Maziar Aptin's Memoir: Reza Shah vs. Mohammad Reza Shah
Observed by an Ex Imperial Iranian Air Force Officer
sepeedjamegan@gmail.com
September 29, 2011.
Updated January, 2016
Below; code of arm of Pahlavi dynasty
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| Reza Khan Pahlavi Mir5 (General) amongst his Cossack Troopers |
Introduction
Let me first briefly introduce myself. I was a
teenager during Mossadeq era living in city of In mid 1330s (1950s) due to unavailability of sufficient higher educational system and my passion for receiving my college degree, I enrolled in
In early 1960s, after completing a “Budget Officer Course” in the US, I started working in “Imperial Iranian Air Force Headquarters” as director of the budget estimation which I served over six years in that position. Disgusted with the Shah’s regime for reasons that I will discuss later in this memoir, in 1972 when I was a Major with promising future in the Air Force, while working on my PhD degree in the
A Walk through History
Recently my son gave me a book titled “The
Nationalities in the Post-Soviet States”. In that book, the section about
“Iranian peoples have been settled in Central Asia since ancient
times, predating the Turks by at least a millennium. During the seventh-sixth
centuries BC, the territory to the north of the Oxus
River (Amu-Darya), which forms the
present Tajik and Uzbek
Republics Persian Empire
by Cyrus the Great. At this time, the town of Marakanda
According to Payne, prior to formation of the
Soviet Unions, there was not any nation by the name of What attracted my attention to the story of
In late seventh/early eight century AD the Arab invasion had reached in that part of the world and as a consequence number of Iranian people who gave-in to the Arab pressures and accepted Islam were called, by the other Iranians of the area, Tazi-Ak, meaning “the little Arabs” which in my opinion is not a very respectable term and maybe the people of Tajikistan should reconsider the name for their country.
Note: The word Taazi (Tazi) in Persian means foreigner but after the
invasion it mostly referred to the Arabs.
This story reminded me of the Samanids dynasty who accepted
Islam for power and wealth. While claiming to be the descendants of “Bahram
Chubineh”, they became devout servant of the Caliphate, promoting Islam
vigorously in Central Asia . It was the
Samanids that converted the Turks, and the Turkmens to Islam. The funny thing is
that these newly converted Muslims became more devout and energetic Muslims
than the Samanids and the Caliphate had realized that the new energetic Muslims
could serve the cause more effectively than the old tired Samanids could and
helped the Turks to over-through the Tazi-Ak (the little Arabs) Samanids.
As we know now Khalifeh was correct in his
assessment. Not too long after the last Khalifeh “Motasam” was defeated and
killed by Hulacu Khan in 1258 AD and dismantlement of the Caliphate all
together, the Turks of Anatolia, by creating the Ottoman Empire, took up-on
themselves to become the savior, protector, and promoter of Islam and as the
history shows, they succeeded in converting number of East European nations to
Islam in Islamic fashion (sword and gun).
Pahlavi Era
This story will take us to the
Pahlavi dynasty, the subject of my memoir. I started going to school in Iran when
Mohammad Reza Shah just took over. At that time the schools were still using
books with Reza Shah Era curriculum, mostly with patriotic oriented subjects,
free of Islamic religious propaganda.
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| Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
During and after WWII, gradually the mullahs that Reza Shah
had disempowered from the political arena that they used to enjoy during Qajar
dynasty started flourishing again. They gradually replaced the patriotic
oriented curriculum in school system with Islamic friendly ones. For example the two Iranian dynasties of Taherids and
Samanids who became the servants of Caliphate and openly went into war against
their own patriotic countrymen who were trying to oust the Arabs became darlings of our school history books during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah.
Note: Abdullah Taher the Amir of Khorasan was the reason for defeat and
capture of Maziar the Shah of Tapourestan who was hand delivered by Hussein Ibn
Taher, Abdullah’s brother to Mo’tasam Bellah to be executed and the Samanids
are the one who defeated Amro Leis of Saffaried, a patriot, and hand delivered
him to Caliph to be executed.
Of course not too long after that the Samanids were demolished by Sultan Mahmoud Qaznavi the Turkmen and of course the Taherians were defeated by Yaqub Leis years before that.
The above is one example that Reza Shah was
patriotic and secular while his son Mohammad Reza was a religious man who was
afraid of spiritual power of the Ayatollahs. The reason for Mohammad Reza who
had a secular father became a religious man is his mother; who was a deeply religious woman and responsible for upbringing of her son while, Reza Shah was
too busy with the day to day business of the country to pay much attention to
his son’s upbringing.Of course not too long after that the Samanids were demolished by Sultan Mahmoud Qaznavi the Turkmen and of course the Taherians were defeated by Yaqub Leis years before that.
I remember when I was a child my secular mother used to say, in disgust, that the Queen (Malekeh-madar) holds "rozeh khani" inside the palace on weekly basis and "sofreh andazi" several times a year.
The result of this kind of upbringing of the crown prince was clearly reflected on policy making of Mohammad Reza, after he became the king.
For instance; it was in early 1940s, apparently with the advise of his mother, he invited Ayatollah Tabatabai Ghomi to come from Karbala, where he used to live, to Iran to participate in country's policy making.
Ghomi entered Iran as an official dignitary of Iranian government and an elaborate ceremony was arranged for his arrival, payed by the government.
The first policy change that Ghomi had made was the desegregation of schools, ending Reza Shah's boys/girls mixed schools. Then came the change of all Reza Shah era school textbooks, making them Islamic friendly, and also adding "Shariat" to elementary level school curriculum.
He also ordered that every morning, before the students going into the classrooms, Quran to be read out loud on every school ground ( the non-Muslim students, "Najess" were excluded from participation). Arabic language was added as a foreign language in secondary school's curriculum.
In retrospect, Mohammad Reza by bringing back the mullahs into the politics, had started digging his own grave. He should have listened to his well experienced secular father instead of to a fanatically religious mother.
In mid. 1960s, during the height of his absolute dictatorial power, I personally have seen a list of 73 mullahs, from ayatollah to shykholislam that were receiving monthly salary. The highest was 7,500 Tooman and the lowest 3,500 Tooman. Most of those mullahs were not even residing in Iran. I was a captain at that time and my salary was 1,500 Tooman, a brigadier general was making around 2,000 and the commander of the Air Force, a four star general, was making close to 3,500 per month.
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| Mohammad Reza Shah in search of allah |
Mohammad Reza Shah's religious conviction was strong enough to raise his son Reza, the Crown Prince, to become a religious man as well.
Reza Khan Pahlavi, a Self-made Man
Reza Shah was born in Alasht  |
Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince, with his mother Hajieh Farah Diba Pahlavi |
Mohammad Reza Shah’s Strong religious conviction can be noticed in
his treatment of minorities:
In 1951 when the Americans had decided to create a
defense pact against the Soviet unions in the Middle East , later-on called
Baghdad Agreement (Paymaan-e Baghdad )
the religious community was against the treaty.
In order to distract the attention of the decedent mullahs, the British, who had a good relation with Ayatollah Broojerdi, sent him to Prime minster Dr. Mossadegh; asking
him to encourage the mullahs to restrict the Baha'i activities in the country which would distract them from the politics of the day. It was said that Mossadegh had laughed out loud, and had said that “I am the prime minister of
all Iranians” and will not do such a thing.
Then Broojerdi went to the Shah who was already briefed by
the British and the Americans and he, not just embraced the idea but actively participated in the project.
Immediately after getting the permission from the Shah the
mullah’s increased their propaganda activities against the Bahais. For example
there was a mullah by the name of Shykholeslam Falsafi whose daily provocative
speeches against Bahais used to be broadcasted nationwide by the government
owned “Radio Tehran” several times a day.
These propagandas against Bahais, among other activities by
the mullahs, had created hatred against Bahais among people which ended up
killing several Bahais nationwide including a brutal killing of Dr. Berjis, a
physician in central Iran .
People carved several holes in his body and put candles in them and lit the candles. Then they put a leash on him, walking and dragging him on the streets of town that he served its people for so long until the man died.
That event had happened when Shah himself got involved by
sending his highest ranking Army officer; General Batmaanghlich who was the
chief of staff of the Army to destroy the Bahai temple in Tehran .
The General’s picture, while in uniform, pounding with a pick on the
roof of 50 meter high temple was taken and was published in most major
newspapers of the world, including the "Time Magazine".
Reza Khan Pahlavi, a Self-made Man
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| Small cottage in Alasht where Reza Khan was born |
The
14 years old Reza with no schooling, as was the case for 99.9% of the Iranian
public at that time, climbed the ladder within the Cossack Brigade quickly and
steadily who reached the rank of “Mirpange” (general) and after the departure
of the Russian officers, due to the Bolshevik Revolution, he became the
commander of the brigade. From there he entered into politics and became
prime-minister of the country during Ahmad Shah Qajar.
Reza Khan, besides being a good military man, was
a superb politician who played his hand really well in a political arena ridden
with powerful mullahs, and also as powerful, the British and many other elements
of those chaotic Qajar days.
While Reza Khan hated the mullahs who were the cause of all disastrous events that occurred during the Qajars; including losing two wars to the Russians and as a result losing two large regions of the country to the Tsars and also losing
Reza Khan in political arena, by playing his hand well, got the mullahs on his side. For instance on one night of “Tasua” he participated in the ceremony of head bashing with a bouquet of straw pretending to be a religious man.
He completely reversed his policies toward mullahs after the mullahs voted him to be king instead of president that Reza khan was in favor of.
Note: Reza Khan was against constitutional monarchy. He suggested a democratic republic form of government similar to the system that his good friend, next door neighbor, AtaTurk was establishing. It was the mullahs who pressured him, led by three prominent mullahs of that time, namely Sayd Abolhassan Esfehaani, Mirza Hossein Naini, and Abdolkarim Hairi Yazdi and also the father of Ruhollah Khomeini, in favor of continuing the monarchy system with the existing constitution which favored mullahs as well as the monarch.
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| Above; Reza Shah's coronation ceremony picture |
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| Reza Khan with Kemal Ataturk of Turkey |
When Reza Khan took over as prime minister, the first thing that he wanted to do was to end all foreign influences in Iranian political system that the country was suffering from during the Qajars. He started that by getting rid of all foreign workers, using the few educated Iranians available who were either from “Hezar Famil” (Top 1000 Families, either Qajar or tied to that dynasty) or upper class landowners (mostly the clergies) in running the business of the government until the sons and daughters of the ordinary Iranians become educated and ready for the task. Until that day to come, he had to use the old gangs (the Qajars) whom he did not trust.
Second; in why I thought that he
was preparing Iran
for a democratic form of government was his devotion to educating the Iranian
masses. During Qajars, the mullahs were against education and they
convinced the royal family that governing an uneducated mass is easier to
control and they are also less demanding. They murdered “Amir Kabir” who
started modernization for that very reason. While as we know, Reza Shah’s
number one priority was education for all Iranians not just for the upper class.
After
Reza Khan was declared the Shah, he did not want to be called Alahazrat or any other titles that the Qajars used to use even though he earned the position, but Mohammad Reza had covered
himself with all those mambo jumbo undeserved titles such as
Shahanshah; how many shahs did Iran have (at the time) that he was the shah of
shahs!
Note: I would like to mention that
all dictatorial system of government have proven themselves to be evil,
including the Reza Shah’s regime.
Even though I thought that Reza
Shah, under the circumstance of those days of Iran Iran
One example of Reza Shah's mistake; while forcing people sending their daughters to school, bringing women into the workforce, etc. that made majority of backward thinking illiterate Iranians unhappy were good dictatorial decisions but forcing people to work on the "Road Construction Projects" with no wages was an utmost brutality and unforgivable one.
Another example: Reza shah's land reform was a great success. He took the farmlands from major landowners who did not know anything about farming, most of them multimillionaires who used to live in London and Paris collecting the fruit of the peasant's hard work. With that project he almost ended the "Arbab Rayati" system in which the landowners (Arbabs) used to exploit the farmworker (Rayats). But his mistake was that he kept a good part of those land for himself.
One example of Reza Shah's mistake; while forcing people sending their daughters to school, bringing women into the workforce, etc. that made majority of backward thinking illiterate Iranians unhappy were good dictatorial decisions but forcing people to work on the "Road Construction Projects" with no wages was an utmost brutality and unforgivable one.
Another example: Reza shah's land reform was a great success. He took the farmlands from major landowners who did not know anything about farming, most of them multimillionaires who used to live in London and Paris collecting the fruit of the peasant's hard work. With that project he almost ended the "Arbab Rayati" system in which the landowners (Arbabs) used to exploit the farmworker (Rayats). But his mistake was that he kept a good part of those land for himself.
This subject needs a careful and
elaborate analysis in some other time.
Note: The title Shahanshah was being used during different dynasties of ancient Persian Empire when the system was; the country had several dozens of local kings with the title of "Shah" and consequently the king of the entire country would be called "Shahanshah".
Some other titles that Mohammad Reza had created for himself were: Alahazrat which was an Arabic “mullahpasand” Qajar title any way, "Sayeh-e Khoda"(shadow of god), Bozorg Daran, Aryamehr, "Khodaygan" (godlike),.... You cannot fool people with titles for too long, It is your service to people that counts.
Reza Khan, growing up in the army with its harsh environment, was used to a simple way of living. Even after he became Shah he did not pursue luxury. He chose to put his bed in a small undercoated room right on the floor. He did not want to get lost in luxury living of the royal court, as the Qajars used to, and gradually become distanced from the ordinary poor people of his country. He wanted to stay close to poverty living way of his people so he could serve them more effectively.
Note: During Qajar era Iran was the poorest country in the world. After WWII Afghanistan acquired that title.
An Iranian family during Naseraldin Shah
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| Above; Reza Shah’s modest bedroom
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Reza Shah himself being deprived of education, as were 99.9% of people of
Reza Shah finally took him out of school in
When the scandal of "the Crow Prince who was befriending a homosexual Swedish young man, named Ernest Peron" had reached Iran, Reza Shah brought him back home.
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was always in the shadow of his father Reza Shah the Great.
A strange look at Shah’s face (Is it sadness or hatred!)
Note: Mohammad Reza hated his own father because Reza Shah was an education enthusiast and used to be hard on his son.
To make the future shah a responsible person; from grade school on, he pressed him really hard but the son was playful. From high school age he acquired the title of "playboy prince", both in Iran and later in Switzerland where he attended high school for only two years.
He could not finish high school because Reza Shah became aware of a scandals that the prince had created in a foreign land by befriending a homosexual Swedish boy named Ernest Peron.
After Mohammad Reza became shah, he brought Ernest Peron to Iran and kept him as his "personal adviser".
