Mass murder

September 17, 1957; Bloody Friday that accelerated the downfall of the Pahlavi regime
The bloody uprising on 17 Shahrivar 1357 and the massacre of the people of Tehran on this day is one of the most important days of the Islamic Revolution, which, according to many experts and history scholars, was a prelude to the beginning of the final stage of the uprising of the Iranian nation and the fall of the royal tyranny.
According to the political group of Fars News Agency, the bloody uprising on 17 Shahrivar 1357 and the massacre of the people of Tehran on this day are among the most important days of the Islamic Revolution, which, according to many experts and history scholars, is a prelude to the beginning of the final stage of the uprising of the Iranian nation and the fall of the royal tyranny. Was .
Experts believe that this incident proved Imam Khomeini's theory of lying and deceiving the regime and made people more determined to overthrow the regime.
After the great march of 16 Shahrivar, the Shah's regime came to the conclusion that the intensity of repression should be increased in order to contain the crisis. According to Fereydoun Hoyda, after the march on 16th of Shahrivar, the military commanders pressured the Shah to declare martial law in Tehran as soon as possible. After a few hours of hesitation, the Shah discussed with the British and American ambassadors and decided to submit to the opinion of the army commanders.
Following the detailed and comprehensive demonstrations on 16th of Shahrivar in Tehran and the cities, the government board issued a letter of approval and according to it, it was decided that from the morning of 17th of Shahrivar, in Tehran and eleven cities of Qom, Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Abadan, Ahvaz , Karaj, Qazvin, Kazeroon and Jahrom martial law should be established for six months.
By issuing the first military governor's announcement, General Owais announced that in order to create the welfare of the people and the manner of order, starting at 6:00 am on the 17th of Shahrivar, he will implement the provisions of the military rule for six months. Early in the morning, people, unaware of the military government, moved in large groups from Farah Abad, Shahbaz and Khorasan Square to Jaleh Square. Trucks full of soldiers were standing near the square and the square itself, but the people continued on their way regardless.
One of the clerics invited the people to sit down.
The crowd sat on the ground, but the appearance of the matter showed that the forces of the military governor had no intention of dispersing the people. They closed the passage on the people from four sides. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire from the streets leading to the square was loud, and as soon as the crowd rushed to the square from four sides, the forces stationed in the square also opened fire on the people from several sides.
People's hatred had reached its peak. The news of the massacre of people in Jhaleh Square in Tehran spread and the whole of Tehran became lively. Disregarding the military government, people poured into the streets and clashed with the officers of the military government. They attacked every government demonstration they could find.
According to SAVAK's report, the demonstration spread from Jhaleh Square to other streets in the eastern part of Tehran, then the demonstration spread to the south of Tehran, Molvi Street, Khorasan Square, Shush Square, and Railway Square, and in a short time, Ferdowsi Street, Manouchehri Street, North Saadi Street, Nizamabad street, Farahabad street, Narmak area, Sepeh square, Lalezar street, became the scene of conflict. Demonstrations and clashes continued until late at night.
French philosopher Michel Foucault, who went to the scene of the events to cover the events of the revolution in an Italian newspaper, claimed that 4,000 people were shot that day.
Undoubtedly, the uprising of 17 Shahrivar can be seen as the beginning of the struggle of the Muslim nation of Iran against the Pahlavi regime.
The support of the so-called American democratic leaders to the Pahlavi regime in suppressing the militants also caused their human and democratic rights claims to lose color among the people and their main nature became more visible to the people of Iran.
In general, it should be said that the bloody uprising of 17 Shahrivar in the history of the Islamic Revolution of Iran is considered as an effective factor in intensifying the popular struggles and accelerating the fall of the Pahlavi regime.

translator: fatemeh abbaszadeh