0:00

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production

0:02

of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild

0:05

from Aaron Manky listener Discretion

0:07

advised. January

0:12

in Tehran can get pretty chilly,

0:15

so it's no surprise that people often

0:17

forsake the city for warmer

0:19

locales, and on January

0:22

sixteenth, nineteen seventy

0:24

nine, that's exactly what the

0:26

sha claimed to be doing, leaving

0:29

the capital of Iran for a quote

0:31

extended vacation. It

0:34

wasn't publicly known yet, but

0:36

the Shaw had recently been receiving treatment

0:38

for leukemia, and this trip

0:41

to Egypt and then the United States

0:43

was ostensibly to receive further

0:46

treatment and recuperate. But

0:49

even people in the know understood

0:51

that there was more to the Shah's

0:54

instinct to leave the country. It

0:57

wasn't frigid temperatures or

0:59

just the desire for medical treatment

1:02

that drove the Shah of Iran, Muhammad

1:05

Riza pat Levie to board

1:07

a plane headed for Egypt. The

1:10

real reason the Shah needed to get

1:12

away was because of the monumental

1:15

protests calling for his downfall

1:18

that had reached a boiling point

1:21

in his forty years on the throne.

1:24

The Shah had survived turmoil before,

1:26

and despite appearing to flee

1:29

in the face of this unrest, he

1:31

assumed that this time would be

1:33

no different. In nineteen fifty

1:35

three, the Shah had fled the country after

1:38

a botched coup to topple the

1:40

then prime minister, a coup which

1:42

he, the Shah, had tacitly supported,

1:45

But once the pro shah Us

1:47

government and the staunchly loyal

1:50

Iranian military stepped in, the

1:52

Shah was able to return to the country,

1:55

even more determined to maintain

1:57

his hold on power and so

2:00

oh. As he got on the plane in

2:02

January of nineteen seventy nine,

2:04

he knew it was possible that he might

2:07

need to be out of the country for a

2:09

year or two, but he assumed

2:11

that eventually he would return, only

2:14

more popular and more supported

2:16

than ever. After all, the

2:19

Iranian monarchy was over

2:21

two thousand and five hundred years

2:23

old. It could survive another

2:26

round of protests, but

2:29

by the start of nineteen seventy

2:31

nine the protests were particularly

2:34

fierce. It had been a year

2:36

and two days since the first wave

2:39

of unrest in this bout of turmoil unfolded

2:42

in that year, since the demonstrations

2:45

which called for a representative government

2:47

free of corruption only grew

2:50

in size and ferocity. What

2:52

started out as a protest championed

2:55

by outspoken anti Shah

2:58

activists turned into a

3:00

bloody nationwide clash

3:03

between the general public and the

3:05

military loyal to the Shah. By

3:07

January nineteen seventy nine,

3:10

over eleven percent of the country

3:12

was actively participating in anti

3:15

regime protests. Compare

3:17

that to the estimated number

3:20

of roughly seven percent of citizens

3:22

who were actively participating during

3:25

the French Revolution. No

3:27

wonder the Shah was feeling the

3:29

heat. As the

3:31

Shah and his wife, Queen Farah, stepped

3:34

out of their car and walked toward

3:36

their private plane, the two

3:38

royal guards standing on the tarmac

3:41

fell to their knees, crying. They

3:44

attempted to kiss the Shah's feet

3:46

in reverence, only for him to urge

3:49

them back up to their own feet. Once

3:52

standing, the guards held the

3:54

Koran in the air above the royal

3:56

couple's heads as they walked

3:58

underneath and up the plane

4:01

stairs. This traditional

4:03

Muslim ritual is meant to insure

4:05

one's safety on a difficult journey.

