I am well aware of their culture.
We had Naval cadets at our school. Some of the cadets were the children of high level military and state department officials. Those were the people who were swept up by the secret police and murdered. They were then dropped off at the families homes.
The culture itself was quite western. When they got kicked out of the US in March 1980, many of them skipped out on their naval commitments to stay in the US. Those that went back, only to escape later had nightmarish stories about the Revolutionary folks.
I think you mistake my point. The Shah’s regime was a dictatorship—benevolent most of the time—but one off hand comment to the wrong person could get you killed. Not exactly a government you want back.
We should provide arms to the people of Iran. Let them decide whom they want in charge. And we should keep our nose out of it. We don’t need the buffer against Russia anymore.
I had not realized that in addition to Communist subversives, children of high level military and state department officials were the most likely way to keep those officials in line. Especially if they had been exposed to viewpoints out of country.