The Shah was taken completely by surprise by the protests and, to make matters worse, he often became indecisive during times of crisis; virtually every major decision he would make backfired on his government and further inflamed the revolutionaries.The Shah decided to continue on his plan of liberalization and to negotiate rather than to use force against the still-nascent protest movement: he promised that fully democratic elections for the Majlis would be held in 1979; censorship was relaxed; a resolution was drafted to help reduce corruption within the royal family and the government; and protesters were tried in civilian courts rather than by military court-martials and were quickly released.
According to the Shi’ite customs, memorial services (chehelom) are held 40 days after a person’s death. Encouraged by Khomeini (who declared that the blood of martyrs must water the “tree of Islam”). Radicals pressured the mosques and moderate clergy to commemorate the deaths of the students, and used the occasion to generate protests. The informal network of mosques and bazaars, which for years had been used to carry out religious events, increasingly became consolidated as a coordinated protest organization.
