Have you heard the expression 'I'm alright jack?'
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/I'm_all_right,_Jack And it is news to me that Reza or Mossadegh were clerics! I think you're now rambling Mel -take a chill pill. - It is clear you are a big fan of the Pahlavis even though they were puppets of the West (or is it because they were puppets?
But don't get me wrong - I agree that Reza Shah did indeed pour in money on infrastructure etc, but the issue is he only was allowed to do as much as the West allowed him to do. Had he not been deposed, and had Mossadegh succeeded, the British elite would be poorer and the Iranians richer. As it was, the 'chosen' subjects of Pahlavis got to live the good life and nowadays are very similar to the 'whenwe's of Africa. (And similar to the Cuban exiles)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhenweBut I am still amazed that the last Shah is idolised despite the utterances like the one below, and the savage brutality of his SAVAK thugs (not helped by the fact they were trained by the CIA and Mossad!):
With Iran's great oil wealth, Mohammad Reza Shah became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and self-styled "Guardian" of the Persian Gulf. In 1961 he defended his autocratic rule, saying `when Iranians learn to behave like Swedes, I will behave like the King of Sweden.`
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlaviand
Writing at the time of the Shah's overthrow, TIME magazine described SAVAK as having "long been Iran's most hated and feared institution" which had "tortured and murdered thousands of the Shah's opponents."[24] Federation of American Scientists (FAS) also found it guilty of "the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners" and symbolizing "the Shah's rule from 1963-79." The FAS list of SAVAK torture methods included "electric shock, whipping, beating, inserting broken glass and pouring boiling water into the rectum, tying weights to the testicles, and the extraction of teeth and nails." [25] According to a former CIA analyst on Iran,[26][27] Jesse J. Leaf, SAVAK was trained in torture techniques by the CIA. An example of the public image of the SAVAK in Iran as all-pervasive and fear-inducing, is "a much enjoyed joke" during the Pahlavi regime, where an Iranian Muslim is questioned by angels on the first night after his (the Iranian's) death:
"Who is your God?"
"His Majesty, the Shahanshah!" (King of Kings in Persian)
"What is your religion?"
"The White Revolution."
"What is your holy book?"
"His Majesty's book, The White Revolution."
The angels raise their clubs to beat the infidel. God appears, stops them and asks the deceased, "What is the matter with you?!"
The man replies, "Sorry God. I thought these two might be SAVAK agents"[28]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAKBut that's just me.. drawing a parallel between previous Western interventions in Iran and the current demonisation.
Cheers,
Shafique