Memoirs of Katirayi of his trip with Hashemi and Bazargan to Ahwaz and Abadan

Mardom-e Emruz Daily, Jan 17, 2015- Mahsa Ali Beygi: Life has dried Mostafa Katirayi’s hair white; the color of the winter of 1978. Katirayi is now in his 80s; but then he was a young man who was appointed by Imam along with Bazargan and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to visit oil reserve areas and supervise its production. On December 29, Imam Khomeini in a letter to Bazargan asked him to travel by a commission of five to these regions to resolve the issue of fuel provision at domestic level. The next day the commission traveled to Ahwaz and visited Ahwaz and Abadan and later Shiraz in two weeks. Katirayi has many memories of that trip. We visit him in the Association of Islamic Engineers amongst a mass of religious books and pictures of late Bazargan. He talks about strikes all over the country in the winter of 1978 and remembers that the employees would either not attend work to march in the streets and say “Down with the Shah” or they came to work but wouldn’t work at all: “these strikes expanded to different counties gradually. Especially in oil rich areas the employees of this industry were more active and had even executed a foreigner who was the general director of one of the oil companies. They had also shut down the channel of oil transportation. This was an issue of concern since winter was approaching. At that time Mazut was used in bakery and this very fact would affect bread provision which would result in unrest among people.

Letters that made history
These concerns convinced some revolutionaries to inform Neauphle-le-Château. Imam, in reaction to this news, issued a letter and not only appointed a commission to supervise oil production but stated three conditions: noninterference of the military in issues concerning oil; production of oil to support the need of the country; prevention of its export and hoarding by military. Once the letter reached destination, the commission started its journey:“this notice was rapidly disseminated and we decided to take action. However, due to strikes there were no flights and there was only train transportation to Ahwaz. We chose two others to have a commission of five: Sabaghian and Hassibi. Mr. Sabaghian was an active figure and had spent time in prison. Hassibi was a known figure of National Front and oil technician. Any issue with regards to oil was referred to him at the time. Bazargan was recommended by Ayatollah Motahari to Imam since at the time he had a close relation with Bazargan. He even recommended Bazargan to become the prime minister as one of the most trusted and loyal figures.”
However, there were other issues for the commission to take care prior to the trip to the south: “We decided to meet the general director of the Oil Company, Mr. Abdollah Entezam to ask for his assistance. Hence, we made our trip to his office where we were informed that we should have had an appointment. We delivered the message that the commission of Imam Khomeini wants to see him. He immediately accepted us and warmly welcomed and expressed his concerns about the events and unrest among people. He said that he will accept any command by Ayatollah Khomeini and notify his managers to collaborate. This was a big success. I remember that Entezam made a call from his office and coordinated a meeting with Khuzestan office. The other issue raised by Mr. Hashemi was that the employees are acting against the government and most probably the government has not paid their salaries and they are in difficult financial situation hence it is better to bring them some money. The banks were on strike and closed. Mr. Hashemi had brought a large sum of money with him to support those in desperate need.”
Bazargan: we will act within the legal framework
Katirayi still respect Bazargan. He talks about peoples’ enthusiasm with regards to presence of Bazargan in Khuzestan: “Once we got to the train station in Ahwaz, a large population of people had gathered. People started chanting “Greetings to Bazargan”. Bazargan insisted that his name is not tp be stated and instead the people should say “Greetings to the Commission”, people wouldn’t listen. The population in some places made it difficult for us to move and people were very excited to see Bazargan and would hug him.”
A lot had to be done in Ahwaz. First we had to take care of the salary payment of Oil Company employees: “once we were established in Ahwaz, the first inquiry was about the situation of employees on strike who were not paid. The answer was that they receive their salaries and nobody dared not to pay since the system had become very weak.” However, the most important issue was the decision of oil production to cover domestic needs and prevent export. Katirayi says: “Finance managers of the oil company visited Bazargan and said that they can export oil but provide the money to the commission instead of the government since we were appointed by the one who was leading the movement. Bazargan believed this was way too extreme. We should act legally and provide fuel and especially gasoline which is critically needed. The other issue as described by the employees was that in case oil is not exported, Mazut will gather and it will not only be wasted but it is dangerous. We resolved the issue in consultation with the technicians. On the other hand, the lefties and extremists, some in good and some in ill will would say that we don’t provide fuel to the military to prevent their attack against us. The commission was constantly communicating with Tehran and Paris and Imam instructed us to act according to the letter issued. He said that military and army vehicles should receive their required fuel. Hence, people trying to create unrest withdrew and realized that they are dealing with a great power.”

Incomplete trip of Revolutionary Council
In the afternoon of December 30, Bazargan had a speech in Ahwaz. Then the commission issued a declaration for Khuzestan and prohibited export of oil and instructed production to support domestic need. The commission goes to Abadan next. There Hashemi Rafsanjani had a lecture. The next destination was Shiraz. However, the trip to south didn’t take long. It was soon time for us to return: “We were in Khuzestan for 15-20 day since we were informed to return to Tehran to establish the Revolutionary Council. There was no transportation since railway employees were on strike too. Hence we travelled by car. On the way we were informed that the Imperial Guards control the cars and stick the king’s picture to the window and whoever resists is beaten. The also insisted that we should be careful since the soldiers treat clergies badly since they blame them for the event which was true and the revolution was directed by clergies. We encountered the soldiers on our way. Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani took off his turban. The soldiers asked if we are from the supported of Khomeini and we denied. They put a picture of the king and let us go. Any action otherwise would result in our arrest.”
One the commission entered Tehran; the refinery was waiting for us: “there were a lot of people in the refinery that our car couldn’t move. People had organized slogans: some would say: “who took our oil?” the other group would respond: “USA”. Then the group would ask: “who took the money?” the other group would answer: “Russia” and then they would all say: down with Pahlavi dynasty.” He finished his story by saying: “once we got to Tehran we realized that the government has changed. Azhari has left and Bakhtiyar from National Front is in charge. We realized that we can’t travel to oil regions and we should deliver messages and express our gratitude from them for following Imam’s orders. Oil production prevented despair among people. People would stay in long queues for long hours to receive oil but there was no shortage and that winter was not very cold.”

Translator: Natalie Haghverdian