World

Grievance: Shah of Iran’s son commits suicide

His brother says Alireza was "deeply disturbed by all the ills fallen upon his beloved homeland">

Afp January 05, 2011

WASHINGTON: Former Iranian prince Alireza Pahlavi, the youngest son of the late shah of Iran, has committed suicide in his home in the United States, his brother said on his website Tuesday.

“It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Alireza Pahlavi,” Reza Pahlavi, the shah’s oldest son, said on his website. “Like millions of young Iranians, he too was deeply disturbed by all the ills fallen upon his beloved homeland, as well as carrying the burden of losing a father and a sister in his young life.”

The statement said although his 44-year-old brother had “struggled for years to overcome his sorrow, he finally succumbed, and during the night of the 4th of January 2011, in his Boston residence, took his own life, plunging his family and friends into great sorrow.”

The Pahlavis came to power with the overthrow of Ahmad Shah Qajar. The National Assembly of Iran, known as the Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on December 12, 1925 declared Reza Shah the new monarch of the Imperial State of Persia The former shah, Reza, was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, and members of his family moved to live in exile in the US.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (15)

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury actually for your information iran is the only demococratic country in middle east after israel,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and it is a modern democracy combined with a islamic system,very near to a perfect way of governing any islamic country. and secondly if according to you majority iranians hate current system why is it still in place after 3 decades despite numerous and ever present foreign conspiracies,,,,,,,,,,,,, Any ways it was nice discussing with an educated being like you. allah hafiz

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply @ Sharjeel Khan - Both the incidents which you gave are of the past. Firstly, if being a mayor you don't punish a rapist then what else can be expected from you. So, I won't consider it as a credible job at all, because it is expected from any sensible leader, irrespective of his religion. And dont forget my link is showing the present madness of Ahmedinejad. Power made him mad which dangerous than corruption even ! Secondly, regarding Operation Bluestar, what will you do when terrorists come inside your house and hide in your sacred prayer room ? The very presence of a terrorist inside the temple or mosque makes it unworthy of worshipping if the perpetrators are not removed from there (by hook or crook). Moreover, you may not know that the army went bare footed inside the temple and the terrorists had covered the floor with broken glass ... now can you imagine how much attrocity the army also had to face to fight the armed terrorists in that condition for such long hours ? Had they surrendered at that time this killings could have been avoided. Anyways, I dont want to discuss anymore as I have understood that we cant change each other's view ... or else it will turn out to be an argument for no rhyme or reason. One more thing, my very first comment on this blog had this presumption also that every country have its good and bad. And, I am sure that the educated and liberal Iranians certainly dont want an Islamic state, rather they prefer a modern democracy without compromising their shiaite culture and tradition.

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sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury every country has some good aspects as well as bad ones. what do u think about this http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.turkish/browse_thread/thread/12d66b8efa2f291a and also indian pm butchered sikhs inside there holiest place during there holy festival, operation blue star, would you kindly explain that???????????????????/

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury your understanding has a huge error, as in reality the revolution was forced to become a fundamentalist by an imposed war by iraq supported financially and militarily by arabs and both USA and soviet. what else could a country do if all the major players turn against it out of fear of a similar revolution in middle east. but even after all that i think they are less fundamentalist then many countries including USA, israel and saudi arabia,,,, and to some extent india and pakistan also.

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply @ Sharjeel Khan - please explain this http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/12/iran-rounds-up-christians-in-crackdown.html

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply @ Sharjeel Khan - I am among those observers who believe what began as an authentic and anti-dictatorial popular revolution based on a broad coalition of all anti-Shah forces was soon transformed into an Islamic fundamentalist power-grab. Hope you get what I am trying to say?

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury my friend first is that although u are right that iran was very secular before 1979, but being secular isnt an indication of standard of living in any country e.g turkey is a secular country but standard of living in turkey is way lower than in israel which is a very religious country. as far as your iranian friends are concerned its perfectly ok for them to hate the president and want a change for better but that doesnt mean the revolution is in wrong direction. i myself think that ahmedinejads policies are bad for iran but these are ahmedinejads policies not the revolutions. the head of revolution and worldwide shia muslims is ayatollah seyyed ali khamenai and his polivies are very sound and prudent. you should read wikipedia simple article about iran as it seems your knowlege about iran is limited.

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply @ Sharjeel Khan - I have my Iranian friends in New Delhi and they always express disgust against the present govt. I dont want to bring Paks and Arabs into the picture so let us restrict the discussion to Iranians only. My argument is limited to the fact that Iran was very much secular and liberal previously than it is today. My Iranian friends do not tolerate the present President of yours and say that they desperately want a change in hte govt. for better. I am just comparing the situation during that time and at present. Tell me why my Iranian friends would unnecessarily say negative things about present govt. ?

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury ofcoarse the present government is far better than the previous iranian dictator shah. its like comparing the governments of quaid i azam and dictator musharraf. even the close aides of shah revealed that he was a merciless man. and also the islamic revolution is based on certain principles to which iranian government adheres to even if it hurts there national interests. e.g. supporting arab sunni hamas and pakistan flood vicims although pakistan is close to saudis and US. as far as respect is concerned i persnelly think that iranians are much better treated internationally than pakistanis or even arabs,,,

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply @ Sharjeel Khan - what you are saying is a different aspect altogether. I am saying from another context. Do you think the present govt. is better than what it used to be under Shah ? Revolution should be based on certain ideaologies, not purely on religious bigotry. I am not justifying his lavish spendings, but what I am saying is that the international community had more respect for Iranians before than what it has today.

Asim | 13 years ago | Reply For the religion to follow one needs to get rid of personal likeness and dislikeness. Everything should come under the order of religion. As this is extremely difficult to do so, people like to blame the Ulemas, as the escape goat - and because of their own shortcomings. Mullahs are different than Ulemas. May Allah give us guidance to make this distinction.

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply @A Chowdhury by secular you mean dislaying vulgarity, spending peoples money on lavish activities of shah, and complete adoption of US foreign policy,,then surely iran was secular before 1979 islamic revolution

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply Persia (Now Iran) used to be so secular before 1979 . This islamic zealots have ruined it ! There used to be ISKCON and other minority insititutions in Iran but this islamic fanatics have disturbed everything !

sharjeel+khan | 13 years ago | Reply sins of his father, last shah of iran, affects the family even after his own death,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Random | 13 years ago | Reply Mental Illness seems to run pretty deep in this family.

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