Reza Pahlavi, son of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, exiled to and harbored by the United States after the 1979 Islamic revolution, had lived in royal splendor. He embodied the greatness of the Persian Empire, its opulence, its reach, and its magnificence. His display of wealth which disturbed many as an indication of his insularity and complete ignorance of the needs of the common man, was in his words, nothing less than the rightful splendor of Persian culture, a sign of imperial power and cultural influence.
His celebration of 2500 years of the Persian Empire was a billion dollar extravaganza, a world event of awesome pomp and circumstance, a display of the greatness and permanence of the rule of shahs.
It was indeed something to celebrate, for the Persian Empire was all that Pahlavi claimed, covering vast territory and extending arts, science, literature, language and high culture over a vast region of the globe. It was indeed something to celebrate.
Of course the shah, like Czar Alexander of Russia or Henry XVI and Marie Antoinette of France had no idea what was brewing. The Russian and French revolutionary movements were growing in importance, significance, and strength under their noses, but they were too self-assured, so confident of the permanent nature of empire to notice. The 2500 year anniversary of the birth of the Persian Empire was the Iranian 'Let them eat cake' moment.
Shortly after the celebrations Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile and oversaw the Iranian revolution which installed a theocratic government which has now lasted nearly fifty years. The shah and his empire were history, but faithful Iranian monarchists and common admirers have never given up hope that the rule of the shahs will return.
Shortly after the first wave of American and Israeli attacks on Tehran the shah-in-waiting, Prince Reza Pahlavi, said he was ready to serve; and it indeed looked to all like he would soon be returned to the throne.
It was not meant to be. The Iranians proved to be more than a paper tiger and a legitimate military power. While they could not match American and Israeli air power and high-tech ordnance, they had tens of thousands of missiles and drones deployed throughout the country in underground silos ready to attack. Air power was not enough to eliminate this unexpectedly successful weaponry.
The war which many thought would be over in weeks - a reprise of the Israeli Six Day War of recent years - has dragged on for well over a month, and Donald Trump has modified his objectives. Regime change and the restoration of the country's rightful leader was longer the issue - it was simply to get Tehran to agree to abandon all nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and the infrastructure and machinery to make bombs.
Prince Reza Pahlavi would have to wait and maybe never sit on the throne which was his by birthright.
He has lived quietly in a wealthy suburb of Washington, DC. His father had of course secreted out hundreds of millions of dollars when he sought asylum in the US, so the Prince has never had to worry. Reports are that he hs gotten quite used to the suburban life of the Capital. He wasn't exactly barbecuing on Saturday afternoons, but he was still quite at home in the reserved, quiet life of McClean, Virginia.
He like many of his neighbors keeps a stable, entertains lavishly but in good taste, is a frequenter of the best Georgetown parties, and an aficionado of early American art for which he has become an important patron.
His office was in quite a flurry as American bombs blasted government infrastructure in Tehran and eliminated the ruling shah and his most important political advisors. The regime would soon fall and Pahlavi would be on a plane within weeks.
'Tell them not to bomb my palace', he told his aide-de-camp and senior adjutant, a man who had the ear of the White House and the Pentagon; and as a second thought, 'especially the garden', the magnificent Versailles-style expansive acreage of the most beautiful flowers ever assembled, and over which his father looked from the window of the palace. Reza remembered playing in the garden to 'look but do not touch'; and now within a short time he would be walking amidst the roses and chrysanthemums.
'I must assemble a cabinet', the Prince said to his advisors, using the American term unheard of by his father. A shah does not have a team of advisors, professionals on which he can count on for professional counselling but a loyal inner circle to do his bidding. His father, Mohammed, was known for his sudden purges where supposed loyalists were imprisoned, gutted, and hanged. Imperial rule is not a matter of consensus or discussion.
High-ranking members of the Iranian diaspora were well known to the Prince, but they were old men now, and far too Americanized to resume royal duties. Pahlavi would need young men, sons of the diaspora and from the legions of supporters in Iran.
Of course, Pahlavi was still a shah who had never forgotten his roots, the imperial grandeur of Persia, and the mighty regime of his father. Yes, Mohammed had perhaps overstepped his bounds, angered an already restive population, and ignored the reality of popular uprising; but that did not detract from his vision of a renascent, resurgent Iran.
Reza Pahlavi was not surprisingly an admirer of Erdogan of Turkey and Putin of Russia, men who made clear their intention to revive and restore their countries' imperial past. The Ottoman Empire was as far-reaching as the Persian Empire in its day; and the imperial rule of the Russian Czars extended from Europe to the far east. Both were beacons of light, culture, and learning.
Democracy was a nice enough American surrogate for imperial rule, Pahlavi said, but it would not last. The Persian Empire lasted two thousand and five hundred years! The Roman, Mongol, Gupta, and British empires were also extensive and historically significant.
Of course in meetings with Donald Trump, Pahlavi assured the President that he would preside over a democratic republic, and would make it a model for participatory government in a region notoriously without it; but he had no intentions of ruling a country as divided, divisive, without historical grounding and without a moral ethos as America. Americans has forgotten Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton long ago and were marching to a different drummer and an ear-splitting band.
Once installed back in the palace in Tehran, Pahlavi would begin slowly but progressively to restore the mechanisms of power created by his father. He would of course do them under the mantel of popular engagement and the rule of law - it was not hard to please the democratic West as his father well knew - but soon enough imperial rule would be restored.
The Prince waited impatiently for the final blow to be delivered to the Tehran regime, but the American president unexpectedly shilly-shallied. Netanyahu had told Trump that unless he obliterated the regime, it would be back in power, supporting its anti-Israeli terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, and rebuilding its nuclear capacity. The mullahs do not want peace for its own sake, they only want time to maneuver.
Yet Trump told the Israeli President to be patient. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. 'Not enough', said Netanyahu. 'They don't care about the bomb. That is only a diversion, a bargaining chip to get America off its back'.
Pahlavi knew his people and knew that Netanyahu was right. If Trump prevailed, not only would he, Pahlavi, not be able to return to Iran but it would in time become the disruptive, hateful force that it has been since 1979.
'Don't order the drapes', said a dissident who hated the Islamic regime but did not trust Pahlavi. While dreams of the restoration of empire in the guise of a democratic republic sounded good, the shah had no intention of turning his back on the past.
So, the Prince is back to his McClean dinners, soirees, and musical events waiting it out in style. 'Be patient, Reza', said a close advisor. Remember Cyrus the Great'; but the advisor's Persian history was off-kilter. Cyrus was never patient and crushed the opposition on his way to power in the early Achaemenid Empire.
'We shall return', said Pahlavi using the royal we. 'It's only a matter of time'; but Trump has badly underestimated the regime, even worse than his predecessor Barack Obama who gave Iran the store in hopes of encouraging moderate, tolerant, and inclusive regime.
'I'll wait', said the Prince, sampling the Caspian Sea beluga caviar which made its way through the American sanctions to his table. 'I'll wait'.
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