00:00:05So
00:00:30You drove for miles in the desert, and suddenly you see this forest of columns coming out very high to
00:00:37the sky.
00:00:39And next to it, this village, town, which was created for the occasion of tents.
00:00:46And that was already a fairy tale story.
00:00:50It was a perfect setup for a James Bond plot.
00:00:55It was so extravagant. It was so exclusive.
00:01:01It was the budget from Switzerland for two years, which they spent in two days.
00:01:07It was big, big, big security. It was everywhere. Yes, machine gun on every corner.
00:01:12When you have all the head of states, I mean, yes, so much responsibility.
00:01:17Historically and politically, it's the only time where everyone met.
00:01:22You had the East, the West, the developed countries, the underdeveloped countries, the communist countries, the monarchies. Everyone was there.
00:01:35The party is a bit like a debutante's ball. You know, it's basically a coming out. Iran is coming.
00:01:42You know, the idea was, I think, that, oh, you know, we want to join the top tier of nations
00:01:46with a bang.
00:01:48But it was the wrong bang.
00:01:51If you spend hundreds of millions, you have to answer to somebody.
00:01:59One day you pay.
00:02:26We may be sitting in on a television first this morning.
00:02:29The heads of state are about to arrive in Persepolis, Iran, to help celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of the
00:02:38founding of the, what was once called the Persian Empire, where we have Barbara Walters.
00:02:42Barbara?
00:02:43There's so much that one should understand about this event, both historically and in terms of modern times.
00:02:50But I thought I'd try to give you the who, what, where, how, and why right now.
00:02:54Who?
00:02:55Well, our host is the Imperial Majesty Shaham Shah, which means King of Kings, Shaham Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza.
00:03:05He's been in the Shah since 1941.
00:03:07He's one of the richest men in the world.
00:03:09This country is a constitutional monarchy.
00:03:12The Shah has full power.
00:03:13He appoints the prime minister.
00:03:15He can dissolve the parliament.
00:03:16He controls the army.
00:03:18He can declare war.
00:03:19He can conclude peace treaties.
00:03:21He controls the press.
00:03:22Very little criticism of him is allowed.
00:03:25His word is indeed the law.
00:03:28I have this firm belief that I have a mission to accomplish.
00:03:35And I believe in God.
00:03:37This is why I say I think that I have a divine command of doing what I'm doing.
00:03:45And this, in addition to the special relationship between the Persian people and their king,
00:03:52that makes it a very special relationship that maybe some other people could not understand.
00:04:27The
00:04:30I went to the village of Kaleska where Kaleska came from.
00:04:37I had a lot of fun in Kaleska.
00:04:42I had a lot of fun in Kaleska.
00:04:44I didn't have a lot of politics.
00:04:49I had a lot of problems in the society.
00:04:53and the other side of the world was a great one.
00:04:57The other side of the world was a great place.
00:05:01The people who were there were people who were there
00:05:06were people who were in the world and who were in the world
00:05:11who were not allowed to be with the spirit of our own.
00:05:14We had a lot of time to go to the world
00:05:17and we had a lot of time to remember and understand
00:05:20We can see what is going on in our society, where is our place, and where is our place.
00:05:27That means that when we read a book, it was a problem.
00:05:32It was a good idea that we got to get to it.
00:05:35Then we got to get to it.
00:05:38Until then, if we could see what is going on in our society.
00:05:50I was a father.
00:05:54He was a chief.
00:05:58He was a man.
00:06:01He was a man who had a friend.
00:06:02He was a man who had a friend.
00:06:04He was a man who had a home.
00:06:06He was a man with a heart and a man.
00:06:09He had a man.
00:06:11We could not do anything.
00:06:24For the first time, we see the new Shah arriving at Parliament House
00:06:27to take over the reins of office in succession to his abdicated father.
00:06:31Shapur Mohammed Reza, the former crown prince, now occupies the peacock throne.
00:06:36The new Shah has had to provide evidence that he'll display a less pro-German attitude
00:06:40than his deposed predecessor.
00:06:41The ex-Shah of Persia exploited his people until his own coffers were filled to overflowing.
00:06:46The new Shah has no easy task ahead of him.
00:06:49Iran is likely to remain much in the news.
00:07:19He has no power.
00:07:20He has no power.
00:07:23He has a good measure.
00:07:24He has no standards.
00:07:26He has a strong child in the Swiss experience.
00:07:30He has been in a wheel of his arms.
00:07:33He has water and aantwort in his aptitude.
00:07:38But he wants to bring his father to his father.
00:07:44There are two things that are weak and weak.
00:07:49One is the land and one is the land.
00:07:52They are only in Hungary.
00:07:56Who is here today? Well, 69 heads of state.
00:08:00And it's quite a list either the heads themselves or their representatives.
00:08:03The list includes one emperor, eight kings, five queens, fifteen presidents,
00:08:09five emirs, four ruling princes and dukes, one royal princess,
00:08:14two governor generals, two heirs of parents, four junior princes,
00:08:18three vice presidents, including Vice President Agnew,
00:08:21four prime ministers, seven sheiks, and one wife of a president.
00:08:25And that's everything but a partridge in a pear tree.
00:08:33So he's like,
00:08:39We are still here.
00:08:40But I'm not sure what it is or not.
00:08:43But I've not learned something.
00:08:46But I kept coming in the work of 1970.
00:08:58It was 1770.
00:09:01One day, Walazad Ahsaf, I asked them.
00:09:05They told me that the people of Shauhan Shahi
00:09:09are going to return to the next year.
00:09:13You can take their jobs
00:09:16and until the day that the people
00:09:18will not be finished, you will be there.
00:09:22At that time, no one got the people of the people
00:09:24who are not able to return to the next year.
00:09:27I told him that the President of the Year was going to be
00:09:30and I told him that the people of Shauhan Shahi
00:09:34were not in the future.