4:09

It's probable that the guards understood

4:11

that this trip was not a regular

4:14

vacation, and that the Shah would

4:16

need all the support he could get

4:19

in order to remain not just in

4:21

power, but alive. Once

4:24

boarded, the Shah sat down in the

4:26

cockpit of his plane and turned

4:29

on its engines. Perhaps

4:31

in an attempt to maintain control

4:33

in the face of an uncertain future, the

4:36

Shah had decided to pilot his own

4:38

plane for at least take off

4:40

and the first hour of the journey. The

4:43

Shah turned his plane on and for a

4:45

moment, as the rumble of the engines

4:47

filled the cockpit, he could forget

4:50

the sound of his people calling

4:53

for his downfall. The Shaw

4:55

concentrated on the tarmac ahead as

4:57

he moved the plane to the runway, cleted

5:01

and lifted up. As the plane

5:03

soared into the sky, the Shah

5:05

looked down on Tehran and its

5:08

surrounding areas. Even

5:10

though no one could see him, he

5:12

attempted to maintain a steely

5:14

disposition while tears

5:17

rolled down his cheeks. Despite

5:20

all of the stress, sadness, anger,

5:22

frustration, and pure exhaustion of

5:25

the past year, the Shah had

5:27

had no idea that this

5:29

would be the last time he

5:31

would ever see his country. But

5:34

as his plane flew westward.

5:36

Not only did the symbolic quote

5:39

peacock throne from which the Shah

5:41

had reigned crumbled in the

5:43

face of the Iranian Revolution, but

5:46

so too did the centuries old

5:48

monarchical tradition in Iran.

5:51

With his departure, Muhammad Reza

5:54

Pahlavi, the quote king

5:56

of Kings, light of the Aryans,

5:59

center of the universe, shadow of the

6:01

Almighty could add a new

6:03

name to that impressive list

6:05

of titles, the last

6:08

Shah of Iran. I'm

6:10

Danish Schwartz and this is noble

6:12

blood.

6:17

Now, before we dive into the Shah's

6:19

life, I think it's worth clarifying how

6:22

I'll be referring to him throughout the episode.

6:24

Mohammad Resah Shah had many names

6:27

throughout his life. When he was born

6:29

in nineteen nineteen, he was named

6:31

Mohammad Resa with no surname.

6:34

When his father usurped the throne

6:36

in nineteen twenty one, his father

6:39

adopted the surname pot la

6:41

Vie, which is also the name of the

6:43

pre Islamic language in Iran.

6:46

Once king himself, the Shah

6:48

became known as Mohammad Reza

6:51

Shah. And so for this story's

6:53

sake, I'll be referring to him either as

6:55

the Shah or Muhammad Resa

6:57

Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah

7:00

was born a commoner, but by

7:02

his twenty second birthday he

7:04

was the Shah of Iran and second

7:07

Shah of the Paula Vis dynasty.

7:10

He ultimately ruled Iran for

7:12

almost forty years, a

7:14

period during which the nation underwent

7:17

dramatic cultural changes and

7:19

grew in power, going from

7:21

essentially a colony of England and

7:24

Russia to one of the most powerful

7:26

nations in the Middle East. Mohammad

7:29

Reza Shah would contend that

7:31

he was to thank for this growth.

