It was (and is) naive to expect a developing country in the islamic world to be perfect on matters like press freedom or political participation. But Iran was without a doubt ahead for it’s time and place, and most importantly it was allied with the West and attempting to become a Western country. What more to expect? Especially as you said the Shah was facing a constant threat of Communist and Islamist Extremism.
When I lived in Iran during the latter years of the Shah, he argueably was most autocratic (1974-78), and it was a wonderful place to live in with freedoms you can’t imagine in Iran today.
The Shah was a true Renaissance man...
but the leftists in the West preferred to support instead a savage barbarian mullah lunatic.
“leftists in the West preferred to support instead a savage barbarian mullah lunatic.”
You mean Oba-Hussein-Khomeini?
Read this:
http://noiri.blogspot.com/2009/05/carter-oba-hussein-obambi-and-world-war.html