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In Officer's College; according to his own classmates such as his close friend Fardoost, Mohammad Reza continued his goof-off attitude and stayed “playboy”. Consequently; this is the extent of his formal education.
My explanation, so far was about the extent of his preparation for governing an ancient country that his father, in 1941, put it on a silver platter and was forced into handing it to him prematurely when Mohammad Reza was 22 years old.
We all can remember when we were in that age. How responsible a person of that age can or should be? Of course a great number of people are not serious enough about life at that age and I cannot argue with that. There is plenty of time ahead. But what if all of a sudden and unexpectedly a person is given such a great task and he/she is not prepared for it at all!
With his father not around any longer to fear from and he hated him for that, he stayed a playboy even more so because he was the king now and had nothing to do in his day to day life because country was occupied by the Allied Forces who were running the affairs of the country with some help from the Prime Ministers of the period.
At that time there were plenty of women available to keep him busy. A great number of fathers from so called noble families (Ashraaf) used to pimp for him by pushing their virgin daughters toward him expecting something in return undeserved.
But what a responsible person, even at age 18 or younger, would have done! From 1941 through 1945, the end of WWII, there was enough time for him to go to college or home schooling, and get a degree, read the history of his great country and be prepared for the day to arrive.
In 1941, Reza Shah accepted to go to exile with the condition that all foreign forces after the end of the war leave the country . Americans and the British did but the
After the two allied countries left Iran, Mohammad Reza stepped into the politics of the country but because he was not prepared for it, the old politicians were still running the country and he started as “on the job training basis” and sometimes he was being used as a symbolic figure, specially for the ouster of the Soviets backed poppet government "Pishehvary" in Azerbaijan which was great and successful. That was the period in
But the British had something else in mind. They wanted to keep the cheaply acquired oil industry for themselves but a few old politicians such as Mossadeq were big obstacles. Guess who was chosen to remove that obstacle for them!
At the time the Americans used to prefer dictatorial regimes in all Third World Countries for different reason; campaign against Communism by any means.
I am writing this for the new generation of Iranians to learn the truth about the recent history of their country. They are not going to hear the truth from; neither monarchists, nor from the Qajars, the Communists, or the IRI.
I am a patriotic Iranian, attached to none of those or any other interest groups and do not have any animosity toward the Pahlavi family either. As a matter of fact I consider Reza Shah a great patriot who, even though he made several mistakes which is a different story, he modernized the country and at the end he sacrificed his position by accepting exile for good of the country and in his departure all that he took with him to
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| Picking a fist full of dirt at the air port while leaving |
But the British did not want to give an inch and brought their powerful naval fleet into The Persian Gulf and blockaded the harbor and threatened with an imminent attack and occupation unless, not just Reza Shah had to withdraw his demand but also had to sign the Darcy contract with a few changes in favor of the British with another 60 years extension; with Iran receiving the same 16% of the profit that was already in the contract from Qajar era.
But the ruthless British used to cook the books in a way that not just
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| Reza Shah’s final pictures |
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| Reza Shah’s final pictures, outdoor in exile |
The crucial role that FDR has played in favor of Iran
In December of 1942 The United States of America
entered Iran and eventually the Iranian politicians informed the Americans, their concern about the Russo/British ambitions.
Shortly after; under the instruction of FDR, the State Department sent a memorandum to the two allies which stated; "The Iranian nation have already suffered enough from the unwanted war; it is the policy of the United States to build an independent Iran, strong enough to stand up to its old imperial nemeses."
The treaty of 1941 between Reza Shah and the allies (The
British and The Soviet Unions) was a forced treaty and none-binding. That was
the cause for the Iranian politicians to worry and anticipate that after the war
the two powers will not leave and will divide Iran between themselves, as they
already had done during the Qajar era.
Shortly after; under the instruction of FDR, the State Department sent a memorandum to the two allies which stated; "The Iranian nation have already suffered enough from the unwanted war; it is the policy of the United States to build an independent Iran, strong enough to stand up to its old imperial nemeses."
FDR of course was already aware of the passed British
imperialism and he hated it. In one of his meetings with Churchill, when the
British prime minister objected to the idea of giving independent to India after the
war, FDR angrily told Churchill; "you must change your 400 years of
world domination mentality. Time has changed Winston".
With above in mind, in November, 28-December, 1, 1943 in “Big Three
Conference” of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin in Tehran ,
FDR convinced the other two to sign a joint statement called (The Tehran
Declaration) guaranteeing the independence of Iran
and also the three parties committed themselves in withdrawing all of their troops from Iran six months
after the end of the war.
Formation of Hezb-e Tudeh
(the communist party)
(the communist party)
Before the war, Reza Shah outlawed most political activities in the country and jailed fifty-three communists. In October 1941, now freed from jail, the communists formed a party and named it Hezb-e Toodeh (“Tudeh” or “The Masses”) Party.
Shortly after the formation, party leaders were approached by the Soviets and were persuaded to join the Stalinist cause, which they did. By joining, they received considerable financial and political assistance from the Soviets, became very active in Iranian politics and were very successful in the Soviet-occupied Northern States of Iran .
Toward the final years of the war Stalin became active in pursuing his ambition of expanding the Soviet Union into part of Iran . The Tudeh Party in Azerbaijan became more active and from there the Soviets expanded their activities into Kurdistan and gradually into all the occupied areas of Northern Iran .
The Crucial Role Harry Truman Played in Favor of Iran
Six month after the end of the war the Americans and the British moved out of Iran but the Soviets stayed and politically became even more active to a point that they had created a puppet government in Azerbaijan named (Pishehvary) which had declared the independence of Azerbaijan with Kurdistan following suit. When the Iranian troops marched toward Azerbaijan to overthrow the Pishehvary government they were stopped by the Soviet troops.
It was at this time that Harry Truman sent an ultimatum to Stalin; "either move your troops out of Iran or you will have a war against the U S on your hands" and immediately started moving the U S naval fleet toward the Indian Ocean .
Considering that the United States was the only world power with nuclear arms capabilities in this period and with the Soviets already severely damaged by the war, there was no room for hesitation for Stalin. By May 1946 (two months later than the treaty had dictated) the Soviets were out of Iran .
After their departure and the end of their direct support for the “Pishehvary”, the puppet government was not strong enough to stand against the Iranian Army and the will of the people of Azerbaijan .
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Takes Over
Mohammad Reza hated his own father like most brats and spoiled
children do because their father tells them; do your homework son. He hated his
father so much that he made alliance with his father's arch enemy,
the British who exiled him; the British who not just Reza Shah
but every Iranian used to hate because of their involvement in politics of
Iran during the Qajar era also worse than that; the older Iranians of that time
could not forget the atrocities committed by the British during the WWI. In
that period, the British had occupied Iran for strategic reason, purchasing
and taking by force all foodstuffs for their own solders which caused
country-wide famine which over 8 millions Iranians perished (50% of the
population at that time).
One thing that I cannot forgive Mohammad Reza of is; when he replaced his own statue with Reza Shah's statue in the main square of city of Shahi, were I was born. Reza Shah had built Shahi from scratch to connect the passengers of his beloved newly built railroad to the beach cities via automobile road. Mohammad Reza had done nothing for the city of Shahi to deserve a statue. What was the purpose of his statue? there was no relevancy.
One morning people of Shahi woke up and witnessed that instead of Reza Shah's statue Mohammad Reza's statue was there. They replaced it in the middle of the night when everybody was sound asleep. What an unappreciative son whom his father handed him such an important position, undeserved.
To the people of Shahi; he shoved his statue to their face; here I am love me.
A year later he erected another of his statue in a square right in front of the railroad station that Reza Shah had built.
The City of Shahi got the nickname of; "The bride of the cities of Mazandaran and Paris of Iran", walking in the streets in the evenings was one of the recreations that people used to enjoy. After the erection of two Mohammad Reza statues, in a small town, walking in the evenings was not fun any more.
Beside the statue replacement, he replaced the picture of his father on all currencies with his own. He did not leave his father's picture even on one currency for the memory of the man that he was enjoying his power from. That is a stab on the back of his own father; what a " Bemarefat" person he was!
For example, in The U.S, George Washington's picture still is printed on a $ bill.
1. They got rid of his strict father who was kept pushing him; “do your homework son and get a decent education; women are always going to be at your disposal”.
2. Handed him the kingdom while they could easily create a different system of government and install one of those “Ashraaf” that they had on their payroll to power.
For above reasons Mohammad Reza Shah, ignoring all crimes committed by the British during the Qajars, also ignoring that the British were the cause of his father’s death in exile; far away from his beloved country. He immediately made an alliance with this monstrous blood-sucking enemy of Iran and stood by them all the way to the end of his reign in 1979 when the British/Americans did not need him any longer. This was another stab on the back of his own father.
The indisputable example is; this
black sheep of Iran sold the country to the British from the get go as soon as
they declared him the Shah. He sided with his master against Mossadeq
who was trying to nationalize the oil industry of Iran that the British had an
unfair contract with the Qajars by bribing the Qajar Shah who could not even
understand the significance of the so called “Black Gold”, the term coined for
oil by the British
One more example why the Iranians hated the British
One more example why the Iranians hated the British
Below is a segment of Kenneth Pollack’s book; Persian Puzzle:
“The AIOC (Anglo Iranian Oil Company) was a rapacious and careless company.” “They were determined to maximize immediate profits without regard forIran or even
for the ill will they were creating for themselves. The company lied and
manipulated its books to underpay the Iranian government to the tune of
billions of dollars. The AIOC also indulged in bribery of Iranian officials,
attempted to manipulate Iranian internal policies, armed local tribesmen in
return for their support”.
“The AIOC (Anglo Iranian Oil Company) was a rapacious and careless company.” “They were determined to maximize immediate profits without regard for
“The British used to import
labors from India
for unskilled jobs that Iranian labors believed rightfully was theirs.”
“The working conditions of AIOC’s
Iranian employees were unconscionable: They were paid 50 cents per day and
lived in a shantytown called “Kaghazabad” (paper city) for the principal means
of construction; without running water or electricity. They had no vacation, no
sick leave, and no disability compensation.”
A foreign worker who worked for
several years at Abadan
wrote that “the Iranian AIOC workers were the poorest creature on earth…. They
lived during the seven hot months of the year under the trees…In winter time
these masses moved into big halls, built by the company, housing up to
3,000-4,000 people without wall or partition between them. Each family occupied
the space of one blanket. There were no lavatories….
In debates with a Brutish colleagues we often tried to show them the mistake they were making in treating the Persians the way they did. The answer was; we English have had hundreds of years of experience on how to treat the Natives. Socialism is all right back home, but out here you have to be the master….”
In debates with a Brutish colleagues we often tried to show them the mistake they were making in treating the Persians the way they did. The answer was; we English have had hundreds of years of experience on how to treat the Natives. Socialism is all right back home, but out here you have to be the master….”
Averell Harriman, visiting Abadan in 1951, cabled
President Truman that “the slums he saw there were “shocking” for housing of
employees of a large Western oil company.” “The British held a completely
nineteenth century colonial attitude toward Iran .”
With all that humiliating abuses
of our people plus their abusive intervention in Iranian internal affair during
the Qajar era and most importantly their direct involvement in the coup d'etat of
1953; the British, like cat with nine lives, have avoided the Iranian
retaliation and are close friend of the IRI regime while The United States is
ostracized for the last 36 years.
This does not mean that an apology by the U.S. is not called for but considering that the U.S. also has done a great service to Iran, namely the action by FDR and Harry Truman mentioned above. Please read my article, on this blog, " Why Iranians have bittersweet feelings toward America".
The British had done nothing positive for our country in their more than two centuries of involvement in Iran's affair. They sucked our blood, gave nothing in return.
In my opinion, historically, the British had done more harm toIran
than any other nations with the exception of the infamous 7th
century A.D. Arabs and the 13th century Mongols invasion and atrocities.
This does not mean that an apology by the U.S. is not called for but considering that the U.S. also has done a great service to Iran, namely the action by FDR and Harry Truman mentioned above. Please read my article, on this blog, " Why Iranians have bittersweet feelings toward America".
The British had done nothing positive for our country in their more than two centuries of involvement in Iran's affair. They sucked our blood, gave nothing in return.
In my opinion, historically, the British had done more harm to
Mohammad Mossadegh the Prime Minister
Now let’s go back to Mossadeq era. I was a teenager at the time, like most Iranians of that era very aware of politics of the day, and remember clearly that the whole nation, even old people like my own mother who liked monarchy, were behind Mossadeq. This does not mean that they had to be against the Shah. Also we the majority was not against the Shah either. We couldn’t care less if he would stay the Shah or not. All concentration was on the subject of nationalization of the oil and the defeat of the British. It was the Shah who had decided to go on the British corner. If he would have stayed with the will of the people, he would have stayed loved by the majority of the people because the majority was thankful to his father for his services to the country. Some people may disagree but as I mentioned above, in my opinion, Reza Shah’s services outweighs his mistakes.
As far as Reza Shah being a dictator is concerned; again even though no one appreciated it but under the circumstances of the time, it was a correct choice. One must keep in mind that the people of Iran were already used to the dictatorial system of Qajar era to begin with but now they had a dictator who at least has built roads, factories, new educational system, etc. resulting in creation of jobs, more income and higher standard of living and many other services that they were not getting under the previous dictators.
Contrary to the general belief, Mossadeq himself never wanted to end the monarchy. He told Shah face to face that "Shah Bayad Saltanat konad Na Hokoomat" (Shah must stay a monarch not a ruler). This was the famous phrase by Mossadeq that we all heard at that time and in those days everything that Mossadeq would say was like written on stone and would be accepted by the majority.
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| Mossadegh's pictures are being erected on the gate of Majlis, March 1953 |
Consequently Shah could not have been concerned about his crown when he rose against Mossadeq and the will of the people. He was just paying back his debt to the British whom he owed his crown to.
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| Mossadeq bowing to the Shah |
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| Tudeh Party parade in Tehran, mourning Stalin's death. 1953 |
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| Shah in the recovery room from assassination attempt |
In 1953 when the British/American coalition brought him back to power, he was full of hatred towards Iran and all Iranians whom he thought that should not take side with Mossadeq. From that point-on he started looting the country building his bank accounts abroad. He knew that the day will come that he would need the money and, as we know it now, he was correct. To find out the degree of Shah’s looting, I strongly suggest a book by Kenneth M. Pollack, titled “Persian Puzzle”. Pollack wrote this book after his retirement from lifetime service as a high ranking CIA officer, part of it in charge of the “Iran Desk”. He has also served under three different administrations, Democratic and Republican, in State Department and NSA.
