In addition, the media coverage eroded the influence of other, more moderate clergy such as Ayatollah Shariatmadari and Ayatollah Taleghani.The BBC itself later issued a statement admitting to having a “critical” disposition to the Shah, saying that its broadcasts helped to “change the collective perception of the population.”
In November, secular National Front leader Karim Sanjabi flew to Paris to meet Khomeini. There the two signed an agreement for a draft constitution that would be “Islamic and democratic”. It signaled the now official alliance between the clergy and the secular opposition.To help create a democratic façade, Khomeini placed Westernized figures (such as Sadegh Ghotbzadeh and Ebrahim Yazdi) as the public spokesmen of the opposition, and never spoke to the media of his intentions to create a theocracy.Street demonstrations continued at full force with little response from the military; by late October, government officials effectively ceded the University of Tehran to student protesters. Worse, the opposition was increasingly becoming armed, firing at soldiers and attacking banks and government buildings in an attempt to destabilize the country.
