Three months ago Premier Mossadegh of Iran was a self-elected prisoner in the Parliament building at Tehran, sleeping on a bare cot and refusing to emerge publicly for fear of assassination. The tactics proved effective. The longer he pursued this dramatic course, the stronger grew his public support among the masses of Persians — and the worse his opponents fared.

But Persian politicians know a good dodge when they see it. So now the opposition, numbering thus far 30 Deputies and seven opposition editors, have barricaded themselves in the Parliament building. Judging by the riot which developed at the session on Tuesday, Mossadegh’s opponents are steadily building up toward a majority.

There is little mystery as to the reason. With bankruptcy in the national treasury, thousands of unpaid civil servants and jobless oil workers want a constructive settlement made of the dispute about Iran’s oil. The shenanigans of the Tudeh Communist party have begun to worry Iranian conservatives. Meantime, world markets are being lost.

Signs multiply that Mossadegh’s extremist policy is undergoing change.