Bakhtiar arrived thirty minutes early: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“He told her she looked”: Ibid.
“He made an analysis of the situation”: Ibid. See also Afkhami (2009), p. 496.
“Look,” she said: Afkhami (2009), p. 496.
“At the height of the revolution”: Author interview with Hossein Nasr, November 18, 2013.
“I don’t know what is happening in Iran”: Joseph Kraft, “Letter from Iran,” New Yorker, December 11, 1978, p. 135.
“Khoi was not siding with the revolutionaries”: Author interview with Hossein Nasr, November 18, 2013.
“It was Dr. Nasr’s idea”: Author interview with Farah Pahlavi, July 15, 2013.
met at the airport by Iraq’s minister of health: Author interview with Hossein Nasr, November 18, 2013.
“He arrived wearing a European suit”: Ibid.
Farah introduced Hussain to her mother: Ibid.
“Tell Her Majesty to tell my brother”: Ibid.
“All these mullahs would push each other”: Author interview with Farah Pahlavi, July 15, 2013.
“I was told to look down”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi March 23–25, 2013.
Khoi told Farah: Author interview with Farah Pahlavi, July 15, 2013.
“In Iran people are dying of hunger”: Ibid.
“At the end,” said Queen Farah: Ibid.
“I cannot sully my hands”: Author interview with Hossein Nasr, November 18, 2013.
“In the downtown area”: “The Military Is in Charge,” Time, November 27, 1978, p. 35.
“The condition affects even the most rational”: Joe Alex Morris Jr., “In the Confusion, Rumors and ‘Plots’ Plague Iran,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 1978.
an old lady in Qom: The story of Khomeini’s face appearing on the moon is told in Amir Taheri, The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler, 1986), p. 238.
Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti: Ibid. The author agrees with Amir Taheri that the genius behind the tale was most likely Beheshti.
“traced Khomeini’s face in the moon”: Author interview with Gholam Reza Afkhami, March 11, 2013.
“One night we heard the rumor”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
“Our toiling masses”: Taheri (1986), p. 238.
“true Shiites should not oppose”: Ibid., p. 239.
“the ayatollah of Mashad”: Ibid.
“moon trick”: Ibid., p. 238.
“For me everything is at an end”: Amir Taheri, The Unknown Life of the Shah (London: Hutchinson, 1991), p. 289.
“returning to the Dark Ages”: Ibid.
“Why? I worked for thirty-seven years. Why?”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
“ghost ship”: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“Usually there was protocol”: Ibid.
“His eyes betrayed immense sadness”: Arnaud de Borchgrave, “Tea with the Shah,” Newsweek, November 20, 1978, p. 65.
“The worse events became”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 294.
“He was seeing people morning till night”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
hanging a hundred of his closest aides: Author interview with Kambiz Atabai, March 10, 2013.
“Shoot the first man in front”: Author interviews with Ardeshir Zahedi, October 27–28, 2012.
“looked pale, spoke in subdued tones”: Kraft, “Letter from Iran,” p. 134.
24. SWEPT AWAY
“They are going to kill us”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“You don’t want to be Marie Antoinette”: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“It was an impressive performance”: Joe Alex Morris Jr., “Masses Protest Shah’s Rule,” Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1978.
“We want Islamic government under Khomeini”: Ibid.
“The march showed that the feeling”: Bill Paul, “Mammoth Peaceful March Against Shah Seen Increasing Pressure on Iran Regime,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 1978.
“We will kill Iran’s dictator!”: Joe Alex Morris Jr., “Iran Demonstrators Openly Urge Death of the Shah,” Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1978.
“The Shah and his family must be killed!”: Nicholas Gage, “Protesters March for 2nd Day in Iran; Violence Is Limited,” New York Times, December 12, 1978.
