The collapse of the 'King of Kings', offering valuable insights for the government that toppled him?
In July 2023, Iranian exiles gathered at the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo to pay their respects at the tomb of the last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, marking the 45th anniversary of his death. This event served as a poignant reminder of a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran was still a dream in the making, and the Shah's rule was at its zenith.
However, the Shah's reign was not without controversy. His belief in his own propaganda on the country's modernization created a massive disjunction between urban and rural Iranians, exposing them to Westernized culture. This disjunction, coupled with the Shah's increasingly authoritarian rule, laid the groundwork for the unrest that would eventually lead to his downfall.
The Shah's fall was a complex affair, with the U.S. under President Jimmy Carter playing a significant role. Despite the Shah being a key U.S. ally, Carter did not intervene militarily to support him. Instead, his administration, influenced by Cold War calculations, adopted a stance that was increasingly acquiescent to the Islamist revolutionary forces.
This policy shift was evident during Carter's presidency, as unrest in Iran escalated into the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Notably, demonstrations against the Shah were highlighted by events such as the tear gas clashes at a 1977 anti-Shah protest in Washington, which were broadcast back to Iran, further fueling revolutionary sentiment.
One of the most fateful decisions made during this time was Carter's eventual consent to the Shah’s arrival for medical treatment in the U.S. This decision was crucial, as it provoked revolutionary hard-liners, who viewed harboring the Shah as a U.S. hostile act, leading to the Iranian hostage crisis, where 52 American diplomats were held hostage for 444 days starting in November 1979.
Throughout the hostage crisis, Carter tried to negotiate their release without military confrontation, but his efforts were unsuccessful. His failed rescue operation in April 1980 further damaged his administration's standing. Thus, while the U.S. did not support the Shah with military force or decisive intervention, Carter’s actions and policies—including the eventual admission of the Shah and the handling of the embassy hostage crisis—directly impacted the revolutionary dynamics that led to the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
Fast forward to the present day, and the Iranian regime, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has a clear-cut focus on who the real enemy is. Contrastingly, during the Shah's reign, there was no such clarity, with the Shah oscillating between being tough and an appeaser during the revolution.
The current predicament of religious leaders in Iran, according to author Scott Anderson, bolsters the Islamic Republic regime due to a shift towards more nationalistic sentiment. This shift, combined with the advanced technology that assists the system of control in a way unimaginable in the Shah's day, has made the overthrow of the current regime a challenging prospect.
Anderson's book, King of Kings (Shahanshah), offers a definitive account of the last days of the monarchy and the unmaking of the Modern Middle East. In his book, Anderson recounts scenes such as the pilots at Tabriz airbase in October 1978 handing in their resignations and commanding generals supporting Khomeini, events that were pivotal in the downfall of the Shah.
The loss of the Shah's vizier, Asadollah Alam, in April 1978, was significant as Alam had previously mobilized the state to crush massive demonstrations and oversaw Khomeini's exile. Alam, who was the Shah's alter-ego for 20-odd years, had also crushed clerical revolts and oversaw the grandiose Persepolis celebrations of 2,500 years of the Persian empire.
Despite the Shah's fall, generations of monarchists have rallied around the US-based exiled son of the late Shah, Reza Pahlavi. Reza Pahlavi, the 17-year-old Crown Prince at the time of the Shah's fall, is now a globe-trotting advocate for a reborn monarchy.
In conclusion, the events of 1979 in Iran set the stage for the rise of the Islamic Republic and marked a turning point in the Middle East. The complex role of the U.S., particularly under President Jimmy Carter, played a significant part in these events, with Carter's actions and policies directly impacting the revolutionary dynamics that led to the Shah's downfall. Today, the Iranian regime, despite assassinations by Israel at the highest level, remains steadfast, bolstered by technology and nationalistic sentiment.
- The Middle East news in July 2023 featured Iran, as Iranian exiles gathered in Cairo to honor the 45th anniversary of the death of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.
- During his reign, the Shah's policies, including his belief in Westernized modernization, created a disjunction in Iranian society, leading to unrest that eventually culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
- In the current political landscape of the Middle East, the Iranian regime, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has a clear-cut focus on their enemy, a stark contrast to the unclear stance of the Shah during the revolution.
- Theoverthrow of the Iranian regime, given its advanced technology and nationalistic sentiment, presents a challenging prospect, as seen in Scott Anderson's book, King of Kings (Shahanshah), which details the unmaking of the Modern Middle East.