00:09:37They told him that the President of the Year was going to be
00:09:42the President of the Year.
00:09:44After that, a job was more successful.
00:09:49The Shauhan Shahi was a second hotel
00:09:51There was a hotel, one in Shiraaz and one in Shiraaz.
00:09:55Mr. Alam said that we would go to Shiraaz.
00:10:01In the city of Balan, there was a hotel in Kassif and a wall.
00:10:07Then we went to Kuroš.
00:10:13There was a hotel that was not there.
00:10:15There was a hotel that was fresh.
00:10:17There was a hotel that was in the city of Balan.
00:10:21We went to Takti Jamsi.
00:10:24A hotel that was in the city of Balan,
00:10:29was in the city of Balan.
00:10:29We went to Takti Jamsi.
00:10:32Takti Jamsi was in the city of Balan.
00:10:38We were surprised how much we were in the city of Balan.
00:10:46We went to the city of Balan.
00:10:49We went to the city of Balan.
00:10:50Mr. Alam said that this is a country.
00:10:53If all of these things are true,
00:10:56I would go to the city of Balan.
00:10:59Then I would go to the city of Balan.
00:11:12Just go to the city of Balan.
00:11:16We would go to the city of Balan.
00:11:20We don't have the scene as well.
00:11:26We'd go to that area.
00:11:28We'd go to the city of Balan.
00:11:30All of these things were better.
00:11:31I asked them to stay in the city of Balan.
00:11:40and a community has been a much older community.
00:11:44What do you want?
00:11:46It's Mar-Jafari Pasarnak.
00:12:00Ahura Master was the symbol of light, the God of light.
00:12:04And Ahrivan was the devil.
00:12:06Friend and enemy, green and dry.
00:12:08Intellectuals had been arguing since the late 19th century that the reason for
00:12:15colonialism, the reason for Iran's weakness, is Islam. When Shah's father and his
00:12:24ministers took over, most of them were educated in Western institutions. They're
00:12:31very adamant about modernity, westernization, as well as going back to
00:12:37ancient roots. So culture, or cultural revival, was part of a larger agenda of
00:12:43secularizing Iran.
00:13:19Throughout his reign, the Shah was very conscious of his father's legacy, but also I think he wanted to distinguish
00:13:28himself from his father, in the sense that I can do this better.
00:13:38I never saw him in exile. I was exchanging letters. He will never try to really tell me what to
00:13:47do.
00:13:48Only one recommendation. Don't be afraid of anything, ever.
00:13:55That is not possible. I mean, physically, I'm not afraid of anything, ever.
00:14:00Death doesn't mean anything for me. I have seen it so many times right in front of myself, in my
00:14:06eyes.
00:14:08And I know that the day will come. When the day comes, nothing will stop it. But mentally, constantly, you're
00:14:18afraid of something.
00:14:18I have seen it so many times right in front of myself, and I have seen it so many times
00:14:48right in front of myself.
00:14:50Don't stop it.
00:14:52You never couldn't.
00:14:59None could go to any other genre.
00:15:04And the king will only do the assault and the king doesn't want it.
00:15:08The king says that the king will give the power of the king.
00:15:33to dissolve Parliament at Mossadegh's request.
00:15:40I had not abandoned hope.
00:15:43My heart was light.
00:15:47We took only two days before the people called me back.
00:15:53In the end of the year, my life was a succession of pain and suffering and humiliation.
00:16:07Until 1953, my life was a succession of pain and suffering and humiliation.
00:16:31So he comes back in 1953 knowing very well that this was a foreign-engineered coup d'etat in his
00:16:39name.
00:16:41Knowing very well that he is coming into a country that essentially does not want him.
00:16:48So what does he have to do as a politician? There are two ways.
00:16:51One way would be trying again to be the people's monarch within, again, a context that was still in flux.
00:16:58There's a lot of radicalism, a lot of disenchantment, right?
00:17:02Or ruling with a strong hand.
00:17:04And the Shah, with increasing funds through the oil revenues, with increasing confidence in his alliance with the United States,
00:17:13he established a militarized security state, trying to find out how I can keep myself in office as a monarch.
00:17:34I don't know if it's the most beautiful, but it's the most beautiful, it's not for me.
00:17:39For the 읽ers andные champions map person is strong
00:17:44and it's not for me.
00:17:45A man can say to me, O, my friend needs help.
00:17:56They told me that we wouldn't be able to put a chadar there.
00:18:02Because in the past, a chadar would be able to put a chadar in the first time.
00:18:08We built a house in the past.
00:18:11We built a plastic piece in the chadar.
00:18:16Mr. Alam was very efficient.
00:18:19I think it was his character to get it done.
00:18:22He found the simplest way to do it.
00:18:25To go to a professional.
00:18:27To do the tents, to do the food, to do the catering, the servants.
00:18:41Maxime, at this time, was considered as one of the best tables.
00:18:47The director, Mr. Vaudable, had made Maxime know in the whole world.
00:18:52We were in Boston.
00:18:55Maxime had made an opera opera in Boston.
00:19:00We were meeting with Mr. Vaudable.
00:19:02He said, I don't say anything yet, but you're going to live great moments.
00:19:06My first reaction was a great inquietude and enthusiasm to bring a small pierre to this world.
00:19:15He said, a global, not?
00:19:16He said, he said, I don't have a small pierre.
00:19:20He said, he said to his palace, you don't have any problems.
00:19:24After a time, Mr. Alam was prepared to talk with Johnson and Maxime,
00:19:30he changed a lot to this world.
00:19:34He discovered its立場.
00:19:36I'm just going to play the show.
00:19:42Sur un terrain d'aviation proche de Paris,
00:19:44viennent d'être montées deux tentes géantes.
00:19:58Ces tentes sont destinées au camp,
00:20:01qui va être dressé à Persepolis
00:20:03pour la célébration du 2500e anniversaire
00:20:05de la fondation de l'Empire de Perse par Cyrus le Grand.
00:20:12Cyrus the Great has this sort of religious political value.
00:20:16He's ostensibly in the Koran, he's definitely in the Bible.
00:20:19The Greeks love him.
00:20:21The Persians clearly valued him a lot.
00:20:23I mean, he's one of the few that has a tomb.
00:20:25You know, it's the one tomb that nobody's demolished at any time.
00:20:28He's a figure that all political factions in a way also can buy into.
00:20:32He's a humanist.
00:20:33He's an enlightenment leader.
00:20:35He emancipated, he liberated the Jews.
00:20:37He likes minorities.
00:20:38He treated people with dignity.
00:20:41And Cyrus becomes this blank slate
00:20:43onto which the Shah projects his own image
00:20:46so that he may be reflected in his glory.
00:20:49He was the first to introduce justice.
00:20:52He was the first man who introduced the Bill of Rights.
00:20:56We have the scroll.
00:20:58We have the scroll.
00:21:00We have the real scroll in your museum.
00:21:15and it was a result of the things that he was in a way of the world.
00:21:30After that, it was a very good house.
00:21:32It was 11.30 in the morning and I left my house and I left my house.
00:21:37I left my house and left my house and left my house and left my house and left my house.
00:21:41I didn't have a book in my house, but I didn't have a book in my house.
00:21:46This is a political system.
00:22:22I think the problem of the white revolution was in many ways a top-down process that was
00:22:29primarily, I think, geared towards positioning the Shah as that benevolent monarch who gives
00:22:37out charity, almost, to Iranians. So it was, in many ways, an act of propaganda more than anything else.
00:22:53If you are unhappy that your country is saying goodbye to a feudalistic system, if you are unhappy
00:22:59that half of the population of your country, the women, are emancipated, well, this I cannot help.
00:23:07In the house of your heart, you are.
00:23:20Khomeini was a pure cleric. His grandfather, his father, all of them were steep in Islamic theology.
00:23:27And this whole idea that Iran was not primarily an Islamic country was, for him, utterly unacceptable.
00:23:37First of all, Khomeini's name will be sent to him.
00:23:39He said, don't do this. This is Islam and Islam.
00:23:44He didn't just answer the question.
00:23:46He said, the commandos would be sent to the king's army.
00:23:50They would be sent to the king's army, and they would be sent to the king's army.
00:23:55This was the war with the war.
00:23:58One of the previous men who had his father's own.
00:24:02He would not do this. This is dangerous.
00:24:20I had to send one of those stubborn, obscurantist clergymen abroad, he had to travel.
00:24:44I had to send one of those stubborn, obscurantist clergymen abroad, he had to travel.
00:24:59in many cases, the doctors and doctors were not allowed to do this.
00:25:07They were not aware of the medical, the home, and the water.
00:25:11They were not aware of it.
00:25:13In some cases, the victims of the government were from the government to the government.
00:25:18They were not aware of it.
00:25:24Sot-ha million tommon
00:25:26Ais-srmajee ein mamaneket ra
00:25:28Sif joshd-ha yin nangin
00:25:30Mee-kund
00:25:31Ais-hem-museybet-ha-balatr
00:25:33Joshd-manhuse
00:25:352500-saliye shahen-shahy
00:25:40Dunya bedanet
00:25:42Khe ein joshd-ha mverbuut
00:25:44Be milt-shef-ha-musey-f
00:25:45O musliman-e-iron nesit
00:25:47O dair-kundandhe
00:25:49O shirkat-kundandhe ein joshd-ha
00:25:51Khe ein joshd-ha
00:26:03I'm probably more religious than those people myself
00:26:07This is the story of my life
00:26:10I'm mystical, I'm religious
00:26:13But I believe the true religion
00:26:15The religion of God, the religion of our Prophet
00:26:20And not what has been added to it
00:26:23By those who want to make it a job
00:26:28A profiteering job for themselves
00:26:30A profiteering job for our Prophet
00:26:30Khe ein joshd-ha
00:26:31Khe ein joshd-ha
00:26:39Ici, dans cette plaine désertique du Sud
00:26:41Le problème fondamental, c'est l'eau
00:26:43L'arrivée du petit train est attendue avec impatience
00:26:55What do you want to do the most in the world?
00:26:58A better life, a lot of money, to be able to enjoy it.
00:27:05But is there not something special?
00:27:07Everything would make me happy.
00:27:10I don't know.
00:27:12Nothing you want to do particularly?
00:27:13Particulièrement?
00:27:14Une machine à coudre.
00:27:17Avez-vous déjà vu le chat?
00:27:19Non, je ne l'ai jamais vu, mais j'aimerais le voir.
00:27:22C'est mon désir le plus cher.
00:27:25Qui est le chat?
00:27:28Le chat est un grand dieu.
00:27:29C'est le dieu du peuple.
00:27:31Quand nous prions, nous prions pour le chat.
00:27:33Nous l'aimons beaucoup.
00:27:52Le mot Shah.
00:27:55Le mot Shah in Iran est associé avec la perfection.
