.foreshorten the arms of these people, which indeed we shall, God willing, and if the nation which has risen up in revolt foreshortens their arms and drives out the main culprits- if we succeed in this, then we will have enough oil and will achieve autonomy. Who asked you or your agents to come and run our country anyway?

What do we want with all of these foreign advisers?! [28] They are all here to keep him and his regime in power and to plunder us. They prop him up so that they can plunder. The regime must also be in favour of them plundering the nation otherwise the imperialists would get rid of him (the Shah) and replace him with someone better. It's not that they are really keen on him, but it is a question of not being able to get rid of him. In any case, they would still have us to contend with no matter who they put in his place. Should they decide to stage a coup and install a military government, then he will have no choice but to kill or to leave. [29] And in fact that is just how the situation now stands. He either has to pull the trigger and kill the whole nation, or he has to abdicate. Until the time when America leaves us alone, and these "superpowers" take their hands off our country, our movement shall continue and so shall our slogans and activities; and God willing, we shall eventually triumph.

28- An American researcher writes: "24,000 Americans were reported to have been working in Iran in July 1976, and even then this figure was rising. Some of these, such as the 1,700 American workforce at the Bell helicopter manufacturing company, worked directly under the supervision of their own American bosses, and had little contact with Iranians. The majority of Americans however, worked with Iranian officers and workers, whether they were employed in military organisations or in technical and administrative sectors; and here the difference in the salaries, fringe benefits, and material comforts enjoyed by the Americans was a cause of Iranian discontent". A report made by the Foreign Affairs Committee in the American Senate, stated that the number of American residents in Iran was expected to rise from 24,000 in the year of the report (1976), to 5060,000 in the year 1980".

29- The staging of a military coup and the enforcement of a military government was among the solutions discussed in political circles - a solution which was reached by the Shah's supporters during the final months of his reign to combat the popular demonstrations and the Islamic Revolution. However, both the Shah's mistake in imposing a military government under General Azhari, and Imam's timely warning that "A military government amounts to nothing less than a military coup", de@ed this policy a chance of working.