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Iranian-Lebanese relations during the reign of Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi can be viewed in two distinct phases. The first phase, which lasted from the mid-1950s until the June War of 1967, was shaped by Egyptian president Gamal Abd al-Nasser and the Shah's reaction to what he saw as Nasser's brand of radical Arab nationalism. The Shah feared that instability caused by Nasser would lead to regional inroads by the Soviets and local Communist parties. To address this perceived threat, Iran aided and worked with the other conservative governments in the Middle East. Iran also initiated political actions to influence regional states that were less committed than itself. When Egypt's less than successful performance in the June War hampered Nasserism's appeal, the Shah's perception of Nasser as a threat diminished. By the second phase, from 1967 through 1978, a new concern for Iran had emerged: the training being given to Iranian dissidents by Palestinian military organizations in Lebanon. This concern became acute after the expulsion of PLO militants from Jordan after the 1970 civil war (also known as Black September) and their establishment in southern Lebanon.
Iran's major instrument for the conduct of sensitive foreign policy was Sazeman-i Ettela'at Va Amniyat-i Kishvar (SAVAK), the National Intelligence and Security Organization, which shortly after its formation in 1957 staged several operations to influence political events in Lebanon. Probably because of the inaccessibility of SAVAK sources, scholars have not been able to examine thoroughly SAVAK's role in Iranian-Lebanese relations. By using heretofore untapped sources to follow the career of Sayyid Musa Sadr, the man credited with giving Lebanon's Shia population a sense of community, this article will attempt to fill in this historical blank spot.'
The late 1950s were a time of great political unrest in the Middle East, and Lebanon was no different from any of its neighbours. These events were of great concern to the Shah, and when he met President Camille Chamoun in December 1957 the two leaders announced their intention to `oppose any foreign intervention in the domestic affairs of their countries'.2 A number of the Middle East's other conservative governments also were concerned by regional stability and met to discuss intelligence and security issues.3 Representatives from the intelligence services of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan...