[Music] iran a country brimming with energy exploding with construction and development a dynamic state with a thriving capital [Music] iran a unique endeavor [Music] in an age when so many monarchies perished to mohammed raza shah had ascended to the throne iran still adheres to her constitutionalist traditions with the oldest constitution in all asia she still remains a monarchy symbol of the new role of women in muslim iran is the act of participation of farah the shabanu and representing the dynasty the state she is in charge of whole sectors of national life particularly in the fields of social activities art and culture [Music] so [Music] the hearts of the persians are still in the ruins of persepolis the ancient capital built in 520 bc by darius 230 years later burned by alexander of macedonia in 1971 iran celebrates her 2500th birthday as a nation as a state and as a monarchy the oldest monarchy in the world with the youngest dynasty but looking back to the empire of cyrus of dariyish of xerxes [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] throughout the vast empire a whole network of roads and communications was established throughout the centuries on the ruins of old towns new ones were erected and again on the remnants of these layer on layer in this country so often invaded [Music] during these thousands of years the iranians were often conquered yet never colonized so they remained a proud people conscious of their history and of their heritage [Applause] me [Music] aloha [Music] [Laughter] [Music] from the southern regions burnt by the scorching sun the trans-iranian railway provides one of the few connections to the caspian literal in the north where rainfall reaches 60 inches per year yet as everywhere in iran most of the country's 60 000 villages are isolated from the outside world oil the basis of iran's wealth the oil boom offering new opportunities new challenges for the country's development steel mills built by the russians partly in exchange for delivery of natural gas to the soviet union iranian assembly and manufacturing plants already produced the greater part of all motor vehicles now needed in the country [Music] this ancient land's armed forces today are continually equipped with the latest weapons iran's military strength has aroused suspicion even in the west it should be remembered however that iran again and again in her history has been unable to resist so many foreign invasions because of her military weakness the shah here with egypt sadat has learned his lesson britain's main interest oil as early as 1901 the englishman william knox darcy had been granted a 60-year oil concession the 26th of may 1908 marked the beginning of the oil industry in the middle east february 21st 1921 was the day of rezahan's coup d'etat with his cossacks he marched to tehran and overthrew a weak and tottering government eventually firm control over the whole country was established all russian concessions in iran were abolished concessions for britain granted by the old government cancelled with the exception of the old oil concession in 1925 the last shah bakarja dynasty was deposed by the majlis iran's parliament reza han then prime minister is elected shah the official coronation takes place on the so-called peacock throne out of raza shah's family his eldest son mohammed raza is appointed crown prince the years of the government of raza shah later to be named reza shah the great are the years in which the foundations of a sovereign and modern state are laid in 1928 the king of neighboring afghanistan pays the first state visit to the newly born iran another state visit with another neighbor raise a shah this time not the host but the guest visit to kamal ataturk founder of new turkey [Music] celebration of a wedding day crown prince mohammad reza is married to princess fawzi of egypt a liaison which will be unsuccessful world war one had proved to the iranians how badly they needed a strong army for self-defense roosevelt and churchill agree upon the atlantic chalker guaranteeing every nation's right to self-determination but in flagrant violation of the provisions of the charter iran will soon be made a victim of the big powers conflict british bombers attacked the iranian fleet and sink most of the ships causing considerable loss of life reza shah had declared his country neutral but in august 1941 as they had done in the first world war without forewarning the russians and the english invaded iran british troops enter iran from the south russians from the north soon russian and british units meet in the middle of a sovereign country just like occupation powers officially the capital of tehran is exempt from occupation but in reality very soon it will be a center of foreign activities now the shah himself here in his last filmed appearance abdicates and leaves the country the true masters for the moment the british and soviet ambassadors are of course interested in the security of their soldiers but not so much in the stability of the government to ensure inner stability the crown prince consequently has to act quickly in parliament muhammad raza within a few days after his father's abdication takes the oath as the new shah under the circumstances it is almost a new coup d'etat tehran 1943. this is the city where the first conference of the big three will take place a conference decisive for the fate of the post-war world toward the end of 1943 the big three are of course preoccupied with the big decisions which would determine their future mutual relationship mohammed raza shah meets churchill and roosevelt and stalin the independence sovereignty and territorial integrity of iran is finally recognized by the allies in the solemn declaration iran in the meantime suffers heavily from the effects of the occupation what influence is left for the shah in those days muhammad reza shah takes advantage of the unique role of the americans who had not invaded iran and had no imperialist past there as had the russians and english finally the iranians are again masters in their own house muhammad reza shah himself visits the london games of 1948 to demonstrate iran's presence one year after that visit to london the first attempt on the shah's life is made in the following years four more such attempts will be made in the first years of the united nations existence much is expected from this organization so the shah pays a visit to the world forum to plead for his country without peace the smaller countries can make no advance in their efforts to attain high living standards and social justice with peace we can do all therefore speaking in behalf of one of the smaller countries i make this appeal do not fail us the shah's appeal though welcomed emphatically by world opinion does not help very much the country does possess natural riches which could help to develop persia but iran's oil is being exploited by others it is the british who get the lion's share of the huge oil profits and who refuse for a long time to grant a greater share to the country from whose soil this wealth is extracted in this situation demagogues are ready at hand the then prime minister propagates nationalization of the oil industry expropriation of the foreign companies no more concessions for any foreigner iran must do everything on her own the architect of this radical policy prime minister mozaday when the british do not agree he stops oil production while british technicians and their families lead the country america's special ambassador hariman as an intermediary tries to settle the dispute harryman's mission in tehran fails the british iranian case is submitted to the united nations as well as to the international court in the hague mostaday's policy fails mostaday organizes riots in tehran their aim to overthrow the shah who has decided to dismiss his prime minister whose policy he feels is disastrous for the country for a short time it seems as if this rebellion directed by the prime minister against the monarch is successful but the wave rolls back demonstrations in favor of the shah in which the military joins to general zahidi appointed prime minister by the shah takes over government if washington expressed open sympathy for the shah remaining in power they today party was helped by moscow most a day's trial for high treason the death penalty is threatening under the new government a settlement is reached with the british over the oil issue hamburg harbor the policy of independence and self-reliance requires know-how and modern equipment learning and purchasing abroad as its stuttgart in the mercedes plant which eventually will become partly persian property when the oil boom for the first time makes possible iranian investments abroad chancellor adenauer from the federal republic of germany on this occasion soraya partly of german descent is interpreting her marriage to the shah will not produce an heir to the throne vital for the dynasty and they'll be divorced shortly and for the first time in her relations with great britain as here on the occasion of a state visit to london iran is treated as an equal sovereign power [Music] on december 21 1959 muhammad raza shah palave is married to faradiba ten months later a son is born to the royal couple vital for the dynasty for iran's monarchy an heir to the throne but his dynasty had fallen in the last ten years of his reign the shah thought that he had bought security through his weapons and through his police through salah but neither the shah and her salah moved against that force which was older than the shah this was the power of the church of muhammad and because there were millions of people who in one way or another had been oppressed by the regime they found the only vehicle for this expression was the mosque and against the mosque the shah was in essence powerless the one body the one faith the one power against which the shah could not maintain his rule [Applause] the portrait of the shaw goes up in flames the shaw has gone up in plains he's been driven from his country in all likelihood never to return