Revolutionary Arson, Cinema Rex Tragedy In 1978

Some diplomats held out the possibility that it could also mark the resurgence of terrorism by the Mujaheddine (People's Strugglers), the most active of the hard-core urban guerrilla groups that were responsible for numerous bombings and assassinations in Iran a few years ago. The country's official news agency, reporting the fire yesterday about 13 hours after it happened, blamed "saboteurs" and "unidentified protesters" who it said not only doused the theater with gasoline but also "set fires on all four sides of the building to prevent rescue attempts."