CONFIDENTIAL
IRAN
Report by HM Embassy, Tehran.
General Observations
The Shah believes that only the continuation of monarchy in Iran can sustain internal stability and that his people need strong and careful leadership and guidance if the country is to achieve the economic and social goals he has set. These goals are in themselves unexceptionable, and the regime's re- cord in the past decade in improving the personal and material status of the lower orders of the population has been impressive. On the other hand, those who actively try to challenge or to undermine the regime or its principal economic and social ob- jectives are in breach of Iranian law which (against the back- ground of Russian and communist efforts to overthrow the regime between 1945 and 1953) proscribes both communist organisations and the spread of Marxist ideas.
Right No.
(i)
Rating suggested by Post
6
The Iranian legal system is based on an amalgam of the Napoleonic code with traditional Islamic prac- tices. There is no right of habeas corpus, and, particularly in the case of those arrested on suspicion of security offences, the suspect normally remains in jail until it is decided whether to release or try him. Security offences are tried before military courts. Those accused of such offences are fre- quently held incommunicado for some time and are unaware of the charges being brought against them until the last moment and have inadequate opportunities to choose and brief their own lawyers or cross-examine prosecution witnesses. Such trials are now generally held in camera. They normally take place within 2-3 months and at most, 4-5 months of arrest. We have no evidence that, in the past few years, people have been arrested and detained for more extended periods without charges or trial. Those convicted of security offences, ranging from terrorism to the spread of communist ideas and the membership of proscribed organisations, probably number between 3,000 and
CONFIDENTIAL
/4,000
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