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Comments on the impact of the war between Iraq and Iran on internal politics in Iran. Setback suffered by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's project for the creation of an Islamic theocracy in Iran; Effects of the emergence of Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr as a dominant figure in Iran's war effort; Implications on international relations and world politics.

The article takes a look at the United States and their anxiety over the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the armed guardians of Iran's theocracy. Officials in the Bush administration are looking to take action against the group, citing that their support for Hezbollah and insurgents in Iraq is dangerous and that they should be shut down. U. S. officials are quiet on how they will proceed, fearing that reaction by foreign allies. INSET: Protecting the Theocracy.

This article reports that Iran's air raid on a camp of Iranian guerrillas in Iraq was part of an attempt to kill the chief of the armed opposition Massoud Rajavi. Rajavi was not at the base and Iran lost one of its Phantom fighter-bombers to anti-aircraft fire. Next day Iranian exiles expressed their frustration by throwing stones, bricks and petrol bombs at Iranian missions in Europe, North America and Australia. There is, for the time being, not much else they can do. The Iranian government, which slams the protesters as agents of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, has expressed itself dismayed at the lack of dismay by host governments. The governments are doing what is proper but not much more. The Mujahideen, whose European headquarters are in Paris, insist without much conviction that the eruptions were spontaneous.