Bakhtiar; 9 - Coup with Saddam's Money

(In previous sections, we examined Bakhtiar's life from his youth to the last day he was in power in Iran - February 11. The remaining two parts of the series 'Bakhtiar' are dedicated to his activities after the revolution.) About an hour after Shapur Bakhtiar left the Prime Minister's office, revolutionaries arrived. The seizure of this office and other important government buildings and ministries marked the end of the Shah's regime and the beginning of a new era for establishing a new system. Bakhtiar, who according to some accounts was supposed to meet with Mehdi Bazargan at the home of a senior senator at four in the afternoon, did not leave his hideout due to the street conditions, and as he wrote in his book 'Yekrangi', a long period of fleeing and hiding began for him from that time. During this period, he was informed of developments through the radio and at least once, on the verge of establishing a referendum for the Islamic Republic, he sent a recorded message to the French news agency expressing his views on political developments. In this message, he raised questions about the content of the 'Islamic Republic' and stated that no one, including Mehdi Bazargan, the then Prime Minister, knew exactly what the 'Islamic Republic' was and how it was supposed to govern the country. Bakhtiar, citing this ambiguity, stated that he was not willing to vote 'yes' for this republic. In this message, he addressed the Iranian people, saying: 'Dear sisters and brothers! I will not vote for such a republic because I see it as contrary to the progress of society, the dignity of the country, the flourishing of the economy, and the real implementation of human rights.' Of course, in this message, Bakhtiar referred to Ayatollah Khomeini in a very respectful tone, addressing him as 'Ma'zum-leh'. He also stated that he had generally supported the change of the Shah's regime during his premiership and that a peaceful change with reference to the people's votes to determine the type of next government was among his programs. Outside Bakhtiar's hideout, however, changes rapidly progressed in favor of the Islamic Republic and its supporters, and revolutionaries established a new regime based on a mixture of religious beliefs and modern democratic governance. Shortly thereafter, Shapur Bakhtiar fled from Mehrabad Airport using a fake passport. Perhaps his long-standing friendship with the then Prime Minister, Mehdi Bazargan, led some to sarcastically say during those days: 'Bakhtiar fled with Bazargan's passport.' Majid Tafreshi, a historian in London, says contradictory information has been published about Bakhtiar's exit from the country. Bakhtiar wrote in his book that he left Iran with a French passport, but according to Tafreshi, in recent years, some of Bakhtiar's old friends have said that the Israelis played a key role in facilitating Bakhtiar's escape. In any case, Bakhtiar soon began organized and coherent activities against the newly established Islamic Republic regime abroad. The Nouzeh Coup Bakhtiar's goal was clear from the beginning. He wanted to overthrow the Islamic Republic regime. However, Bakhtiar's method for achieving this goal was not so clear. At this time, the main opponents of the Islamic Republic were supporters of the previous regime and monarchists who had been forced to leave the country since the day after the Iranian revolution. Mehran Kalbadi, one of those who contacted Shapur Bakhtiar after the revolution, believes that in the early days, he did not have a clear idea of how to come to power in Iran. Kalbadi says: 'At that time, there was no organization or anything. But some military personnel inside the country had begun to form an organization, and they contacted Dr. Bakhtiar.' The military personnel who contacted Mr. Kalbadi from Iran were a group that had a plan for a military coup. In those days in 1979, the newly established republic faced numerous problems, and it seemed that a swift coup would be enough to end the rule of the clergy. Bakhtiar not only welcomed this plan but also decided to assist the coup planners in Iran. Mehran Kalbadi, who was aware of the details of this coup plan, says that Bakhtiar could not provide any weapons to the military personnel inside the country, but he managed to provide financial assistance to this group so they could buy weapons themselves. What was the source of Shapur Bakhtiar's financial support for the coup-supporting military personnel? Cyrus Amouzgar, the Minister of State and head