“We would settle for the 1906 Constitution”: Jonathan Randal, “Iranians Harden Protest Tone,” Washington Post, December 12, 1978.
mob violence in Isfahan: William Branigan, “Mob in Isfahan Pulls Down 4 Statues of Shah,” Washington Post, December 12, 1978.
five people dying: James Allan, “5 Shot in Attack on Savak HQ,” Daily Telegraph, December 12, 1978.
tried to kill the governor of Hamadan: Gage, “Protesters March.”
“smashed its ground-floor windows”: Allan, “5 Shot in Attack on Savak HQ.”
sprayed the room with semiautomatics: “Hard Choices in Tehran,” Time, December 25, 1978, p. 22.
“I cannot forget, in particular”: Farah Pahlavi, An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah (Miramax: New York 2004), p. 289.
“I did it on the orders of the Ayatollah Khomeini”: Ibid.
hundreds of troop desertions: R. W. Apple Jr., “Shah’s Army Is Showing Stress,” New York Times, December 19, 1978.
seen waving to the crowds: Ibid.
“They would be willing to see the Shah go”: Ibid.
“Tehran was like a city that had survived a siege”: “Hard Choices,” p. 22.
“We could hear ‘Allah Akbar!’ every night”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“very tense”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 25, 2013.
“The staff were conflicted”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
“went berserk during lunch”: Gholam Reza Afkhami, The Life and Times of the Shah (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), p. 526.
“with the intriguing title”: Amir Taheri, The Unknown Life of the Shah (London: Hutchinson, 1991), p. 272.
“and stood in line like ordinary folks”: R. W. Apple Jr., “Iran Lull Reflects Confused Situation,” New York Times, December 21, 1978.
“Someone wrote ‘Death to the Shah’”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“Farah, where are your gloves?”: Amir Taheri, The Spirit of Allah: Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution (Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler, 1986), p. 200.
“One day I was looking out the window”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“The ulama were negotiating”: Author interview with Hossein Nasr, November 18, 2013.
In December he flew to Tehran: Ibid.
“Don’t listen to the ambassadors”: Ibid.
“including the Palestinian commandos”: Central Intelligence Agency, National Foreign Assessment Center, “Intelligence Memorandum: The Politics of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,” November 20, 1978, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.
“Khomeini has been vague”: Ibid.
shared with Sullivan his blueprint: Telegram from Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher to Ambassador Sullivan, “Approach [to the] National Front,” December 15, 1978, Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, National Security Archive (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1990), document 01929.
“Crown Prince Reza would be invited to return to Iran”: Ibid.
“Probably 10–15 senior military officers”: Ibid.
“the prime threat”: William H. Sullivan, Mission to Iran: The Last Ambassador (New York: Norton, 1981), p. 200.
“would want to retain their good relations”: “Confidential Telegram: Conversation with Ayatollah Nouri,” December 8, 1978, Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, document 01882.
“Tell the brothers not to use arms”: Author interview with Henry Precht,
March 13, 2013.
“We knew we were tapped”: Author interview with Abolhassan Banisadr, July 11, 2013.
“a great wave of humanity”: Author interview with Cyndy McCollough, August 21, 2013.
“People were screaming and crying”: Author interview with Jonathan Kirkendall, August 21, 2013.
“When the plane took off”: Author interview with Bruce Vernor, March 12, 2013.
ambushed on his way to work: John Vinocur, “Gunmen in Iran Ambush and Kill Two Oil Officials, One from US,” New York Times, December 24, 1978.
“a colonel was dragged from his tank”: Thomas Lippman, “Population Takes Over Battered Iranian City,” Washington Post, January 4, 1979.
“The colonel was taken alive”: Telegram from Embassy Tehran to Secretary of State, “Bazaari Views on Bakhtiar Candidacy and on Continuing Confrontation,” January 3, 1979, Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, document 02007.
high school students rioted: John Vinocur, “US Embassy Guards in Iran Fire Tear Gas at Student Protesters,” New York Times, December 25, 1978.
converged on the U.S. embassy: Ibid.
