Word: shahs
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...Egypt, where the Shah had flown his Boeing 707 jet after leaving Tehran, Sadat was a gracious host. He and his wife Jihan flew in planeloads of guests for formal dinners at Aswan's Oberoi Hotel in honor of the Shah and his glamorous, chain-smoking Empress Farah. By day the royal couple toured the nearby temples of Philae and listened politely to lectures on Egyptian archaeology. Sadat saw the Shah off to Morocco, on the next leg of his hastily drawn itinerary, with a kiss on each cheek and a 16-gun salute...
...welcome in Marrakesh, winter capital of King Hassan II, was noticeably less effusive. Hassan, fearful of provoking dissidents at home and angering radical Arab neighbors by consorting with a pariah, had reluctantly invited the Shah to visit him for a day or two of "conferences." The press was barred from covering the royal arrival, and the Shah was whisked off to a palatial but isolated guest house called Jinan al-Kabir (the big garden), hidden by orange, olive and date trees in the immense palm grove that surrounds Marrakesh. Moroccan officials were dismayed when the Shah arranged for his four...
...Shah made no public appearances in Morocco, more at his host's insistence than his own. The local press was commanded to ignore the royal visitor. At the urging of foreign newsmen, the couple appeared for an informal picture session, at which mint tea, almond milk, and cookies were served. At first the Shah, natty in gray slacks and blue blazer, greeted the press wanly. He cheered visibly after spotting several old acquaintances among the correspondents. But Moroccan security guards shooed the reporters away before a full-scale press conference could develop...
...moments of introspection, observers say, the Shah becomes particularly angry at the aides who surrounded him. Out of misguided loyalty, he now senses, they shielded him from reality. "My advisers built a wall between myself and my people," the Shah bitterly told Sadat at Aswan. "I didn't realize what was happening. When I woke up, I had lost my people. Don't let that happen...
What surprises listeners most about the Shah is his belief that he can still go home again. The Ayatullah Khomeini, in his view, is a crazed man, a transitory figure. A successful military coup is unlikely, since junior officers and most of the army would not support it. The Bakhtiar government has no popular base and is bound to fail. The prognosis, then, is chaos; the only solution is the Shah. After all, the tide of history turned against him with unexpected swiftness; it could as swiftly turn in his favor. "I deserve another chance," he says...