7:34

In striving to build uote the

7:36

Great Civilization, the Shah

7:39

undertook a series of modernizing

7:41

reforms that he labeled the

7:43

White Revolution. These

7:46

wide ranging reforms included

7:48

land reform programs that dismantled

7:50

the country's semi feudal system

7:53

of land management, equal

7:55

rights for women, nationalization

7:57

of forests, and water and

8:00

literacy corps. Many of

8:02

these programs were not successful

8:05

due to either administrative ineptitude

8:07

or poor public perception, but

8:10

the country did still modernize

8:12

in many ways. If you're wondering

8:14

where Iran would have gotten the money

8:17

to make these menu reforms. The

8:19

answer is, perhaps unsurprisingly

8:22

oil. In the nineteen fifties,

8:24

Iran nationalized oil and

8:27

brought millions of dollars into the

8:29

treasury. Iran appeared to

8:31

be on the up and up, which

8:33

the Sha attributed to his brilliant

8:36

leadership and stewardship of his

8:38

country. When the two

8:40

thousand, five hundredth anniversary

8:42

of the Persian monarchy ruled around,

8:45

the Shah used that opportunity

8:47

to celebrate Iran himself

8:50

and all that he felt he had done for

8:52

the country with an extravagant

8:55

week long affair in nineteen seventy

8:58

one. The party took

9:00

place at the ancient ruins of Persepolis,

9:03

located in the arid landscape

9:05

of southern Iran. Persepolis

9:07

had been the capital of Cyrus the

9:09

Great's empire. If the Shah

9:11

was looking to celebrate Iran's millennium

9:14

spanning history, there was no better

9:16

place to emphasize just how old

9:19

Iran and its monarchy

9:21

were. The guests

9:23

for this festive occasion were notable

9:25

in and of themselves. The Shah

9:28

invited heads of government and state

9:30

from across the globe, including

9:33

then US President Richard Nixon,

9:35

Queen Elizabeth of England,

9:38

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier

9:40

of Monaco, as well as Soviet

9:42

President Nikolai Podgourney. Not

9:45

all of those people attended, specifically

9:48

Richard Nixon and Queen Elizabeth,

9:50

who passed but sent lesser

9:52

figures in their stead, Spiro

9:55

Agnew, the Vice President of the United

9:57

States, and Prince Philip sspectively.

10:01

In all, sixty nine countries

10:04

sent representatives to the festivities

10:10

for the Shaw. There was a lot riding

10:13

on this event. With all the world's

10:15

eyes on Persepolis, the Shaw was

10:17

eager to demonstrate just how strong

10:19

and prosperous Iran had become, and

10:22

he certainly delivered, sparing

10:25

no expense and racking up a bill

10:27

so big that even today people

10:30

still debate just how expensive

10:32

the whole thing was. Robert

10:34

Steele, in his book on this bimillennial

10:37

celebration, states that while landing

10:39

on an exact number is difficult,

10:42

we can tentatively estimate that

10:44

the Shaw spent around sixteen

10:47

point eight million dollars

10:49

on the event, which would be equivalent

10:51

to just over one hundred and

10:53

twenty eight million dollars

10:56

in today's money. Among

10:58

the week's activities were a par raid, a

11:00

fireworks show, and the most

11:02

well known part of the celebration, a

11:05

dinner party for all of the guests

11:07

that was so elaborate it became

11:10

infamous. The dinner, which

11:12

was five hours and featured six

11:14

courses, took place under a

11:16

massive tent. Each dish was

11:19

an elaborate, decadent creation,

11:21

with a menu featuring roasted peacock,

11:24

quail, eggs, saddles of lamb, golden

11:27

caviar, and dom perignon. Of

11:29

the six courses, only one

11:32

ingredient was actually from Iran

11:35

caviar during the first course. Everything

11:38

else was flown in from Maxims

11:40

in Paris, and it wasn't just

11:43

the food that was imported. Basically

11:45

everything the Shah needed for the entire

11:48

week's festivities was brought in

11:50

from Europe, including the weight

11:52

staff. Even at the

11:54

time, the dinner party wasn't particularly

11:57

well received. The lavish

12:00

of the event appeared too many to be

12:02

in poor taste, given that so

12:04

many Iranians were still in poverty.

12:07

Sure, the Shah might have previously

12:09

put time, money, and energy into

12:11

developing Iran, but those

12:14

investments hadn't necessarily resulted

12:16

in material improvements in

12:18

the lives of ordinary Iranian people.

12:21

And so it wasn't a great look for

12:24

him to be spending money on French

12:26

champagne and a thirty three

12:29

kilogram birthday cake for his wife,

12:32

Not to mention, because they had

12:34

imported almost everything for the event,

12:37

they were sending all of that money abroad

12:39

instead of investing it domestically. Iranians

12:42

who were struggling saw the message

12:44

plainly, the Shah would spend

12:46

lavishly on himself and on dignitaries

12:49

that he wanted to impress, but not on

12:51

them. Given

12:54

that criticism, it's not surprising

12:56

that nowadays a common narrative

12:59

about the cell and the dinner

13:01

specifically is that it was

13:03

the catalyst for the Iranian Revolution

13:06

or the protest movement which would ultimately

13:08

oust the Shah. A twenty

13:10

sixteen article in the British tabloid

13:13

The Daily Mail went so far as

13:15

to say, quote the great iron knee

13:18

is that the Shaw's feast was supposed

13:20

to reinforce the throne it ultimately

13:22

toppled. That narrative

13:25

is an oversimplification of the

13:27

forces behind the Iranian revolution,

13:30

and bad as the optics were. To

13:32

put it. Frankly, one dinner

13:34

party did not cause the Shah to

13:37

fall Even though Iranian did

13:39

not perceive the event positively, it

13:42

wasn't the sole foundation on which the later

13:44

revolution developed. That being

13:47

said, the event is an

13:49

incredibly useful tool in understanding

13:52

many of the factors which did lead

13:55

to the Iranian Revolution and the Shaw's

13:57

ultimate dethroning, namely

13:59

his opulent spending practices, his

14:02

desire to court the West, and

14:05

his growing detachment from

14:08

reality.

