DIARIO DE MALLORCA - Spain
"IRAN IS  IN THE SAME SITUATION AS SPAIN DURING THE INQUISITION".

An Interview with H.I.M. Farah Pahlavi
February 9, 1997

In Mallorca, Farah Pahlavi, Empress of  Iran, speaks in depth of her concern about the situation in her country and of her great wish to return there. Below is the interview of Matias Valles correspondent of Diario de Mallorca in Palma who refers to her as Farah Diba.

- M.V.- I am looking at you and in my mind I can see the spectacular images of the Crowning festivities.

- F.D.- Let's see... That was thirty years ago, almost ; it was in October. That is a very long time.

- M.V.- It was on October 27, 1967. I was nine years old. The full-colour illustrated report that was published in ";Hola!", (Spanish weekly magazine), is one of those indelible memories of my childhood.

- F.D.- That magazine has treated us well and it has helped us a lot, due to its widespread publication, not only in Spain ; it was also read in South America, in countries such as Argentina. The Press is very useful to let people know what we are doing.

- M.V.- What is the current situation of Iran, the country you have had to leave behind three decades ago ?

- F.D.- When I search for an historical comparison, I come to the conclusion that Iran's current situation is like that of Spain during the Inquisition. Only, 500 years have passed since then, which gives you an idea of the enormous backwardness my country is currently suffering.

And what would Iran gain by the restoration of the Monarchy?

- F.D.- Here again, I would turn to the Spanish example. My son, Reza, would like to play the same role as King Juan Carlos de Borbon: to remain beyond any particular circumstances and to become a stabilizing element in Iran.

- M.V.- That is a complicated role.

- F.D.- To reign over a country is a very difficult role, in which you must combine an entirely normal attitude and initiatives, whilst maintaining your condition as a special role figure, acting as an element of popular cohesion. I believe the way in which the Queen of Spain is achieving this is truly exemplary. Queen Sophia behaves as a normal citizen, whilst maintaining the dignity of her position. I attended the wedding of the Infanta Princess Elena in Seville, and I could sense how the city vibrated at the event. I thought it was marvelous.

- M.V.- The American disdain toward monarchies was one of the key factors behind the fall of the Shah.

- F.D.- Those who insist in viewing monarchies as an outdated form of government would do well to consider the excellent performance and situation of crowned democracies. Just look at the key role the King of the Belgians has played to save his country from becoming torn and divided between the Flemish and the Walloons. Or, in the other extreme, the very undemocratic rule of republics such as Syria and many others. That was the mistake the United States made upon analyzing the role we were playing in Iran.

- M.V.- Carter paid very dear Khomeini's seizure of power. It cost him his reelection in 1980.

- F.D.- It is quite possible that, upon impassively contemplating my husband's fall, the West was encourageing one of the major threats that it is facing today: Islamic Fundamentalism. Iran could have been a significant stabilizing element in the area.

- M.V.- You must have wondered often what the real causes were that lead to the loss of power.

- F.D.- My husband was becoming too important a leader. Perhaps he was causing too much upheaval or 'noise" in one of the most sensitive areas of our planet, whereas the great powers were not interested in having any country there standing out above the others.

- M.V.- In an interview for the German magazine "Der Spiegel" in 1973, the Shah afirmed: 'We will have the same quality of life as you Germans, or the French or the English".

- F~D.- The situation in Iran was not in accordance with the traditional image people have of a developing or third-world country, although it was sometimes distorted. It was an advanced developed country and, in the midst of the vertigo of events, we became aware that many of the instruments or mechanisms of what was happening were in the hands of the great powerful nations. There were details of high politics that escaped us, that went far over and beyond us, that overtlew us. This creates a feeling of great powerlessness.

- M.V.- Your husband and yourself intended to westernize Iran.

- F.D.- It was not our aim to westernize the country, but to place Iran among the developed countries. The fact is that all of those countries are western, except for Japan, which is a special case on its own. In my country, a great opportunity was lost to modernize Asia. We would have been the locomotive that would pull along the rest of the Asian Continent.

