L
ate 1973 and 1974 was a boom time for members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). By
forcing a hike in world oil prices, they multiplied their export
profits to a wildly exorbitant level. In Iran, oil sales brought
about $4 billion in 1973; it reached some $20 billion in 1974.
While Western motorists waited in line at gas stations to pay
inflated pump prices, OPEC leaders planned how they would
spend their oil revenues.
Shah Pahlavi’s government developed a long-term national
improvement plan. It was projected to cost $70 billion over five
years. Everyone was supposed to benefit: people on the street,
businesses and industries, educational and military programs.
The shah believed Iran could become one of the world’s leading
industrial powers by the end of the twentieth century.
Some Iranians indeed prospered. The Pahlavi family lived
lavishly. So did those in business and administration who
happened to be in strategic, oil-related positions. Journalist
Mohamed Heikal, who covered events in the region before and
after the Iranian revolution, wrote:
The Shah was treating Iran as if it was his private property,
and first pickings naturally went to his family. Certain
unwritten boundaries were observed. The Queen Mother was
only interested in real estate—land and buildings....The
Shah’s brother, Prince Mahmud Reza, concentrated on mining.
...Princess Ashraf was involved in banking, paper mills and
lotteries, and so on. Loyal friends were not forgotten. General
Zahedi’s son, Ardeshir, who had married the Shah’s daughter
and been made ambassador in Washington, took over a
controlling interest in the motor industry, and innumerable
former politicians, diplomats, soldiers and businessmen were
similarly rewarded, as were officials of the CIA who had
proved helpful.^24
Ayatollah Khomeini’s fire of dissension for a time smoldered
under general disinterest throughout Iranian society. In the
end, though, reality did not come close to the shah’s optimistic44 AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI
http://www.ebook3000.com