I have seen the looting first hand when I used to work as the Director of Budget in the Iranian Air Force Headquarter from 1962 through 1969. There were so many things in Pollack’s book that I already knew about; some of it I have seen firsthand and the rests were all very familiar and true. There were plenty more, in details, which I did not know at the time but after reading the book, I could connect the dots.
According to Pollack; in 1970s, when I was not in Iran any longer, corruption got even worse due to oil price quadrupling and production reaching 3.8 mills barrel per day, the highest in the world for that time. Up to present day, production never reached that high in Iran due to the 1980s war damages to the installations.
Back to Mossadeq; now imagine; what would be the choice for an average Iranian at any age in that time! In one corner stood Mossadeq, for many people a new face, who was saying we must nationalize the oil that the British have stolen the industry from us by bribing the Qajar king and then forcing Reza Shah to extend the infamous contract by bringing their powerful fleet in the Persian Gulf, not just blockading the harbor but also giving ultimatum of eminent attack.
On the other corner you have the British, deeply hated by every individual Iranian. Standing by the British is the Shah, whom many people used to love, and a group of vultures upper class traitors whom generation after generation were on the British payroll for life; a common knowledge in Iranian society of those days. Which corner would one choose? Of course the answer is obvious.
After the coup d’état of 28 of
Mordaad, Shah publicized that Mossadeq staged a coup against him. Not true. The
truth is; Shah who had the constitutional power to fire the prime minister did
not dare doing so afraid of public reaction. Consequently he called Mossadeq to
the palace and asked him to resign. But Mossadegh, knowing that he had the support of the
people, had responded; “I do not resign, you can fire me and you have the
constitutional power to do so”.
At this time Kim Roosevelt (CIA station chief in
American embassy in Iran), Persuaded by the British, made a stupid mistake and
staged a coup d’état against Mossadeq on behalf of the Shah, thinking that
after the coup they would declare a marshal law and after a short period of
time people would tire and would forget about it. According to Pollack “Shah
himself, terrified that things would unravel, chose to wait at his villa on the
Caspian ( Hotel Ramsar) with a plane at the ready to whisk him out of the country at first sign
of trouble”. But Mossadeq was informed ahead of time by officers loyal to him and he had his guard ready for Colonel Nasiri, the arresting officer to arrive.
Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh>>
After the failed coup, Eisenhower ordered to abort the mission and decided to negotiate with Mossadeq and forced the British to accept the oil deal term, meaning nationalization. But at this juncture Mossadegh made the biggest mistake of his political life by, while accepting the nationalization deal, he asked for an additional $50 million damages caused by the British by blockading our harbor in previous months and preventing the export for a few months. This demand antagonized the Americans. They considered Mossadegh was being stubborn and uncompromising and halted their mediation.
According to Pollack; at this juncture Kermit (Kim) Roosevelt, the chief CIA in-charge, advised by the British, sent a message to Eisenhower and asked for another chance and requested the approval of only $1,000,000 for staging a second coup. Eisenhower Okayed it and Roosevelt this time tried the infamous “Shaban Jafari” (Bimokh) fiasco and succeeded due to the mistakes made by the Hezeb-e Tudeh.
The Tudehs, not knowing that the demonstration was staged by the CIA, jumped in staging violent demonstrations against the Shah which backfired because the CIA publicized that the Tudehs are trying to take control of the government.
Roosevelt, in his memoir, wrote that; out of one million dollar only $390,000 was spent for the second coup and the rest was given to General Zahedi. That money was divided between Shah and Zahedi he said.
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| Shah with Eisenhower the sponsor of the 1953 coup in Iran |
For the younger generations who do not know who Shaban Jafari is:
Shaban Jafari and his role in Coup d’état of 28
Mordad 1953
Large cities in Iran, especially Tehran had its own version of Mafia but in comparison to Italian or American mafias, the Iranian mafias were small-time thugs, elementary school-dropouts making their money by intimidating local small businesses and collecting “protection money”. They are called “Jahel”, an Arabic word for ignorant, but among Jahels the term carries a tremendous prestige and respect in the neighborhood which usually were in the ghettos. Because carrying guns was illegal in Iran, these thugs used to carry pocket-knifes and in order not to get into trouble with the law, they usually used to insert the knife somewhere in their rival thugs’ body which would not be fatal. But Shaban from early age was very careless in using his knife, sometimes inflecting dangerous wound. For this reason he got the nickname of “Bimokh”(brainless) among Jahels,
The norm among thugs was that the young thug would start as a “Nowcheh” (hit man) of an older thug.
In 1953 Shaban Bimokh was in his late 40s/early 50s and had several dozens Nowcheh working for him.
When Kim Roosevelt staged his second coup, one of the groups that he recruited was the Jahels and Shaban Jafari was the most reputable Jahel. The CIA handed out thousands of 5-Tooman bills to the Jahels to distribute among their Nowches and the nowches would in turn go into the ghettos and handout one 5-tooman bill to whomever would come to the rally demonstrating in favor of the Shah who was in Baghdad (from there to Rome) at that time.
After the coup succeeded, Shaban Jafari (Bimokh), Tayeb, and many other thugs were invited to Darbar and Shah personally decorated Shaban with medal and called him a hero. From then on the Bimokh became a prominent member of Shah’s propaganda machine with high salary.
Here in America every year Shaban Bimokh is being eulogized in his death anniversary by the Pahlavi sponsored Persian magazines as an Iranian patriot and hero.
In 1953 Shaban Bimokh was in his late 40s/early 50s and had several dozens Nowcheh working for him.
When Kim Roosevelt staged his second coup, one of the groups that he recruited was the Jahels and Shaban Jafari was the most reputable Jahel. The CIA handed out thousands of 5-Tooman bills to the Jahels to distribute among their Nowches and the nowches would in turn go into the ghettos and handout one 5-tooman bill to whomever would come to the rally demonstrating in favor of the Shah who was in Baghdad (from there to Rome) at that time.
After the coup succeeded, Shaban Jafari (Bimokh), Tayeb, and many other thugs were invited to Darbar and Shah personally decorated Shaban with medal and called him a hero. From then on the Bimokh became a prominent member of Shah’s propaganda machine with high salary.
Here in America every year Shaban Bimokh is being eulogized in his death anniversary by the Pahlavi sponsored Persian magazines as an Iranian patriot and hero.
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| Shaban Jafari leading the pro monarchy gangs at 28 Mordad Coup, Tehran, Iran 1953 |
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| Above; Pro Monarchy Thugs with clubs in streets of Iran during the 1953 Coup |
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| General Zahedi (Coup Leader) and Ardeshir Zahedi (his son), 1953 Iranian Coup |
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| Tanks in the streets of Tehran 1953 Coup |
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| Shahollah and Hezbollah Monarchists and Shiite Ayatollahs go hand in hand Monarchists: Ayatollah Kashani the recipient of $10,000 from CIA prior to 28 of Mordad (standing) and Shaban Jafari the recipient of 5-Toomani-bills plus (Sitting), along with a band of Monarchists and Clerics |
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| Shaban Jafari Bimokh (Brainless Shaban) leading his gang of Monarchists, 1953 Iranian Coup L to R: Nasser Hassan Khani AKA Jigaraki (Liver Kaboby), Abbas Kavusi Lat O Put (Hooligan Abbas), Dashi Gazani (Brother Gazani), Asqar Khaldar (Tatooed Asqar) rising Shah’s poster on the Land Rover All of these tugs plus many in Teyeb's group received medal and financial privileges after the coup. |
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| A thank you kiss to a dear friend |
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Above; Shah with General Fazlollah Zahedi (Coup Leader) AKA Taj-Bakhsh (Crown Granter) Shah granted General Zahedi the title of Taj-Bakhsh (Crown Granter) because as the head of the 1953 coup, he saved Shah’s crown and monarchy |
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Coup Makers Cartoon
All the Shah’s Men: Good Soldiers L to R: Ardeshir Zahedi, Sharif Emami, Shaban Jafari, General Azhari, General Oveisi |
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Older Shaban Jafari in Exile
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Bellow is some interesting info, in Persian, about part of Bimokh's activities in those historic days that I copied from Mr. Babak Persa's Facebook:
Shaban Jafari with nowchehs demonstrating in front of Mossadegh's house
For more detail information about the two coups of 25th and 28th of Mordad 1332 please read a book by Stephen Kinzer named ( All the Shah's Men: An American coup and the roots of Middle East terror).
A few important events during the coup
شاه قصد خروج از كشور و سفر به عتبات را
داشت كه شعبان به همراه گروهی از اراذل و اوباش خود با تجمع در مقابل كاخ مرمر از
این امر جلوگیری كردند و با تهدید بازاریان، بازار تعطیل شد و این گروه به مقابل
خانه دكتر مصدق رفته و اقدام
شكستن
در منزل وی نمودند. این ماجرا منجر به حبس وی تا 28 مرداد 1332 شد و در ظهر 28
م
1332 به حكم زاهدی از زندان آزاد شد و جریان هدایت اوباش را به عهده گرفت. پس از كودتای 28 مرداد به تاجبخش شهرت یافت. پس از این خدمت، بنابه پیشنهاد تیمسار زاهدی با شاه ملاقات كرد و زمینی برای تاسیس باشگاه ورزشی به وی اهدا شد، در ضمن در همین ملاقات از شاه اجازه گرفت تا جمعیتی به نام جمعیت جوانان جانباز تشكیل دهد تا در مواقعی ضروری از آنان استفاده شود. ساخت باشگاه جعفری سه سال طول كشید و محمدرضا پهلوی خود آن را افتتاح كرد. مدتی نیز تیمور بختیار ریاست افتخاری آن را برعهده داشت. هزینههای باشگاه از دربار و اطراف یان شاه و ساواك تامین میشد. گرچه او منكر دریافت هرگونه وجهی از دربار است ولی اسناد تقاضای پول از دربار توسط وی موجود میباشد. در اسفند 1332دكتر حسین فاطمی دستگیر شد و شعبان جعفری كه خصومتی خاص با وی داشت با دسته خود به مقابل شهربانی رفت و زمانی كه دكتر فاطمی از شهربانی خارج شد به وی حمله كرد و او را مورد ضرب و شتم قرار داد و به روایتی با چاقو مورد حمله قرار داد.
1332 به حكم زاهدی از زندان آزاد شد و جریان هدایت اوباش را به عهده گرفت. پس از كودتای 28 مرداد به تاجبخش شهرت یافت. پس از این خدمت، بنابه پیشنهاد تیمسار زاهدی با شاه ملاقات كرد و زمینی برای تاسیس باشگاه ورزشی به وی اهدا شد، در ضمن در همین ملاقات از شاه اجازه گرفت تا جمعیتی به نام جمعیت جوانان جانباز تشكیل دهد تا در مواقعی ضروری از آنان استفاده شود. ساخت باشگاه جعفری سه سال طول كشید و محمدرضا پهلوی خود آن را افتتاح كرد. مدتی نیز تیمور بختیار ریاست افتخاری آن را برعهده داشت. هزینههای باشگاه از دربار و اطراف یان شاه و ساواك تامین میشد. گرچه او منكر دریافت هرگونه وجهی از دربار است ولی اسناد تقاضای پول از دربار توسط وی موجود میباشد. در اسفند 1332دكتر حسین فاطمی دستگیر شد و شعبان جعفری كه خصومتی خاص با وی داشت با دسته خود به مقابل شهربانی رفت و زمانی كه دكتر فاطمی از شهربانی خارج شد به وی حمله كرد و او را مورد ضرب و شتم قرار داد و به روایتی با چاقو مورد حمله قرار داد.
برای آشناییِ بیشتر به جزیياتِ کودتا
خواهشمندم به ودیوی زیر گوش دهید:
For more detail information about the two coups of 25th and 28th of Mordad 1332 please read a book by Stephen Kinzer named ( All the Shah's Men: An American coup and the roots of Middle East terror).
A few important events during the coup
In regard to how the demonstrations of small groups of thugs
on 28th of Mordad of 1332 (1953) could succeed changing the course
of the history in Iran from 1953 to the present I would like to explain the
following:
As I explained before the majority of people of Iran knew
that the “Hezb-e Toodeh” was the brainchild of the Soviets and used to hate
them. But after the ouster of Pishehvary and the rest, the Soviets were
financing the Toodeh and the party was very organized and active.
When Kermit (Kim) Roosevelt, the grandson of ex president Teddy Roosevelt, the CIA Station Chief, staged the second coup against Mossadegh, with the S1, 000,000 budgets that he had in hand, he bribed a few top ayatollahs, Namely Ayatollah Kashani $10,000, Ayatollah Broojerdi, Ayatollah Zanjani, and numerous “Jaahels” which handed them several thousands of Five-Toomani-bills to spread it in the ghettos. On 28th of Mordaad, organized by the CIA, the number of demonstrators sent into the streets by above groups, including from mullah groups, was minimal in comparison to the numbers that usually used to demonstrate in favor of Mossadegh on any given day. But what had made the 28 of Mordaad CIA backed demonstrators successful was the stupid mistake made by the Toodeh leadership. Unaware that the demonstration was a CIA staged, the Toodeh leadership had sent their people in “Meydaane Ceppah (Sepah)”, the largest square in Tehran, and started bringing down the statue of Reza Shah, a majestic statue; with Reza Shah sitting on the horse.
That action of the Toodehs had an adverse effect on the emotion of the majority of people who even though did not like Reza Shah’ dictatorial regime but they still had a great deal of affection toward the man who saved Iran from the Qajars and modernized Iran. What did Reza Shah had to do with the action of his son?
The CIA immediately publicized on the radio that the Toodehs are trying to take over the government and immediately, on the same day, printed the picture of statue of Reza Shah coming down in the “Fogholadeh paper” the (Extra). Since the Mossadegh supporters, like most Iranians of that era, were the arch enemies of the Toodehs, they did not want to have any part in those demonstrations so they stayed home. At this time the army stepped in, arrested and scattered the Toodeh demonstrators, which were very small group, and left the stage for the thug demonstrators. Even though their numbers were small but the CIA provided cars, trucks, and buses for the thugs and they roamed the major streets of Tehran with Shah’s picture in their hand, yelling and screaming slogans in favor of Shah and against Mossadegh, brandishing their clubs, and terrorizing ordinary people.
The whole country including the Mossadegh supporters was taken by surprise and too much in shock to take any kind of action. On the same evening a Marshal Law was declared. The next day Mossadegh was arrested and the Marshal Law stayed in force for the next five years until early 1958. Perhaps Mr. Roosevelt should have sent a thank you note to the Toodeh leadership for his success.
That action of the Toodehs had an adverse effect on the emotion of the majority of people who even though did not like Reza Shah’ dictatorial regime but they still had a great deal of affection toward the man who saved Iran from the Qajars and modernized Iran. What did Reza Shah had to do with the action of his son?
