Word: reza
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After 25 years of autocratic and often oppressive rule, during which he sought to make his feudal nation a modern society, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi began taking tentative steps toward political liberalization in 1976. He reined in Iran's notorious security police agency, SAVAK, eased censorship, and encouraged more open political debate. The reforms stilled some criticism by the country's intellectuals and student dissidents. But the changes also gave new life to opponents of the regime who now pose one of the gravest threats to the Shah's rule in the past 15 years. This year...
Although no one seriously thinks that the Shah, who is 58, is about to allow full political freedom, he apparently believes that some liberalization is necessary if the country is to remain stable through any period of succession. (Crown Prince Reza, who becomes 18 this year, is next in line to rule.) Last August, faced with discontent over the skyrocketing cost of living and government-ordered power cutbacks that caused several hundred million dollars in industrial losses, the Shah named Jamshid Amuzegar, 54, the country's tough oil and energy negotiator, as Premier. Amuzegar took swift action against inflation...
Speaking over a podium draped with a banner which read "Free Iran's Political Prisoners," Reza Berahini, Iranian poet and former political prisoner, said President Carter's recent reception of the Shah of Iran in Washington was "a stab in the back of every Iranian who felt he (Carter) was sincere about standing up for human rights...
...Palace outside Warsaw, the Carters flew to Tehran. When Air Force One rolled to a stop at Mehrabad Airport, Carter was the first person to pop out of the door, his tan trenchcoat and slightly disheveled appearance contrasting a bit with the regal elegance of his host, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. On the way to the city, they drove along roads that were lined with more security men than well-wishers. Only a few hours earlier there had been five anti-American demonstrations...
...There is one thing I can say about the Shah: he knows how to draw a crowd."-Jimmy Carter, toasting Iran's Mohammed Reza Pahlavi at the White House last week...