After the Shah’s Departure

After the Shah fled Iran on January 16, 1979, the question of how his removal from power would affect Bahrain continued to be a matter of concern in both London and Washington. Young Bahrainis studying abroad had been exposed to revolutionary propaganda, and Whitehall advised Ambassador Given that “we shall need to keep a watchful eye.”1 Bahraini supporters of Iran’s new Ruler, Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, who returned to Iran from exile in France on February 1, 1979, organized demonstrations in Manama, where pro-Khomeini graffiti covered the walls in many streets. At the same time, during the night, supporters of the exiled Shah had pasted portraits of the ousted Ruler on the Iranian Embassy’s walls, images that were quickly removed by Manama’s police, who “never expected to be tearing down portraits of the Shah.”2 By mistake a group of pro-Khomeini demonstrators approached the PLO office shouting slogans. A Shia political leader explained to the demonstrators that they had chosen the wrong location and directed them to the Iranian Embassy, which was now designated the “Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Tehran’s ambassador, Ismail Farboud, addressed the group, which then dispersed without incident.