On 6 January 1978 an article appeared in Ettela’at suggesting Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was a British agent serving colonialism. The article also challenged Khomeini’s persian origins and claimed that he had been living an immoral life. The next day, clerics in Qom protested and the police demanded they disperse. When they refused, police opened fire and at least twenty people were killed. Persian media displayed outrage, which increased tensions leading up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.