14:13

You might recall that I mentioned in passing

14:15

in the introduction that Muhammad Razash

14:18

Shah ruled from a peacock

14:20

throne. The peacock throne wasn't

14:23

a literal object, but a common

14:25

metaphor to describe just how ostentatious

14:28

the Shah was. He and his three

14:30

wives had a habit of buying expensive

14:33

cars, boats, planes, art, jewelry,

14:36

and artifacts. The extremely

14:38

lavish nature of the two thousand,

14:40

five hundredth anniversary celebration was

14:43

completely on brand for the

14:46

lifestyle that the Shah and his

14:48

household led. But an

14:50

important thing to bear in mind is that the

14:52

money that the Shah was spending on luxury

14:54

goods and palace renovations wasn't

14:57

entirely his own. The line

15:00

between the Shah's money and the country's

15:02

treasury gradually blurred

15:05

to the point where it was hard to deny

15:08

that the Shaw was using the country's oil

15:10

money to fund his lavish

15:12

lifestyle. And even when

15:14

he did spend the country's money

15:16

on things for Iran, he did

15:18

so according to his whims. For

15:21

example, he was obsessed with the military,

15:23

and so he ended up spending a

15:25

higher percentage of the country's GDP

15:28

on the military than any other

15:30

country in the world aside from

15:32

the US. None of that was

15:34

looked upon kindly by the Iranian

15:37

public, many of whom were still

15:39

living in poverty. The

15:41

Shah also idolized the West,

15:44

almost to a fault. Recall

15:46

that just about everything at the two

15:48

thousand, five hundredth anniversary celebration

15:51

dinner was imported from

15:53

France. That exemplifies

15:55

just how much value the shop placed

15:57

on Western, specifically European

16:00

tastes. He essentially used

16:02

the West as the benchmark against

16:05

which he measured himself and the

16:07

country. He strove to make

16:09

Iran equivalent in quality of life

16:11

to European countries, and

16:14

quite literally fashioned himself

16:16

like a European monarch, wearing

16:19

Western military regalia in

16:21

all of his formal portraits in

16:23

a country with a long Muslim

16:25

tradition and a history of

16:27

being abused and overlooked by

16:30

the West, and a country with a

16:32

deep sense of national pride.

16:34

His outlook was not widely appreciated,

16:37

But perhaps the quality that most

16:40

Iranians took issue with was

16:42

that despite the progressive measures

16:44

that the Sha championed during the White

16:46

Revolution, the Shah was

16:48

an authoritarian ruler. During

16:51

his reign, he consistently stripped

16:53

the Iranian people of the right to exercise

16:56

their political freedoms. For

16:58

example, people can not express

17:01

anything but positive feelings about

17:03

the Shah. In nineteen fifty

17:05

seven, in order to enforce that rule

17:07

and generally maintain control

17:09

over the population, the Shah created

17:11

a secret police force called Savakh.

17:14

For two decades, Savak agents

17:17

instilled fear in society, as

17:19

they had the authority to arrest, in prison,

17:22

and torture anyone who

17:24

supposedly posed a threat

17:26

to the monarchy or the Shah's agenda.

