Word: shahs
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...battle lines were clearly drawn. On the north side of the White House in Lafayette Square, some 1,000 opponents of the Shah of Iran had massed to protest his first state visit to the U.S. in 2½ years. Most of the demonstrators were Iranians studying in the U.S., including some who paid their own way to Washington and some who were assisted by student organizations. Wearing cardboard or muslin masks-to prevent Iranian secret police from photographing them, they said-the protesters bore slogans reading, SHAH: FASCIST MURDERER; SHAH IS A U.S. PUPPET; and CIA OUT OF IRAN...
...Ellipse, south of the White House, several hundred of the Shah's supporters were seated in bleachers under a huge white banner proclaiming: WELCOME SHAH. Somewhat older and better dressed than the dissidents, most were also overseas Iranian nationals who had flown in from around the country. Many were reluctant to say who had paid their expenses; a few openly said that they had received air fare, hotel accommodation and a bonus $100 bill from representatives of the Iranian government...
Shortly after an armored limousine had brought the Shah and Empress Farah onto the South Lawn, trouble broke out. The anti-Shah faction charged through the lines of mounted police and headed for the pro-Shah bleachers, armed with the handles of their placards and wooden two-by-fours that had been piled up for use in the annual Christmas pageant on the Ellipse. As the President began his welcoming remarks, police struggled to keep the two factions apart. The large white welcome banner was ripped to shreds. At that point, the wind carried the first acrid whiffs of tear...
Reeling slightly, the Shah sought refuge behind a white pocket handkerchief. The Empress, standing behind him, fumbled in her purse for dark glasses. Vice President Walter Mondale and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, eyes streaming, covered their faces. Only Carter, still speaking, refused to flinch. Tears rolled out of the President's eyes, but he made no move to wipe them. Recovering his composure when it was his turn to speak, the Shah thanked Carter for "your very warm welcome," and the official party quickly retreated to the White House. Out on Pennsylvania Avenue, it took police another hour...
...many of the signs made clear, the imbroglio had more to do with domestic Iranian politics than with U.S. feelings toward the regime of the man who has ruled Iran for 36 years. But even though relatively few Americans joined in such displays, the Shah's visit served to highlight one of the country's more ambivalent foreign involvements. A top State Department official calls it one of Washington's "most complex relationships." On one side of the ledger, the Shah symbolizes much that the Carter White House opposes: royal posturing, human rights violations, prodigious arms spending...