TEHRAN, Dec. 8, 1978 (UPI) - U.S. Air Force cargo planes began evacuating dependents of American servicemen stationed in Iran today and a massive demonstration in Tehran's main cemetery fueled fears of new bloodshed over the Moslem holy period of Moharram U.S. Embassy spokesman refused to say how many of the estimated 1,800 dependents of the 850 servicemen in Tehran decided to join the exodus.
But one military source whose family was among those leaving said "about 80 percent of the wives and children decided to get out."
"This whole operation is taking place because of pressure our families and friends put on the government in Washington," he said.
The State Department has offered the same free trips out of Iran to dependents of civilian officials.
At the civilian air terminal, hundreds of American, German and Iranian families sat among piles of luggage waiting for flights to Europe and Israel.
The capital itself was relatively quiet today but in the walled cemetery south of the city, 6,000 women in long black veils and men bearing banners shouted, "Death to the Shah - salute to Khomeini," in a massive demonstration of support for Ayatollah Rohollah Khomeini, arch-enemy of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
The march at the cemetery, where most of the victims of recent clashes between the army and anti-shah protestors are buried, coincided with the Moslem Sabbath and customary rites in tribute to the dead.
Several religious leaders addressed the crowd simultaneously on improvised public address systems. They exhorted their audience to "come in full force to the peace march," scheduled for Sunday, the day called Ashura and the climax of the Moslem mourning rite of Moharram.
The capital's clergy and the national front opposition party have announced plans to organize the march through the capital in defiance of the military's ban on public congregations.
National front leader Karim Sanjabi and prominent clergyman Ayatollah Taleghani will lead the marc to "prove that we are not communists or leading bands of communists" as alleged by the military, a national front spokesman said.
The mounting tension caused a mass exodus from Tehran by hundreds of rattled Americans and Europeans.
In Washington, President Jimmy Carter yesterday said he "hopes" Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi can survive the challenge to his monarchy but said the United States had no intention of intervening on his behalf.
Foreign authorities said the Westerners leaving Iran during the holy period of Moharram were merely taking "early Christmas leave."
But Americans arriving in New York spoke of violence and threats that forced them to remain indoors for weeks.
Dan Annis, an American who returned from Iran last night, says the six weeks he spent in the strife-torn Mideast nation were "an experience in terror."
Annis, 39, one of the scored of Americans who arrived at Kennedy Airport, said he broke a contract he had to work as an engineer for F.I.C., a telecommunications firm in Tehran, to get out of Iran.
"I couldn't handle it," he said. "You can only take so much. You get over the panic but you're still nervous all the time."
Annis, whose evaluation of the situation in Tehran was typical of that expressed by his fellow returnees, said he sent his wife and three children back to the United States last week.
On the day he arrived in Tehran, as he checked into a hotel, Annis said he was "immediately told to stay indoors because 'they're going to kill Americans.'"
He said last Wednesday night he "jumped three feet off the floor when there was some shooting going on right outside my front door."
The airport in Tehran was just packed with people crying to get out, including Americans, Iranians, Germans and others," he said.
