A blessing or a curse?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Huge crowds totalling into the millions filled streets in over 3,000 American cities on March 28. They labelled their rallies ‘No Kings’, protesting against President Trump’s tactics in Iran, the cost of living, immigration enforcement, and other grievances. There were similar Anti-Trump protests in Canada and several European countries.

Simultaneously, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) met in Dallas, to fully support President Trump’s attack on the regime in Tehran; former Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was present, and endorsed by many as a potential future leader. Not mentioned were reasons why the Crown Prince’s father was removed from the Peacock Throne in 1979. That was when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee due to widespread dissatisfaction with his dictatorial rule, rapid Westernisation, and social inequality. The incoming Ayatollah was welcomed at that time to put an end to 2,500 years of the Persian monarchy, but soon became a loathsome theocracy sponsoring terror throughout the region; a brief history lesson may suffice.

Iran had been subject to foreign interests controlling their oil, which was discovered in 1908; the first significant find in the Middle East when British geologists led and financed the exploration. That overwhelming Western thirst for oil is still unquenched, but international control of the precious commodity ended when the Ayatollah took over in 1979. The Shah had been installed in 1941, after Soviet and British forces deposed his father and exiled him to South Africa. He was only 22 years old, and deemed much easier to deal with by both powers who wanted Iran’s oil, of course. By 1949 the Shah had survived assassination attempts, and amended the constitution to gain more power. He soon confirmed a new Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, who became a major player in nationalising the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. There was turmoil in Tehran with a 1953 coup orchestrated by America’s CIA and UK’s MI6 to remove the constitutionally-elected PM Mosadedegh, who was subsequently jailed. His successor was PM General Zahedi who immediately reached an agreement giving the US and UK significant control over Iranian oil.

The Shah, originally considered mild-mannered, now consolidated power as an autocratic monarch with solid US support, until his eventual downfall in 1979. There’s a brief recent history of Iran, whose beleaguered citizens must feel how much their lives have been influenced by foreign powers, and whether the discovery of oil was a blessing or a curse.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada