tector of vast imperialist interests in the Gulf.
The British media are no exception to this" While they go on endlessly about, the 'threat to democracy' in Portugal interests, they rarely show any concern about the total absence of even the most elementary democratic rights in Iran.
A documentarv about the Shah made by Lord Chalfont and shown on BBC television on Tuesday 17 June should have well pleased the Shah. Perhaps if Lord Chalfont had spent less time at the Shan suxurious seaside Daace on Kist Island and visited the slums of southern Tehran instead he might have been able to present a true image of the Shah's regime - if indeed, that was his intention. As it was, the Shah was portrayed as a benevolent ruler enjoying the affection and respect of 'his people', bound to him by an almost mvstical bond. and whom he is supposedly leading towards progress and a prosperous future.
The court-room during one of the Shah The mass media in the West have always been only too willing to cooperate with the Shah of Iran in giving a favourable image of his regime and avoiding the publicity of facts that might reveal the reality - that of a vicious military dictatorship - that the Shah is so keen to hide. They of course have good reason for their willingness since the Shah is the proAbout this "mystical' relationship with the people of Iran, the Shah said: •We have shown to each other so many times signs of complete devotion." It is strange considering the existence of this complete devotion that the Shah nas to empioy one or the words largest and most repressive secret police forces, SAVAK, to ensure the 'loyalty' of 'his people'!
Lord Chalfont had to admit to the somewar auto taran nature or une regime, which may disturb those accustomed to less formal Western monarchies' But he put the minds of those who might be disturbed at ease by attributing this dictatorial nature partly to the exotic traditions of the land of Omar Khavyam and the golden road to Samarkand', and partly to the needs of the country which the Shah accepts not so much because he wants to but as a burden which he carries through a sense of duty for his country. This burden doesn't seem to have done the Shah much harm, since it has made him one of the richest people ed so much about his own personal well*I have invariably pardoned those who attempted my own life. There is not a sing against myself. His Imperial Majesty's memory seems to have failed him, since only last year two men opposed to his regime, Golesorkhi and Daneshian, were ate the Shah