00:27:59and iranians really did did like the show they they've associated themselves at
00:28:08least when I was young and to to the shock to the to the country having a
00:28:15shock shock was part of our everyday life the greatest show on earth is also
00:28:33going to be one of the most select the Shars invited 60 of the world's heads of
00:28:38state from as far away as Norway and Nepal Lesotho and Liechtenstein to spend
00:28:43three days with him in this special royal village there's even a British
00:28:47delegation when princess Anne and the Duke arrive here at Persepolis for the
00:28:52three-day party they'll be accommodated like all the rest of the 60 heads of
00:28:56state in a tent in fact we're told in this tent although protocol might change
00:29:02their minds and switch everybody around now this is the sort of thing they'll
00:29:06have in each of these tents there are six cut glasses on a tortoiseshell tray
00:29:10there's this perfumed candle in a glass cylinder with a decorative snake and an
00:29:16ornamental Iranian ashtray for morning tea all princess Anne will have to do is
00:29:22give a little tinkle on her bedside bell for near at hand is her personal maid who
00:29:28sleeps on a fold-away bed in the kitchen it's fully equipped as are all the
00:29:32arrangements the tents are all tastefully situated in a forest of young trees 15,000
00:29:38of them flown in specially from Versailles not to mention the 15,000 flowering
00:29:43shrubs and then in the top secret banqueting tent is the food four tons of it
00:29:49again all from Paris there's even a French built royal club
00:29:54is that you are happy finally of these fêtes before that we start in all
00:29:57in all cases it's a bit like the couronement when we think that we have so many things to do
00:30:02we have so many things to do we have so many big responsibilities for really
00:30:08everything we are trying to show we are trying to celebrate 2500 years of culture and
00:30:14history of a country to see that everything goes well and we need to see
00:30:18all the small details it's especially we are so busy we work we don't have the time
00:30:24it's after that we will maybe think what it was and how you feel now it's the work
00:31:02I worked eight seasons at the palace hotel in St. Moritz in the palace they call me after the season
00:31:09they call me up they say
00:31:10the Shah of Iran is making a big party so we are all going to Persepolis
00:31:16you are about 40 50 people from the palace I took the train from my home valley I
00:31:24brought myself a Swiss sausage and a piece of bread my friends they already went to
00:31:29Tehran before and they went to the Hilton hotel and had some caviar and champagne
00:31:36as we go to the plane everybody was quiet because a lot of them were afraid to fly the most
00:31:47of them never
00:31:49have been in a plane and then we are from I can remember there was a friend of mine and
00:31:58he said there under this
00:32:17the Scandinavian monarchs had hide a plane for the three of them and I went into that plane with my
00:32:24Greek cousin King Constantine and in the plane I remember that I was discussing the jewels of the
00:32:30the queens that the queens in the plane were bringing Queen Anne Marie said I'm bringing the emeralds which are
00:32:35huge I mean they were Romanov emeralds and everyone was bringing the best I said listen compared to what Empress
00:32:43Farah is going to show
00:32:44it's peanuts because she has the most important jewels on earth
00:32:49at the beginning I thought it was just bling bling and as they say in Germany
00:32:57shikimiki that is a little bit smart and snob but nothing interesting so then I changed my mind
00:33:08so
00:33:09the
00:33:09the
00:33:42Les arbres avaient été plantés en plein désert et je croyais qu'il s'agissait d'une légende parce qu
00:33:47'on a raconté aussi, et c'était vrai, qu'on a apporté plus de 50 000, je crois, un nombre
00:33:53incroyable d'oiseaux pour qu'ils soient là et qu'en trois jours ils sont morts puisqu'ils ne supportaient
00:33:58pas le climat.
00:34:24Ils ont créé un golf avec des bancaires, des grilles, des vallons.
00:34:29Et c'était extraordinaire.
00:34:31Alors que partout ailleurs c'était sec, c'était de la caillasse, du désert.
00:34:35On avait du mal d'imaginer qu'on pouvait installer une telle cuisine, pâtisserie, chambre froide.
00:34:43J'avais été vraiment très, très surpris.
00:34:50Pour des années, des années, des aerosales fullent d'iceaux de l'air des blocs de l'air des blocs
00:34:55d'iceaux de l'air des blocs d'iceaux.
00:34:57C'était un gros, comme un garage, comme un port de l'air des blocs de l'air des blocs
00:35:03d'iceaux de l'air.
00:35:21Well, I must have read about it, but it just seemed like since I was a party reporter,
00:35:27that's what I was hired to do, that this was going to be the ultimate party and that I
00:35:31should be there.
00:35:34I stayed in Tehran for several days.
00:35:37One of the interesting things that happened was, and I later wrote about this in my stories,
00:35:43was how unhappy so many people were about the celebration and what kind of criticism they
00:35:48were getting for spending all of this money when they didn't have enough money to send
00:35:54children to school or to feed children.
00:35:56And when I was there, I met with them and they said, we're going to take you to a meeting,
00:36:02an underground meeting, but we have to blindfold you to take you there.
00:36:08I was in this room and there were these, they were all men.
00:36:13And they were very angry at the Shah.
00:36:15And they basically said, you know, this is a trumped up empire.
00:36:20The guy's father was a peasant.
00:36:23He's not an emperor.
00:36:24And then they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this festival, which we can't
00:36:29afford in this country.
00:36:43They have three reasons.
00:36:45That one was a post-traum of three years in our stories.
00:36:47James Mason James Mason
00:36:49James Mason
00:36:49James Mason by the way
00:36:50James Mason has been a post-traum of a television series that told them that he was a great
00:36:54There were one of the two years in the TV series of films that said that they were very good.
00:36:56And also Orson Welles was a post-traum of two parts.
00:37:08and liberties. Cyrus, the founder of Persian culture, and the father of Iran,
00:37:15the land five times the size of Great Britain, which this Shah rules today. It
00:37:24had fallen to him, after a twilight in his nation's long history, to remind the
00:37:30world and his own people of Persian pride. You know, out of this world, I had a shiver
00:37:40going down my spine. It was remarkable. When the Shah addressed his siren and he said,
00:37:50''Sleep well. We are alert.''
00:37:59''Kurosh, be khab na bidarin.'' ''Kurosh, be khab na bidarin.'' ''Na bidar naboodin.''
00:38:08''Kurosh, Shahe Bazard.''
00:38:13What was extraordinary, that as Shah was speaking, suddenly on both sides of the tomb,
00:38:23the dust devil, in a spiral of dust, he repeats, and it goes again up. So, it was
00:38:37extraordinary. And I said, ''Aunt, how did they accomplish that?'' I thought,
00:38:44I was prepared. It was like a, like a play. Not real. It was like an opera. Ah, the stage.
