THE centuries-old monarchy has been restored to full dominion in Iran after three tumultous years of government by whim and uncontrolled emotion. Power has been wrenched from the hands of aging Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, under whose rule the country was forced to accept progressive poverty and isolation from the free nations.

A coup only a week ago, by Mossadegh, drove Shah Reza Pahliev [sic—Mohammad Reza Pahlavi] to seek sanctuary in Italy after he had attempted to depose Mossadegh and supplant him with Gen. Fazollah Zahedi. [sic—Fazlollah Zahedi] The bloody countercoup reversed the process by which the fanatic premier had hoped to establish himself as an absolute despot.

If Gen. Zahedi can consolidate his position as head of a new and stable government the beneficiaries will be the Iranian people and, indirectly, the Western powers. A pledged program of rule by law instead of emotion and violence would go a long way toward pulling Iran out of the mire of economic distress and get it back on the road to the relative prosperity it enjoyed when oil flowed out and profits flowed in.

The news of the overturn of the Mossadegh government no doubt caused bitter disappointment in Moscow. Mossadegh accepted the aid of the Iranian Communist Party (the Tudeh ) in his rise to what he hoped would be absolute power. [No] He listened to Malenkov’s honeyed words of friendship toward Iran and contemplated additional steps which could have resulted in Iran being swallowed by Communism’s maw. [Russian Premier Georgy Malenkov] [No] He intended to legalize the outlaw Reds of the country. [No] The Communists watched these events with smug satisfaction. It was going according to familiar plan—conquest from within. Now all is changed, and for the infinitely better.

Mossadegh will probably quake and weep and ponder. But the wily old man will plot, too, if given half a chance. He has many loyal followers whose fate is his fate. The intrigues will not cease automatically; wily schemes will be devised for counter-resolution. Gen. Zahedi will need all the force and cunning he himself can muster to stay on top.

Meanwhile, the Shah, in one of his first public announcements, admits that Iran is broke. With eyes toward the West (U.S.), he intimates that help from any source—including Russia—will be welcome. We must be ready for another touch.