Son of late shah of Iran waits his turn

By Barbara Slavin,

USA TODAY
1/4/2002

TEHRAN, Iran — As a teenager, Reza Pahlavi had his very own palace in a royal compound in north Tehran. Preserved as a museum by the Islamic government that overthrew his father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in 1979, the 19th-century building has six rooms full of childhood mementos. There is a drawing of jet fighters and helicopters the crown prince made when he was 10, and a piece of the moon brought back by U.S. astronauts. One wall of his study is covered with clippings of Iranian soccer stars from the 1970s. It has been a long time since Pahlavi has seen the keepsakes of his youth. On Jan. 16, 1979, the shah, dying of cancer, scooped up his family and left Tehran in the midst of an Islamic revolution. Now some Iranians, frustrated that the revolution hasn't produced more prosperity and freedom, want the young Pahlavi to return to claim the family's Peacock Throne. "Our fathers tell us how great it used to be in this country," Payman Saeda, 19, says as he strolls one recent afternoon on a trail in the Alborz mountains bordering Tehran. Pahlavi, 41 and in exile in the USA, "will give us back our rights," agrees Farshid Jabari, also 19 and a student. "Now, we are miserable people compared with other countries." How representative these youngsters are is difficult to tell. No pollster in the Islamic Republic of Iran dares to measure pro-Pahlavi sentiment. Political analysts here say much of Iran, where voters have elected reform candidates four times since 1997, wants to move toward a secular democracy. In the recent past, Iranians have been ruled by strongmen such as the shah and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who took over after the shah fled. But many Iranians say they believe that the son of the shah would promote a democratic government. In a telephone interview, Pahlavi says he wants to be a "catalyst" to help Iranians achieve the full democracy they have never experienced in more than 2,500 years of recorded history. "Ideally, I'm hoping to see a successful campaign of non-violent civil disobedience culminating in a referendum with foreign observers and all parties participating," Pahlavi says. The former crown prince lives in a Maryland suburb outside Washington. He asked that the exact location of his home be kept confidential out of concern for his security. An informal survey of dozens of Iranians in late December suggests that Pahlavi's appeal is greatest among the young, who long for the prosperity that prevailed under the shah but do not remember his repressive rule. Older Iranians recall that during the Pahlavi reign, young men could afford to marry at 25, buy their own cars and live in their own apartments. Now, youth unemployment verges on 50%, and educated young people must rely on their families for support or leave the country in search of work. Support for the younger Pahlavi is also a form of social protest against religious restrictions that, though eased significantly in recent years, still prohibit public drinking of alcohol, dancing and women appearing with their hair uncovered. But not all Tehran youth are swayed. One Tehran University student who gave only his first name, Hossein, calls Pahlavi an "opportunist." An ultraconservative newspaper, Keyhan, dubbed him the "quarter coin," after the cheapest of a series of gold coins that come in full-, half- and quarter-rial denominations. "He's sitting over there enjoying himself and pushing us to the front," says Fahid, 19, an electrician from working-class south Tehran. He also would give only his first name. Fahid says he spent two weeks in jail in October after being arrested in a soccer celebration that developed anti-government overtones. Despite his experience, Fahid says he would demonstrate again. The soccer riots coincided with Pahlavi's appearances on a Persian-language television station based in Los Angeles that many here watch via satellite. Pahlavi is a fresh and clean-shaven face for those fed up with being ruled by bearded clerics and disappointed that reforms championed by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami have been blocked by religious conservatives. The Islamic government confiscated thousands of satellite dishes last year in an effort to stem Pahlavi's popularity. But people replace them as fast as they are seized. "The government is extremely panicky about Reza Shah," says Elahe Sharifpour-Hicks, an Iranian-born researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Not that Iranians really want him. They just want change." The former crown prince, who has no job apart from campaigning for political change in Iran, lives off family wealth and contributions from other Iranian exiles. There are 5 million outside Iran, including nearly 2million in the USA. Pahlavi claims to have many backers within the country, too. Among them, he says, are clerics in the holy city of Qom who are dismayed at how unpopular they have become and want a return to a separation of mosque and state. An official in Tehran who used to support the Islamic regime says the government has inadvertently boosted Pahlavi by cracking down on other opposition organizations, including elderly members of the Freedom Movement, a party that collaborated in the 1979 revolution. The judiciary, controlled by conservatives loyal to supreme religious leader Ali Khamenei, has also stoked anti-government sentiment by jailing a reformist member of parliament in December for insulting government officials. The imprisonment triggered protests this week in the western city of Hamadan. On Wednesday, an Islamic student association condemned the jailing as the action of "totalitarians" and warned of "unpredictable" consequences. Even so, the momentum behind the pro-Pahlavi drive appeared to ebb during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that ended Dec. 16. The soccer games that provided a pretext for demonstrations are over. In November, Iran lost its bid to go to the World Cup, and the next opportunity will not come again for three years. Amir Mohiebian, a columnist for conservative newspaper Resalat, says Iran's political factions "have differences about the future, but we don't want to go back." In recent years, Iran has developed scores of home-grown champions of democracy. "Given the individualistic nature of Iranians, the only system that will work here is democracy," says Mohammad Mahallati, a former ambassador to the United Nations. Many political scientists here predict that posts such as the supreme religious leader, chosen by regime loyalists, will gradually lose political weight, and more power will go to the popularly elected president and parliament. Some say a strong external figure will be required to break the clerics' hold, and that change won't be peaceful. "We'll have to go through a lot of trouble," student Jabari says. "I'm not afraid. I want it to come." But Ramin, 28, says he fears that Pahlavi isn't up to the task. "We need a leader," the software engineer says over tea in a Tehran hotel. "We were waiting for the shah's son, but he didn't step up to the plate. I think he is afraid."