Taller & Taller - Shahanshah Aryamehr

People not knowledgeable in Iranian affaires who have heard or read something here and there always bring up the argument of there not being an ideal democracy in place during the Shah and that it was for this reason that "the people" rose up against the Shah. Little do they know that the Shah's ultimate goal, and which was attested by the incremental freedoms being introduced into Iranian society, was to establish a sufficient democratic state where the people would be able to make informed decisions in regards to parliamentary elections and other areas concerning their future - however there was one step which had to be fulfilled before such democracy could be introduced and that was for the country's illiteracy and intellectual level to be raised to a satisfactory level; this was a point which the Shahanshah always stood by. If this intellectual level was not reached the Shahanshah of Iran knew that his people would be used as tools by foreign powers be they Communists, the backward and anti-Iranian Muslim clergy, and political factions in the USA and Europe. Winston Churchill hit the nail with his famous quote of "the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - note that this quote refers to the average voter who presumably has achieved some form of recognized intellectual level! Not having yet reached that satisfactory point and seeing the impressive growth, progress, and influence which Iran under the leadership of Shahanshah Aryamehr was achieving, foreign powers, to protect their interests (oil and influence), decided to focus their efforts to bring the Shah down and revert the path of progress which the Pahlavi Dynasty had put the nation on; this would be achieved through an intense propaganda campaign and financial/logistical support to reactionary factions seeking to topple the Iranian government.

I do really hope that my compatriots, especially of the young generation which myself and the majority of the Iranian nation belongs to, finally see through the cloud of lies and that we can build a more solid future for our nation so that we never again have to endure another dark age of the kind we have witnessed for the past 28 years.


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Taller and taller
He has given his answer to that fair and fearless judge called history

By Reza Bayegan
August 16, 2002
The Iranian
SOURCE


It was during the first days of Mehdi Bazargan's provisional government in February 1979. The country was still reeling from revolutionary intoxication. I was traveling in a bus going from Bandar Abbas to Kerman. Not before long a few passengers started chanting slogans and prompting other people with their hoarse voices to shouts of "begoo" this or "begoo" that. Many other people joined them and soon the whole bus was in uproar, cursing the ancien regime and blessing the unknown emerging new establishment.

I was looking out of the window surveying the vast bareness enveloping the asphalt road when all of a sudden I became sensible of a hush in the bus. The dignified, calm voice of a passenger sitting a few rows away from me made everyone sit up and take notice. All the clamor had died down. His indignant words could be heard admonishing the crowd: "Why are you insulting our country?"

Twenty-three years or so has passed from that day, but throughout this long hard period, the fearless, intelligent voice of that man still vibrates in my ear. Here there was a man in the middle of a bus swarming with rowdy passengers, who was not thinking as a member of the mob but as an
individual. He did not let himself be carried away and manipulated as someone else's pawn and mouthpiece. He dared to speak up risking attack, insults or even worse.

Whenever we have been able to rescue ourselves from mob mentality, thinking with fairness, courage and wisdom, in our heart of hearts we have honored and saluted the memory of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The Shah spoke not to our mob mentality but addressed our intelligent self. He articulated himself slowly and deliberately, measuring every word. He was no rabble-rouser. He kept his focus on his country's long term interests rather than his own approval rates and popularity.

Although he was a man of faith, the Shah revered religion too much to use it in Hafez's words as a "snare of hypocrisy" and an instrument of power and control. Believing in the freedom of worship, he allowed people to choose their own way of reaching God and communicating with him.

Those people who envied him and resented their own inability to emulate his dignity and grace accused him of being a haughty man. It is true that he was a proud person. His pride however did not come from his self-centeredness or narcissism. It came from his deep belief in the greatness of the country in which he was the monarch. It was based on his total devotion to and admiration for his homeland.

After he left his country for exile, the mob and their leaders clamorously demanded that the Shah be sent back to Iran to face trial. In fact King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi has been facing trial every day for the past twenty-three years. Every day he has been standing taller in front of that
open and impartial court of justice.

The course of events have more than justified and proved him right. He has given his answer to that fair and fearless judge called history; a judge that cannot be flogged to submission or talked down or prompted to "begoo" this or "nagoo that.