Transcript:

Q: Your country lies geographically between Russia and the warm water ports. Would you say that communist pressure on you has increased or decreased in recent months?

Shah: I’m putting a difference between communist pressure and probably at what you meant, the Soviet Union.

Our relations with the Soviet Union has improved very much during the recent years, and now it stands at a very good neighborly relations.

And I see every reason that these relations will still further develop in the sense of greater exchanges, trade and relations existing between good neighbors.

But the communist problem remains the same in the whole world. And I think that we must realize this to put a difference between the official relations with the Soviet Union and with the communist parties at large.

Q: Why do you think [audio skips] ...remarks in December which were interpreted I think as being critical of President Nasser’s policies in certain areas. Are you critical of his policies?

Well, you have got to look at the results of his policy. Well, to be impartial, although I should be very partial about it, he’s only creating trouble around him and his country. I’m afraid he has embarked himself upon a course which he cannot deviate anymore. He has engaged himself into provocations and bringing down other regimes.

Q: Are you thinking of the Yemen when you say that?

Shah: Well, one of them among them...pretending to be a Muslim defender of the faith but killing every day hundreds of people, innocent people in that poor country by throwing on them napalm bombs, incendiary bombs, strafing them with jet planes. It has been questioned if gas bombs have been used or not. Poison bombs.

Q: Are you convinced that... [unintelligible]

Shah: I don’t know. I don’t know. But I have heard of those reports. But napalm is almost a daily routine job.

Q: Perhaps the most important thing that’s happened in your own country recently has been the initiation of your six reforms as they’re called. What progress do you feel you made?

Shah: Well, I think that progress has been made not only according to plan, in some cases much further than what was predicted. Probably you are familiar with the six points, starting by the land reform.

Then we have added two other points to the six. This is the health army, or the health corps as we call it, again, like the literacy corps. And we have another corps which we call the development corps, which also will go to the rural areas and like what now they call for instance in America the Peace Corps, have an assignment like that.

Q: We had the example of you giving away yourself some of the royal estates to the peasants. Have the other big land owners followed suit?

Shah: Well, no, no, I’m afraid not. I started that long way back. Matter of fact, it was in 1950. And because no one followed that up, we had to introduce a law, and in enforcing the law now, there is no more in our country any question of a landlord giving orders to...I don’t know scores of peasants. That is finished. You won’t see anymore in our country, even an owner of one village, because he could not continue the way as they used to before.

Q: I don’t know whether it’s a Persian proverb or not, but it’s very difficult to make two Persians push the same apple cart. Is it difficult for you to get cooperation in these reforms?

Shah: Um, no, no not really. Because who is opposing these reforms? I think that from the landlords themselves there is no more opposition anyway. They have been completely broken.

And the only opposition which came was in other reactionary circles who used to get money from those former landlords, and all those who are reactionary by nature. But this is also diminishing very rapidly and I can say that we have no problem.

Q: Was the assassination of your prime minister in January, was this a sign of discontent, do you think? [Hassan Ali Mansour, shot by a young Feda’ian Islam member on Jan. 21, 1965]

Shah: Uhh, discontent of one man certainly, discontent of the group who has ordered the assassination, certainly. But what kind of discontent? That is the question.

If you are unhappy that your country makes progress, if you are unhappy that your country is saying goodbye to a feudalistic system, if you are unhappy that half of the population of your country, the women, are emancipated, well, this I cannot help.

Q: You have been compared to General de Gaulle in a political sense of being an isolated figure, ruling through bureaucracy. How much do you think your own position is vital to Persia’s future? [French President Charles de Gaulle]

Shah: Well, maybe I could not answer it myself. I would say this, that if you look back at the history of my country, in the past when we had great kings, we really were the largest, the biggest empire in the world, and sometimes when we had not very competent kings, then a period of decadence started. And we were invaded by foreigners and beaten even.

Now, I want to remedy to this. I want to yes, find a solution and this is to educate the people. Not only combat illiteracy, but educate the class of civil servant which gradually will establish themselves, form a tradition, and which could run the country smoothly and assuredly, without giving any occasion to the country to be torn apart if the leader is not anymore.

Q: Well, would, presumably though, when they became educated and able to run the country, [they] want to take some power?

Shah: I wouldn’t mind. I’m not really hungry for power. If I’m using the power given to me by the constitution, as we say, by the grace of God and by our constitution, if I’m really using those powers, this is to try to bring about an order which will enable the country to run smoothly.

I don’t want the same thing to happen to my country once again. That was when when my father left and there was chaos because he was not yet able to create that civil service and now we must create this. [Reza Shah Pahlavi, dethroned Sept. 16, 1941]

Q: Sir, thank you very much indeed.