Iran and the Shah: What Really Happened

New American ^ | 13 May 2009 | James Perloff

[appleseed]

Americans have been hearing for several years about potential war with Iran. For instance, on September 17, 2006, Time magazine reported, “The U.S. would have to consider military action long before Iran had an actual bomb.” On October 10, under the heading “A Chilling Preview of War,” Time warned: “As Iran continues to enrich uranium, the U.S. military has issued a ‘Prepare to Deploy’ order.”

In September 2007, US News & World Report stated: “Amid deepening frustration with Iran, calls for shifting Bush administration policy toward military strikes or other stronger actions are intensifying.” And in June 2008, President-to-be Barack Obama declared: “The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat.”

However, suppose a progressive, pro-Western regime ruled Iran, representing no threat? War discussions would be unnecessary. Yet many forget that, until 30 years ago, exactly such a regime led Iran, until it was toppled with the help of the same U.S. foreign policy establishment recently beating war drums.

Meet the Shah

From 1941 until 1979, Iran was ruled by a constitutional monarchy under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s Shah (king).

Although Iran, also called Persia, was the world’s oldest empire, dating back 2,500 years, by 1900 it was floundering. Bandits dominated the land; literacy was one percent; and women, under archaic Islamic dictates, had no rights.

The Shah changed all this. Primarily by using oil-generated wealth, he modernized the nation. He built rural roads, postal services, libraries, and electrical installations. He constructed dams to irrigate Iran’s arid land, making the country 90-percent self-sufficient in food production. He established colleges and universities, and at his own expense, set up an educational foundation to train students for Iran’s future.

To encourage independent cultivation, the Shah donated 500,000 Crown acres to 25,000 farmers.

[appleseed]

The article states, "Long regarded as a U.S. ally, the Shah was pro-Western and anti-communist...A voice for stability within the Middle East itself, he favored peace with Israel and supplied the beleaguered state with oil."

The total opposite of the nutcase that rules Iran now.

[Former Proud Canadian]

mark

[all the best]

Good stuff. Thanks for posting.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

If you start with the well founded assumption that Carter is a communist who loathes traditional America, it makes perfect sense that he would throw the Shah under the bus and usher in a power structure that would lead to all the problems with America and her allies that that power structure has caused.

Incidentally, there's a book out now by an ex-NYT reporter that tries to paint the case that it wasn't Carter's fault but was the fault of US foreign policy for decades. This is just a lie to protect one of the godheads of later-20th-century Progressivism.

The problems in the Middle East are largely due to Jimmy Carter.

[nuconvert]

Don’t have time to read the whole thing now, but right off the bat, the author ignores the accomplishments of Reza Shah, father of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

I noticed Houchang Nahavandi’s name - here’s a FrontpageMag interview from 3 yrs ago -
http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=5327

(read later)

[a_Turk]

Check the Wiki for post WWII Iran and the Shah:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

In 1951, under the leadership of the nationalist movement of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the Iranian parliament unanimously voted to nationalize the oil industry. This shut out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which was a pillar of Britain’s economy and political clout in the region. A month after that vote, Mossadegh was named Prime Minister of Iran.

Also take a look at the Anglo Persian Oil Company

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iranian_Oil_Company

....Iranian popular opposition to the D’Arcy oil concession and royalty terms whereby Iran only received 16 percent of net profits was widespread. Since industrial development and planning, as well as other fundamental reforms were predicated on oil revenues, the government’s lack of control over the oil industry served to accentuate the Iranian Government’s misgivings regarding the manner in which APOC conducted its affairs in Iran.....

It’s about oil, and who owns Iranian oil.

The natural resource game.

[RaceBannon]

http://www.rescueattempt.com/id24.html

[RaceBannon]

back then, yeah, Iran had no industry to work on those oil fields while Britain did and controlled almost all of it then, we were just starting to get involved

But, Mossadegh was also a nutcase, read THE PERSIAN PUZZLE for more details...like how Mossadegh entertained people in his underwear

[Just A Nobody]

Very interesting and informative article. Thanks for posting. I see some things never change:

Joining the smear was U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, whose role Nahavandi recalled in a 1981 interview:

But we must not forget the venom with which Teddy Kennedy ranted against the Shah, nor that on December 7, 1977, the Kennedy family financed a so-called committee for the defense of liberties and rights of man in Teheran, which was nothing but a headquarters for revolution.

Suddenly, the Shah noted, the U.S. media found him “a despot, an oppressor, a tyrant.” Kennedy denounced him for running “one of the most violent regimes in the history of mankind.”

[appleseed]

Thanking God for our troops that died trying to save our citizens. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

I’m old enough to remember this stuff. It’s amazing the roles Kennedy, Carter and the media played in all this. I wonder if they are pleased with the outcome of their efforts? I hate to say it, but I fear the present occupant of our White House may do more harm to our safety and security than Carter, Kennedy and the rest combined.

[CondorFlight]

The overthrow of the Shah by the fundamentalists meant that every other state in the region had to play the fundamentalist game—especially the Saudis, who had to placate them by financing their mosques all over the world.

And THAT simply spread the fire.

Much of the current trouble with Islamic fundamentalism begins with its triumph in Iran.

(Note: for those who think that getting rid of Israel would “quiet” Islam, think again. It would only encourage militant Islam like we have never seen before.)

[algernonpj]

The reason I read ‘What Went Wrong’ by Bernard Lewis after 9-11 was that the author predicted exactly what happened after the Shah was removed. Many of those targeted by the Shah’s secret police (SAVAK) were radical Islamic terrorists.

[gandalftb]

A civil nuclear co-operation program was established under the U.S. Atoms for Peace program. In 1967, the Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) was established, run by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The TNRC was equipped with a U.S.-supplied, 5-megawatt nuclear research reactor, which became operational in 1967 and was fueled by highly enriched uranium.

We built Pandora's Box and gave them 22% enriched uranium. Now we have to live with LBJ's choices.