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On Iran

On Sunday, 12 December, 2004, Sir David Frost interviewed Farah Pahlavi, former Empress of Iran
Please note "BBC Breakfast with Frost" must be credited if any part of this transcript is used.

Farah Pahlavi, former Empress of Iran

DAVID FROST: It's now 25 years since the Shah of Iran was deposed in one of the most dramatic overthrows of power of the 20th century.
Before he was forced to relinquish the Peacock throne I interviewed him at Persepolis the ancient symbol of Persian kingship and I asked him what was the common bond that united the Iranian people
(TAPE INSERT)
With months the Islamic revolution headed by Ayatollah Khomema changed everything and the Shah and his family were forced to flee Iran, never to return, never yet to return anyway.
I interviewed the Shah again in exile in Panama in January 1980 and he died six months later in Egypt.
At his side throughout the whole of the last 21 years of his life was his Empress, Farah Pahlavi. Ma'am, welcome. Very good to have you here.
FARAH PAHLAVI: Good morning, thank you for inviting me.
DAVID FROST: And seeing your husband, your late husband there. When you met him, how long was it between ... was it love at first sight?
FARAH PAHLAVI: Well I must say that of course I always loved the King as a citizen, the loyal citizen to her King. But after many meetings of course this love turned from a person to his king to a love of a woman to a man.
DAVID FROST: And I suppose perhaps one of the happiest moments of your whole time together was when you were able to give birth to your first child who was a son, the son and heir that he so hoped for. That must have been a moment of ecstasy?
FARAH PAHLAVI: Yes, it was. It was a wonderful moment, not only for us but also for all our compatriots. And also so many moments of other happiness with my other children. And whatever happened positive for our country.
DAVID FROST: And when we were talking in that clip, I think probably looking back on it now, the Shah probably overestimated the power that the King had over the people and probably underestimated the power that the Mullahs had?
FARAH PAHLAVI: Well not being where we are now today, of course we think back and in spite of what has happened in Iran and the revolution and the 25 years, now we're looking back and with hindsight of course we could have seen the problems better, we maybe could have managed, the problems better
... And also it was a mistake from our part and also in the government and I guess the mistake of the people in the streets and many of the opposition that thought that Khomeni who had promised them paradise, will give them paradise. But unfortunately he opened the door to hell.
DAVID FROST: And at the same time, I mean, I suppose the two things people quoted a lot about that time were of course the activities of SAVAK and of corruption and so on.
But do you think the real problem, because this is something I ask prime ministers about, how do you keep in touch with what people are thinking and so on? And the answer is that they try, but with an absolute monarch, presumably people apart from you, tell a Shah what they think he wants to hear?
FARAH PAHLAVI: It's possible that around every power there are people who want to only give the good news. But we have to consider Iran in the context of that period. We had our big neighbour, the Soviet Union, who always dreamt to reach the warm waters of the Persian Gulf. We had religious fanatics and seeing the result now, we see that we didn't see some of the dissatisfactions.
But, having said that, when you look back in the last 25 years I can not stop myself comparing what was the situation of the Iranians 25 years ago and what was the situation of Iran, and also in the Middle East, and what would have happened if the revolution didn't happen. And I think really that with all the shortcomings we had, like any other country or any other regime, we didn't need such a horrible revolution.
DAVID FROST: Did you feel betrayed in that last year, year and a half, when you had been ousted from Iran and the United States' President Carter and others didn't really give you the support that you thought you'd earned?
FARAH PAHLAVI: Well Sir David, you know it was a very difficult time. And sometimes unbearable. But we had to survive, I had to survive for my husband, for my children, for my own dignity.
And you know, for foreign politics and power you can understand they are after what they think is their national interest. And after all a government had changed. But we at the same time received many letters and many supporting words from simple people, and that kept us going on. And I can consider that life is a struggle for all of us, no matter in what position we are relative to opposition.
DAVID FROST: Talking of struggle and so on, when I was doing the interview with the Shah in exile the Khomeni regime were announcing to the world that you as a family, and the Shah, had left Iran with 176 billion dollars. I presume that was not true?
FARAH PAHLAVI: Of course it's not true. It's all the propaganda of the regime and also all the opposition. The King was a patriot. He loved his country above all, and its people. And I must assure you now people realise that that was all propaganda and I hope today the same people who wrote or said about this supposedly billions, think of the corruption which exists today in Iran.
DAVID FROST: And finally, would you like George Bush, President Bush, would you like him to do in Iran what he's done in Iraq, and go in and have a regime change?
FARAH PAHLAVI: This is the most undesirable thing to happen. Iranians I think which are really desperate for change, desperate for freedom and democracy.
And I am sure with the help of the Iranians inside and outside of Iran, and with the help and the moral help of the freedom-loving people of the world, Iranian people will reach democracy and freedom.
To watch the video of Breakfast with David Frost, click here
To listen to Sir David Frost's interview with Empress Farah Pahlavi, click here

Iran tries 'infiltrators' of nuclear facilities on espionage charges

Iran is cracking down on nuclear espionage.
Iranian authorities have arrested more than a dozen people accused of relaying information on Teheran's nuclear program to opposition groups, officials said. Some of the information has been used by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a basis for its inspections over the past two years.