00:38:56And I was, I was moved.
00:39:01O Cyrus, great king, king of kings, Hachamanian king, king of the land of Iran, I, the Shah-Nshah
00:39:13of Iran, offer thee salutations from myself and from my nation. At this glorious moment in the history of Iran,
00:39:24I and all Iranians, the offspring of the empire which thou founded two thousand five hundred
00:39:31years ago, bow our heads in reverence before thy tomb.''
00:39:37''Wow, we had some Discord in the army, when we heardbutt about terror and these two thousand seven hundred
00:39:45years' people. Of course, those kids were very bright and contemporary and charismatic, and
00:39:51they had to say, ''Aunt, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, the enemy, of the Persever,
00:39:54''We thought of KUROSH, we were scared and they were scared.'' ''He said it, that it's a joke. ''The enemy
00:39:59people,
00:39:59It's a joke.
00:40:00But I think that since that time, the king became a symbol, a symbol, and even a symbol, a symbol
00:40:10in Iran.
00:40:13It was a lot of sense.
00:40:15And after this year, when you read it, you can see what the hell is Gashenq.
00:40:47The last day before everything started, Mr.
00:40:51Alam came and asked all of us to come into the big hall, and he said, listen, from tomorrow
00:40:57you are on your own.
00:40:59If you get into trouble, you have to improvise and solve your problem on your own.
00:41:07Think you are in war.
00:41:09I still get excited, goosebumps, when I remember these words.
00:41:26In the middle of October 1971, 62 heads of state converged on the airport of the fairytale
00:41:34city of Shiraz.
00:41:36In a patchwork of color, in a whirl of salutes, bows and curtsies, familiar faces in the world
00:41:43scene, stepped out of their aircraft over red carpets, fringed with guards of honor into
00:41:49the welcoming Persian sunlight.
00:41:52It was just like this.
00:41:55Too much was happening to pick out the detail.
00:41:58For all the arrivals, ceremony and protocol had to be carefully observed.
00:42:03None who were there saw it all.
00:42:07So began one of the most historic cultural gatherings the world has ever seen.
00:42:14The only person that was sitting in headquarters in Persepolis was me.
00:42:19I couldn't sleep.
00:42:21I was scared to death.
00:42:24Because something this elaborate, any small thing that could happen, would be a scandal.
00:42:30One of these African countries requested to our embassy, and they would like to bring ten
00:42:39people with the head of state.
00:42:42Five was the maximum.
00:42:44He said, these are his personal guards, that two of them must sleep under his bed.
00:42:54So his majesty said, okay, let this one have his ten.
00:42:59And he brought ten guys.
00:43:03I saw that he came with 75 people on a plane.
00:43:10I remember I went nuts, because these guys, who's going to take care of 85 people?
00:43:48I remember I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people, and I was going to take care of 85 people, and I was going to take care of 85
00:43:48people.
00:44:01You've never seen a tent like this before.
00:44:04It's not like your average camping tent.
00:44:06They were like little homes.
00:44:08I mean, they were gorgeous, and everything looked like it had come right out of a decorating magazine.
00:44:13You could pull up your chair and sit outside your tent,
00:44:16so some of the kings and queens were kind of sitting outside their tent,
00:44:19or some had the tents open, you know, the sort of Prince Philip waving at,
00:44:24you know, the king of Denmark and somebody else waving,
00:44:27and then Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier and everybody sort of,
00:44:31Hi, how are you? Good to see you.
00:44:32They'd stop and chat.
00:44:33It was, I've never seen anything like it, and there's never been anything like it since.
00:44:39Everything was done with the most exquisite taste,
00:44:43and it was not at all Nouveau-Rige, not at all gold everywhere on marbles.
00:44:50It was good taste.
00:44:52It was very beautiful, of course, and very simple.
00:44:57And in each room, there was always, except for your respect,
00:45:01an Aquaselzer and a Tampax,
00:45:04which, at least, reduced the great of this world to a little bit of things.
00:45:19You couldn't walk three steps without falling over some security guard.
00:45:24The king of Denmark was trying to get through to something,
00:45:28and they threw him out,
00:45:29and only later did they find out that he was the king of Denmark.
00:45:33It was very tight, very tight.
00:45:50In 1971, there was more and more guerrilla warfare,
00:45:53and not only in Iran, but elsewhere as well.
00:45:55The Vietnam counterculture,
00:45:57the revolutions happening in Cuba,
00:45:59seeing Che Guevara.
00:46:01These people were not reformers.
00:46:02They were not bourgeois, middle class, you know,
00:46:05people who were worried about their mortgage.
00:46:07They were worried about changing their countries,
00:46:12but also world history.
00:46:13The government of this regime,
00:46:15the government of this regime,
00:46:17doesn't make any difference if you want to make a policy or make a decision.
00:46:23Then, make a decision.
00:46:44What do you think about the contestation of the university?
00:46:48What contest? What? What? What is it? What is it?
00:46:51What is it against the politics of our country,
00:46:53which is our politics of national independence?
00:46:56I believe that the question is not possible.
00:46:58No one talks about it.
00:47:02This is a period in the Shah among many critics in the West
00:47:05who was seen as essentially a tin pot dictator,
00:47:07not a liberal man at all.
00:47:08What is it against the Shah?
00:47:12We did not have a company of five fathers and five presidents.
00:47:17The statements that were offered were without meaning
00:47:21and it was actually a disaster that was created in these countries
00:47:25and they did not have a company.
00:47:29Some of them felt a bit awkward about the pretensions the Shah was portraying.
00:47:35Clearly in Britain for instance they were not keen for the Queen to go
00:47:38because they thought if he is pushing it about
00:47:41that he is the premier monarch in the world.
00:47:44We don't want to be in a position where our monarchs
00:47:48are seen as paying homage to the King of Kings.