The CIA immediately publicized on the radio that the Toodehs are trying to take over the government and immediately, on the same day, printed the picture of statue of Reza Shah coming down in the “Fogholadeh paper” the (Extra). Since the Mossadegh supporters, like most Iranians of that era, were the arch enemies of the Toodehs, they did not want to have any part in those demonstrations so they stayed home. At this time the army stepped in, arrested and scattered the Toodeh demonstrators, which were very small group, and left the stage for the thug demonstrators. Even though their numbers were small but the CIA provided cars, trucks, and buses for the thugs and they roamed the major streets of Tehran with Shah’s picture in their hand, yelling and screaming slogans in favor of Shah and against Mossadegh, brandishing their clubs, and terrorizing ordinary people.
The whole country including the Mossadegh supporters was taken by surprise and too much in shock to take any kind of action. On the same evening a Marshal Law was declared. The next day Mossadegh was arrested and the Marshal Law stayed in force for the next five years until early 1958. Perhaps Mr. Roosevelt should have sent a thank you note to the Toodeh leadership for his success.
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| Mossadeq on military trial in Iran 1953 |
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Shaban Bimokh walking with
Shah ahead of Prime minister and all Generals.
L to R: General Neshat (head of Immortals),
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shaban Jafari, Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda,
Court Minister Asadollah Alam at Military Academy, Tehran |
Execution of Dr. Fatemi
Bellow is an excerpt from the "Ancient IR. World & Persian History" that I recently have found which is written. in Persian, about the fate of Dr. Fatemi after 28 Mordad coup:
Dr. Fatemi>
<Dr. Fatemi and Dr. Mossadegh
« دکتر فاطمی قبل از اعدام گفته بوده : ما سه سال در این کشور حکومت کردیم و یک نفر از مخالفان خود را نکشتیم برای آنکه ما نیامده بودیم برادرکشی کنیم ما برای آن قیام کردیم که ایران را متحد کرده و دست خارجی را از کشور کوتاه کرده و معتقد بودیم اگر در گذشته بعضی از هم وطنان ما در اثر فشار اجانب تحت نفوذ آنها قرار گرفته اند و منویات آنها را اجرا کرده اند، بعد از آنکه به نهضت استقلال نائل شدیم رویه سابق را ترک خواهند گفت ولی افسوس که عاقبت گرگ زاده گرگ شود. »
<The military court that convicted Dr. Fatemi
The above statement clearly shows that the British had the primary role in the 1953 coup and the Americans were just the hired hand. It shows that it was the British that were deciding, who will live and who will die, and it also shows how involved the Ayatollahs have been in the coup but they were helpless in stopping the execution and they admitted that Shah was weak.
My heart goes for the family and friends of Dr. Fatemi, but most of all my heart bleeds for Iran that foreigners murdered patriotic Iranians with the bloody hands of our own traitor countrymen, namely Mohammad Reza Shah. من از بیگانگان دیگر ننالم ،،،، که با من هرچه کرد ان آشنا کرد
Bellow is an excerpt from the "Ancient IR. World & Persian History" that I recently have found which is written. in Persian, about the fate of Dr. Fatemi after 28 Mordad coup:
<Dr. Fatemi and Dr. Mossadegh
مخالفت پیگیر او با دربار محمدرضا شاه
پهلوی پس از شکست کودتای ۲۵ مرداد ۱۳۳۲ به اوج رسید. پس از کودتای ۲۸ مرداد نزد دوستانش در خفا
بود تا ۶ اسفند که دستگیر شد. همان ابتدای دستگیری تصمیم گرفته میشود در حین
دادرسی توسط یک حرکت به ظاهر خودجوش مردمی به دست شعبان جعفری و مریدانش به قتل
برسد که دکتر فاطمی و خواهرش مجروح میشوند[۳]. دکتر سید حسین فاطمی
سرانجام پس از محاکمه ی غیرعلنی در دادگاه نظامی (۷ مهر) به دلیل اقدام برای
برکناری شاه و اقدام علیه سلطنت در سحرگاه ۱۹ آبان ۱۳۳۳
اعدام شد.[۴] اشرف پهلوی در اعدام ایشان اصرار زیادی می ورزید و نهایتا در
قبرستان ابن بابویه شهر ری در کنار شهدای قیام ۳۰ تیر به خاک سپرده شد.
آیت الله زنجانی تلاش بسیاری برای جلوگیری
از اعدام دکتر فاطمی میکند و حتی از آیت الله بروجردی هم کمک میخواهد و بروجردی
در پاسخ او چنین می گوید: “انگلیسیها از او کینه به دل دارند، شاه هم ضعیف است
کاری نمیشود کرد.”
دبیر شرقی سفارت انگلیس در تهران در زمان
کودتا مینویسد «… اعدام بی رحمانه، صرفنظر از غیر انسانی بودن آن، ممکن است در
مورد مصدق عاقلانه نباشد ولی شاید برای فاطمی، اگر دستگیر شود، بهترین راه حل
باشد. تا زمانی که اینگونه افراد زنده هستند و در ایران به سر می برند، همیشه خطر
ضد کودتا وجود دارد، شدت عمل ضروری است…»
« دکتر فاطمی قبل از اعدام گفته بوده : ما سه سال در این کشور حکومت کردیم و یک نفر از مخالفان خود را نکشتیم برای آنکه ما نیامده بودیم برادرکشی کنیم ما برای آن قیام کردیم که ایران را متحد کرده و دست خارجی را از کشور کوتاه کرده و معتقد بودیم اگر در گذشته بعضی از هم وطنان ما در اثر فشار اجانب تحت نفوذ آنها قرار گرفته اند و منویات آنها را اجرا کرده اند، بعد از آنکه به نهضت استقلال نائل شدیم رویه سابق را ترک خواهند گفت ولی افسوس که عاقبت گرگ زاده گرگ شود. »
دکتر مصدق بعد از مرگ وی چنین گفت:
«اگر
ملی شدن نفت خدمت بزرگی است از آن کسی که اول این پیشنهاد را نمود باید سپاسگزاری
کرد و آن کس شهید راه وطن دکتر حسین فاطمی است. در تمام مدت همکاری با این جانب
حتی یک ترک اولی هم از آن بزرگوار دیده نشد.»
The above statement clearly shows that the British had the primary role in the 1953 coup and the Americans were just the hired hand. It shows that it was the British that were deciding, who will live and who will die, and it also shows how involved the Ayatollahs have been in the coup but they were helpless in stopping the execution and they admitted that Shah was weak.
My heart goes for the family and friends of Dr. Fatemi, but most of all my heart bleeds for Iran that foreigners murdered patriotic Iranians with the bloody hands of our own traitor countrymen, namely Mohammad Reza Shah. من از بیگانگان دیگر ننالم ،،،، که با من هرچه کرد ان آشنا کرد
Note: Recently Reza Pahlavi who, last several years, has been lobbying the US and the British government to invade Iran and instal him as "Reza Shah II" has sent a petition asking the visiting U.N. Secretary General to ask the IRI regime to take it easy on, his father's old ally , Ayatollah Broojerdi who's father was instrumental in the success of 1953 coup. Broojerdi has been in IRI prison for sometimes.
The interesting thing is that Reza Pahlavi who wants to be a politician and is campaigning among Iranians abroad; introducing himself as "the people's advocate" did not mention anything about the thousands of patriotic Iranians in IRI prisons and systematic tortures and executions of political prisoners and oppression of minorities. He was worried only about Ayatollah Broojerdi.
CorruptionThe interesting thing is that Reza Pahlavi who wants to be a politician and is campaigning among Iranians abroad; introducing himself as "the people's advocate" did not mention anything about the thousands of patriotic Iranians in IRI prisons and systematic tortures and executions of political prisoners and oppression of minorities. He was worried only about Ayatollah Broojerdi.
This type of actions resulted in limiting competition, monopoly, higher prices, and lower quality of goods which created shortage of consumer goods in the nation. It also killed the possibility of the businesses entering into the international market due to the low quality and high cost of production.
In taking care of the business of the country, he was worse than Fathali Shah and other Qajars with absolute disinterest to the welfare of the country, even worse than present day mullahs. For example; until 1969 that I left Iran the road from Tehran (Karaj) to Qazvin, a major highway, was the same gravel road that his father had built prior to WWII with very little income from oil that the British were stealing from us. In that road, now that the traffic got much heavier, every year there were hundreds of fatalities due to the bad road conditions. Or in state of Mazandaran, were I came from; there was not even one single higher educational institution, not even a single two-year junior college. Today, under IRI there are more than two dozen, including a medical school with PhD program. I could go on and on, it just makes me puke.
Capitulation Law
In mid 1964, (1343), when I heard the news that thousands of American advisers in Iran received the right for political immunity, my mind was going to blow away. I used to work with these advisers on a daily basis and made friends with them and they used to at least pretend, that we were all equals. But the following day of the disastrous news, even though their attitude did not change, but I was feeling inferior. I felt like a China-man of pre WWII.Reza Shah went through such a difficulties abolishing “Capitulation Law” of Qajar era that we were all so proud of. This man brought the “Capitulation Law” back so easily for no reason what so ever. The man who titled himself “The Shadow of God” could not say no to the Americans or to the British.
For those readers who do not know what “Capitulation Law” is; if a citizen of certain foreign nation would commit a crime in Iran, the Iranian judiciary system would not have any jurisdiction in prosecuting and trying the accused. The Iranian police had to hand the criminal over to the authority of the related country to be handled by that country however they see it fit and Iran had no say about the outcome from that point on.
This system was very common pre WWII in all countries occupied by colonial powers including China and India, the two most populous countries in the world. Even though Iran was not a colony but in this regard it fell into that status.
Giving Away Bahrain
Then one day I was sitting in my office came the news that Majlis has passed a law and Shah has signed giving away Bahrain; just like that. At the time there were a few visiting officers in my office. We all looked at each other in disbelief but no one could express any opinion or even show any kind of disgusting gesture that we all felt. We military personnel were being watched much more closely and carefully by both SAVAK and the military secret service ROKNE 2, (G2). You could not trust even your close friend.
Bahrain was part of Iran as far back as Cyrus the Greta’s reign. Sometime after the 7th century Arab invasion, that Iran was under occupation, the Portuguese conquered the Island until Shah Abbas, with only 1/16 the Iranian blood in him, took it back by force. Mohammad Reza with 100% Iranian blood in him gave it away just because the British asked him to; who wants Bahrain! It is all surrounded by sand anyway; remembering the infamous phrase by Fathali Shah who gave away part of Caspian Sea to Catherine of Russia, just to please the woman, and said “who needs that salty water anyway, you can’t drink it”! Fathali Shah was famous for being a womanizer like Mohammad Reza Shah was.
Murdering Takhti
Gholamreza Takhti was the greatest free style
wrestling champion in modern history of Iran Iran
not just because he was a great wrestler but also because he was an athlete with Mehrian Iranian spirited athleticism culture.
In ancient Iranian culture the stronger a person
gets the more humble he becomes. An athlete uses his strength helping the weak,
never to show off his power and in that sense Takhti became the symbol of Iranian
goodness
Takhti received
his first international medal in 1952 Helsinki
Through 1962 he
received total of four gold and four silver medals in Olympics, World
Championship, and Asian Championship. By that time Takhti was well known
athlete in the world.
 |
| Takhti in the middle, Habibi second from the left |
Takhti Being a true athlete, the advocate and the protector of the
weak, not being able to tolerate the brutality of the Shah’s regime via SAVAK, in early 1960s he got into political activism. He was not a communist nor a socialist but a pure Iranian patriot who wanted social justice for his fellow countrymen. But Shah who just a few years before, personally, had hung a medal on Takhti’s neck had ordered Takhti’s murder.
On January 7,
1968 his lifeless body was found in a Tehran Iran
 |
| Takhti's resting place |
This man murdered Takhti>>
Takhti was people’s hero; Shaban Bimokh was Mohammad Reza Shah’s hero.
Examples of
Thakhti’s legacies:
1)
In 1962 earthquake that occurred in western Iran that over 45,000 people perished, Takhti
had organized a walk in Tehran
2) In
his match with Russian wrestler Alexander Medved who had an injured right
knee Takhti never tried to attack the injured leg of his rival and lost the
match, but won the admiration of the whole world in general and Medved in
particular and for himself and hisIranian“Mehrian” culture.
How Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah differed on education!
دَرزیر پاره ئی ازمصاحبه ی یک خبرنگاربا «بابک» پسرِتختی را بخوانید:
:بابک
مرگ
تختی برای خود من هم روشن نیست.
نمی
توانم بگویم تختی را کشته ان و نمی توانم
بگویم خودکشی کرده و در عین حال برای هر
دو دلایلی دارم ، ولی فکر می کنم کشتن یک
آدم فقط تیر خالی کردن توی مغزش نیست.
اینجا
خودکشی عین کشتن است و حکومت پهلوی بدون
تردید در مرگ تختی مقصر بود.
برای
این حرفتان دلیلی هم دارید؟
فکرش
را بکنید آدمی با موقعیت تختی کارش را از
دست بدهد.
توی
استادیوم راهش ندهند.
نگذارند
حقوق بگیرد و نگذارند کشتی بگیرد.
وقتی
هویت اجتماعی را از آدمی مثل تختی بگیرند
چه چیز دیگری برایش باقی می ماند؟ کشتی
فرع زندگی تختی بود ولی راهی برای شناخته
شدن و مطرح شدن و مردمی شدنش بود.
تمام
امکانات اجتماعی را از او گرفته بودند.
حتی
چند نشریه قبل از مرگ تختی به او اتهام
های اخلاقی زدند.
تمام
این مستندات را دارم و آنها را آرشیو کرده
ام.
How Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah differed on education!
As I mentioned before, Iran ’s educational system during
the Qajars was a religious based “Madraseh” system. It was set to prevent the
mass from being exposed to the modern system of education. “It was easier to
rule over an uneducated and ignorant mass than on a more aware and demanding
population”.
Reza, like millions of Iranian people of Qajar era, had
never had the opportunity to get a decent education.
Growing up and living in Qajar era, Reza Khan has seen,
felt, and understood the importance of education. He could see that how the
foreign workers, who were educated, were being accepted as superior people by uneducated
Iranian mass.
Consequently, when he
took over the government, creating a modern system of education became his
number one priority. And also in order to end the Islamic built-in
discrimination against women and to bring women into the workforce, he had
integrated male and female students from first grade through university. But
unfortunately soon after Reza Shah’s departure from the country the mullahs
stepped in and disintegrated the school system.
