I Wish I Could Talk to Amir Shamsfard Now

The Spring 1975 semester was not an especially happy time for me. I was a senior at the University of Texas with the haziest of post-graduation plans. There were girlfriend problems. I was living in a two-story apartment complex at the intersection of Duval Street and Elmwood Place, just across the street from the venerable Posse East, roughly three blocks northeast of campus. In a room just down the exterior hallway from mine lived Amir Shamsfard and a couple of other Iranian guys. We spent quite a lot of time together; I did my best to explain the American Civil War so they could get passing grades in a history class, and we discussed life in the USA and in their home country.

Even in 1975, four years before the Shah went into exile and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came back from France to initiate what would be called the Islamic Republic of Iran, Amir and his friends had strong political views. He exulted over the American departure from Vietnam on April 30, although that is hardly the point here. He was emphatic that the Shah and his detested SAVAK (Sâzemân-e Ettelâ’ât va Amniat-e Kešvar) secret police had to go. UT’s West Mall was often full of placards of young Iranians who had allegedly been tortured and killed by SAVAK. I really do not know whether Amir was a fervent Muslim who faced Mecca on his prayer mat five times a day, nor can I recall if he ever mentioned Khomeini’s name.

Maybe he had finished school and gone back to Tehran—assuming that was his home town—by January 16, 1979 when the cancer-ridden Shah left for Egypt, traveling on to Morocco, the Bahamas, Mexico, the USA and back to Egypt where he died on July 27 of the following year. It is also quite possible that Amir became part of the Iranian diaspora since today you can find many descendants of Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and other figures of Persian history residing in such cities as Hamburg, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Stockholm and Dubai.

What did Amir think of Khomeini returning after more than 14 years in exile? Perhaps he was among the huge throng that gave the turbaned one a rapturous welcome. I remember watching clips of that on Nightline and other American media outlets and thinking that its intensity was downright frightening. Those men—interesting that Iranian women had already begun to recede into the shadows—were convinced that Khomeini had Allah on speed dial and would lead the country to a holy and glorious future.

In fact, there was an interim administration headed by Shapour Bakhtiar. With the Pahlavi dynasty over, he was chosen (after two others declined) to head a new civilian government. Under immense pressure, Bakhtiar had to act fast. So he did, dissolving SAVAK, freeing political prisoners, lifting censorship and promising to hold elections for a constituent assembly. Against his better judgement, he allowed Khomeini’s return. This happened in spite of Bakhtiar’s suspicion that the latter would head a red–green alliance, red meaning Communist/Marxist and green being a color of great significance in Islam; the so-called Prophet supposedly favored green and was buried in a green mantle. Bakhtiar was, sadly, right. Khomeini expelled him from the country (he was assassinated in 1991) and partnered briefly with the far-lefties before making Iran a full-fledged Shi’a Islamic state. Under his direction, the government instituted sharia law, mandated the wearing of full-length chadors for women (men, too, were obliged to follow strict Islamic dress codes and behavior), seized control of most private industries, made subtle but important changes to the Iranian flag and drastically changed the geopolitical balance in the Middle East.

Forty-seven years have passed. Khomeini died in 1989, and no fewer than 10 million moaning and weeping individuals are said to have attended his funeral. Succeeding him as “supreme leader” was Ali Khamenei, who sits precariously on a throne of sorts even as the USS Abraham Lincoln and other manifestations of American military might hover near and over Iran. As the world knows, people there have been protesting almost daily for months now. (I also bring it to your attention that large-scale protests occurred in 2009, 2017, 2019 and 2022.) They have good reason to complain. Women are sick of hiding, the environment is terrible, there is a severe water shortage, the oil industry is decrepit, and the economy is in shambles. What have they gotten for their protests this time around? The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its helpers have killed between 3,000 (their number) and 36,500 citizens, along with 300,000 or so injured. Maybe they are mad because Islam is fading in Iran; an estimated two-thirds of the country’s mosques sit empty—or burned, from the protests.

Amir Shamsfard, such a febrile opponent of the Shah five decades ago, may have changed his tune because he and his countrymen and -women have had plenty of time to come to grips with the political version of buyer’s remorse. You may have heard the old saying, “Be careful about what you wish for because you just might get it.” Iran’s Islamic theocracy has been a tragic failure, and the time for regime change has come. The country has an estimated 180,000 mullahs, and I have a message for each of them: Hit the road, Jack!

I wonder whether Amir is among the people who see the Shah’s oldest son, Reza Pahlavi, as the best choice for a bridge from the present regime to a secular, democratic government. He has promised to get rid of his country’s nukes, restore diplomatic relations with the United States and Israel, halt support for militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, implement market-based economic reforms, protect women’s rights and a lot more. Pahlavi, a resident of the Washington, DC area for years, has stated that he will bring Khameini and his fellow travelers to justice for killing all those people. I just saw an article from the Associated Press—careful, this is the legacy media—implying that the protests have been crushed. That remains to be seen, but I have read elsewhere that the old boy has quietly made an escape plan for himself, his family and close aides. There are allegations that assets valued up to nearly $100 billion have already been moved abroad. His most likely destination: Moscow.

The traditional lion-and-sun flag on the left and the one instituted by the Khomeini regime…

The Shah of Iran in all his finery…

Escorted by an Air France pilot, Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran, February 1, 1979…

Body bags in Iran…

Reza Pahlavi, the man Iran needs now…