324. Message From the Swiss Chargé to Iran (Kaiser) to the Department of State1
PURGES IN THE FOREIGN MINISTRY: A SITUATIONAL SKETCH
An official in the Foreign Ministry told me that they had a great purge there yesterday. This operation, which must be seen in connection with Khomeini’s latest appeal for the Islamization of every aspect of daily life, was directed against persons as well as objects.
Even though there have been other purges before, this operation is said to have resulted in 200 more persons being retired, transferred, or dismissed. The weeding out of mostly experienced personnel affects all ranks. The Director General for Europe and North America, Ettesam (over 20 years experience) was also dismissed. As Ettesam, who is married to a Swiss citizen, remarked to the chief of our Chancery Division, the orderly conduct of business is at present being made impossible. For instance, he said that he was unable to act on representations and démarches from foreign embassies because the internal channels of the Ministry are completely blocked, but also because—and this is doubtlessly the result of the constant attacks by the fundamentalists on the Foreign Ministry as a stronghold of the spirit of the ancien régime—it is apparent from the contacts with the rest of the administration that the latter is now hardly willing to accept the wishes or recommendations of the “corrupt” Foreign Ministry.
The purges also affect the personnel of the Secretariat (Minister/Chief of Protocol, etc.) who had had great understanding for the special urgency of many of the concerns of this Embassy and had always been helpful in arranging appointments. Our cooperation with the Foreign Ministry will therefore hardly be improved. The furor was directed also against left-over objects of the taghouti (idolatrous) period. For instance, the Persian rug in the Minister’s office disappeared, which had long been a thorn in the side of the fundamentalist fanatics. At the same time, the heavy plush curtains, the flags of the country, etc., had to go. The office of the Chief of Protocol, too, was swept bare, which so far had still retained certain representational trappings in view of his special functions.
[Page 867]The Minister is totally powerless in the face of these events and has resigned himself to them, especially since he will shortly step down together with the present government. My informant told me that since his return from Paris, Gotbzadeh has practically not shown his face at the Foreign Ministry any more.
In my opinion, this snapshot makes amply clear that Khomeini’s constant deconsolidation orders are making it less and less possible to govern the country at all.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 33, Iran Update 7/80. No classification marking. The document was found attached to a July 26 briefing memorandum from Saunders to Muskie and Christopher entitled “Iran Update—July 26 1980.”↩