00:47:53When the countries of the world are coming together
00:47:57they are coming together.
00:47:59They are coming together.
00:48:01They are coming together.
00:48:01You said you were the És from them all.
00:48:04You have the most popular friends?
00:48:05You say you do!
00:48:07The Pope's wife will give of us the most raggill.
00:48:10Then they will give you a success and happiness.
00:48:11Not you zijn about the people you live both.
00:48:15.
00:48:22It's a very good idea.
00:48:24Because I had one month before the first time
00:48:26I had to get into the whole place
00:48:29and to keep everything in my own place.
00:48:36The house was very poor.
00:48:38The house was very poor.
00:48:39It was not a place where I wanted to go.
00:48:43It was a place where I wanted to go.
00:48:47It was a place where I wanted to go.
00:48:57Your Majesty, there are some people
00:49:00who feel that Iran should not be spending
00:49:03millions of dollars on this celebration.
00:49:05While there are still people in need,
00:49:09how do you answer these critics
00:49:10and why do you think it was important to have this celebration?
00:49:15First of all, how do they know about what is spent?
00:49:19Really, the only expenses that are made for the festivities
00:49:24are the two official dinners that we are going to give our guests.
00:49:29This is the least that we could do for such a gathering.
00:49:46Everybody arrived at the entrance of that big tent at 8 o'clock.
00:49:51It was more than surreal. It was unbelievable.
00:49:54It was the biggest event of my life.
00:49:57To see all these people, it was so little place.
00:50:01For example, they hadn't invited all the ministers.
00:50:05The cabinet was not there.
00:50:07Many Iranians were not, even Iranians were not invited.
00:50:11There was no room.
00:50:13There was simply no room.
00:50:24People hadn't planned exactly what they were going to do
00:50:28with all these monarchs.
00:50:29I mean, they had them in their tent cities, but then what?
00:50:33Nobody had really thought what was going to happen
00:50:36once they all came in the huge tent.
00:50:39And so the Shah and the Shah Banu were there to greet them,
00:50:43the guests, and they started piling up
00:50:46because they couldn't get through the receiving line quickly.
00:50:50The problem is that not everybody arrived on time,
00:50:54and not everybody went in within two or three minutes.
00:50:57So after some time, there was a queue.
00:51:00According to the rules of protocol,
00:51:02kings take precedent against others due to their permanence.
00:51:06So they had to go in first.
00:51:10There were too many of them, and more were coming.
00:51:13So there were two queues, one of kings and queens,
00:51:18and one of lesser mortals, like presidents and prime ministers.
00:51:24It was just unbelievable.
00:51:26And then there was this huge dust storm that came up,
00:51:29and people's hairdos were getting undone,
00:51:33and the crowns were being held on so they wouldn't blow off,
00:51:37and the dresses were swirling,
00:51:39and the dust was getting people's eyes,
00:51:41and they were trying to push their way in
00:51:44so they wouldn't have to stand out in the dust storm.
00:51:53This storm just came up the wrong time.
00:51:56I was scared that this big chandelier
00:51:58will fall on somebody's head.
00:52:00You know, the people were...
00:52:01It was like the end of the world.
00:52:02This was not exactly what he expected
00:52:04for opening up the party.
00:52:07Finally, everybody was sort of piling in,
00:52:09and they didn't know what to do,
00:52:11and a lot of the Europeans were related to each other,
00:52:14but a lot of people didn't know each other.
00:52:16There wasn't anybody there to sort of say,
00:52:18oh, you know, the emperor of Japan I want you to meet,
00:52:22that's Haile Selassie, you know.
00:52:23So these people would sort of stand off in corners
00:52:26and stare at each other.
00:52:38How were the royals and the communists, sir?
00:52:42The best, the best, the best.
00:52:45Communists and royals went on to perfection,
00:52:47as it very often happens.
00:52:52Even if the Russians had murdered,
00:52:54I don't know how many royals,
00:52:56but that was all in the old days.
00:53:18When he had waited,
00:53:19fainted before the party,
00:53:20and we had to carry him,
00:53:22give him some medicine to calm him down.
00:53:24Five people had to hold him,
00:53:26we had to put him to the medical office,
00:53:28There was a medical tent, and we had to give him tranquilizers, and he just couldn't take the pressure.
00:53:34He just kept five people, had to hold him because he didn't know what he was doing anymore.
00:53:38It was a tremendous pressure.
00:53:39You know, you have all the head of states, and then the food is not properly ready.
00:53:43So that's not exactly what you're looking for as a head waiter.
00:53:46But I don't think the customer realized it because they had so much to talk together when they arrived.
00:53:52And whether it's half an hour later or not, I think they had enough time to talk together.
00:53:57I don't think the customers realized that we were in panic.
00:54:03And it was very hot in the kitchen area, so the people in the kitchen area were practically nude.
00:54:09They'd taken off most of their clothes, and a lot of them were, the men were sort of in these
00:54:14bikini underwear.
00:54:21This was the big book where the menu is inside.
00:54:26So this is a very, very nice glass, and we could show, and see where you are.
00:54:32So with the first plate was,
00:54:34Coeufs de Caille aux Perles de Bandeur, pa la vie.
00:54:38Everything the best.
00:54:40Thousand kilo caviar.
00:54:41This caviar, you know, it's not bread.
00:54:47There was caviar at the big dinner, but no, they were not night and day caviar, no.
00:54:56Protocol was a nightmare of all nightmares of this thing.
00:55:00Everybody was sort of looking to see where everybody else was seated, and who had a better seat, and who
00:55:05had a better ranking.
00:55:06So all that was going on at the same time.
00:55:10It was very interesting to watch all this intrigue.
00:55:16Three people used to serve one table.
00:55:19Each one controlled the other.
00:55:21They were from the army checking that we don't put any poison in the food or something.