“I would rather sit home”: Ibid.
“The Shah will not come out of this alive”: Ibid.
“So many Iranians seem to think the problems”: John Westberg, “We Experience the Gathering Storm of Revolution,” personal diaries (1978–79).
“wild shooting and lawlessness”: John Vinocur, “Daylong Violence Cripples Tehran; Iran to Ration Oil,” New York Times, December 28, 1978.
half a million barrels a day: Ibid.
“We consider it too dangerous”: James Allen, “Fuel Ration Imposed in Persia,” Daily Telegraph, December 28, 1978.
“he would kill if necessary”: Afkhami (2009), p. 497.
“General Oveissi and General Moghadam”: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“Iran is not ready for a republic”: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“I have an audience tomorrow”: Ibid.
“Everyone knew that he would not survive”: Author interview with John Stempel, February 20, 2013.
“Bakhtiar doesn’t have a fucking chance”: Author interview with Charlie Naas, March 14, 2013.
“Bakhtiar asked for you, I didn’t”: Author interview with Kambiz Atabai, May 17, 2013.
“You don’t want to be Marie Antoinette”: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“You don’t want to hear this”: Ibid.
“I offered to stay”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 295.
“His Majesty was in a very bad state”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
“The queen mother was carried”: “Shah’s Ailing Mother Flown to LA from Iran,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 1978.
“Don’t pack too much”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
Each morning at six o’clock: Author interview with Elli Antoniades, April 3, 2013.
“When the power failed”: Ibid.
“I don’t know how long I will stay”: Ibid.
“By then we knew he was finished”: Author interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, September 4, 2014.
“The generals came to me and offered to shoot Huyser”: Author interview with Ardeshir Zahedi, October 27, 28, 2012.
“dangerous and idiotic policy”: President Carter’s notes on Guadeloupe Four Power Summit, January 5, 1979, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.
“a good swimmer”: Ibid.
“Found very little support”: Ibid.
“In the course of a general discussion”: “Four Power Discussion in Guadeloupe 5/6 January 1979: Third Session on Saturday 6 January 1979 at 0900,” British National Archives.
“Valéry reported”: President Carter’s notes on Guadeloupe Four Power Summit, January 5, 1979.
“the Shah’s restraint in not taking ruthless measures”: Ibid.
“ate lunch together”: President Carter’s notes on Guadeloupe Four Power Summit, January 6, 1979.
“We are giving up on the Shah”: NSC Weekly Report #84, January 12, 1979, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.
Musa Sadr was alive: Following the overthrow of Colonel Gadhafi’s regime former officials came forward to attest that Musa Sadr was kept alive for a period ranging from months to years. In 2014 author Kai Bird revealed in his biography of CIA operative Robert C. Ames that the American was secretly tipped off in 1979 that Musa Sadr had been disposed of after Khomeini came to power. The account provided by Hassan Salameh, PLO leader Yasser Arafat’s chief of operations, holds special credence because of its detailed nature. See Kai Bird, The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames (New York: Crown, 2014), p. 206.
“the PLO is proud”: “PLO Pledges Support to Iran people,” Kayhan International, October 25, 1978.
25. FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE
“We are leaving for a long-needed rest”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 15, 2013.
“We are leaving”: Author interview with Fereydoun Djavadi, July 13, 2013.
“I’m tired”: Nicholas Gage, “Bakhtiar Installed and Shah Declares He’ll ‘Take a Rest,’” New York Times, January 7, 1979.
“The influence of the U.S.”: Don Cook, “US Accused of Planning Coup in Iran,” Los Angeles Times, January 15, 1979.
“He keeps asking, ‘When are you leaving?’”: Author interview with Farah Pahlavi, August 30, 2015.
“it would be best for stability in Iran if he left”: Bernard Gwertzman, “Stresses a Trip Would Be Temporary, but Return Is Viewed as Difficult,” New York Times, January 9, 1979.
