The Shah’s Last Ride

Okaz, Saudi Arabia, December 25

On the eve of January 16, 1979, the Shah’s plane remained flying for a long time over the countries neighboring Iran, searching for an airport that would allow it to land there. Everyone was shocked by the American (and Western) decision to abandon one of their most important allies and refuse to offer him asylum. The Shah and his wife left Tehran Airport, wracked by fears of an unknown future. The interesting thing is that the Shah himself piloted the plane, which was flying towards an unknown destination. Tired and sore from Washington’s betrayal, he remained flying for a long time, looking for a country to receive him. In his book The Shah’s Last Ride, William Shawcross exposes the ugly face of Western policies, which betrayed the Shah despite his utmost loyalty to his Western allies, especially the Americans. When [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini overthrew the Shah, the West treated him with disdain, denial, and ingratitude, not as a loyal ally. Therefore, the Shah remained, from his departure from Tehran until his death in 1980, on the move; searching for a refuge where he could spend the rest of his life. There is no doubt that the Iranians who roam the streets of Tehran today in search of liberation from the slavery of the mullah regime, are asking themselves: Is their condition today better than it was during the rule of the Shah? Let me point to one criterion that covers the answer. Back in the days of the Shah, Iranians would spend their vacations in America and Europe, as visas were available to all those who sought them. Today, the Iranian people are trying to escape a death verdict, just as Western countries refuse to grant them visas or asylum. As for Iranian pilgrims, they were, until the beginning of the ill-fated revolution at the end of the seventies, the richest Muslim pilgrims and the wealthiest of them, and all service providers in the holy cities vied for their attention. But today they are among the poorest and most disdained. America’s allies and friends have understood that Washington is closer to betrayal and selling friends than it is to the preservation of partnerships and alliances. The unstable and unpredictable nature of American politics cannot be trusted, and countries must search for their interests and build their political, economic, and security alliances without relying on America. Saudi Arabia, in its recent moves in foreign, economic, and security policy, has a clear vision based on its long experiences spanning three centuries in dealing with friends and enemies, as well as on the experiences of others who believed the Americans, including the Shah in Tehran and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The latter said after witnessing Washington’s betrayal: “Those who cover themselves with the Americans will find themselves naked.” Therefore, Riyadh will not be a new Tehran simply waiting for the Americans to betray it. –Muhammad Al-Saed (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)