Iran and Red and Black Colonization

Iran and Red and Black Colonization (Persian: ایران و استعمار سرخ و سیاه‎‎) was the title of an article written by Ahmad Rashidi Motlagh published in Ettela'at newspaper on 7 January 1978. The article was used to attack Ruhollah Khomeini, described as an Indian Sayyed, who later founded the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The hostilities between Iran and Iraq ended with a treaty proposed in 1975. Iranians were allowed to travel to Iraq in 1976. As result many tapes and writings of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who was in exile in Iraq, were brought into Iran. Disapproval of the Shah was increasing in Iranian mosques. People were demanding that the Constitution of 1906/07 be fully restored. Articles in the constitution included: the right to free elections, a government responsible to the elected legislative body or the Majles , a Shah with limited authority, and a committee of Mujtahids to veto bills not deemed to be in accord with Muslim law.

In October 1977, the mysterious death of Khomeini's son Mostafa caused the people's dissatisfaction to grow, in part because journalists Nikki Keddie and Yann Richard attributed his death to SAVAK, Iran's secret police. In January 1978, in an attempt to reduce religious opposition inciting people against the Shah, the Iranian newspaper Ettela'at published an article entitled "Iran and Red and Black Colonization" which attacked Ruhollah Khomeini. The article was published one week after a speech by President Jimmy Carter in which he referred to Iran as an "island of stability" in one of the more troubled areas of the world.

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