From Fall to Spring by Leksand Ingrid

Author:Leksand, Ingrid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nordhus Press
Published: 2018-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Shah of Iran Forbids Royal Family To Make Profits on Business Deals

The Shah of Iran has issued discreet orders to bar members of his royal family from business deals in which they stand to benefit, and a private ‘code of conduct’ is to be imposed on them.

The New York Times, July 1978

Chapter Eleven

As the Americans celebrated their independence on 4th July, we seemed to be losing ours. The country was definitely in a different mood; even the Shah felt it. In the end he decided not to fight his own people. On 4th July he banned members of the imperial family from any business deals from which they might profit. It was the beginning of a string of concessions to the demonstrators, in the hope of appeasing those who, in reality, had no clear idea of what they wanted.

I didn’t think for a second that the demonstrations expressed the nation’s frustration with the regime. There were those who didn’t agree with the way things were done, of course, but there were professional agitators too behind the whole operation, encouraged by foreign governments who stood to gain from the collapse of the Iranian imperial government. Oil concessions, instability and wars in the Middle East promised lucrative rewards for the West who would be the sole beneficiaries by selling weapons to the region.

People were becoming increasingly concerned about new tragedies and events taking place almost every day somewhere in the country. One day late in July, just before I left for Tehran, I bumped into a colleague. He talked about the next academic year beginning with ‘uncertainties’. I didn’t take much notice of his predictions, and when he said there would likely be strikes throughout the Ministry of Education, I laughed out loud.

‘What are you talking about?’ I said. ‘Why would teachers go on strike? What could possibly be our excuse?’

I still had two months of holidays ahead of me and I didn’t want them ruined by worrying about something that probably wouldn’t happen. I wanted to relax and spend as much time as I could with Mâdar. I was due to fly to Tehran on 26th July for my usual summer, but a few days beforehand Armineh surprised me by saying she wanted to come with me. She had mentioned several times before that she’d like to come; she especially wanted to visit my parents’ grave. Luckily, Armineh knew someone at Iran Air and was able to get a ticket at the last minute.

I rang Mâdar to tell her that Armineh would be accompanying me to Tehran. She was very excited and said she would pick us up at the airport.

The night before our departure I hardly slept a wink. I was toying with the idea of proposing to Armineh while we were in Tehran. I’d been thinking about it for some time but found it hard to commit to the idea. Money wasn’t the issue. The extra I’d been earning from my private tutoring and from summer school meant I had been able to set some aside.

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