The Fall of Heaven by Andrew Scott Cooper

Author:Andrew Scott Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780805098983
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

16

FIVE DAYS IN MAY

My headstrong lord, consider now and say

Whether you want to fight or run away!

—THE PERSIAN BOOK OF KINGS

The Americans want to eliminate me.

—THE SHAH

The thirteenth day of Nowruz, the final day of the spring break, was traditionally an occasion for family outings to public parks, gardens, and picnic spots. This year, Sizdeh-Bedar fell on Sunday, April 2, and many Tehranis took day trips to the countryside, while others stayed closer to home, motoring the short distance to Karaj to the west, to the Abbasabad hills in the east, or to the Latian Dam, a beauty spot popular with the Imperial Family. Downtown, tens of thousands of picnickers filled the broad lawns that marched outward from the grand archway of the Shahyad Monument. “There were only a few cases of quarrels among picnickers,” reported Kayhan, “and police and Gendarmes said most people, in a jovial mood, enjoyed their Sizdeh, which was made even more enjoyable by the beautiful sunshine.” The arrival of warm spring weather saw fresh snowfall in northeastern Iran, Gilan on the Caspian was drenched by heavy rains, and there followed several days of high winds in Tehran, which “raised the dust and scattered garbage, causing inconvenience to many pedestrians. In the mornings after the winds, the city has suffered a typical heat wave that is apt to suffocate many.”

From overseas, dignitaries and celebrities lined up to see the Shah like so many airliners circling over Mehrebad Airport. “Foreign trade delegations poured into Iran,” recalled Britain’s ambassador Tony Parsons, “and it was hard to imagine that we were living on the edge of a volcano.” Formal state visits were paid by the presidents of West Germany and Senegal. The Shah received the commander of the Indian Navy, and the Queen welcomed to Niavaran a delegation of prominent American feminist leaders. Two American politicians, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, both presidential aspirants, flew to Tehran to burnish their foreign policy credentials. Ambassador Ardeshir Zahedi had taken special care to arrange the Shah’s audience with Reagan. The Iranian was friendly with the glamorous Ron and Nancy Reagan, who fondly regarded him as an honorary member of their “kitchen cabinet” of advisers. Convinced that Reagan had a good chance of defeating Jimmy Carter in 1980, Zahedi wanted the Shah to be his preferred partner on the world stage and hoped that a Reagan victory would get U.S.-Iran relations back on track. “Ron and Nancy stayed in my house,” he said. “I sent them by plane from the south of Iran to the north and from the east to the west. I wanted to show the geopolitics of Iran’s position in the region. Reagan and the Shah spoke about geopolitics. The Shah was terribly impressed.” The Shah’s interview with Reagan took place the same day another prominent conservative politician, Margaret Thatcher, the leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party, flew in to Mehrebad. Princess Ashraf and Prime Minister Amuzegar feted the Iron Lady at separate luncheons, and Ambassador Parsons took her to Isfahan and Shiraz for a spot of sightseeing.

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