>>”a big one, I believe, was not killing Khomeini & instead exiling him).”<<
In a way, the Shah was between a rock and a hard place. I understand he was advised not to deal ‘harshly’ with Khomeini because, most probably, it might have caused further trouble & unrest inside Iran. So, the Shah chose to exile him, to cut off his direct influence in Iran. Though I think he wasn’t expecting support for Khomeini from other countries and their media, such as the BBC.
Actually, Khomeini was under tight control during the first part of his exile in Iraq when Saddam was there. But Khomeini started trouble in Iraq too, and consequently Saddam didn’t want him in Iraq either. Later, with the Shah’s permission Khomeini was exiled to France; that’s where he had a carte blanche to preach rather openly.
>>”But it’s possible another mullah/ayatollah would have eventually risen in popularity and strength and caused an uprising and takeover.”<<
Right. The mullahs should have been reined in all-around in Iran, see #74. Not that the Shah didn’t understand the mullahs mentality & history in Iran; give a mullah an inch and he’ll take a yard - traditionally they’re MOSTLY despicable hoarders; and I’m being kind.
While I looked at the book at Amazon I found an interesting review that has some bearing on our discussion:
Also, because this book has been written by a woman and because I am a Iranian woman myself, I cannot complete this review without drawing a comparative reference between the status of the Iranian women during the Qajar times, during the Pahlavi Era and where we are today some 25 years after the departure of the Pahlavi dynasty. Women were essentially no more than common slaves or baby factories during the Qajar period. The Qajar Kings, apart from being grossly incompetent in terms of running the country, never demonstrated any tendency towards progressing the women's rights or status within their kingdom. On the contrary, they all had their vast Harems where much like today's Saudi Arabia, they had literally hundreds of wives, concubines and several hundred children (some of which were their own and others were the courtesy of their kind, supportive and thoughtful court employees). In those days, nepotism was rife of course and every one of these Qajar children (whether rightful or mostly of the courtesy variety) use to be given government posts which anywhere else in the world would have been reserved for experienced and highly qualified civil servants. Mohamed Mossadegh was one of these children who much like his other siblings was give put in charge of the finances of the Khorassan province (15% of Iranian land mass) at the age of 8 (Eight). Against this background, one of the first acts of Reza Pahlavi, the hungry army Soldier who saw no option but to wrap up the Qajar's crooked show was women's emancipation. He started with the women in his own family and then immediately extended this right to every other Iranian woman. He also began the process of changing the country's laws allowing women to have a greater say in the society. This process was continued by his son who also secured voting rights for Iranian women and actively encouraged their education. All of this progress simply came to a halt and was then dramatically reversed after the 1979 revolution.