IRAN WATER & BLOOD ON A PLATFORM JUTTING FROM A SHEER, 1,500-FT 
. GORGE IN THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, THE SHAH OF IRAN PICKED 
UP A CEREMONIAL TELEPHONE AND SPOKE AN ORDER . SECONDS LATER, 
TONS OF WATER FROM THE AB-I-DIZ RIVER BELOW CRASHED THROUGH SLUICE 
GATES AND BEGAN TURNING GIANT DYNAMOS . A KNOT OF CABINET 
MINISTERS, DIPLOMATS AND ENGINEERS BURST INTO HAT-WAVING CHEERS AS, DOWN IN 
THE CANYON, ELECTRICITY BEGAN FLOWING INTO MOSLEM VILLAGES THAT HAD NEVER 
BEFORE KNOWN THE MAGIC OF PLUG-IN POWER . THUS LAST WEEK 
IRAN'S HUGE, $67.2 MILLION " MOHAMMED REZA SHAH PAHLEVI DAM, " 
HIGHEST IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WENT INTO OPERATION AS ANOTHER FEATHER 
IN THE CROWN OF THE COUNTRY'S 43-YEAR-OLD REFORM-MINDED MONARCH . TO 
HELP FINANCE THE DAM, THE WORLD BANK LOANED IRAN $42 MILLION, 
BUT THE REST OF THE CASH CAME FROM THE SHAH'S $300 
MILLION ANNUAL OIL REVENUES . TO OVERSEE THE PROJECT, IRAN PICKED 
TWO EX-CHAIRMEN OF THE U.S.'S TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, DAVID E . 
LILIENTHAL AND GORDON R . CLAPP, WHO NOW HEAD A MANHATTAN-BASED 
CONSULTING FIRM . LAST WEEK'S INAUGURATION WAS RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, JUST 
ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST CONCRETE WAS POURED 
. THE DAM'S PRINCIPAL PURPOSE IS TO BRING FERTILITY BACK TO 
DESOLATE KHUZISTAN PROVINCE, AN AREA THE SIZE OF MICHIGAN IN SOUTHWEST 
IRAN, NEAR THE PERSIAN GULF . TWENTY-FIVE CENTURIES AGO, KHUZISTAN WAS 
THE FABLED FERTILE GRANARY OF THE ANCIENT PERSIAN EMPIRE . BUT 
THE REGION HAS SINCE ERODED INTO A VIRTUAL WASTELAND ; THE 
LAST MAJOR RECLAMATION ATTEMPT WAS A SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION CANALS DUG 
BY KING SHAPUR II IN 300 A.D . THE NEW DAM 
WILL WATER 360,000 ACRES, AND PROVIDE ELECTRICITY EVEN FOR THE PROVINCES 
REMOTEST VILLAGES AND FIVE CITIES, INCLUDING THE OIL-REFINING CENTER OF ABADAN, 
OPENING THE WAY FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION . IN THE LONG RUN, IRAN 
HOPES TO BUILD 13 MORE DAMS TO IRRIGATE MUCH OF THE 
SEMI-ARID LAND CURRENTLY BEING HANDED OUT TO PEASANTS UNDER THE SHAH'S 
BIG AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM, WHICH WAS APPROVED 1,000TO-1 IN A NATIONAL 
REFERENDUM IN JANUARY . WITH THE NATION BEHIND HIM, THE SHAH 
HAS PUSHED STEADILY AHEAD WITH HIS LAND SPLIT-UP, DESPITE LOUD OUTCRIES 
FROM THE BIG LANDOWNERS . A FEW WEEKS AGO, ONE OUTRAGED 
GROUP, THE NOMADIC QASHQAI (PRONOUNCED GOSH GUY) TRIBESMEN, WHO HERD CATTLE 
IN THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE OF FARS, REGISTERED ITS PROTEST BY ATTACKING 
IRANIAN POLICE POSTS, KILLING TEN OFFICERS AND MEN . WHEN THE 
DISSIDENT QASHQAI REFUSED TO SURRENDER AND WERE JOINED BY MALCONTENTS OF 
TWO OTHER TRIBES, THE SHAH GRIMLY ORDERED HIS AIR FORCE TO 
CRUSH THE REVOLT . PEELING OUT OF THE SUN, HIS U.S.MADE 
F-86 JETS LAST WEEK FLASHED DOWN ON THE REBELS WITH BOMBING 
AND STRAFING RUNS THAT LEFT AN ESTIMATED 150 TRIBESMEN SPRAWLED DEAD 
IN THE PLAINS . RISING 647 FT., IT WILL TOP EGYPT'S 
STILL ABUILDING ASWAN HIGH DAM BY 211 FT . 