- M.V.- The Shah also stated that he would achieve the change in 10 years time, overcoming the period of different generations that had been necessary in Europe. Maybe you went too far with the proposed reforms ?

- F.D.- My husband tried to put and end to a feudal system, a phenomenal undertaking, which required great strength. Therefore, he was enormously surprised upon noticing the rebellion against him, precisely from those people whose life he desired to improve. I do not think as much as that we went too far, but rather that we did not have enough time, only a few years more, so that the results would have become obvious.

- M.V.- Is an evolution from the current Iranian Islamic regime to a more moderate position possible ?

- F.D.- A political regime that forces six-year old girls to wear a veil to avoid that they may arouse sexual desires, is an intrinsically pervert regime. A person who thinks this way suffers from some kind of illness, this attitude cannot be described as normal. Although there is sigificant internal discontentment, any demonstration or form of expression is stifled and suppressed and silenced by the power of arms. Two important writers died recently, soon after they had been arrested they were the victims of similar, unexpected heart attacks. Another famous writer also disappeared when he was on his way to attend a congress on his field of expertise in Germany. The toughest repression in Iran is currently directed towards the intellectuals. They have been turned into the main enemies.

- M.V.- Does the situation in Iran represent an example of the dangers of fanaticism ?

- F.D.- Yes, but I have to make a distinction, a nuance. Fundamentalism is evil, perverse, and there is a lot of evidence about this. It is based on the staging of a gigantic brainwashing operation, which leaves part of the population defenceless. But the worst is that it is founded on tremendous hypocrisy.

- M.V.- We have always granted the Ayatollahs the benefit of Messianic madness, but we did not doubt their honesty.

- F.D.- Their pretended pureness is only an exterior facade. We spoke about the veil before. Whereas they impose the veil to humilliate women, young workless girls are pushed into prostitution. Also, political corruption is far more significant now than it was at any time in the past. They insist that, before, 5% commissions were claimed. I shall not deny that there have been unforgivable behaviours, but today, bribes amount to twenty percent of gaming investments. This has caused the birth of a new-wave oligarchy, exactly the kind of thing my husband wanted to stop and prevent.

- M.V.- And the embargo ?

- F.D.- Embargos serve no purpose at all, because, eventually, they always end up causing prejudice to the people and affecting the supply of  basic items for children and the sick.

- M.V.- Iran did not seem to be the most propicious country to fall into the clutches of fundamentalism.

- F.D.- The differences between Iran and the Arab countries are noticeable. We do not understand their language, as we have our own language. Furthermore, we are Shiites, with the same differences compared to the Sunnites as differences existing in Europe between Catholics and Protestants. The diversity in languages implies that the Koran must be translated and explained by the clergy, which may lead to dangerous misinterpretations.

- M.V.- Your words reveal some scepticism. Are you not a believer?

- F.D.- I am a religious woman, and I believe in God. However, the fact of seeing the excesses of fundamentalism makes you instinctively abandon the religious concept ideas they have manipulated.  It is a dilemma many believers in my country are facing. Therefore, an important part of the population are turning to Zoroastrianism, practised by the Parsis of India. Although at a certain time they have settled down in Bombay, they come from Iranian Mazdeism.

- M.V.- Apart from religion, do you believe in fortune

- F.D.- Yes, although I do believe that luck must be accompanied by preparation ; it does not come accidentally. I hope that this is going to be a fortunate year and that we may end it in Iran.

- M.V.- I have also heard you refer to superstition, about lighting a cigarette with a candle.

- F.D.- Yes. They say that if you light a cigarette with a candle, you are killing the soul of a sailor. I would like to know how something like that can be confirmed.

- M.V.- What memory do you keep of Khomeini ?

- F.D.- In a few words, he was a dangerous man. He had a diabolic look in his eyes and he did not stop, even when confronted with the greatest atrocities against his own people, such an absurd war between Iran and Irak. He did not care in the least that pursuit of the conflict represented condemning to death millions of youths.

- M.V.- Khomeini was not the most important Ayatollah, but from the city of Quom he commanded the uprising whilst the West favoured moderate republicans such as Bani Sadr.

