The Shah of Iran's party

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1971, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian Empire by throwing a huge three-day party.

Trees were planted, birds imported, and a runway built in the middle of the desert with royalty from across the world attending.

But the event united opposition parties against the Shah and lost him public credibility.

Author and journalist Sally Quinn was “party reporter” for the Washington Post and covered the event.

She speaks to Megan Jones.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience.
0:32.3	And maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:41.5	Music So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds. You're listening to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Megan Jones.
0:48.0	I'm taking you back to the 1970s when the Shah of Iran through a three-day party,
0:52.9	marking 2,500 years of the Persian Empire.
0:56.3	Some say the festival paved the way for his downfall,
0:59.0	while others argue the events have been exaggerated to discredit his regime.
1:03.3	This cannot be called extravagant because it is unique.
1:07.8	The world has never seen anything like that.
1:13.6	It's the 12th of October 1971, and we're in the middle of the desert in Shiraz, in southwest Iran. For three days, his imperial majesty,
1:18.7	the Shah-in-Shah Arayama of Iran, will be setting himself back some lavish 15 million pounds or so,
1:25.1	but it's obviously going to be one of the most fantastic parties that the world's ever seen.
1:29.3	And all of it, against this Hollywood-type background.
1:32.5	The background, well, that's Persepolis, meaning the city of Persians, one of the ancient capitals of the empire.
1:39.4	The Washington Post Party reporter, Sally Quinn, has been flown in to cover the event.
1:50.7	They had built a city, a tent city in the middle of the desert. The tent city itself was otherworldly. It was beyond strange. You couldn't imagine somebody thinking this up in the
	...

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