Mohammad Reza Shah, in contrast, had never understood the
importance of education. In his youth, he used to skip classes and because his
father used to pressure him in doing his homework he subconsciously developed
hatred toward school and toward his own father.
For above reason when he took over as the Shah of Iran, he
never paid much attention in improving the educational system. For example in
1950s and 60s there were not enough junior high and high schools to meet the
demand. In my home town of Shahi
they were offering up to tenth grade. To register my name for the eleventh
grade, I had to go to Tehran .
After combing all high schools in the city, none would register my name. Their response
was “we do not have room for any new students, we only accept students from our
own school for the eleventh grade”.
Fortunately, two months after the start of schools the
military school declared that they are accepting 60 students for the eleventh
grade. There were over 470 applicants. I passed the test and could continue my
education.
In 1955, the year that I graduated from high school there
were over 100,000 high school graduates nationwide that wanted to register for
college but there was only less than 5,000 openings.
Mohammad Reza Shah’s disinterest to the educational system
had created an opportunity for the religious establishment to, periodically,
influence the school curriculum making it more Islamic friendly. The first
thing that the mullahs had done was to disintegrate the mixed sexes system,
then they added the “Shariat” and later on the study of Quran part of school
curriculum from second grade and up. By mid 1950s they made the study of
Arabic, as a foreign language a “compulsory” subject while English or French
was an “elective” subject.
During Reza Shah, all educational institutions were like a
sacred ground. The police were not allowed to step into any school ground. That
tradition was continued until after the infamous coup d'etat of 1953.
In one major incident of students demonstration against the Shah
on Tehran University
When the students escaped to their dorms, the thugs followed
them and continued the beatings. They were so angry that they started throwing
the students through the windows of the two story buildings.
According to the government report, five students died and
dozens were injured and hundreds were arrested and were sent to the notorious Evin
prison. The rumor was that the fatality was ten times more than the government
report.
That year the government closed the university for one year. The University of Tehran, (the largest in the country), was closed for one year, even for those students that had nothing to do with the demonstration. That was how unimportant the education was for Mohammad Reza Shah.
Decision makers
Another example of Mohammad Reza Shah's incompetency: In the Armed
Forces, promotion of the military personnel is the most significant issue and
is in full discretion of the Commander in Chief. Having authority in promoting
an officer means power which the law had granted to the Shah and Shah only. But
from mid. 1960s Shah lost that privilege to two different groups.
1. The mullahs:
From about mid. 1960s every year a few months before
the first day of the month of “Mehr”, the day of promotion, the Deputy
Commander of the Air Force used to summon all non-Muslim officers whose
promotion was due for that year and used to tell them, with apology of course;
what I am about to tell you has nothing to do with the Air Force. It is an
order from above that all non-Muslim officers, due for promotion, must correct
their personnel profile by putting “Muslim, Shiia Asna Ashari” in the religion
box. Otherwise their promotion will be postponed until such correction is made
and promotion will be given from the day that the said correction is made. In
other word, if anyone makes the correction one or two months after the first
day of Mehr, he will lose one or two months seniority which is very important
in the Armed Forces.
In 1344 (1965) I was one of those Officers, (please read “The author’s note” at the end of this memoir). I responded to General Ezazi, a true gentleman, who knew me well and I used to have great deal of respect for him; I Have been taught by my parents not to ever lie, then in the Military academy my commanding officer Colonel Minbashian used to say “lying is for the weak and cowards, an officer must be brave and strong, all liars will be immediately expelled.” I told the General that my promotion should be based on my performance and nothing else. If I do not receive my promotion on the first day of Mehr, I will immediately resign. I did receive my promotion on time but that policy continued to be practiced.
In 1344 (1965) I was one of those Officers, (please read “The author’s note” at the end of this memoir). I responded to General Ezazi, a true gentleman, who knew me well and I used to have great deal of respect for him; I Have been taught by my parents not to ever lie, then in the Military academy my commanding officer Colonel Minbashian used to say “lying is for the weak and cowards, an officer must be brave and strong, all liars will be immediately expelled.” I told the General that my promotion should be based on my performance and nothing else. If I do not receive my promotion on the first day of Mehr, I will immediately resign. I did receive my promotion on time but that policy continued to be practiced.
One day in mid 1960s (1340s) a sergeant, protégé of mine, who used
to work in Rokne-II (Intelligence), was passing-by had showed me a list of 73
mullahs, from top ayatollahs to sheykholislams. The list was showing the amount
of monthly salary they were drawing. The minimum was 3,500 Tuman up to 7,500
Tuman. I just saw couple names when he grabbed it back and said; “I might get
into trouble” then while walking away he said; “most of them do not even live
in Iran ”.
To compare the amount that they were drawing; I was a
captain at that time and my salary was around 1,500 Tuman. My boss, a brigadier
general around 2,000, the joint chief of staff, a three star general, little
under 3,000 and the commander of the Air Force, a four star general around 3,500
Tuman.
2. The Americans:
Promotion of key personnel especially in higher level
such as from full colonel to brigadier general had to clear the “American
Advisory Desk”, even though Shah himself always was directly involved in
promoting Brigadier Generals and up.
One case that I personally had the knowledge of was the promotion of “Colonel Nader Jahanbani”. He was my superior officer and a close friend. He was son of three stars General Jahanbani who during Reza Shah was the Military Attache of Iran toSoviet Union .
General Jahanbani, while in USSR Russia USSR the whole family
returned back to Iran
At that time Iranian Air Force was in its infancy and in need of good pilots. Nader Jahanbani was accepted in Iranian Air Force as an instructor pilot with rank of First Lieutenant. Nader was not just a top pilot in the Iranian Air Force but a great operational commander. Make the story short years later when Nader reached the rank of full colonel and eligible for promotion to brigadier general, his promotion was denied for unknown reason. Following year, those who were one year his junior and were not as qualified as he was, got the promotion but Colonel Jahanbani‘s was denied again. This trend continued for several years. Most of his students and officers that used to work under his command and were his protégé got promoted and jumped ahead of him. He even was promoted to the Commander of Second Air-Force Base in Dezful, (a fighter jet operational Base) but no promotion in rank.
The reason was an unspoken known fact which he knew it and we all knew it but no one could dare to say a word, including Colonel Jahanbani himself. He used to sit with me for hours and hours complaining but never mentioned who is holding him back. Finally one day I told him colonel; you must know that it is the Americans! He left my comment unanswered, in fear of the word may spread around and get him in even more trouble.
Nader was well connected inside and outside the Air Force. He was a close friend of powerful General Khatam (Commander of the Air Force). He was also related to the royal family through marriage, as was General Khatam. But none of those apparently could help him. Until 1969 when I leftIran
Eventually later-on he passed that obstacle and became a general but never in a key position. For example at the time of 1979 revolution, Rabii, five years junior to him and his ex student and not even close to Jahanbani’s qualification was a four star General and Commander of the Air Force while Jahanbani was a three star general and subordinate of Rabii.
Unfortunately General Jahanbani, an honest, hard working, and patriotic superb officer was executed by the revengeful mullahs out of their ignorance to the facts that General Jahanbani was not a politician nor he was a major decision maker within the Air Force who also was a victim of American prejudices against him.
Why Americans did not like him was because Nader’s mother was a Russian and the Americans were terrified by them, even though Nader’s mother, not just was not
connected to anyone in the communist Party but she was a descendant of White
Russian Aristocrats.
One case that I personally had the knowledge of was the promotion of “Colonel Nader Jahanbani”. He was my superior officer and a close friend. He was son of three stars General Jahanbani who during Reza Shah was the Military Attache of Iran to
At that time Iranian Air Force was in its infancy and in need of good pilots. Nader Jahanbani was accepted in Iranian Air Force as an instructor pilot with rank of First Lieutenant. Nader was not just a top pilot in the Iranian Air Force but a great operational commander. Make the story short years later when Nader reached the rank of full colonel and eligible for promotion to brigadier general, his promotion was denied for unknown reason. Following year, those who were one year his junior and were not as qualified as he was, got the promotion but Colonel Jahanbani‘s was denied again. This trend continued for several years. Most of his students and officers that used to work under his command and were his protégé got promoted and jumped ahead of him. He even was promoted to the Commander of Second Air-Force Base in Dezful, (a fighter jet operational Base) but no promotion in rank.
The reason was an unspoken known fact which he knew it and we all knew it but no one could dare to say a word, including Colonel Jahanbani himself. He used to sit with me for hours and hours complaining but never mentioned who is holding him back. Finally one day I told him colonel; you must know that it is the Americans! He left my comment unanswered, in fear of the word may spread around and get him in even more trouble.
Nader was well connected inside and outside the Air Force. He was a close friend of powerful General Khatam (Commander of the Air Force). He was also related to the royal family through marriage, as was General Khatam. But none of those apparently could help him. Until 1969 when I left
Eventually later-on he passed that obstacle and became a general but never in a key position. For example at the time of 1979 revolution, Rabii, five years junior to him and his ex student and not even close to Jahanbani’s qualification was a four star General and Commander of the Air Force while Jahanbani was a three star general and subordinate of Rabii.
Unfortunately General Jahanbani, an honest, hard working, and patriotic superb officer was executed by the revengeful mullahs out of their ignorance to the facts that General Jahanbani was not a politician nor he was a major decision maker within the Air Force who also was a victim of American prejudices against him.
 |
| General Nader Jahanbani |
 |
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, a high school drop-out, with an intellectual arrogant pose in 1950s
|
On the subject of Mohammad Reza being a womanizer and
stayed a playboy even in the 1970s who did not care about the well being of the
people of Iran or the country, I would like to bring to your attention the
testimony of an insider of the royal court; a young man who’s father used to be
a close friend and adviser to Mohammad Reza Shah with ministerial position.
This young man, now middle-aged, who claims to be a university professor has
created a political site called IPC (Iran Politic Club) who goes by the aliases
name of Ahreeman-X. On his site, in his personal biography section, which I
will just copy and paste, he writes;
My father was a tall (6’ 2”), white (Georgian Russian Aristocracy), handsome, Intellectual playboy. Due to his job (Journalism), he had female authors, poets, singers, songwriters, actresses, models, artists and other celebrities hanging around him at all times! They all needed publicity and were begging him to write about them or publish them. As long as I can remember, my father was never a decent moral family man. He never grew up to become a family man. He partied in his youth and he continued partying throughout his adulthood and middle ages. He led a life of a single man even after the marriage. He never faced marital responsibilities and lived a bachelor’s lifestyle!
I
basically grew up in the Imperial Court and Cabinet and to be honest, the 3 of
the most promiscuous womanizing flirts which I have ever seen in my life were
Shah, Alam (Minister of Imperial Court) and my father. My father was not a man
but a machine! He was not just ravishing the celebrities, but also ravishing
the Imperial Statesmen’s wives, businessmen’s wives and daughters! I have to
admit that my father had ravished more women than Alam but he was no match to
the Shah of Iran. My father was changing mistresses and girlfriends every
season, but Shah of Iran was exploring women on monthly, weekly and even daily
basis, and then switch around and go to the new ones! To read more about Shah
of Iran and Alam’s wild sexual lives and orgies, read Alam’s Diaries, but I
don’t need to read them because I lived in Imperial Iran and as an insider, I
was perfectly aware of everyone’s private lives including but not limited to my
father, Alam and Shah!
Taking care of the business of a country is a difficult and demanding task, especially in a dictatorship country that all decisions had to go through the top dictator. According to Ahreeman X; the top decision makers were busy competing against each other for women on a daily basis which does not leave much room for work.
When his fanatically religious mother, who was responsible for his upbringing and regularly used to hold “Rowseh khaani” ceremony in her house was asked by a reporter; what do you have to say about the rumors that your son is sleeping with people’s wives which have caused the breakup of so many families? Her response was; my son is the Shah of the country and has the right to enjoy himself, so much for the family value of a religious woman and the royal court as a whole.
Shah, Alam, and other close friend being busy playing, apparently Prime Minister Hoveyda was running the country but when Hoveyda, an honest man and for decades a Yes-man, created “Irane Novin” (New Iran) Party and decided to clean up corruption in the government, Shah arrested him and put his old loyal and obedient friend in jail for obvious reason; Shah himself was the source of all corruptions in the country. As saying goes the fish was rotted from the head.
When, after the revolution, Hoveyda was released from jail, knowing that he was one of a few honest men in Shah’s administration, innocent of any wrong doing, did not leave the country. But unfortunately the mullahs were too trigger happy and obsessed with killing that they did not see it that way and executed him as the enemy of the country. They murdered this innocent man as they did thousands others.
According to Ahreeman X above, Shah was “ravishing the Imperial Statesmen’s wives, businessmen’s wives and daughters”, which means complete disregard for moralities and family values which should be expected from the head of the State that calls himself “The Shadow of God”. But that is not all; he also had complete disregard to rule of law, the law of his own country. This is my personal experience which I would like to share with the readers:
Prior to 1953 coup the main source of Shah’s income, beside his yearly salary, was “The Pahlavi Real Estate Holdings” (Amlak-e Pahlavi), mostly farmlands which Mohammad Reza Shah inherited from his father. In State of Mazandaran, in every major city, including city of Shahi, there was an office of Pahlavi Real Estates, called “Edareh-ye Amlak-e Saltanati” with several employees who used to carry tremendous power and prestige just because they were working in behalf of the Shah.
When his fanatically religious mother, who was responsible for his upbringing and regularly used to hold “Rowseh khaani” ceremony in her house was asked by a reporter; what do you have to say about the rumors that your son is sleeping with people’s wives which have caused the breakup of so many families? Her response was; my son is the Shah of the country and has the right to enjoy himself, so much for the family value of a religious woman and the royal court as a whole.
When, after the revolution, Hoveyda was released from jail, knowing that he was one of a few honest men in Shah’s administration, innocent of any wrong doing, did not leave the country. But unfortunately the mullahs were too trigger happy and obsessed with killing that they did not see it that way and executed him as the enemy of the country. They murdered this innocent man as they did thousands others.
According to Ahreeman X above, Shah was “ravishing the Imperial Statesmen’s wives, businessmen’s wives and daughters”, which means complete disregard for moralities and family values which should be expected from the head of the State that calls himself “The Shadow of God”. But that is not all; he also had complete disregard to rule of law, the law of his own country. This is my personal experience which I would like to share with the readers:
Prior to 1953 coup the main source of Shah’s income, beside his yearly salary, was “The Pahlavi Real Estate Holdings” (Amlak-e Pahlavi), mostly farmlands which Mohammad Reza Shah inherited from his father. In State of Mazandaran, in every major city, including city of Shahi, there was an office of Pahlavi Real Estates, called “Edareh-ye Amlak-e Saltanati” with several employees who used to carry tremendous power and prestige just because they were working in behalf of the Shah.