17:29

Eventually, the Sha went so far

17:32

as to abolish political parties

17:34

in favor of his new party, the

17:36

National Resurgence Party, and

17:39

he directed that all Iranians,

17:41

lest they wanted to be labeled traders,

17:43

must join There's no

17:46

doubt about it. The Shah was an

17:48

autocrat. In

17:52

nineteen seventy four, the Shah was diagnosed

17:54

with leukemia. Like many authoritarians,

17:57

the Shah saw his power dependent

18:00

on not looking weak or replaceable,

18:03

and so the Shah kept his diagnosis

18:06

highly classified. Very few

18:08

high ranking officials in the government, let

18:11

alone the general public, knew of

18:13

the Shah's diagnosis. By

18:15

nineteen seventy eight, the Shah started

18:18

to become affected by the brutal

18:20

nature of his cancer and his

18:22

treatments. While he had always

18:24

been an indecisive man, because

18:27

of the illness and treatments, his

18:29

mood and opinions would violently

18:31

swing from one extreme to the other

18:34

within a day. This wouldn't necessarily

18:37

be a problem, but because of the

18:39

Shah's need to maintain complete

18:41

control, the Iranian government

18:44

hinged on his word and his word

18:46

alone. So not only was

18:48

the government at the mercy of the Shah's ever

18:50

changing mood, but the country was

18:52

now being entirely led by

18:54

a violent, weakened king who

18:57

was increasingly detached from

18:59

reality. While there were many

19:01

periods of unrest during the Shah's

19:03

rule, the beginning of what became

19:06

the Iranian revolution came in

19:08

early nineteen seventy eight when

19:10

the people of Iran took to the straits

19:13

to protest a newspaper article

19:16

published in the unofficial state

19:18

newspaper. The article hurled

19:20

a slew of insults at a

19:22

dissident Ayatola named

19:25

Rujala Romeni, which

19:27

was a thinly veiled attempt by

19:29

the Shah to undermine Chromeni's

19:32

popularity. Protesters

19:34

were accustomed to the Shah's controlling

19:36

regime, but they could not stand

19:39

idly by as he attacked one

19:41

of their most outspoken advocates

19:43

for their freedom. During

19:46

the protests over this news

19:48

article, the SHA's security

19:50

forces fired on protesters.

19:53

In Shia Islam, the majority religion

19:56

in Iran, memorial services

19:58

are held forty days after someone dies,

20:01

and so forty days after this first

20:03

protest, Iranian took to the

20:05

streets again to mourn their

20:07

lost loved ones and further the

20:09

protest against the regime. Again

20:12

directed to do so by the Shah,

20:14

his security forces fired on and

20:17

killed protesters, which led

20:19

to another round of protests forty

20:21

days later. This forty

20:23

day cycle kept the protest movement

20:26

alive and in fact grew

20:28

it while only making the

20:30

Shah and his brutality more

20:32

apparent. The Shah

20:34

could not comprehend how his people

20:37

could be so ungrateful for all of the

20:39

good he had accomplished, how prosperous

20:42

their country was becoming. In

20:44

reality, despite any of

20:46

the public works the Shah had achieved,

20:49

he had also purged his government and

20:51

court of anyone who might have been

20:53

able to offer a true representation

20:56

of the will of the general public. There

20:58

was no one who would tell the Shah that, in

21:01

fact, much of the Iranian population

21:03

was deeply upset with his lavish

21:05

spending, with his government's corruption,

21:08

with the government's ineptitude,

21:11

and the lack of political freedoms

21:13

they had. The Shah just thought these

21:15

protesters were Islamic Marxists

21:18

supported by foreign agents

21:20

looking to rile up the country, and

21:22

so he urged his forces to crack down,

21:25

continuing the cycle of deadly protests

21:28

of brutality toward the people

21:30

the Shah claimed to love. After

21:34

a helicopter ride over one of

21:36

the massive protests in Tehran, when

21:38

the Shah was able to see the hordes

21:41

of people who had come out against him,

21:43

the shaw seemed to come to his senses. He

21:46

started to offer concessions like

21:48

releasing political prisoners who had been arrested

21:51

by Savak, but it was too

21:53

late. His brutality had

21:55

offered kindling to the most extreme

21:57

factions of his dissidents.

22:00

Revolution was snowballing and had picked

22:02

up too much energy and manpower

22:04

to stop. Protests

22:06

continued with a renewed fervor

22:09

to topple the Shah. The Shah's

22:11

foreign allies, particularly those

22:13

in the US, saw the writing

22:15

on the wall, and began to urge him

22:17

to leave the country. As

22:20

nineteen seventy eight turned to nineteen

22:23

seventy nine, the Shah saw

22:25

fewer and fewer viable paths

22:28

ahead. Despite this, and

22:30

even as he ordered his staff to begin

22:32

packing up his belongings, the

22:34

Shah could not have fathomed that

22:37

this unrest would be capable of dismantling

22:40

two thousand, five hundred years

22:42

of monarchy.

