|
|
In April 1978,
I was summoned to Tehran. The Shah wanted to give me special
instructions about the forthcoming special session of the
General Assembly on disarmament, called on the initiative of
the Soviet Union. This was about a month after the riots
provoked by Khomeini’s followers in Tabriz. My audience with
the monarch was fixed for Wednesday April 12th at 11 o’clock
a.m. I was ushered in a parlor room where the commanders of
the different branches of the army were waiting to be
received. The Shah would see them one by one! He was running
late in his schedule because of an urgent meeting with the
minister of interior. I had a lunch appointment with my
brother. I called his office to inform him that I would be
late and he should not wait for me.
It was almost half past twelve when I entered the Shah’s
office. He did not seem worried at all. He listened to my
report and gave some instructions about the way we should
vote at the United Nations. This whole business did not take
more than fifteen minutes. He raised from the chair behind
his desk. I too got up thinking that the audience was over.
But he did not extend his hand. As was his habit, he put his
thumbs in the armholes of his vest and paced the vast room.
He spoke about the "events" (the unrest provoked by
religious elements). I remained standing, following with my
eyes his movements. Suddenly he stopped in front of me and
said: "These demonstrations by some religious elements are
orchestrated by the oil companies ". He remained silent for
a few seconds staring at me as if he were verifying the
impact of his words. Then he resumed his walking and his
talking. "They are angry at my policies. I have really and
practically nationalized the oil. Mossadegh did nothing of
the sort. His nationalization of the British company was
just words on paper. We were almost ruined and had to accept
the "consortium" agreement with several western oil
corporations including the British!… I have just dismissed
them all and taken into my own hands all the oil business,
from extraction to the selling of our refined products in
gas stations all over the world! The National Iranian Oil
Company is now one of the great oil corporations of the
world…The eight sisters ! " .
He again stopped abreast of me and stared directly into my
eyes. I did not utter a word. He resumed his pacing in
silence. When he turned his back to me, I glanced quickly at
my wristwatch, it almost was one p.m.. He stopped for the
third time in front of me: "Mossadegh was the agent of
foreign interests …as Khomeini is. We have documents proving
this beyond the shadow of a doubt…Besides, this mullah is
not a real Iranian. He is rather Indian and his mother was
not reputable ". The shah’s tone evinced anger as he was
alluding at the ill-advised article on Khomeini which had
been published in one of the Tehran’s dailies on his own
orders. He again gazed at me, this time as if he were
waiting for a comment on my part .
I said: "Your Majesty, if such documents do exist, why don’t
the government publishes them?". He restarted his slow
pacing. "Yes, we are pondering the matter…". I added:
"Such a publication would settle the matter once and for
all…if genuine proofs exist ". By the sound of his voice I
understood that he disliked my doubting the validity of the
documents. "At any rate, he continued, this is secondary…I
am devising plans which will crown my White Revolution …Now
that economic welfare has been achieved and our defense and
recuperation of our oil resources give us an edge on our
neighbors, we are not anymore a developing country…We are
among the advanced ones…Soon, we will be in the vicinity of
the so-called 7-Gs…I think therefore that time has come to
transform our regime into a genuine constitutional
monarchy…Juan Carlos did it in Spain, a country less rich
than ours !..."
He expanded on the subject and emitted doubts about the
ability of the crown-Prince to fill his shoes: "He is anyway
too young…and I don’t think that anybody can accomplish what
I did…and withstand all the pressures and sabotages I found
on my path…I have sacrificed my health for the country !" He
kept silent for a short moment, then invited me to sit while
he returned at his desk. At this juncture a servant came in
with a trail on which were a medicine flagon and a glass of
water. The Shah bolted a pill. Then he leant against the
back of his seat and spoke in a very soft voice, as if he
were woolgathering for himself:
"The time is coming for me to withdraw. I have served the
nation to the best of my ability and I think that I have
done a lot of positive things…All foreign leaders admire our
achievements…The country is ready for democracy…I have the
intention of giving to Iranians the freedom of expression
and all other liberties…Political parties would be allowed…I
am only wondering if we should extend this freedom to the
Tudeh (communist) party…They cooperated in 1946 with the
Soviets for the secession of Azerbaijan…I really don’t know
yet…After all Juan Carlos receives the Spanish communists
and even jokes with them!.. Maybe…At the end of the term of
the present parliament free elections would be organized
with the participation of candidates from all parties…In the
summer of 1979…And I would empower as Prime minister the
head of the winning party or coalition… according to the
Constitution… Our people are not less educated and able than
the Spanish! ". I was flabbergasted. I certainly was not
expecting such confidences on the part of the Sovereign.