Imperial Era Social System
Sometimes in late 1940s my older brother, 14 years my senior, purchased several Hectares (Acres) of land in a prime location in undeveloped area of city of Shahi. In one small part of it, he built a two story multi unit building, first floor for commercial rentals and upstairs for apartment units. This improvement multiplied the value of the land. A years later, while my brother was out of town, I was passing by and saw a few construction workers are building a foundation in his land. I was in my preteens at the time, rushed home and asked my mother if my brother is building anything! She said no and we both rushed back to the location which was only 15 minutes walk from our house. My mother asked the foreman who ordered this construction? The foreman replied “Edareh-ye Amlak”. Make the story short, my mother immediately called the police. Within a few minutes the chief of police himself showed up. Instead of stopping the illegal construction, he wanted to arrest my mother. After yelling and screaming that we have legal deed to this land, several merchants who knew that the land belonged to us stepped in and the police chief backed away and the construction was halted.
After that day my brother was informed and he presented the deed to the police, who did not want to get involved, and to Edareh-ye Amlak (EA). But EA told my brother that he could not sell any part of the land until things are cleared from “Markaz” (Central Office). That happened in late 1940s. In 1957 my brother told me that so far not just he has exhausted all legal avenues available but he also sent petition (Arizeh) to Shah’s office through different channels in multiple times but still with no avail and still cannot sell any part of that land.
At that time my brother asked me, since I knew “Colonel Minbashian” who had close relation with the “Darbar” and was my commander in the Military Academy, if I could ask the Colonel and see if he could do anything about it! I arranged a meeting between my brother and the Colonel. My brother explained everything including sending multiple “Arizeh” to Shah himself. Minbashian, an honest, highly decorated, and much disciplined officer became very sad, while showing his anger that why such an unjust thing should take place, told my brother; “In Mohammad Reza ast Keh bayad saltanat konad, na man. (It is Mohammad Reza who must govern the country not me). So there was nothing that he could do either. I still do not know if my brother ever could recover his land or not.
At that time my brother asked me, since I knew “Colonel Minbashian” who had close relation with the “Darbar” and was my commander in the Military Academy, if I could ask the Colonel and see if he could do anything about it! I arranged a meeting between my brother and the Colonel. My brother explained everything including sending multiple “Arizeh” to Shah himself. Minbashian, an honest, highly decorated, and much disciplined officer became very sad, while showing his anger that why such an unjust thing should take place, told my brother; “In Mohammad Reza ast Keh bayad saltanat konad, na man. (It is Mohammad Reza who must govern the country not me). So there was nothing that he could do either. I still do not know if my brother ever could recover his land or not.
White Revolution of Shah and People: Land Reform
 |
John
F. Kennedy, Jacky Kennedy and the Shah
Look at their
faces seems like Shah was just admonished
|
 |
| Land reform ceremony forced by Kennedy |
Of course Kennedy couldn't care less about individual Iranians. He was worried that the Soviets could over-throw the Shah via their Hezb Tudeh which Shah himself, being a rookie politician, could not realize that and used to resist in ending corruptions in every steps of the way.
 |
| Hand kissing; a tradition Mohammad Reza Shah started and used to enjoy humiliating people Severe hand kissing of the Shah of Iran at the Land Reforms ceremony |
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| Severe Military Hand Kissing of the Shah of Iran right after the coup |
Polack indicates that high unemployment, caused by failed land reform and high inflation, had forced people to flock from villages and small towns into big cities in search of work. Not having any money to stay in hotels while looking for work they used to rush into mosques for free shelter and food. It was this 4th class of citizens that later-on became a force for mullah takeover of the 1979 revolution. It was this class of people who were cutting Khomeini’s body to pieces for souvenir in his funeral.
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| Mourning for their savior |
How
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Reigned?
According to Pollack, Shah always had dozens of catalogs from different manufactures on his coffee table and periodically used to look at them and would make decision what to order without any pre planning. For instance, out of nowhere, he would order a squadron of fighter jets. But in purchasing a squadron of plane, importing the planes should come last not first. The right plan would be; consult the Air Force, select and train pilots which would take year and half or two, select and train maintenance crew, build facilities for equipment hangers, and runways, etc. etc. then purchase the planes.
This type of purchasing orders had created bottleneck in the understaffed under-capacity custom-house creating traffic jam in receiving and releasing the imported goods which had created a waiting period of one, in some cases, two years. The merchants, on tight schedule, would bribe for the early release of their merchandise. That would leave all government orders to be laid under the hot summer desert sun and cold winter nights due to shortage of storage rooms. The cost of building storage rooms would have been minuscule in comparison to cargo that were going to waste. But those who were ordering the goods were apparently thinking about their commission (bribe) and nothing else.
Corrupted societies usually feed themselves in staying corrupt; those who order merchandise are concerned only about the bribe, those in charge of the custom-house do not demand for expansion because bottleneck brings in bribe money. Those who are supposed to receive the goods ordered are the bureaucrats who either are not aware of the order or just do not care; Typical of “Third World Countries”.
In Kennedy years it was against US policy to sell any latest model classified armament to foreign nations due to security concern but that was relaxed for Iran in Johnson years who had a good relationship with the Shah and also too busy with the war in Southeast Asia.
But Nixon gave the Shah free hand ordering whatever he pleased. The reason was; Nixon was struggling with recession and high unemployment at home along with the high cost of oil. He said; "at least we can get back part of the high cost of oil from the friendly oil producing countries". Also in Nixon’s view Iran, a friendly country, with strong armed forces would mean less expenditure for the US in keeping the area secure.
In one of those Nixon years Iran, with $6 billion order, became the top customer for the US exporting industry. The six billion dollars was not the total expenditure on arms for that year. Iran was also purchasing armament from France, England and elsewhere as well. The more you buy the more "commission" you make.
For those readers who do not know who is entitled to receive a commission in a transaction; it is the salesman who works for the manufacturer or the wholesaler that receive commission for his service. Any money given to the buyer or his agent by the seller is considered a bribe, not a "commission".
David Frost interview
While in exile in an interview with David Frost, a British news castor, the Shah disputed the rumor that his wealth is estimated at about $56 billion. When Frost cornered him by asking; could I buy your assets at one or two billion dollars! Shah jokingly answered “you need to bring the cash first then we will talk about it”.
Frost asked him about the rumor that; your SAVAK had killed over 12,000 people, mostly after being tortured in jails without any Du- Process. Shah immediately disputed the number and had said; "it was not even near that number". Frost tried to get him to come up with some kind of number and asked; maybe 10,000? Shah said no not even that many. Finally under some more pressure, Shah said maybe around 1,900. Frost said; that is lots of people. At this time Shah got real angry and turned purple like eggplant and said; these were bunch of communists traitors. Shah was expecting to receive some sympathy from the Englishman for killing communists but David Frost, while was amazed by the answer said; you are a very firm man sir.
Shah did not realizing that Communist parties both in England that David Frost was from and in The United States as well as in most Western European countries are legal and free to operate.
I wished that Frost would have asked the Shah; why did you order the murder of Takhti; he was not a communist nether was Dr. Fatemi. To listen to the interview please click here:
So far what I have explained above is not enough to hate anyone. What he has done from this point on is the main issue. Shah’s last cowardly decision became the most costly one. It was the lives of thousands of his loyal followers.
It is tradition among brave commanders that the captain of the ship will always stay with the sinking ship until the last crew member is safely out. But this captain, for second time in 26 years period, was the first and the only person who jumped out the sinking ship in fear. The ship that he himself was the cause of sinking.
But the bigger issue is that, in those final days, he was so disoriented and in fear that it did not occur to him to call a meeting with his top brass to, at least, tell them; I am leaving you guys make your own deal with the leaders of the revolution and try to save your own lives. Instead, according to a third level employee of American Embassy in Tehran, who was being interviewed by a reporter, Shah called the embassy to ask the Ambassador to come to see him in the palace. The ambassador they told him is gone to America for a short visit. The second level employee in charge was not available either.
This third level employee whose name I do not recall said I went to the palace next day. Shah was sitting on a chair, looking very depressed and down. I apologized on behalf of the ambassador who was not available and asked him “what can I do for you your majesty”? With very soft voice he asked me “what do you want me to do”?! I told him give me 24 hours your majesty so I can contact Washington. Next morning I went to the palace again, Shah was still depressed. I told him “we just want you to leave”. He did not say a word, just slowly shook his head while looking at the floor and I left. The meeting was over in five minutes. Next morning I saw him on TV in the airport ready to leave.
The point of the matter is, because of his dictatorial regime, no decision maker could be produced in his administration. Everybody around him was forced into saying “yes your majesty’ no your majesty”,” May I kiss your hand your majesty”. Even any positive accomplishment by anyone in his administration would be propagated that the Shah has done that. No one could get any credit for good work to become an incentive for innovative thinking.
He was not just "shadow of god", to the system that he had built, he was "God". When the god was incapacitated the system disintegrated.
Consequently when the time came the big decision needed to be made in dealing with the revolutionary leaders there was none. All those big brass generals were just yes-men not decision makers and the result was bunch of mullahs started slaughtering these officers who were only solders and would obey anyone who would become the new commander in chief. By one estimate Khomeini has executed over 12,700 military personnel in less than one year. Bravo Mohammad Reza.
Picture bellow; a four star general is kissing the hand of this ten years old prince. What kind of decision maker could he be at the time of crisis!
By contrast; in 2011 Egyptian revolution for example; we can see that there was a system in Mubarak's regime. When Mubarak stepped down, the army took over; while accepting the revolution, they took over the government and declared a smooth and peaceful regime change and because of that not even one single military personnel faced the firing squad.
Killing these officers, as we have seen, was the big mistake that the mullahs had made resulting in dismantlement of the armed forces which invited opportunist Saddam Hussein in attacking the country resulting in millions of lost lives, eight years of misery and tremendous financial losses and more.
So many good people were slaughtered for no good reason. So many friends of mine in the Air Force were sent to the firing squad of the revengeful mullahs unnecessarily. Their crime was obeying the orders of the commander in chief the commander that ran away in his wet pants. Does anyone think that it would be unfair if I, along with all patriotic Iranians, have the right to hate a coward like him who lost the country to a bunch of backward mullahs with 7th century Arabian Peninsula mentality? The mullahs that have been busy killing more and more patriotic Iranians in the last 34 plus years and no one knows when it will end!
I will fault Mohammad Reza for all disastrous things that happened to Iran and Iranians since 1979 and those that will happen to Iran and Iranians in the future by the hands of mullahs. I fault Mohammad Reza losing the country to a bunch of Semi-Arabs in 1979 as I fault the last fifty years of Sassanid dynasty, particularly Khosro Parviz and his son Shirvieh that lost the country to a bunch of barbarian Arabs in 7th century AD.
Mohammad Reza lost the country not by making honest mistakes while doing his job in taking care of the country but by being corrupt, in pursuit of his own personal gains with complete disregard to the destiny of the country as well as the lives of his own loyal subordinates. That is low. (Pasti).
For example, aside from all those cash stealing; during the celebration of 2500 years of monarchy every day the plane would import fresh ready to eat food for several thousand gusts from Maxim of Paris,(a high priced restaurant), while there was famine going on in Sistan/Baluchistan. How could he lift that fork with food on it and put it in his mouth while children were starving to death under the area of his ruling?
While all those looting and wasting was going on, the illiteracy rate in Iran was 80% in 1966 and 60% in 1975. Remember the so called "White Revolution" joke? Kennedy forced him to educate your people, modeling after his Peace Corp. Shah propagated that project in his "White R." as; "Sepaaheh Danesh" but it was just that; propaganda. In the first place why a leader of another country should tell you ; take care of your people. How humiliating and embarrassing it could be for the "Shadow of the god"! In the second place; now that you are trying to sell it to people as your own idea, you do not do the job right and goofing off as you used to goof off in school.
What amazes me is that on the same David Frost interview; on the subject of his generals were slaughtered by the mullahs, he had the nerve to criticize them by saying that the generals were not acting bravely; they were “Weeping like children” he said. This is the man who panicked not once but twice (1953 and 1979) and was the first to rush toward the airport before any danger coming even close, safe and sound out of the country with $ billions in his accounts calling those who lost their lives; “weeping children”, yet another cowardly act. (Pasti)
I give you an example about the degree of corruptions: A classmate of mine from military academy who graduated from Tehran University, majoring in civil engineering joined the Air Force working in civil engineering department in the same building that I used to work. His boss was a one star general and this guy’s rank was a captain (at the time) like me.
Shah decided to build several radar stations around the country equipped with complete housing project, a malty-billion dollar project funded by “Sazman-e Barnameh”.
Embezzlement started with the knowledge of the commander of the Air Force, General Khatam via engineering department with participation of the general (the department head) and the representative of Sazman-e Barnameh (a civilian accountant) whose office was located in the same building. That general due to health reason had to quit. Guess who got the job; the captain who was an insider by then.
The “position rank” for the civil engineering department was a “two-star general position”. The Air Force regulations did not allow an officer with a rank more than two bellow the “position rank” to serve in that position. In other word, a Captain or even a Major or Lt. colonel could not become the department head of the engineering Department. Since they did not want to bring-in an outsider who would not be aware of the embezzlement, they promoted the captain to full colonel. Jumping three ranks up over night; that was an eight-year plus promotion jump, unprecedented even for promoting fighter pilots for heroism in war.
The promotion regulations in the Air Force were more relaxed for fighter pilots. I am not aware if that kind of fast promotion, especially in peace time, has been given to anyone in any armed forces of any country in the world. (This could happen only in a “third world” corrupt country).
One day, I was passing in the hallway and I saw my classmate, the yesterday’s captain, in a full-colonel uniform. I was shocked and thought maybe this guy is the twin brother of him. He looked at me in the eyes, looking a little embarrassed, passed me without any gesture. These kinds of promotions must be done with the full knowledge and approval of the Shah and must be requested by the Commander of The Air Force. Again, read Pollack’s book. Of course you will not find this particular case in it but there are plenty in it that which will blow one’s mind.
In fairness I must mention that, in one policy matter, Mohammad Reza Shah stood firm against the Americans; soon after the coup d’état of 1953 the US advisers convinced the Shah that Iran must stay an agricultural country. For about a decade the government slogan was “Iran must stay an agricultural country” “Iran has the most productive land and climate for agriculture in the world”, etc. Being a dictatorial system, no one could dare to tell him that several centuries ago Adam Smith has said that “agricultural products are subject to diminishing return” and he suggested that industrialization is the way to prosperity, countries that stay agricultural will fall behind because of its limitation while industrial products are almost limitless.