22:49

Muhammad Rezashah left Iran

22:52

on January sixteenth, nineteen

22:54

seventy nine, and never returned.

22:57

As news of his departure broke, the

22:59

streets of Iran became the scene

23:01

of a massive party. Hordes

23:03

of people flooded to the streets to celebrate,

23:06

cheering the Shah is gone. Forever. People

23:08

drove around aimlessly blasting music,

23:11

honking their horns. Others

23:13

handed out candy to passers by.

23:16

A few days later, Ayatola Ruhala

23:19

Homeni returned to Iran after

23:21

fourteen years in exile, and

23:23

he began consolidating power

23:26

in the vacuum that the Shah had left.

23:28

His return marks the beginning of the

23:31

government that he created, the

23:33

Islamic Republic of Iran, which

23:35

still controls Iran today with its

23:37

own deep, deep problems

23:40

with corruption and violent oppression.

23:43

But this is not the story of Ayatola

23:46

Komani. This is the story

23:48

of the Shah. After

23:51

leaving Iran, the Shah was shunted

23:53

from country to country as

23:55

fewer and fewer people were

23:58

willing to be responsible for

24:00

an unpopular, ousted monarch.

24:03

He first arrived in Egypt, where

24:05

he received a royal welcome, complete

24:07

with honor guards and the welcoming arms

24:10

of longtime friend Anwar

24:12

al Sadat. After a short

24:14

time in Egypt, which was the home

24:16

of his first wife, he was sent

24:18

to Morocco, expecting

24:20

a similarly royal reception. In

24:23

Morocco, the Shah was immediately

24:25

disappointed by a lackluster

24:28

greeting from King Hassan the Second.

24:31

From Morocco, the Sha traveled to

24:33

the Bahamas and then Mexico. He

24:35

had gone from being treated like a

24:38

precious crown jewel to being

24:40

tossed around like a hand grenade ready

24:43

to blow. He certainly did

24:45

not appreciate the change. He

24:47

believed himself to still be royal

24:50

and expected appropriate treatment.

