Word: shahs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Shah continued his unsuccessful efforts to put together a civilian government. He needs to find a strong Premier absolute monarch, and must take urgent steps if he wants to ensure the survival of the Pahlavi dynasty. In Ball's view, the best the Shah could hope for would be a constitutional monarchy containing moderate members of the opposition. An alternative would be to establish a regency under his son, Crown Prince Reza, who is now in advanced fighter-pilot training in Texas. Ideally, this regency would be supported by moderate opposition leaders, middle-ranking army officers and key religious leaders...
Ball's conclusions differed from the views of the man who invited him to Washington to review U.S. policy on Iran: Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski. Until now at least, Brzezinski has held that the U.S. should back the Shah staunchly, in part because of the unsettling effects any wavering about the Shah might have on such other monarchies as Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Officials insisted that as of last week, however, there was no disagreement within the Administration on fundamental points. Certainly the Ball report's conclusions are shared by most Middle East experts at the State...
...major problem is the army. Since the Shah derives his strength from the army, it may prove difficult to convince him of the wisdom of relinquishing control of it. Similarly, the army's loyalty could be stretched to the breaking point if the Shah should appear to be doing anything to weaken his own authority and thus that of his armed forces. A confidant of the Shah's said late last week that there were only two possibilities left: either there would be a civilian government with strong support or there would be a military coup from either the left...
...striking feature of the anti-Shah demonstrations has been the presence of masses of Iranian women. In Tehran they marched by the thousands, encased from head to foot in black, shapeless chadors, while their men formed a protective chain on either side of the street. The women chanted pro-Khomeini slogans, but they also carried banners calling for the establishment of women's political, social and economic rights in any new Islamic regime...
That demand reflected a dilemma for Iran's 14,589,000 women. Under the Shah's rule they have become the most emancipated women in the Middle East, except for those in Israel and Lebanon. Among its other efforts to modernize Iranian society, the Tehran regime has worked to improve the condition of women. Nearly 40% of the students in Iran's universities are women. The government-financed Women's Organization of Iran has set up day care centers, marriage counseling centers and classes to teach women to read and write. Women now do much...