IRAN - "Time for Tears"
By Farhad Sepahbody

An Upcoming Book

Sad Times in Morocco.
In deep thought, behind Their Majesties the Shah and Queen of Iran in exile.
The gates of my beloved country were now shut.

• INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK:

  As fate had it, in 1979 I was Iran's royal regime last ambassador to Morocco. When H.I.M. Shahanshah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Iran into bitter exile, he went to Morocco. I was under immense pressure, but as a matter of principles, I did not turn my back to him. Besides, who wants to be remembered as a turncoat or an opportunist?  I believed and still do that the King truly desired the best for his country and people. Some are saying that I am now paying dearly the price of a decision rushing from the heart rather than the mind. Maybe, but it was a question of honor and I do not regret it.

  Alas, in the last few years of his reign, specially since the gigantic increase in oil revenues, the Shah became surrounded by rapacious profiteers, even close relatives troubled him. Sycophants eager to please and an array of yesmen led him astray. They were the first to escape abroad with their ill-gotten gains.

  When the King was asked by a foreign journalist "where are you supporters?" He bitterly answered: "On the French Riviera, or on Park Avenue." A majestic failure which still continues in exile. Who wants to see these people back? The unselfish politicians who cared for and understood the people, like my own father and others, had been eliminated from power. They saw the storm gathering ahead, but could do little to prevent it. Their advice went unheard. At the end, when finally asked by the King to come forward and help, it was just too late.

  Both my father and my mother were direct descendents of the Qajar (Kadjar)kings who ruled Iran from 1796 to 1925. One of the last Qajar Kings, Mozzafar-al-Din Shah signed and supported the Persian Constitution in 1906 and thus transformed the Persian monarchy. Unlike his own father, he was prepared to reign as a constitutional monarch rather than a harsh autocrat. The chronicles you are about to read span the very last days of my own dynasty, the Qajars, the advent of a patriotic strongman and modernizer Reza Shah Pahlavi and the collapse of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979.

  The demise of the latter in exile in 1981 marked the end of a whole era in Iran's turbulent history. An era of great material progress, which for us Iranians, began with high hopes but terminated in bitter disillusionment and a massive revolution. Following, are the accounts of my own life and events as Iran entered the modern world amidst momentous changes. Changes that also saw the United States increase its leverage in Iran to inauspicious levels. A foreign policy aberration which slowly emptied the large reservoir of goodwill and captured hearts America once enjoyed so much in my country.

  I had long conversations with the Shah on Iranian events and kept both notes and tapes. The narratives are strictly my own personal views. I strived to be thoroughly objective in my observations and recollections of circumstances and events. I also used personal and family documents in my possession. Many times, my father's actions or strong words of advice led him to be cast aside by the Shah. My purpose here is neither to pass judgement nor to elude it and I alone bear responsibility for what is said in this book.

  My father, a fervent nationalist, was a man of principles and action who did not minced words with authority. He helped create a modern Iranian navy and prevented a proposed alliance with Mussolini which could have caused great harm to Iran. At one point, while Minister of Justice, he resigned rather than sign the death warrant of a prisoner. He thus created a storm within the cabinet. My father donated much of his own land to religious endowments and some to the government to build schools, lodgings and a hospital. In his own way, he waged war on poverty and tried with all his heart to contribute to the well-being of Iranians. His portrait may no longer hang in the mirrored hall of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which he headed several times, but I am proud to say that his legacy still subsists in many hearts of my beleaguered land.

  Although withdrawn in faraway Arizona, I still continue to receive letters of gratitude and encouragement from the children of people he helped. With the advent of the Internet, I can at least visit Iran virtually and watch television programs. For me, E-mails and messages from my homeland are a bridge from the present to the past and a symbol of Iran's continuity through time. They are also a balm to my heart and a hope for the future, for in the long run, a nation that has survived so much adversity will eventually restore a more compassionate system of governance that is in better harmony with its true humane and ancient traditions.
  

  
  1967 At the Kremlin, with Gromyko (right) Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR.
  At the time Iran's foreign policy motto was "Both East and West."
  Today it is "Neither East nor West," will that work better? "

  
  
  Shaking hands with King Hassan II of Morocco.
  That was in 1977, two years later my diplomatic functions ended abruptly.
  
  

  Also see "Iran's Scorched Roads"
  

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