After several years of following agricultural policy, apparently someone finally informed the Shah about Adam Smith’s theory and Shah decided to pursue industrialization. But the Americans would not cooperate and were insisting continuation of the agricultural policy. The American wanted that Iran stay a consumer country for their finished goods. After several months of confrontation, Shah gave the last ultimatum; either deal with me or I will purchase steel mill from the Soviets.
The reason for Shah choosing the Soviets was that Americans had great deal of influence in the western world and were able to prevent any deal with the western industrialized nations. The Americans did not take the ultimatum seriously until Shah made the deal with the Soviets to build a steel mill in city of Esfahan. That got the Americans’ attention and they came forward with compromise.
This type of purchasing orders had created bottleneck in the understaffed under-capacity custom-house creating traffic jam in receiving and releasing the imported goods which had created a waiting period of one, in some cases, two years. The merchants, on tight schedule, would bribe for the early release of their merchandise. That would leave all government orders to be laid under the hot summer desert sun and cold winter nights due to shortage of storage rooms. The cost of building storage rooms would have been minuscule in comparison to cargo that were going to waste. But those who were ordering the goods were apparently thinking about their commission (bribe) and nothing else.
Corrupted societies usually feed themselves in staying corrupt; those who order merchandise are concerned only about the bribe, those in charge of the custom-house do not demand for expansion because bottleneck brings in bribe money. Those who are supposed to receive the goods ordered are the bureaucrats who either are not aware of the order or just do not care; Typical of “Third World Countries”.
In Kennedy years it was against US policy to sell any latest model classified armament to foreign nations due to security concern but that was relaxed for Iran in Johnson years who had a good relationship with the Shah and also too busy with the war in Southeast Asia.
But Nixon gave the Shah free hand ordering whatever he pleased. The reason was; Nixon was struggling with recession and high unemployment at home along with the high cost of oil. He said; "at least we can get back part of the high cost of oil from the friendly oil producing countries". Also in Nixon’s view Iran, a friendly country, with strong armed forces would mean less expenditure for the US in keeping the area secure.
In one of those Nixon years Iran, with $6 billion order, became the top customer for the US exporting industry. The six billion dollars was not the total expenditure on arms for that year. Iran was also purchasing armament from France, England and elsewhere as well. The more you buy the more "commission" you make.
For those readers who do not know who is entitled to receive a commission in a transaction; it is the salesman who works for the manufacturer or the wholesaler that receive commission for his service. Any money given to the buyer or his agent by the seller is considered a bribe, not a "commission".
The cost of
bribery to the country
When the selling companies pay bribe to the high officials in
a form of "baseless commission", in order to recover that cost, they will increase
the price of the merchandise sold. Also when they know that since the top echelon
in the government, namely the Shah is involved, no one in the auditor’s office will
dare to question the unit price, the quantities, or the unauthorized “commission”
in the invoice. The poor auditor must sign the voucher; no questions asked and
keep quite.
Just one example; it was either in 1966, or 67 a colleague
of mine in a different department in the Air Force Headquarters, while giving
me an estranged look, showed me an invoice that the Air Force had purchased tens of
thousands of 9 mm. aircraft machine-gun bullets $5.00 per bullet and he had to
sign the voucher no question asked.
Now 45 years later, I just checked on the internet; the 9 mm bullet is sold 24c to 25c each in
retail price. Now you do the math for the wholesale price in 1960s and for the inflation.
Note: The 9 mm bullet was vastly used in WWII for M-I rifle and different types of machine-guns. It is continuously being used to the present day in the military as well as for different types of hunting rifles. Consequently cost of production per unit was and still is one of the lowest.
Note: The 9 mm bullet was vastly used in WWII for M-I rifle and different types of machine-guns. It is continuously being used to the present day in the military as well as for different types of hunting rifles. Consequently cost of production per unit was and still is one of the lowest.
Note:
It is important to mention that the corruption mentioned above, in
Arm forces, used to take place in the highest echelon which included
the Shah himself. The rest of the personnel including the high
ranking generals were honest patriotic people living on low salaries.
While in exile in an interview with David Frost, a British news castor, the Shah disputed the rumor that his wealth is estimated at about $56 billion. When Frost cornered him by asking; could I buy your assets at one or two billion dollars! Shah jokingly answered “you need to bring the cash first then we will talk about it”.
Frost asked him about the rumor that; your SAVAK had killed over 12,000 people, mostly after being tortured in jails without any Du- Process. Shah immediately disputed the number and had said; "it was not even near that number". Frost tried to get him to come up with some kind of number and asked; maybe 10,000? Shah said no not even that many. Finally under some more pressure, Shah said maybe around 1,900. Frost said; that is lots of people. At this time Shah got real angry and turned purple like eggplant and said; these were bunch of communists traitors. Shah was expecting to receive some sympathy from the Englishman for killing communists but David Frost, while was amazed by the answer said; you are a very firm man sir.
Shah did not realizing that Communist parties both in England that David Frost was from and in The United States as well as in most Western European countries are legal and free to operate.
I wished that Frost would have asked the Shah; why did you order the murder of Takhti; he was not a communist nether was Dr. Fatemi. To listen to the interview please click here:
******
His propaganda machine was
portraying him as a patriotic man but he hated the country and the people of Iran who
first tried to assassinate him in 1327 (1948) then they sided with Mossadegh in
early 1950s. Consequently when the British/American brought him back and gave
him an absolute power, he started, not just looting and screwing the country
but also screwing people’s wives and forcing people to kiss his hand for utmost
humiliation of the people that he despised. Giving away Bahrain is the
prime example that he did not care for the country and its history.
So far what I have explained above is not enough to hate anyone. What he has done from this point on is the main issue. Shah’s last cowardly decision became the most costly one. It was the lives of thousands of his loyal followers.
It is tradition among brave commanders that the captain of the ship will always stay with the sinking ship until the last crew member is safely out. But this captain, for second time in 26 years period, was the first and the only person who jumped out the sinking ship in fear. The ship that he himself was the cause of sinking.
But the bigger issue is that, in those final days, he was so disoriented and in fear that it did not occur to him to call a meeting with his top brass to, at least, tell them; I am leaving you guys make your own deal with the leaders of the revolution and try to save your own lives. Instead, according to a third level employee of American Embassy in Tehran, who was being interviewed by a reporter, Shah called the embassy to ask the Ambassador to come to see him in the palace. The ambassador they told him is gone to America for a short visit. The second level employee in charge was not available either.
This third level employee whose name I do not recall said I went to the palace next day. Shah was sitting on a chair, looking very depressed and down. I apologized on behalf of the ambassador who was not available and asked him “what can I do for you your majesty”? With very soft voice he asked me “what do you want me to do”?! I told him give me 24 hours your majesty so I can contact Washington. Next morning I went to the palace again, Shah was still depressed. I told him “we just want you to leave”. He did not say a word, just slowly shook his head while looking at the floor and I left. The meeting was over in five minutes. Next morning I saw him on TV in the airport ready to leave.
The point of the matter is, because of his dictatorial regime, no decision maker could be produced in his administration. Everybody around him was forced into saying “yes your majesty’ no your majesty”,” May I kiss your hand your majesty”. Even any positive accomplishment by anyone in his administration would be propagated that the Shah has done that. No one could get any credit for good work to become an incentive for innovative thinking.
He was not just "shadow of god", to the system that he had built, he was "God". When the god was incapacitated the system disintegrated.
Consequently when the time came the big decision needed to be made in dealing with the revolutionary leaders there was none. All those big brass generals were just yes-men not decision makers and the result was bunch of mullahs started slaughtering these officers who were only solders and would obey anyone who would become the new commander in chief. By one estimate Khomeini has executed over 12,700 military personnel in less than one year. Bravo Mohammad Reza.
Picture bellow; a four star general is kissing the hand of this ten years old prince. What kind of decision maker could he be at the time of crisis!
By contrast; in 2011 Egyptian revolution for example; we can see that there was a system in Mubarak's regime. When Mubarak stepped down, the army took over; while accepting the revolution, they took over the government and declared a smooth and peaceful regime change and because of that not even one single military personnel faced the firing squad.
Killing these officers, as we have seen, was the big mistake that the mullahs had made resulting in dismantlement of the armed forces which invited opportunist Saddam Hussein in attacking the country resulting in millions of lost lives, eight years of misery and tremendous financial losses and more.
So many good people were slaughtered for no good reason. So many friends of mine in the Air Force were sent to the firing squad of the revengeful mullahs unnecessarily. Their crime was obeying the orders of the commander in chief the commander that ran away in his wet pants. Does anyone think that it would be unfair if I, along with all patriotic Iranians, have the right to hate a coward like him who lost the country to a bunch of backward mullahs with 7th century Arabian Peninsula mentality? The mullahs that have been busy killing more and more patriotic Iranians in the last 34 plus years and no one knows when it will end!
I will fault Mohammad Reza for all disastrous things that happened to Iran and Iranians since 1979 and those that will happen to Iran and Iranians in the future by the hands of mullahs. I fault Mohammad Reza losing the country to a bunch of Semi-Arabs in 1979 as I fault the last fifty years of Sassanid dynasty, particularly Khosro Parviz and his son Shirvieh that lost the country to a bunch of barbarian Arabs in 7th century AD.
Mohammad Reza lost the country not by making honest mistakes while doing his job in taking care of the country but by being corrupt, in pursuit of his own personal gains with complete disregard to the destiny of the country as well as the lives of his own loyal subordinates. That is low. (Pasti).
For example, aside from all those cash stealing; during the celebration of 2500 years of monarchy every day the plane would import fresh ready to eat food for several thousand gusts from Maxim of Paris,(a high priced restaurant), while there was famine going on in Sistan/Baluchistan. How could he lift that fork with food on it and put it in his mouth while children were starving to death under the area of his ruling?
While all those looting and wasting was going on, the illiteracy rate in Iran was 80% in 1966 and 60% in 1975. Remember the so called "White Revolution" joke? Kennedy forced him to educate your people, modeling after his Peace Corp. Shah propagated that project in his "White R." as; "Sepaaheh Danesh" but it was just that; propaganda. In the first place why a leader of another country should tell you ; take care of your people. How humiliating and embarrassing it could be for the "Shadow of the god"! In the second place; now that you are trying to sell it to people as your own idea, you do not do the job right and goofing off as you used to goof off in school.
What amazes me is that on the same David Frost interview; on the subject of his generals were slaughtered by the mullahs, he had the nerve to criticize them by saying that the generals were not acting bravely; they were “Weeping like children” he said. This is the man who panicked not once but twice (1953 and 1979) and was the first to rush toward the airport before any danger coming even close, safe and sound out of the country with $ billions in his accounts calling those who lost their lives; “weeping children”, yet another cowardly act. (Pasti)
I give you an example about the degree of corruptions: A classmate of mine from military academy who graduated from Tehran University, majoring in civil engineering joined the Air Force working in civil engineering department in the same building that I used to work. His boss was a one star general and this guy’s rank was a captain (at the time) like me.
Shah decided to build several radar stations around the country equipped with complete housing project, a malty-billion dollar project funded by “Sazman-e Barnameh”.
Embezzlement started with the knowledge of the commander of the Air Force, General Khatam via engineering department with participation of the general (the department head) and the representative of Sazman-e Barnameh (a civilian accountant) whose office was located in the same building. That general due to health reason had to quit. Guess who got the job; the captain who was an insider by then.
The “position rank” for the civil engineering department was a “two-star general position”. The Air Force regulations did not allow an officer with a rank more than two bellow the “position rank” to serve in that position. In other word, a Captain or even a Major or Lt. colonel could not become the department head of the engineering Department. Since they did not want to bring-in an outsider who would not be aware of the embezzlement, they promoted the captain to full colonel. Jumping three ranks up over night; that was an eight-year plus promotion jump, unprecedented even for promoting fighter pilots for heroism in war.
The promotion regulations in the Air Force were more relaxed for fighter pilots. I am not aware if that kind of fast promotion, especially in peace time, has been given to anyone in any armed forces of any country in the world. (This could happen only in a “third world” corrupt country).
One day, I was passing in the hallway and I saw my classmate, the yesterday’s captain, in a full-colonel uniform. I was shocked and thought maybe this guy is the twin brother of him. He looked at me in the eyes, looking a little embarrassed, passed me without any gesture. These kinds of promotions must be done with the full knowledge and approval of the Shah and must be requested by the Commander of The Air Force. Again, read Pollack’s book. Of course you will not find this particular case in it but there are plenty in it that which will blow one’s mind.
In fairness I must mention that, in one policy matter, Mohammad Reza Shah stood firm against the Americans; soon after the coup d’état of 1953 the US advisers convinced the Shah that Iran must stay an agricultural country. For about a decade the government slogan was “Iran must stay an agricultural country” “Iran has the most productive land and climate for agriculture in the world”, etc. Being a dictatorial system, no one could dare to tell him that several centuries ago Adam Smith has said that “agricultural products are subject to diminishing return” and he suggested that industrialization is the way to prosperity, countries that stay agricultural will fall behind because of its limitation while industrial products are almost limitless.
After several years of following agricultural policy, apparently someone finally informed the Shah about Adam Smith’s theory and Shah decided to pursue industrialization. But the Americans would not cooperate and were insisting continuation of the agricultural policy. The American wanted that Iran stay a consumer country for their finished goods. After several months of confrontation, Shah gave the last ultimatum; either deal with me or I will purchase steel mill from the Soviets.
The reason for Shah choosing the Soviets was that Americans had great deal of influence in the western world and were able to prevent any deal with the western industrialized nations. The Americans did not take the ultimatum seriously until Shah made the deal with the Soviets to build a steel mill in city of Esfahan. That got the Americans’ attention and they came forward with compromise.
Three Important Incidents and Cover-ups
It is important to mention three separate incidences in Mohammad Reza Shah’s rein that if it would succeed, for better or worse, it could change the course of the history in Iran:1. Alireza Pahlavi’s Takeover Attempt
During the chaotic days of Mossadeq era when Shah completely lost control and was forced into relinquishing the position of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to Mossadeq the rumor was that Alireza, the younger and smarter brother of the Shah, one day went into Shah’s office and after some argument between the siblings, Alireza yelled at him; “if you cannot handle the situation step down, I will take care of it”. Alireza Pahlavi, who owned several hundred hectares of farm-lands in Gorgan who used to travel back and forth with his small single-engine air plane, crashed and got killed while coming back to Tehran. At that time, the rumor was that the CIA tampered with his plane, before take off.
Note: Alireza, in character, took after his father; smart, firm and decisive, while Mohammad Reza was exactly the opposite taking after his deeply religious mother. Ashraaf also took after their father.