00:55:29The wines were the best wines in France, the best years and the best wines.
00:55:36Champagne, 2,500 bottles.
00:55:40Chateau de Brion, Chateau Latou, Chateau Lafitte.
00:55:47Bordeaux, 1,000 bottles.
00:55:50Bourgogne, 1,000 bottles.
00:55:54Bordeaux, 1,000 bottles.
00:55:54The second plate was a mousse de queue de crevices, sauce Nantoine.
00:56:02Celle d'agneau, des grands plateaux, farcis et rôti dans son jus.
00:56:10L'agneau, de l'agneau français.
00:56:14Désossé, avec une farce du sel de champignons, truffes et foie gras.
00:56:21Et à la tête du plat, il y avait une tête de bélier.
00:56:34To tell you the truth, me personally, I almost didn't eat anything.
00:56:37I was only looking around, looking at people.
00:56:43The tablecloth was a hundred and something meters long, in one piece.
00:56:50Pao, the imperial, in the palace, entouré by his court.
00:56:56Toavus, do you have to tell us what's going on?
00:57:00The tablecloth was a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit
00:57:04of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a
00:57:12bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit.
00:57:15So we presented the trees in the middle of the pan for the beauty of the floor.
00:57:46Open the gates guarded by winged bulls with human heads.
00:57:53The view of the floor was not so bright.
00:57:57It was the same time.
00:57:59It was three minutes. Three minutes is a long time.
00:58:03I saw the room in the control room.
00:58:05I saw what happened.
00:58:09One or two minutes ago,
00:58:13the flames were opened up.
00:58:18It was a long time.
00:58:19It was a long time.
00:58:24In San Francisco, there was an explosion in the Iranian Consulate during the night
00:58:28that set fires throughout the three-story stone building.
00:58:32There was heavy damage, but no one was injured.
00:58:34Numbers of Iranians around the country had protested the Shah of Iran's lavish celebration
00:58:40of the 2500th anniversary of his dynasty,
00:58:43a celebration on which we'll have live coverage by satellite later in this half hour.
00:59:06The following day, the TV shows the show.
00:59:11The following day, the TV shows the show.
00:59:18is not good.
00:59:27The world can only be able to bring it to the city
00:59:30that you have 70 countries.
00:59:33They will look at the city of Takti Jamsir
00:59:36and look at the history of Iran
00:59:37and look at it.
00:59:41What was this country?
00:59:43What was it? What was it?
00:59:55They did not lie to them.
00:59:56The people that came through
00:59:57when they had started to play
00:59:59over the years
01:00:00they began to play
01:00:00with a circle
01:00:01and a circle
01:00:03and my friends
01:00:07and they were hiding
01:00:30We are firmly on our feet and by the grace of God we are going to progress.
01:00:39And with or without the sympathy of the outside countries or people we shall enter the era
01:00:48of the great civilization.
01:00:50We shall regain our past prestige.
01:00:54And I hope that you will know that I'm not speaking in a spirit of vanity.
01:01:05I am full of humility but I am very sure of my people and very sure of our destiny.
01:01:20The great civilization was the word which was repeated many, many times in every speech
01:01:28and in every headline of the newspaper.
01:01:31It was to give us a sense of pride and to help us go ahead with the modernization of Iran
01:01:40and
01:01:42to be sure of ourselves as Iranians.
01:01:50It was a very strange feeling for me.
01:01:56And now I am saying that it is the same as Iranians.
01:02:01It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:03It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:04It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:07It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:17It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:19It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:28It is the same as Iranians.
01:02:35Yes.
01:02:36If you are willing to take a book,
01:02:39if anyone wants to talk to you,
01:02:40you will be able to give your father
01:02:43and give you two words more.
01:02:56What I can say is that we are now sophisticated enough
01:03:00to use the same methods that you people are using
01:03:05for interrogating the people that you have to.
01:03:11Who are you referring to, sir?
01:03:13Any of the sophisticated societies,
01:03:17they have some very efficient system of interrogation,
01:03:22which is much more psychological than physical.
01:03:26We do the same things as you're doing.
01:03:28And do you regard that as justified?
01:03:31That depends on what cases.
01:03:34In case of betrayal of one's country,
01:03:39I could say anything goes.
01:03:45Well, it's different than the placement of the people
01:03:48who have different experiences of foil.
01:03:55It's not a simple thing.
01:03:58All I have to imagine,
01:03:59when I'm sorry,
01:03:59I'm sorry to understand
01:03:59that the protocol can direct the trail
01:04:00and this is not a like.
01:04:02That's not an accident.
01:04:03But if you look at the point of you,
01:04:06if you look at it,
01:04:06They're not able to do the trail.
01:04:06It will be the trail.
01:04:08They're not alive.
01:04:15you can see films for instance you can hear stories that even in police precincts
01:04:24a police officer or detective gets so mad at the behavior of the fellow that he has just arrested
01:04:33that he loses his head and he just punches on that fellow or breaks a chair on his head
01:04:45these are some kind of human reactions that it's almost beyond control
01:05:03so you're coming in him or what's that to say my foot
01:05:12oh
01:05:15oh
01:05:42There are many millions of people who have spent money in this ordinary view.
01:05:48The history of Iran is the history of Iran.
01:05:51You can't put all these things in your hands.
01:05:54The regime is a police regime.
01:05:56The government is a police regime.
01:05:58It is a regime that is a regime that is a regime that is a regime.
01:05:59It is a regime that is a regime that is a regime that is a regime that is a regime
01:06:04that is a regime that is a regime that is a regime that is a regime.
01:06:11What is it that makes an Iranian?
01:06:15What is the quality that binds the tribesmen a thousand miles away from here with the person giving a party
01:06:21in Tehran?
01:06:22What is the common bond that links them all?
01:06:27I'm not making any propaganda, but I think it's the crown, the king.
01:06:33That it's you?