24:52

Unfortunately, however, like any

24:55

ousted monarch, the Shah didn't

24:57

have the luxury to reject what

24:59

he was given. During

25:01

this time, the Shaw's health deteriorated

25:04

quickly. Very few people knew

25:06

of the Shah's true diagnosis,

25:09

so upon his arrival to Mexico,

25:11

doctors actually started treating him for

25:14

malaria without proper

25:16

cancer treatment. The Shah lost thirty

25:18

pounds. People close to the monarch

25:21

described his appearance as emaciated

25:23

and jaundiced. Soon it was

25:25

obvious he needed surgery, and

25:27

he would only get adequate medical treatment

25:29

in the United States, But

25:32

the Shah had soured on his previous

25:34

ally, and for good reason. The

25:37

United States had originally declared

25:39

that they would accept the exiled king,

25:41

and the Shah was slated to fly to the United

25:44

States after leaving around for Egypt,

25:47

but US President Jimmy Carter

25:49

reneged on the deal after Ayatolhomeni

25:53

threatened to storm the US embassy

25:55

should the Shah enter the United States

25:59

due to the shah worsening cancer

26:01

condition. However, Carter was convinced

26:03

to accept the Sha into the United States

26:06

in October nineteen seventy

26:09

nine, nine months after the

26:11

Shaw's exile began, and

26:13

so the Sha and his entourage flew

26:15

from Mexico to New York and were

26:18

secreted away to a hospital room

26:20

at New York Hospital. The

26:22

humanitarian act by the United

26:24

States would prove disastrous,

26:27

as Iranian students would soon storm

26:30

the US embassy in Tehran and

26:32

hold embassy officials hostage

26:35

in response to the Shah being accepted

26:37

into America. Because

26:40

the Shaw's arrival had resulted in

26:42

an active hostage situation,

26:45

the shaws stay in the United States

26:47

was uncomfortable beyond the

26:49

medical After only one

26:52

month in the United States, he made

26:54

it known that he would like to return back

26:56

to Mexico. However, his

26:58

former host no La no longer wished to

27:01

extend their hospitality to him,

27:03

and the Shah was instead forced

27:05

to go to Panama, where he resided

27:08

for a short time before going back

27:10

to Egypt. When he landed

27:13

in Egypt, the Shah was said to have teared

27:15

up at the site of anwar al Sadat

27:18

and military guards waiting

27:20

to welcome him. Since he had

27:22

fled his home country almost two

27:24

years prior, Egypt had been

27:26

the only place that welcomed

27:29

him with the dignity that he felt

27:31

he deserved. Once in

27:33

Egypt, it became clear that the

27:35

Shah's end was near. An

27:37

operation revealed that his cancer

27:39

had spread throughout his body. It

27:42

was only a matter of time. On

27:44

July twenty seventh, nineteen

27:47

eighty, Muhammad Reza

27:49

Potleve passed away, leaving

27:51

his dreams of returning to Iran

27:53

one day and continuing the

27:56

multi millennium tradition of the

27:58

monarchy unfulfilled.

28:05

That's the story of the last Shah of

28:07

Iran. But keep listening after

28:09

a brief sponsor break to hear

28:12

a little bit more about that wild

28:14

last party that he threw. One

28:21

of the most popular anecdotes used

28:23

to illustrate the unnecessary opulence

28:26

of the anniversary party the Shah

28:28

through is that the Shah bought fifty

28:30

thousand exotic birds for the celebration,

28:33

only to leave them to die once

28:36

the dignitaries returned home. There's

28:38

actually no evidence to indicate that

28:41

this relatively famous act of animal

28:43

cruelty actually happened. But there

28:45

are so many other true, fascinating

28:48

historical tidbits related to that two

28:50

thousand, five hundredth anniversary celebration

28:53

at Persepolis. Being that

28:56

the construction of Persepolis

28:58

predated air travel, it's

29:00

not surprising for you to hear that there was no

29:02

airport at Persepolis for dignitaries

29:05

to fly into for the event. As

29:07

such, guests made their way to the

29:09

event in a myriad of ways.

29:12

US of Vice President Spiro Agnew,

29:15

for instant flew in from the Shiraz

29:17

airport in a helicopter. That

29:19

fact irked some Persian

29:21

Gulf sheikhs, however, because

29:24

they had to travel the thirty miles

29:26

in air conditioned Mercedes limousines,

29:29

an incredibly tough ride. I'm sure. The

29:32

parade during the celebrations

29:34

featured droves of men representing

29:37

different eras of Persian civilization,

29:40

from Cyrus the Great to the Sasanians

29:42

to Parthians, Safavids all

29:45

the way to Cossack brigades

29:47

of the early twentieth century. This

29:49

last group paid tribute to Muhammad

29:52

Rezashah's father, who himself

29:54

was a Cossack before his successful

29:57

rise to power. There was also

29:59

a true two hundred men strong representing

30:02

the Acamenians, and these men

30:04

were given a strict directive in the

30:06

months leading up to the parade no

30:09

shaving. In order to accurately

30:11

represent the styling of Achaemenian

30:13

soldiers, these men would have to grow

30:16

long beards. The Shah and

30:18

the planning committee were so committed

30:21

to authenticity that they turned

30:23

down a Japanese firm's offer to

30:25

outfit all of the soldiers with

30:28

fake beards, real beards

30:30

only. My final

30:32

anecdote relates to notable

30:34

absences from the celebration. Even

30:38

though the infamous five hour

30:40

dinner was almost entirely French,

30:43

French President Georges Pompadou

30:45

declined to go. In

30:48

quite a backhanded statement,

30:50

President Pompadou said, if

30:53

I do go, they would probably make

30:55

me head waiter. Noble

31:06

Blood is a production of iHeartRadio

31:09

and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey.

31:12

Noble Blood is created and hosted

31:15

by me Dana Shwarts, with additional

31:17

writing and researching by Hannah

31:20

Johnston, Hannah Zuick, Mira

31:22

Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori

31:24

Goodman. The show is edited

31:27

and produced by Noemi Griffin

31:29

and rima Il Kahali, with

31:31

supervising producer Josh Thain

31:34

and executive producers Aaron Manke,

31:37

Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick.

31:39

For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

31:42

visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple

31:44

Podcasts, or wherever you listen

31:47

to your favorite shows.