“leaned forward, almost like a small boy”: William H. Sullivan, Mission to Iran: The Last Ambassador (New York: Norton, 1981), p. 231.
at 10:54 a.m. on Friday, January 12: Telegram from Secretary of State to Embassy Tehran, January 12, 1979, “Departure of Shah,” Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, National Security Archive (Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1990), document 02072.
“Zahedi indicated that he would like”: Ibid.
“They were so upset and disillusioned”: Author interview with Kambiz Atabai, March 10, 2013.
“insulted, accosted in the streets”: Gholam Reza Afkhami, The Life and Times of the Shah (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), p. 525.
“People were breaking down all over the place”: “Empress Took Over—Shah’s Last Days: Bridge and Movies,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1979.
“Strolling among the larches and pines”: “The Shah’s Final Days,” Newsweek, January 29, 1979, p. 18.
conveying his wishes: Afkhami (2009), p. 526.
“If His Majesty leaves”: Farah Pahlavi, An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah (New York: Miramax, 2004), p. 293.
“I also received a delegation”: Ibid.
Through his friend … Mansur learned: Author interview with Mansur Eqbal, November 17, 2014.
“When I went to Niavaran I saw the guard”: Ibid.
“When I said I thought the Shah should stay”: Author interview with Shahin Fatemi, July 16, 2013.
“I did not want to give them”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 4.
“You liked this tableau”: Author interview with Fereydoun Djavadi, July 13, 2013.
left behind her private jewelry collection: Author interviews with Farah Pahlavi, March 23–25, 2013.
“So no one will accuse us of taking things out”: Author interview with Shahin Fatemi, July 16, 2013.
“no food, no water, nothing”: Author interview with Amir Pourshaja, March 16, 2013.
“On the last night I did not tell him anything”: Author interview with Reza Ghotbi, May 9, 2013.
“was like a nightmare”: Author interview with Shahin Fatemi, July 16, 2013.
“Embassy keeps getting reports”: Telegram from Ambassador Sullivan to Secretary of State, “Religious Leaders Fear Departure of Shah,” January 10, 1979, Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, document 02048.
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�not very coherent”: Ibid.
“very angry at [the] National Front”: Telegram from Ambassador Sullivan to Secretary of State, “First Meeting with National Front Leader Karim Sanjabi,” January 14, 1979, Iran: The Making of US Policy, 1977–80, document 02086.
“According to this theory”: Ibid.
As he understood it his mission: Cable from General Huyser to Secretary Brown and General Jones, January 12, 1979, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, NLC-25-41-3-2-4.
“I have told [the generals] that I consider a military coup”: Ibid.
“He really surprised me”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 15, 2013.
“Where is your smile, Your Majesty?”: “Empress Took Over: Shah’s Last Days.”
spent the morning packing: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 4.
“We are leaving”: Author interview with Fereydoun Djavadi, July 13, 2013.
“I could feel the distress”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 6.
“Around eleven His Majesty”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 15, 2013.
“Where are you going?”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 10.
“With the sound of the whirring rotors in my ears”: Ibid.
“No one said anything”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 15, 2013.
“was the whining”: F. Pahlavi (2004), p. 7.
“His Majesty didn’t sign it”: Author interview with Kiomars Djahinbini, March 15, 2013.
“It depends on the status of my health”: Nicholas Gage, “Ruler Goes to Egypt,” New York Times, January 17, 1979.
“no honor guard for him”: Afkhami (2009), p. 527.
“with tears in their eyes”: William Branigan, “Iranians Jubilant as Shah Departs,” New York Times, January 17, 1979.
“when we began to hear horns honking”: John Westberg, “We Experience the Gathering Storm of Revolution,” personal diaries (1978–79).
“It needs a Shakespeare”: Afkhami (2009), p. 528.
“Khomeini’s flight from Paris”: Baqer Moin, Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah (London: I. B. Tauris, 1999), p. 202.
The Fall of Heaven Page 78
