positions. The soviet communist Party regarded the 15th of Khordad uprising as a blindly reactionary move against the Shah's progressive reforms. The Shah's other claim re involvement of Egypt, was not believed by any one inspite of the Savak's intrigues. The integrity of the 15th Khordad uprising was so apparent that such hallmarks could have no effect on it.
With the arrest of the leader of the Movement on the 15th of Khordad and the savage killing of people, the movement was, seemingly, suppressed. In prison, Imam Khomeini refused to answer the investigators, with courage, charging them and the Judicial power illegal and incompetent. In solitary confinement in Eshratabad prison, the Imam took advantage of the opportunity to read. He studied books on contemporary history including the history of the Iranian constitution and a book by Jawahir
Laal Nehru. Following Imam Khomeini's arrest, waves of protest by the clergy and various layers of the entire Iranian population demanding the liberty of their leader poured into the Capital. Some of the outstanding Ulema migrated to Tehran from provinces, in protest. Fear of attempts on the life the leader of the Revolution generated widespresd reaction by the people. Some of the migrant Ulema were arrested in raids and imprisoned for some time. The Shah considering the 15th Khordad events as injurious to the stability and to the guarantees given to America, tried to belittle these events and show the conditions as normal and controlled. On the other hand people's anger at prolonged detention of the Imam increased daily. Therefore the Regime was compelled on 11 Murdad, 1342 to transfer the Imam from prison to a house in Davoodiah to be kept under surveillance by the armed forces. On bearing this news the people of Tehran rushed down to Davoodiah. A few hours after, huge crowds had gathered about the detention house of the Imam, the Regime was forced to scatter the crowds and to put open seige to the house by military troops. In the afternoon of 11th Murdad the Regime's mewsletters and papers published a false news that the Imam and Regime authorities had come to an understanding. It was not possible for Imam Khomeini to hear the false news and deny it, but, the Ulema, by issuing announcements, denied any understanding whatsoever. The statement by Ayatullah Maraashi Najafi was sharp and revealing and very effective. Following these events, Imam Khomeini was taken, under protection by agents of the Regime, to a house in Qaitariyya, Tehran where he remained until his release and return to Qum on 18 of Farvardin 1343 (April 7, 1964).
In the beginning of the year 1343, the Shah's Regime, thinking that their rough treatment in the events of Khordad 15th had been a lesson to the people and had silenced the challengers, was trying to portray the events of the year 1342, as, forgotten. In the evening of 18th Farvardin, 1343 Imam Khomeini was released without prior intimation or notice. He was immediately taken to Qum. Upon hearing the news the city of Qum became jubilant from end to end. Festive celebrations were arranged for several days in the Faiziyya School and elsewhere. Three days later, however, Imam Khomeini's speech proved that the regime's imaginations were baseless and so, the propaganda of the Regime was in vain and useless. In his speech, the Imam said: "Today celebration is meaningless. The nation mourns the 15th of Khordad as long as it survives!" The leader of the Revolution, in his speech, elaborated the dimensions of the Uprising and in reply to a question about the rumors concerning "understanding with the Regime", he said: "Newspaper headlines have written about understanding between the clergy and the white Revolution and the nation approving it! Which revolution? Which nation!?! Khomeini shall not come to an understanding even if he is hung. Reforms cannot be done by bayonets."
After the liberty of Imam Khomeini Savak planned to reduce the power of challengers by creating friction between the Ulema and Reference Authorities. Aware of this plot, Imam Khomeini said in his historic speech in the Aazam mosque on 26/1/1343 (4.15.1964): "If someone insulted me, slapped me in the face, slapped my children, by God, I do not wish anyone to rise and defend. I know certain individuals want to create friction in this complex whether deliberately or from ignorance. I kiss the hands of all the Reference Authorities, all of them, here, in Najaf Mashhadd, Tehran, wherever they are, I kiss the hands of all Muslim Ulema. Our goal is much greater than such things. I extend a hand of brotherhood to all Islamic nations, to all Muslims of the world in the Orient, in the occident...."
In this speech, too, Imam Khomeini spoke against the secret relations between the Shah and Israel; he cried: "O people of the world, know that our nation is opposed to the pact with Israel. This is not our nation, not our clergy. Our religion calls on us not to have agreements with the enemies of Islam!" Imam Khomeini referred to the Shah as little man; addressing him, he said: "Make no mistakes, even if Khomeini comes to terms with you, the Muslim Nation will not! We oppose all Bills approved by the parliament, that are against Islam. We shall hold our strongholds. We oppose all force and impositions. The dear nation hates Israel and its agents and hates any government that makes up with Israel."
The first anniversary of the 15th Khordad Uprising in 1343 was observed with a joint communique by Imam Khomeini and other Refernce Authorities and separate statements by the theologic Assemblies. That day was called the day of general mourning. In Tir, 1343 the great challenger Ayatullah Taleqani (24) and Engineer Mahdi Bazargan (25) heads of the freedom Movement of Iran who had supported the uprising of the 15th of Khordad, were tried by a military court and sentenced to long-term imprisonment. Imam Khomeini issued a statement in which he warned: "The voters must await a harsh fate." Also, he proposed regular weekly meetings of the clergy all over the country to follow the objectives of the movement and guide the nation's uprising