So far, four Iranians have gone on trial in Teheran on charges of espionage. The defendants were said to have been former employees or those with access to Iran's nuclear program.

"These individuals, who infiltrated nuclear facilities and managed to win the confidence of the officials, were spying for foreign countries," Ali Mobacheri, the head of Tehran's revolutionary courts, told the government newspaper Iran. "They are in prison and their trial is under way."

Authorities did not identify the defendants or provide details of the charges. Officials said they doubted whether the trial would be open to the media.

The suspects were believed linked to the Mujahadeen Khalq. Officials said the defendants were accused of spying for Iraq in the 1990s.

In 2002, Iranian journalist Abbas Abdi was charged with relaying classified information to a foreign power. Abdi was found not guilty but remained in prison.

In August 2004, Iran's Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said several suspected spies transmitted information on Iran's nuclear program to foreigners. Yunesi also cited the Mujahadeen as playing a major role in the espionage.

On Nov. 17, the Mujahadeen's political wing, the National Council for Resistance in Iran, announced that Iran was operating a secret nuclear facility in northern Teheran. U.S. officials later confirmed the veracity of the information by the council, which in 2002 also disclosed a uranium-enrichment plant in Natanz and a heavy water facility in Arak.

U.S. officials said the intelligence community has felt the Iranian crackdown. Information on Iran's nuclear weapons program has become more difficult to obtain over the past year as the Islamic republic has restricted the movement of many Iranians linked to the nation's nuclear program.

Iran accuses CIA of entrapment conspiracy over centrifuges

Iran claims the United States sought to entrap the Islamic republic into purchasing equipment required for the assembly of nuclear weapons.
The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said it foiled a plot by the CIA to entice Teheran into signing a contract for gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium, a key process for the production of atomic weapons.

The ministry said an Iranian national was placed as the head of a bogus company that initiated talks with Teheran for the sale of centrifuges.

"Asghar C, who has a past of spying for foreigners, was seeking to make centrifuges with a fictitious contract and under the name of a false company," the Intelligence Ministry said in a statement on Dec. 3.

Officials said the Iranian suspect offered the government a supply of centrifuges and sought to entice Iran into signing a contract. They said the United States then planned to publicize the contract in an attempt to demonstrate that Iran had violated its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment.

'This individual was trying to damage Iran's international commitments," the ministry said. "He was arrested and handed over to the courts."

In November, Iran reached agreement with the European Union for a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment. Iranian officials said the suspension would last six months.

The ministry said the detainee, with a history of contacts with Westerners, sought to earn a large amount of money from the purported sale of centrifuges. It did not elaborate.

Teheran has reported the arrest of other unidentified nationals charged with espionage related to Iran's nuclear program. The trial of four Iranians accused of seeking to provide information on nuclear facilities to unidentified foreign governments is underway.

The United States has not confirmed the Iranian allegation of a sting operation. But the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement community has conducted sting operations against Iran, including one in which two Iranians were arrested in Austria last week for trying to acquire advanced night vision equipment.

U.S. officials asserted that Iran has sought to purchase centrifuges from foreign suppliers amid problems in developing an indigenous model that could reliably concentrate uranium hexafluoride gas into highly enriched uranium.

Sting operation captures 2 Iranians seeking U.S. night-vision equipment

Despite claims of significant technological advances, Iran continues to seek U.S. military equipment and components.
U.S. officials said Iran has sought night-vision systems for ground forces to detect infiltration from the Iraqi border. Previous systems acquired from former East Bloc states have not been deemed satisfactory by the Iranian military.

On Dec. 3, U.S. officials said Austria and the United States arrested two Iranians in a sting operation that foiled an Iranian attempt to acquire 3,000 advanced night vision systems. The officials said Iran sought to purchase the U.S. helmet-mounted Generation III.

The Iranian detainees were identified as Mahmoud Seif and Shahrzad Mir Gholikhan. The Homeland Security Department said the two men sought to acquire Generation III and illegally export the system to Iran.

"Sophisticated night vision systems allow U.S. troops to 'own the night,' giving them a key advantage over their opponents during nighttime combat," Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Michael Garcia said in a statement.

"In the wrong hands, these night vision systems pose a threat to our troops around the world."

The department said the Iranians arrived in Vienna on Nov. 30 to acquire the night-vision systems. Officials said the arrests capped more than a two-year investigation of Iran's efforts to purchase night vision systems from the United States. The Iranians were said to have arranged the equipment be acquired through Austria.

Officials said the night-vision systems were meant for the Iranian Army. Iranian infantry troops have been hampered in efforts to improve security along the border with Iraq and Teheran has been concerned of infiltration into their country.