2. General Qarani and General Bakhtiar’s Coups
Soon after 1953 British/American coalition coup, the CIA created an intelligence agency for Iran (Sazman-e Amniyat-e Keshvar) SAVAK, modeled after and staffed by the CIA. Three stars general Teymour Bakhtiar, a very firm disciplined with Reza Shah Era dictatorial mentality, was put the director of the SAVAK. Within a short period of time Bakhtiar became the most powerful and the most feared person in the country. In early 1958 a coup plot by General Valiollah Qarani, the commander of the Army’s intelligence was snuffed out by the SAVAK. In late 1958, Bakhtiar in a trip to America met with CIA director Allen Dulles and Kim Roosevelt, he told them that he wanted to overthrow the Shah and wanted their help. But Dulles and Roosevelt were noncommittal in reply and immediately informed the Shah. Bakhtiar on his way back from America was arrested in Mehrabad Air Port. His shattered lifeless corpse, with all finger nails pulled was found in remote Tajrish mountain area. Of course no one shed a tear for the feared spy-master.
3. General Bahram Aryana’s Coup
It was in mid 1960s that another coup attempt was discovered, this time by the CIA to keep the Shah in power since he was easy to handle. I really did not care about Qarani or Bakhtiar to succeed. We officers were always weary of intelligence officers; they were different bread of animals which we could not trust. But this coup was staged by General Aryana who was the most popular and liked high ranking officer in Iranian Armed Forces. You didn't have to know him personally to like him. As a young educated officer during Reza Shah, Aryana was very instrumental in modernization. He was a patriot and one of the pioneers in purifying the Persian language from Tazi words. He continued that task after Reza Shah, particularly within the Armed forces, even though after Reza Shah was gone these types of projects had lost popularity.
I can say with great certainty that if Aryana would have succeeded he would have formed a modern democratic system of government that Iran deserved by then. He was a great patriot and lover of Iran. After discovering the coup, the incident was kept secret. Considering Aryana’s popularity there was a great possibility of revolt by the Army against the Shah and the Americans. Several officers involved were secretly and quickly executed but CIA knew that it would be too risky to execute Aryana.
Mohammad Reza Shah a fake dictator
Becoming and staying a dictator requires above average
intelligence. It needs high intelligence to manipulate and exploit people. Mohammad
Reza Shah lacked that qualification.
At the beginning, right after the coup, with the
consideration that the CIA founded in 1947, was fairly a new spy organization,
the British intelligence service took the primary role of the “post-coup d’état
clean-up”. They were the one who were deciding who should be arrested, who
among the Iranian politicians should be involved, etc.
In that critical moment Shah had no role in decision making
whatsoever. For instance it was the British who had decided Mossadegh should
not be executed, fearing a revolt by the people, but Dr. Fatemi should be and
was executed.
Right after the coup it was the British/CIA coalition that had
devised a dictatorial form of government for the Shah. For instant they
immediately declared marshal law which lasted until early 1958. They
immediately took charge of the media. According to Ken Pollack, a high ranking CIA agent, right
after the coup 75% of the newspapers and magazines in Iran were CIA
funded and the rest were closely watched and controlled.
With print media and radios under their control, right from
the beginning, an elaborate propaganda began to make the Shah look like something
above human being.
For the long range plan, the CIA had created the SAVAK and the trend had continued and consequently it took a decade to create a fake dictator who
constantly had to be handled by his masters.
Eventually, as time passed, the CIA assumed the primary role
but the British still very involved in policy making. But they were discreet
and working behind the seen, as they usually do.
The video bellow; interview with Dr. Milani reveals historical facts about 1979 revolution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEMyavnRsfo
Conclusion
In conclusion: The father was born poor but with hard work he became a self made world figure yet never abandoned his simple way of living. He loved his country enough to give up his crown for the good of the nation leaving with fist full of his country’s dirt. To him country always came first.
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| Visiting Lorestani women on "Chador bardaari day من میل به تظاهر ندارم و نمیخواهم از اقداماتی که شده است اظهار خوشوقتی |
کشور استفاده کنید . من معتقدم که برای سعادت و ترقی این مملکت باید همه از صمیم قلب کار کنیم . ولی هیچ نباید غفلت نمایند که مملکت محتاج به فعالیت و کار است و باید روز بروز بیشتر و بهتر برای سعادت و نیک بختی مردم قدم برداشته شود . شما خواهران و دختران من ، حالا که وارد اجتماع شده اید و قدم برای سعادت خود و وطن خود بیرون گذارده اید . بدانید وظیفه شماست که باید در راه وطن خود کار کنید ، شما تربیت کننده نسل آتیه خواهید بود ، انتظارمان از شما خانمها این است که در زندگی قانع باشید و کار نمائید و از تجمل و اسراف بپرهیزید . سعادت آتیه در دست شماست
{سخنان رضا شاه پس از کشف حجاب - 17 دی 1314 خورشیدی
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| The Veresk railroad bridge In Alborz mountain. 80 years later, still at work |
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| German built railroad; Tehran to Mazandaran triple bridges |
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| Reza Khan, Salute to you the great man of steel |
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Jashn-e Kashf-e Hejab. The Girls Academy
One of the greatest accomplishments of Reza Shah that
pulled
But unfortunately Mohammad Reza Shah, influenced by
his mother's religious fanaticism, had reversed the course and mullahs came
back to power and reversed most of those hard works that were done by his
father.
*************
|
In contrast to Reza Shah, Mohammad Reza never had to work yet he inherited the crown of an ancient country which he never understood the significance of. He sold the country out of fear and for money; he took orders from foreign powers just to hold on to his job; he enriched himself in dishonest ways and lived in luxury and extravagance; he left the country in disgrace with billions of dollars of people of Iran’s money in his foreign holdings. To Mohammad Reza country came last; he coined a slogan “Khoda-Shah-Mihan”. (God, Shah, Nation) In other words; Shah came ahead of country. He became so arrogant dared to call himself “Shadow of the God”. They both died but the father left a memorable legacy behind while the son ran away with disgrace. What a difference!
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| Luxuries, propagandas, extravagance |
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| And more luxury and extravagance |
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| Luxuries, propagandas, extravagance |
Above; compare the Reza Shah's coronation picture
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| And
more luxury and extravagance |
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| Shah in exile in Panama ill with cancer, the man with no country |
To have a better understanding of Mohammad Reza Shah's regime please watch the three following videos:
The first two are the interviews with Mr. Parviz Saabeti, the top man in SAVAK and the third one is the interview of two prisoners who were tortured by the SAVAK. Each video is about one hour and are very informative.
این پول پرستان با این کارِ خود نامِ رضا شاه را بچالش میکشند وآتو بدستِ دشمنانِ آن مردِ بزرگِ تاریخِ ایران میدهند.
بدیده ی من رضا شاه یکی از سه بزرگترین پادشاهانِ تاریخِ ایران بود؛ کورشِ بزرگ، داریوشِ بزرگ، و رضا شاهِ بزرگ ولی محمد رضا را باید در ردیفِ فتحعلی شاه، ناصر الدین شاه و شاه سلطان حسین گزارد.
درست استکه ایندو پدر وپسر بوده اند ولی در"کاراکتر"زمین تا آسمان باهم فرق داشتند.
پدر شجاع، نابغه وسکولار بود پسر ترسو،کم هوش،و مزهبی.
ـپدر میهن پرست بود و سخت کار میکرد، پسر میهن فروش و شهوتران.
ـپدر با کوتاه کردنِ دست روحانیون،چادر برداری،دادنِ حقوقِ اجتمائیِ برابر به زنان،بزورفرستادنِ دختران به آمزشگاه های مدرن، ایران را از چاهِ ۱۳۰۰ساله ی مزهبی بیرون کشید، ولی پسر با روی کار آوردنِ آخوند ها تمامِ رشته های پدر را پنبه کرد.
ـپدر دستِ نیروهای امپریالیستیِ خارجی ها را کوتاه کرد و قانونِ شرم آور"کاپیتولاسین"را لغوکرد،ولی پسر نه تنها به دو نیرو های انگلیس و آمریکا کارت بلانش داده بود بلکه با دادنِ مسئونیتِ سیاسی به مستشارانِ آن کشورها، قانونِ ننگینِ کاپیتولاسیون را بر گرداند.
ـپدر بدونِ داشتنِ در آمدِ نفت جاده ی سرتاسری،راهِ آهنِ سرتاسری،کارخانه های بسیارساخت وایجادِکارودرآمدبرای کشورکرد،ولی پسر بادرآمدِ سرشارِ نفت اسلهه،مهمات، و دیگر فرآورده های خارجی میخرید و بعنوان کمسیون از فروشنده ها رشوه میگرفت. حرفِ مرا باور نکنید؛خواهشمندم کتابِ"پرشن پازل"نبشته ی کنِنت پولاک را بخوانید.این شخص سی سال کارمندِ بالا رتبه ی سازمانِ"سیا"وزمانِ درازی مامور کارهای مربوط به ایران بوده و پس از بازنشستگی این کتاب را نوشته است.
پس خواهش میکنم حسابِ پدر و پسررا از هم جدا کنید.
محمد رضای نا خلف باندازه ای از پدرِ خود تنفر داشت که نه تنها تندیس های(مجسمه)رضاشاه را پائین کشید و پیکرِ لشِ خودش را بجای آنها گزاشت، بلکه همه ی سکه ها و اسکناسها با عکس رضا شاه را باطل کرد و عکس منهوسِ خودش را جایگزین کرد.
این رضا شاه بود که کشور را از دستِ قاجارهای میهنفروش با چه زحمتی بدر آورد و بنیانگزارِ ایرانِ نوین شد.محمد رضا پادشاهی را به ارث برد.اگرپدرش پادشاه نبود، او یا لوله کش میشد ویا ماله کش وامثالِ آن
Author’s Note
I was born and raised in a non Muslim family. My father passed away six months prior to WWII, victim of colon cancer. My mother, a courageous intelligent woman, even though was a religious person but by no mean a fanatic. She was an open minded lady and one of the very few women of her era in Iran that could read books and write her own letters. Even though that she used to encourage her children in reading religious books, she was also open in letting us to read none religion books as well. I remember when I was about 12 or 13, my older brother, 14 years my senior brought half dozen paperback pocket size books written by Morris Miterling, early 20th century Belgian philosopher translated to Persian. I have another brother two years older than I am. He and I started reading those books and discussing the material with our mother. Two of those books which interested my brother and I the most were about Darwinian Theory of Evolution. After that incident, my brother and I became agnostic and completely rejected the god of Abraham (Allah in Islam and Bahai religions, Jehovah in Judeo/Christianity).With above in mind, even though I was agnostic since early age, but because I was born in a Bahai family, I was known as Bahai among friends and at work. By the same token, today there are millions of Muslim-born Iranians that do not believe in Islam but statistically in the eye of the world organizations and people of the world, Iran is 98 or 97 % Muslim. As long as these nonbelievers do not repudiate their religious affiliation in a formal and legal manner, Iran is a 98 % Muslim country.
As time passing by, I have done more research about the existence of a supernatural entity and became convince that there is none and became an atheist and that is how I brought up my children and wrote numerous articles on that subject. From mid. 1990s I started doing research on the life of Zarathushtra using different sources including; Zoroastrian- Iranian, non-Zoroastrian Iranian, the Parsis, and European sources. I have come to the conclusion that Zarathushtra was a unique Iranian philosopher not a prophet that has been claimed by the Zoroastrian religious authorities.
According to Gathas (the writing of Zarathushtra) he never created any religion nor did he claim to be affiliated to any supernatural being. As a matter of fact all his life he campaigned against the Magies and called all gods lies and he finally lost his life for his belief. I accepted Zarathushtra for his doctrine and in order to disassociate myself from Bahai religion, on August of 1998 I officially became Zoroastrian with “Sadrehpoushi” ceremony in city of Anaheim, California. But I am the new branch of Zoroastrian that fundamentally differs from the old Zoroastrianism which has deviated from principle doctrine of Zarathushtra by inserting superstitious beliefs in his doctrine, copied from Abrahamic religions. In other word I accepted Zoroastrianism as a doctrine not as a religion.
I wrote several short articles in English on this subject, please read them right here on my blog. I also discussed Zarathushtra’s doctrine in my book “Dastaneh Abusalim”http://maziaraptin.blogspot.com/2012/02/blog-post.html written in Persian also can be found on this blog. It is a short life-story of an Iranian during 7th and 8th century Arab invasion. Beside on this blog, you can find my articles and books on different sites such as Payam Ashena magazine and IPC (Iran Politic Club) site. You could copy the articles and download the book for free.
In 2005 I officially changed my Arabic name to Maziar Aptin. By doing so, I broke the link of the chain that the Arabs first wrapped around the legs and arms of our ancestors with the edge of the sword then the chain gradually found its way into the mind and soul of our ignorant forefathers. Our forefathers did not have the knowledge and information that is available to our generation. I dare my Muslim-Iranian brothers and sisters; it is your duty to break this shameful barbaric ideology-chain and free yourselves and your children from this backward ideology and acquire the appreciation of your children.
Please read: What is wrong with us the Iranians/ Stupid Iranian/ The concept of Baab in Shiagary/Wrong hypothesis/ Culture of slavery, and many other articles that I discussed this important mater. They are all on this blog. Thank you Maziar
Please listen to this video; an interview with Iranian historian Mr. Amini, regarding Mossadegh era and more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W_CPnF-6oY&feature=youtu.be
The video below is in regard to the religious influence in school curriculum:
The video may cut off once in awhile. Please be patient.
Please listen to this video; an interview with Iranian historian Mr. Amini, regarding Mossadegh era and more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W_CPnF-6oY&feature=youtu.be
The video below is in regard to the religious influence in school curriculum:
The video may cut off once in awhile. Please be patient.
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ReplyDeleteThe SAVAK killed Takhti because Ta khti was a very influential political activist. He was not a communist; that is why he became the voice of ordinary people and consequently he was considered dangerous and had to be “eliminated”.
ReplyDeleteIt could be true that Takhti had some personal problem but the SAVAK had used that personal problem to kill him in a hotel room to make it look like a suicide.
I lived through the politics of those days. If there was any doubt in people’s mind about Shah’s involvement in Takhti’s killing, the three months closer of “Towfigh” newspaper that had arraigned Takhti’s peaceful funeral removed that doubt from people’s mind.
One should live through those political suffocating days to understand. I was an air force officer, not involved in any kind of politics and also part of Shah’s government, but I was feeling suffocation. As I mentioned in the Memoir; we in the arm forces, were being watched closely. You could not trust even your close friend to say anything that could be interpreted as a political comment. Not that your friend would report you but if he would innocently repeat your word someplace ells, it could get misinterpreted and get you in trouble.
خاك بر سر خوانواديه وطرفدار محمد رضا خان
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