Four decades after its revolution, Iran is still stuck in the past
The mullahs have brought mostly misery to a country that could be doing far better
FOR A FEW tense moments it seemed as if the flight carrying Ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran would not make it. Two weeks had passed since the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had left the country amid enormous protests against his autocratic rule. Khomeini’s aides were eager for the ayatollah to return from exile in Paris and fill the power vacuum. But the government left behind by the shah warned them to stay away. As their plane approached Iranian airspace, the air force threatened to shoot it down. Some on board cheered the chance for martyrdom. The Western journalists in tow were more subdued.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The shadow of 1979”
From the February 9th 2019 edition
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