- F.D.- Neither the Communists nor the Iranian republicans believed at any time that Khomeini would gain power. They were convinced that they could handle him, use his ascent, and neutralize him afterward.  But even if the situation in Iran is bad now, the threats that besiege it may make it worse. Today, there is the real danger of an impending Balkanization, the tearing up of the country in different parts.  In this direction could be drifting the recent tensions in Beluchistan, an area situated to the SouthEast of Iran. The ex-USSR had already, and unsuccessfully pursued the obtainment of an own identity for this area. This was one of the many  objectives aimed at with the invasion of Afganistan.

- M.V.- In the West there is talk about a relaxation of the religious dictatorship that is governing Iran.

- F.D.- They are very fast in talking about liberalization as soon as they authorize the veil to be a few milimeters lower or to let a curl from a woman's hair show. These are but cosmetic measures, without any real value. The situation is still ignominious for women in general, who are considered far inferior to men.  Just recently there was a bus accident in my country, and a tunnel collapsed on top of it. The builder had to pay only half the indemnity for the female victims while males got full indemnity.  And I wonder: is it normal for men to travel in the front  part of a public-transport vehicle, whereas women travel in the back? What tortuous mind has decided that a man should not sit down on a seat just abandoned by a woman, because her bodily warmth still remains there ? The conception they have of us, women, is sickening and depraved.

- M.V.- Is there anything left of the reforms you had promoted ?

- F.D.- There are a few things they have not been able to change, although they would have liked to. One of them is female voting. But we had appointed a female Minister and a female Ambassador, and there were also female Judges. They have forbidden women to form part of the Courts. And they are not in the least cautious or modest at the time of justifying these measures. They say they women are not intelligent enough or fair enough to judge. It is beyond description.

- M.V.- The global arena avoids global isolation.

- F.D.- Of course. The prohibition of T.V. satellite dishes is no obstacle for them to be present by increasing numbers, just as much as video tapes featuring Madonna and Michael Jackson enter the country. You just have to pay. It is impossible to blindfold the people about what is going on in the West. But the most harmed part of the population is our youth, in a country where youngsters are of specific importance. Strangely, oppression came accompanied by an unprecedented cultural rebirth. Given the censure, artists have decided to take refuge in Iranian traditions. There is also a resurgence of craftsmanship. It is a silent response to tyranny.

- M.V.- Was birth control among your measures to favour equalty of men and women ?

- F.D.- We left a country with 35 million inhabitants and it currently has a population of 65 million, which is another cause of concern. We started the supply of contraceptives or means of birth-control, but one has to take into consideration the peculiarities of the situation. We are talking about mothers who would have ten children, because they knew that half of them was going to die, and they considered them an investment for the future, to guarantee their sustenance in their old age. I remember the case of a peasant woman we advised on the advantages of birth control, and she would say: 'But I want to bear children for my King".

- M.V.- The "Fatwah" against Rushdie changed the overall perception about the government of the Ayatollahs.

- F.D.- It was very bad for the regime and it was useful for us in that the West opened its eyes and recognized the true situation in Iran. I do not agree with what Rushdie wrote, but the response seemed disproportionate, savage to me.

- M.V.- Have you ever felt the imminence of fear

- F.D.- I have never been afraid, as I have never felt danger nearby, because I have never found myself eye to eye with a gun pointing at me. I am much more concerned about the threats my son receives.

- M.V.- Have the relations with the present rulers of Iran been completely interrupted ?

- F.D.- Not with myself, but a few links have been established with my son, in view of establishing a negotiation. I do not interfere in Reza's political activities, because they are his responsibility, but I am entirely at his disposal as a mother, as an Iranian and as a Queen.

- M.V.- You seem to be happy in Mallorca.

- F.D.- I love  visiting Mallorca, because it has some  characteristics in common with my country.  Iran too is green and rustic, and it has very contrasting landscapes.  Besides, Mallorca has its own deeply-rooted tradition and culture.

END
_________________________

BACK