>I'll post these cables/articles on the Shah/IRAN again. Wild as fek earlier.
Thank you so much for posting these, anon.
These are fascinating to me in a personal way, not just as notables. I was an exchange student in Iran during the summer of 1978. You might keep your eyes open for anything mentioning Cinema Rex in Abadan in August 1978. The movie theater "caught on fire" … the doors were locked, and firefighters were very slow in arriving. Many died. I vividly remember the front page of the Kayhan newspaper had a horrific photo of burned bodies. I had no real interest in politics when I applied as a teen to go overseas. I had just wanted to travel, but those photos really affected me in a way and shocked me out of my childhood.
Since I couldn't really speak/understand much Farsi, I didn't really know what exactly was going on. Was it the Shah's secret police (SAVAK - known for torture, trained by our CIA) trying to send a message to those trying to overthrow him? Was it those trying to start a revolution against the Shah? To this day, I still don't even know.
However, after all that, I find it incredibly weird that those wanting to topple the Islamic Republic are actually rallying around the Shah's son. I want to know if he's really genuine in wanting democracy. A huge percentage of Iran's population was born after 1978. Are they just too young to remember the brutality of the Shah and SAVAK?
I'm thrilled that Iranians may be on the verge of being free, I'm just confused why they seem to be rallying around the Shah's son.
I know people have posted pix from that era of the women not wearing the hijab (head scarf) or chador (full length veil), but I can give you some other examples of how Iran was different back then. You know what was playing in the movie theaters in Tehran that summer? THE EXORCIST (and Star Wars).
Anyhow, thanks again, anon.