PERSIAN CRISIS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29510, 11 May 1961, Page 17

PERSIAN CRISIS

Parliament Dissolved

(N.Z.P.A -Reuter—Copyright) TEHERAN, May 9.

The Shah of Persia dissolved both Houses of Parliament tonight. In his special decree he called for new general elections under revised electoral laws.

The order said the present electoral laws made free and fair election "impossible.” The Government has banned all demonstrations and gatherings, and mass meetings inside Teheran.

If people want to “register their demands” they must hold their meetings outside the city. The Associated Press reported that the move was the climax to a week of crisis which started when 500 Teheran teachers, supported by 30,000 students, struck for a rise in salary to meet the soaring costs of living. According to the British United Press the dissolution came as a shock. It had been expected that the Majlis (Lower House) would be dissolved, but the Senate was considered above governmental decision, said the news agency. The Shah issued the decree only eight hours after Dr. Ali Amini, Persia's new Prime Minister, introduced a Cabinet said to be the “last hope” against national bankruptcy, A.P. reported. Today Dr. Ali Amini promised teachers he would look into their claims but they refused to return to work until they got “more than promises.” Reuter reported that the dissolution followed the fall of the Government of Mr Jafar Sharif Amami, who resigned as Prime Minister on May 5 after bitter criticism of his handling Of the teachers’ pay strike. Dr. Ali Amini, in a broadcast after his appointment, warned that the country faced "economic poverty.’’ He said much of Iran's national wealth had been wasted. Financial laws had been ignored and “our financial and economic systems are at their last breath.” He told his countrymen they would have to tighten their belts and reduce personal and general expenditure to escape from the “dreadful economic whirlpool that engulfs us.”