of the Ministry of Information in Bakhtiar's cabinet, who was still in Iran at the time, says Bakhtiar received initial financial assistance from Ashraf Pahlavi, the sister of Mohammad Reza Shah, and Asadollah Rashidian, a prominent businessman and one of the well-known Rashidian brothers. According to Amouzgar, these two each contributed half a million dollars to Bakhtiar. Bakhtiar is seen in many photographs alongside an image of Mohammad Mossadegh. Both of these individuals were among those who stood firmly against Mossadegh's government in 1953. While Bakhtiar always called himself a follower of Mossadegh's path and generally placed a picture of the beloved leader of the National Front in his workplace. Accepting financial support from two staunch opponents of Mossadegh in 1979 was, in fact, the first signs of Bakhtiar's behavior during this period, which became one of the most important criticisms from his opponents; that he imposed no restrictions on himself in seeking financial assistance in the fight against the Islamic Republic. A famous quote from him may be one of the clearest statements for understanding Bakhtiar's strategy in obtaining financial support. Cyrus Amouzgar recounts Bakhtiar's statement: 'This is not a secret, and Dr. Bakhtiar repeated it in many interviews, saying I am willing to accept help from anyone, even from the devil himself, to bring down the evil tower of the Islamic Republic.' Saddam's Assistance This approach soon led him to establish contact with one of Ayatollah Khomeini's major enemies in the region: Saddam Hussein; who, after a long period of governing Iraq as the number two man, seized power in the country in a bloodless coup in July 1979. From the very first days of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Saddam had a hesitant view of this event and quickly concluded that the Shia clergy who had come to power in Iran posed a full-blown threat to the secular one-party government of Sunni Iraq. Especially since they had seized power in Iraq while Shia were in the majority in the country. As the Shia Islamist revolutionaries in Iran expanded their verbal support for Iraqi opponents into logistical and financial support, Saddam also adopted a similar strategy and turned to the opponents of the Islamic Republic. Bakhtiar was one of the most important opponents at this time, and it wasn't long before he was invited to Baghdad. After meeting with Saddam Hussein, Iraq's assistance to Bakhtiar began. Manoochehr Razmara, the Minister of Health in Bakhtiar's cabinet and one of his close friends, says that Bakhtiar traveled to Iraq five times in total and met with Saddam Hussein. Razmara states: 'Iraq provided Bakhtiar with between 60 to 100 million dollars. And then every month, directly, about 200 thousand dollars until the last years [before Bakhtiar's assassination].' As Mehran Kalbadi, another friend of Shapur Bakhtiar, says, financing the coup in Iran did not stop at Iraq. He speaks about the financial sources of this coup: 'Several wealthy Iranians helped Dr. Bakhtiar. From foreign governments, there was also 500 thousand dollars which I don't remember if it was Qatar or Abu Dhabi [that helped]. And then there was Iraq's assistance, which of course was before Iraq's attack on Iran. Iraq also allowed Bakhtiar to have a radio transmitter. This was later [also] allowed by Egypt to broadcast one hour of programming from Cairo.' However, in July 1980, the coup that was supposed to occur with Saddam Hussein's financial support and the cooperation of opponents in Iran was leaked before it could take place. This coup is now known as the Nouzeh Coup. Many of the planners of the Nouzeh Coup were arrested and executed before the coup could be carried out. Mehran Kalbadi, who played a role in planning this coup, says he personally informed Bakhtiar of the coup's failure. He says: 'I was still in Iran at that time and personally spoke with Dr. Bakhtiar. At Tehran time, it was two-thirty in the morning and in Paris, it was four-thirty in the morning when I called and said unfortunately this operation has failed. Of course, at that time, it was not possible to talk much on the phone. Later when I came to France, Dr. Bakhtiar and I talked many times about this issue, and he was very upset because it was very difficult to restart this matter.' Shortly after the attempt to overthrow Ayatollah Khomeini through the coup failed, Saddam Hussein decided to launch a full-scale war against Iran to overthrow the Islamic Republic and its leader by occupying Iran.