01:06:36At this moment, yes.
01:06:43The climax of the celebrations.
01:06:46The first glimpse of the floodlit monument outside the airport of Tehran in honor of the present Shah.
01:06:55That monument is an iconic imagery that, for them, speaks about the good life.
01:07:05And I think what is so tragic about that is that that good life is always in the past.
01:07:17When the planes left, Alam asked me over and said, take care of the tents.
01:07:26I went to each one and made a list of what's inside.
01:07:37Many of the things that were inside were gone already.
01:07:40They're taking it.
01:07:43Now...
01:07:43You're taking the heads of state.
01:07:45I have no idea.
01:07:48I don't want to accuse the heads of state for taking the telephone can radio.
01:07:55Because we ordered 50 of them for each tent.
01:07:58But when I counted, there was only one left.
01:08:04So maybe those who were working there took them.
01:08:08I don't want to know exactly how much they were.
01:08:13But at that time, they said that 650 million dollars were worth.
01:08:18For the dollar.
01:08:20You can think that the entire country was 50 to 40.
01:08:25It was a sin.
01:08:27It was a sin.
01:08:29It's a sin.
01:08:30It's a sin.
01:08:31If you have a number of them, you can give them a number of them.
01:08:35You can give them a number of them.
01:08:36You can't read them.
01:08:37They can't read all of them.
01:08:45The film was made by the split screening.
01:08:49We made a film in London.
01:08:50When we brought them in London.
01:08:53When I was brought to London.
01:08:54I brought them to Tehran.
01:08:55And Mr. Palud saw them.
01:08:56But they showed them at night.
01:08:58We showed them that they saw him.
01:09:01The movie was made for the night.
01:09:02The movie was made.
01:09:03The movie was made.
01:09:03When I saw the movie,
01:09:04When I saw this film, I asked where I was, when I saw this film, after one year.
01:09:11If you saw Iran in the middle of a river, you would go there with you,
01:09:17and you would go there with yourself, and the people would go there without sin,
01:09:21and sin, and sin, and sin, and sin.
01:09:23It is not the other one.
01:09:29I told all of them that one of the rebels would have been wrong with them.
01:09:36I told them that it was normal.
01:09:39It was from the river to the river to the river to the river.
01:10:02and I think it's a good thing to do.
01:10:25If we are a slave and a slave, we will bring the work to the people.
01:10:32God is a slave to the Jews, a slave and a slave.
01:10:40The people of non-Muslims and fathers, like animals and animals, wanted to live their lives.
01:11:13I think it's a very high caliber the person comes to say
01:11:19معذرتخواهی, بخشیدن, اینها یه چیزای کلمات سیبایی در زندگی.
01:11:37معذرتخواهی کنونی و ظلم و فساد دیگر تکرار نشده.
01:11:43ماها بعد معذرت بخواستیم.
01:11:45از نخوص وزیره همون، از با وزیر شما گرفته که یه وزیر بوده.
01:11:51نه او، اون خواسته ما درست عمل نکردیم.
01:11:54ما کارهای شخصیمون را قاطی کردیم.
01:11:57باید که بد بودیم، پدرش در بودیم.
01:12:01قناع را نستنیم ...هی
01:12:04این eighth قرد! باید
01:12:07را نیست فنیم ن ostیم که درگیسی....
01:12:11case, if I can say so.
01:12:16In what way is it special?
01:12:18I mean to be, as you say, the king of kings.
01:12:22And it means that you are lonely because
01:12:26you really have no one to go to for advice who is above you?
01:12:32Well, there's always God.
01:12:52He was not the only one that I could blame.
01:12:56I blame myself.
01:12:59I know my husband blames himself.
01:13:01We started forgetting our own traditions,
01:13:06copying other modern countries.
01:13:09I remember that until I was maybe 15 or 16,
01:13:16I used to pray.
01:13:18After that, when I went to high school,
01:13:22I stopped praying and I forgot about religion in a way.
01:13:29I don't know.
01:13:30I blame myself because I didn't realize that my cook was a Muslim
01:13:36and he prayed three times a day.
01:13:40And I would go in the kitchen to tell him what to cook in my bikini.
01:13:49And he would turn his back to me and make belief that he was doing something.
01:13:53I didn't realize that he didn't want to look at me.
01:13:57I didn't realize.
01:13:58We didn't realize that the country was Muslim.
01:14:05He was Muslim.
01:14:08He was Muslim.
01:14:10He was Muslim.
01:14:10But today,
01:14:11He did not do this,
01:14:13He always shared he's got a Muslim.
01:14:17He was Muslim.
01:14:20He is every man who needs to sit down.
01:14:21He was Jewish.
01:14:23He was Muslim.
01:14:24He was Muslim.
01:14:25I don't want to be able to do it.
01:14:34We didn't have freedom.
01:14:37We didn't have security.
01:14:40We wanted to listen.
01:14:41We wanted to understand.
01:14:43We wanted to be safe.
01:14:47Every step I can do,
01:14:49I see the best people in my door.
01:14:52Why?
01:14:53What made me look at?
01:14:54For the fact that I was getting it.
01:14:55For the reason why they did not exist.
01:14:59We wanted to go to our hospital.
01:15:03We had to work,
01:15:04buy two,
01:15:04buy 20s,
01:15:05buy supplies,
01:15:06buy supplies,
01:15:09but we didn't have any policy.
01:15:12This would not be done.
01:15:14It is not a job.
01:15:16It isn't real.
01:15:16It is not a job.
01:15:17It is not a job.
01:15:20There is no way to the house.
01:15:21There is no way to the house.
01:15:23The house wants to understand the house.
01:15:50We've a world movie premiere tonight here on BBC4.
01:15:54Audrey Tattoo stars as a woman desperate to leave her small-town existence behind.
01:15:58Director Claude Miller's last film, Thérèse Desqueroux, is coming up in just a moment.
Comments