SOCCER STADIUMS AS PROTEST VENUES AND THE ETHNIC FACTOR Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Shaffer describes how soccer stadiums, particularly for the Azerbaijani team "Tractor," have become venues for ethnic and anti-regime protest. She notes the regime's brutal

SOCCER STADIUMS AS PROTEST VENUES AND THE ETHNIC FACTOR Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Shafferdescribes how soccer stadiums, particularly for the Azerbaijani team "Tractor," have become venues for ethnic and anti-regime protest. She notes the regime's brutal crackdown on athletes supporting the movement. Shaffer observes a shift in the opposition from seeking reform to demanding total regime change. She predicts the ethnic factor will be decisive in the Islamic Republic's potential collapse, warning that a transition to a Persian-nationalist military dictatorship would further alienate minority populations. NUMBER 4
1940 TEHRAN