If the slogan was "neither East nor West," why was the target of November 13 the American embassy and not the Soviet one? The author says that in the days leading up to this incident, there was also a discussion among students following the Imam's line about the Soviet embassy, and some emphasized not to neglect the Soviet Union
To answer, he speaks of the “threat matrix.” In his opinion, the most important motivator for the main body of students was the Shah’s acceptance in the United States, which revived concerns about a repeat of the events of August 1953. The American embassy was also considered a conduit for the Shah’s return and a center of conspiracy. Moreover, a simultaneous conflict with two superpowers with atomic bombs was not logical.
To show that the East is not neglected, the author points to two witnesses: the gathering of these same young people in front of the Soviet embassy after the invasion of Afghanistan, and Iran's boycott of the Moscow Olympics
"America is an actual threat at that point and cannot be abandoned under the pretext of a potential (Soviet) threat."
Taken from the note "Why should we consider the seizure of a spy's nest as legitimate defense? A study of the seizure of a spy's nest from a sociological perspective" / Amir Ali Ketabi