Islamic government, Mehdi Bazargan. Bazargan was a religious
leader who also had studied engineering. He was a long-time
adversary of the shah.
As more members of the military joined Khomeini’s legions,54 AYATOLLAH RUHOLLAH KHOMEINI
THE SHAH’S PITIABLE DEMISE
What became of Shah Pahlavi, the man whose policies had provoked
Khomeini’s ire and led eventually to revolution?
In a very real sense, he became “homeless.” After he left Iran,
governments of other nations, including the United States, were more
than a little uncomfortable with his presence. The shah was given a
proper reception when his plane landed at Aswan, Egypt. He was
invited by Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat to stay as long as he
wished. It was a tense respite, however. Pahlavi was distracted and
uncertain of his standing, even among long-time allies. He was openly
suspicious of the United States—as well he might have been. The Carter
administration, realizing that the shah was in the throes of downfall,
hoped to establish relations with Iran’s revolutionary government. To
the shah, this policy seemed to be an act of diplomatic deceit.
At the same time, the shah held a flicker of hope that Khomeini’s
revolution might falter. The Royal Guard in Iran might succeed in
putting down the insurrection. Perhaps the ayatollah, despite his
years of inflammatory talk, would be afraid to actually return to Iran
and would remain in France—long enough, at least, for the fires of
upheaval to die down.
After five days in Egypt, Pahlavi flew to Morocco. In the face of
evermore hostile news from Iran, he quickly realized no foreign power
really wanted him. Morocco, the Bahamas, and Mexico were only
temporary residences. He finally was treated in the United States for
what proved to be terminal cancer. He relocated briefly to Panama,
then found asylum in his final months back in Egypt.
President Sadat had been Pahlavi’s long-time friend. Sadat alone
among international leaders braved the wrath of the Muslim world by
giving Pahlavi a place to die peacefully. The end came for Pahlavi on
July 27, 1980.
Sadat’s sympathy for Pahlavi, coupled with a recent peace initiative
with Israel, made fatal enemies for the Egyptian leader. He was
assassinated in 1981.http://www.ebook3000.com