One Man's Word Is Law

And Khomeini is the archon of the oilfields

At the behest of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, 37,000 militant Iranian oil workers and technicians had virtually closed down the country's production, reducing the oil flow from 6 million bbl. a day to a drip of 75,000 bbl. Last week, as if to demonstrate his absolute mastery, Khomeini ordered workers to allow enough crude production from the fields to satisfy Iran's 900,000-bbl. domestic needs--but no more. TIME Correspondent Dean Brelis visited the oilfields in the southern province of Khuzestan as militant workers returned to their jobs. His report:

Khuzestan is a land of extreme contrasts. Shepherds patrol its rocky bluffs; shrouded women kneel at the banks of mountain streams, pounding their laundry in the frigid waters. Across this primitive scene, an aluminum pipeline traces its course like a splinter of light across the land, eventually becoming part of the maze of an oil refinery. Today in Khuzestan, ancient faith and modern wealth have blended into an irresistible political force. It has emasculated what is left of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi's influence and placed Khuzestan's wealth of oil and natural gas in the hands of one man: Ayatullah Khomeini. "Now we are a power," declared one strike leader. "We fought for it with the message of Khomeini in our hearts. We will restore the Koran and Islam to the oilfields. We will not give up the oil of Khuzestan." Says I. Amraie, district manager of the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) in Ahwaz: "The Khomeini workers dominate every aspect of the business. The future is now in Khomeini's hands. He is the boss."

In other words, the country's bounteous oilfields have now been Islamized. The 39 oil wells in the Khuzestan area, the modern refinery (the world's largest) at Abadan, the depots, pipelines and innumerable areas where drilling and exploration formerly went on, all belong to Khomeini loyalists. The mullah has become the archon of the oilfields. His picture is everywhere.

The mullah's power was vividly demonstrated last week when one of his personal spokesmen, Mehdi Bazargan, 61, traveled to Khuzestan to relay Khomeini's back-to-work order. Bazargan was welcomed in regal style. Wherever he went, he was protected by burly oil workers who muzzled and bodily removed hecklers from his audiences. Local mullahs appeared constantly at Bazargan's side. "I have not come here as a strikebreaker," said Bazargan unnecessarily, since fealty and brute force had given him the most receptive of audiences.

For weeks, rumors circulated in Tehran that Communist sympathizers had taken over the oilfields. The concerns were understandable, but false. The Tudeh (Masses) Party, Iran's Communist-oriented, outlawed dissident movement, is impotent in Khuzestan. "If there are 5,000 Communists down here, that's a lot," said a Khomeini militant. "They are nothing."

The perceived antagonists were foreign managers and technicians, most of whom have departed. Says one Iranian oil worker: "The foreigners who were here earned enormous salaries for jobs that any one of us could have done. The Shah thought we were too stupid." In the foreign-dominated management compound at Ahwaz, for example, employees enjoyed air conditioning, swimming pools and modern bathrooms. Their kitchens were modern, right down to the inclusion of garbage-disposal units in the sinks. The housing units were tree-shaded, and protected by high fences topped with concertinas of barbed wire.

Housing for other oil workers is a miserable patchwork, almost as if patterned on the primitive mud huts of the Iranian countryside. Open sewers flank the area, while dogs nose their way through mounds of exposed garbage. The smell of filth permeates the air. The only sign of 20th century amenities is a spate of television aerials atop most of the homes. "They tried to buy us with television," says one of the local strike leaders, who would identify himself only with the nom de guerre Hossein. "My father used to tell us about this land with tears in his eyes. When I first heard about Khomeini a year and a half ago, I knew that he spoke to my generation. Khomeini is the only guarantor of the Iranian people, their interests and their land. Now we have power, and we are going to use it.

One way in which the Khomeini loyalists are using that power is to hike their wages. According to a strike leader, the average salary in the oilfields in prestrike days was $71 a month. Now the workers have demanded, and received, across-the-board raises of 22 1/2%. They have also ordered the Iranian army out of the fields. Says NIOC District Manager Amraie: "The workers are calling the shots. It's now what they wanted it to be--a strictly Iranian operation." The beleaguered executive admits that there have been some ominous telephone threats, but unlike his boss, Hushang Ansary, who left Iran for "medical reasons" after a trip to the turbulent oilfields, Amraie has stuck to his post. Says he: "The Khomeini oil workers are true and good men, and they have more than a sackful of grievances. It's clear that what they want is not unreasonable."

Amraie's laudable dedication to his job is matched by that of many of the workers, but for different reasons. The day after the NIOC manager delivered his tribute to his revolution-minded employees, an oil truck burrowed through a fierce blizzard on the Zagros mountain road from Khuzestan to Tehran. At the mountain hamlet of Zalian, the driver came to a stop. Inside a shelter, he performed the ritual Muslim ablutions. Then, barefoot, the worshiper stepped onto a spotless linoleum platform and began his prayers. Afterward, he explained that he was willing to brave the storm to get badly needed heating oil to Tehran--but not out of any love for the new civilian government. Said the trucker: "It's for Khomeini. He says our people need help, so we're willing to provide it." It was clear that one man's word is law in the rugged wastes of southern Iran, and that man is not the Shah.

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