Synopsis
History of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, American Foreign Policy, Iranian Revolution
From the Inside Flap
A philosopher of the ancient world once wrote that 'political revolution is the best part of bad literature',
but Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, bore an entire nation towards hopes and works,
which would have inspired Persia's finest poets, and honoured Darius and Cyrus-the-Great, forever.
During the last 25 years of his reign, average, annual, per capita income rose from $160 to $2 450, and,
in 1977, the IMF predicted that the GDP of oil-rich Iran would equal Spain's, by the end of the century.
The Shah played a leading role, firstly, in creating Iran's economic miracle, and, secondly, in Middle-
Eastern politics, where he was instrumental in obtaining the Egypto-Israeli accord reached at Camp
David. Anything seemed possible: all the necessary resources and expertise were to hand, guaranteed
by a stable regime; and the women of Iran were emancipated, elegant and beautiful… Apart from the
citizens of Communist regimes, anyone could go, without a visa, to that oriental Switzerland.
During those fateful years, Houchang Nahavandi was able to observe the drama, as it unfolded,
of Iranian history, from the wings, as it were - or from the prompt-box, for he was frequently the
Shah's (alas, unheeded!) counsellor, before the fall. In the last months of the reign, and then in exile,
Nahavandi became one of the Shah's confidants and was able to look back, through Imperial eyes, on
Iran's ascent and perilous apogee. He saw too how, after 1977, Iran's lot was cast with the loaded dice
of international intrigues, when the West (and especially the USA) arranged a frightful blood-bath.
Long the friends of Iran, but disquieted by her rise to power and the Shah's independent stance, the
western allies discovered, mouldering in exile, a potential puppet-revolutionary, whom France then
undertook to groom as the heroic liberator, and whose sermons and official biography were written
by intelligence-agents at Neauphle-le-Chateau (France) and sent to Iran by diplomatic bag.
Alert, discreet and candid, Nahavandi shows us tragic events unfolding, massacres, media-infiltration
and - manipulation (by the Soviets also!) and agitators gulling crowds with empty coffins, all of
which provokes a desire to save Iran - and especially so, when we learn that the Shah ordered his army
not to resist nor "shed the least drop of blood", while fanatical, revolutionary, western assets, whom
the West affects to combat, did the West's dirty work.
In The Last Shah of Iran, Houchang Nahavandi throws back the scenery of this drama to reveal the
human and political reality, in which he was intimately involved, and which is the key to understanding
the world today. Recalling also his long conversations with the exiled and dying King, he
describes the in-fighting at Court, the despairing attempts of those, who could see "the writing on
the wall", and the treacherous double-game played by the western powers.
Thereby, the exiled Monarch, eaten away by illness, shines a rare spotlight on the treachery of the West. Valéry
said that "civilisations are mortal", and one might foresee that, when "nought else remains" round
the colossal wreck of the present hegemony, but a caricature of a civilisation, sketched by its cultural
dross, and the invading hordes of five continents, the Shah's example will still afford a noble vision of how things
might be. Straight facts and a wealth of irrefutable, previously unpublished, testimony provide the first
completely clear and detailed picture of what happened then and, thus, of what is happening now.
"I think that the way in which our government conducted itself in that situation will always be seen
as one of American history's blackest pages." (Richard Nixon)
but Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, bore an entire nation towards hopes and works,
which would have inspired Persia's finest poets, and honoured Darius and Cyrus-the-Great, forever.
During the last 25 years of his reign, average, annual, per capita income rose from $160 to $2 450, and,
in 1977, the IMF predicted that the GDP of oil-rich Iran would equal Spain's, by the end of the century.
The Shah played a leading role, firstly, in creating Iran's economic miracle, and, secondly, in Middle-
Eastern politics, where he was instrumental in obtaining the Egypto-Israeli accord reached at Camp
David. Anything seemed possible: all the necessary resources and expertise were to hand, guaranteed
by a stable regime; and the women of Iran were emancipated, elegant and beautiful… Apart from the
citizens of Communist regimes, anyone could go, without a visa, to that oriental Switzerland.
During those fateful years, Houchang Nahavandi was able to observe the drama, as it unfolded,
of Iranian history, from the wings, as it were - or from the prompt-box, for he was frequently the
Shah's (alas, unheeded!) counsellor, before the fall. In the last months of the reign, and then in exile,
Nahavandi became one of the Shah's confidants and was able to look back, through Imperial eyes, on
Iran's ascent and perilous apogee. He saw too how, after 1977, Iran's lot was cast with the loaded dice
of international intrigues, when the West (and especially the USA) arranged a frightful blood-bath.
Long the friends of Iran, but disquieted by her rise to power and the Shah's independent stance, the
western allies discovered, mouldering in exile, a potential puppet-revolutionary, whom France then
undertook to groom as the heroic liberator, and whose sermons and official biography were written
by intelligence-agents at Neauphle-le-Chateau (France) and sent to Iran by diplomatic bag.
Alert, discreet and candid, Nahavandi shows us tragic events unfolding, massacres, media-infiltration
and - manipulation (by the Soviets also!) and agitators gulling crowds with empty coffins, all of
which provokes a desire to save Iran - and especially so, when we learn that the Shah ordered his army
not to resist nor "shed the least drop of blood", while fanatical, revolutionary, western assets, whom
the West affects to combat, did the West's dirty work.
In The Last Shah of Iran, Houchang Nahavandi throws back the scenery of this drama to reveal the
human and political reality, in which he was intimately involved, and which is the key to understanding
the world today. Recalling also his long conversations with the exiled and dying King, he
describes the in-fighting at Court, the despairing attempts of those, who could see "the writing on
the wall", and the treacherous double-game played by the western powers.
Thereby, the exiled Monarch, eaten away by illness, shines a rare spotlight on the treachery of the West. Valéry
said that "civilisations are mortal", and one might foresee that, when "nought else remains" round
the colossal wreck of the present hegemony, but a caricature of a civilisation, sketched by its cultural
dross, and the invading hordes of five continents, the Shah's example will still afford a noble vision of how things
might be. Straight facts and a wealth of irrefutable, previously unpublished, testimony provide the first
completely clear and detailed picture of what happened then and, thus, of what is happening now.
"I think that the way in which our government conducted itself in that situation will always be seen
as one of American history's blackest pages." (Richard Nixon)
About the Author
HOUCHANG NAHAVANDI holds an Academic Merit Award from George Washington University and honorary doctorates from
the Universities of Utah, Ankara and Shiraz. A former, Iranian Minister of Development (1964 - 1968) and Minister for Science
and Higher Education (September - October 1978) he was Rector of Shiraz University (1968 - 1971) and of Teheran University
(1971 - 1977) before becoming President of the Board of Trustees (1977 - 1979). He is also a Laureate of the French Academy
(1992) and Associate Member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. Author of many publications in French and in Farsi.
the Universities of Utah, Ankara and Shiraz. A former, Iranian Minister of Development (1964 - 1968) and Minister for Science
and Higher Education (September - October 1978) he was Rector of Shiraz University (1968 - 1971) and of Teheran University
(1971 - 1977) before becoming President of the Board of Trustees (1977 - 1979). He is also a Laureate of the French Academy
(1992) and Associate Member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. Author of many publications in French and in Farsi.