After a minute or two of silence, his lips gave a wan smile:
"I know…it is lunch time…You must be starving…But I wanted
you to listen to me because I want to entrust you with a
secret mission …I want you to do something for me…You
already have accomplished a delicate mission and kept its
secrecy (he was alluding to a 1967 encounter with North
Vietnamese on behalf of President Johnson)…I want you to do
the same with what I instruct you now: Upon your return to
New York, explore very discreetly the possibility of having
an international team of acceptable observers to watch our
elections and make sure that they are really and completely
free…This should not be construed as weakness on our part.
What I aim at, is to nick in the bud adverse leftist
propaganda.
So be very careful about the people you contact ".
I couldn’t believe my ears. Only one year earlier, he was
speaking of continuing in the same
direction. I remembered very well his words when I was
reporting to him on the United Nations in 1977: "I shall
remain at the top of the country…People need me and I have
to complete the White Revolution... A lot must still be
done, among other things, in the realm of education…Iranians
are not yet ready for democracy ". I thought to myself that
as usual contradictions did not bother him!
On the way to my brother’s residence, I was wondering what
had prompted such a 180 degrees change in his mind. He did
not seem too much concerned about the growing religious
unrest. At one point during the audience, referring to the
Basque terrorist activities in Spain, he had said : "There
is a price to pay in order to change the system and
introduce democracy ". Then why did he envisage a sudden and
rapid change of his own regime? Probably because of his
health problems. But at that time nobody (except himself)
knew about his terminal illness.
I arrived at my brother’s about 2.40 p.m. He was saying
good-bye to his guests. I had a bite in the kitchen and
joined him for a cup of tea in his office. I told him about
my bewilderment. He
confirmed the Shah’s decision "He had this on his agenda,
long before the start of the unrest". "But then why the
hurry?" I asked. My brother skipped the question. I said :
"He should stop attacking Mossadegh and the mullahs…That’s
counterproductive… Mossadegh is considered as a national
hero by the masses…It seems as if the Shah were resentful of
the old man… On the substance…I mean democratization, nobody
would believe him! ".
My brother said : "Yet, he is sincere. I have suggested to
privately contact some of the dissidents…He has agreed …Juan
Carlos’ performance has impressed him ". I retorted : " I
understand this…But one cannot be at the same time Franco
and Juan Carlos…The Spanish dictator had similar ideas
toward the end of his life…That’s why he presented Juan
Carlos as his heir… But he let the latter accomplish the
change…He knew that ,coming from him, people would not
believe it! I am afraid the shah is going to blunder…". A
servant was coming in and my brother changed the subject.
In the plane back to New York, the Shah’s revelations
continued to churn in my head. I thought that part of his
plans must have leaked and reached some mullahs, especially
among the most fundamentalists. In their opinion, real free
elections and democracy constituted a direct threat to their
influence on the masses. They would find themselves as tiny
minority in the parliament. On the other hand the Bazars’
merchants dreaded modernization which was taking away from
them the financial and "banking" operations which they used
to perform for centuries…I hesitated to inquire about a
possible international checking of free elections in Iran.
After the special session of the General Assembly on
disarmament, I took a week of vacation in Colorado. On the
20th of June the Shah called me personally and asked if I
had found a responsible organization for overseeing
elections. He also asked about the translation of his book
"Toward the Great Civilization" which he had asked me to
translate into French and which I had completed with the
help of one of my staff members). This was the second or
third time in my fifteen years of service at the Foreign
Ministry that the monarch was directly and personally
calling me over the telephone! Decidedly something had
changed…But obviously , it was too late.
Fereydoun Hoveyda
July 2000
|
|
|
