New Delhi: A banquet lit up Tehran. It was the final evening of 1977. Lights, laughter and toasts. The then U.S. President Jimmy Carter raised his glass. His phrases painted an image. Iran, he mentioned, stood like an island – calm in chaos and steady in fireplace. Mohammad Reza Shah smiled. However behind that smile, fires smouldered.
The person sitting on Iran’s throne had not earned it in a easy method. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was handed energy when Allied forces pushed the elder Shah apart in the course of the Second World Conflict. Nazi ties had made the previous man a risk. Oil mattered greater than loyalty. British and Soviet boots sealed the choice.
The younger Shah lived like a prince from the West. Swiss faculties. Fancy vehicles. Lavish weekends. However his nation held a treasure – oil. And the West needed it badly.
The Shah performed alongside. He proposed a cut up – let Iran maintain half the income. However the Anglo-Iranian Oil Firm refused. They didn’t see a accomplice. They noticed property.
Then got here Mossadegh. A brand new face. A deep voice. He spoke of dignity. He spoke of justice. And when he took workplace as prime minister, he did what the Shah by no means dared. He took the oil again and nationalised it.
Iran cheered. The West panicked.
In London and Washington, telephones rang. Orders have been handed. The Central Intelligence Company (CIA) stepped in. Cash modified fingers. Tales acquired planted. Crowds acquired employed.
And the Shah? He had already fled.
Inside months, Mossadegh was out. Army officers stormed in. A brand new authorities rose. The Shah got here house. This time, with a promise to make Iran wealthy, robust and trendy. The USA stood by his aspect. For some time, it labored.
Cities gleamed. Ladies walked free. Western music performed in parks. However beneath the lights, one thing cracked. The wealth stayed in cities. The poor stayed poor. Tasks ran wild. Prices soared. Costs jumped. Goals dried up.
In silence, the divide grew.
Within the countryside, previous voices stirred. Faith had not gone. It had solely waited.
By the late Nineteen Seventies, protests swept the streets. College students marched. Outlets shut. Mullahs whispered louder. The Shah regarded smaller. Crowds grew. Photographs fired. Extra deaths. Extra marches.
In January 1979, the Shah boarded a aircraft. He left behind a crown, a damaged promise and a nation on fireplace.
The subsequent flight got here from Paris.
A unique man sat inside. Black robes. White beard. Eyes like metal. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had returned. After 16 years of exile, he got here again to a rustic that now bowed to him.
Hundreds of thousands lined the roads. The monarchy had ended. Iran, now, belonged to God.
He was bestowed on the title of Supreme Chief. He took the facility, too. The brand new state obeyed Islamic regulation. And its two enemies stood clear – the USA and Israel.
Quickly, a bunch of scholars stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Dozens of Individuals have been taken hostage. The Ayatollah didn’t flinch. He referred to as the USA the “Nice Devil”. He referred to as Israel a thief of sacred land.
The revolution had its face.
Then Saddam Hussein noticed a gap. Iraq attacked. Iran fought again. The conflict dragged on. Eight years. Tons of of hundreds lifeless. Cities ruined. However the regime stood agency. The Ayatollah by no means gave in.
But inside Iran, doubts grew.
Some noticed the mirror. They thought they’d eliminated a king. However in his place stood one other – wrapped in faith and unbending in rule.
By 1989, Khomeini’s well being failed. The query rose – who subsequent?
His first selection stepped apart. In his place rose Ali Khamenei – a person with much less scholarly weight however agency loyalty. He took the highest seat. The Structure bent to make it match. Energy modified fingers. The ideology didn’t.
However the years forward weren’t easy.
Iran bled. Sanctions hit arduous. Its nuclear ambitions introduced world warmth. Protests saved surfacing. Ladies requested for voice. Youth requested for jobs. Folks requested for meals.
Nonetheless, Khamenei tightened the circle.
New guards rose – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij. Army muscle grew. Dissent shrank. The system turned a fortress. And the surface world watched puzzled. Iran confirmed two faces – fiercely anti-West, but open to offers when stress pinched.
As soon as, after 9/11, Iran stunned the world. Candles lit up in Tehran. Crowds walked in silence. They mourned American lives. That evening, even previous enemies whispered condolences.
However winds shift quick.
By the early 2000s, conservatives took again management. Khatami, the reformist, misplaced floor. Ahmadinejad got here in with fireplace. Defiance returned. Enrichment continued. Israel stayed the villain. So did America.
Even now, cracks present.
Younger Iranians scroll social feeds. They research overseas. They converse many tongues. However their future feels trapped. Many need change. However nobody leads them. Not clearly. Not loudly. Not but.
Some look to the previous. Reza Pahlavi, son of the final Shah, speaks on-line. He requires unity. For resistance. For a brand new Iran. However his hyperlinks to the West increase eyebrows. Many bear in mind the previous throne. Few need it again.
Iran’s story has not ended. From emperors to clerics, oil offers to digital rage and veils to slogans. The street winds on. And someplace, deep in its coronary heart, Iran retains strolling – torn between reminiscence, hope and the load of its personal making.