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January
1972
cial reforms have also been instituted.
Land reform, already mentioned, is only
one of a series of successes. Education
has beeo markedly improved and
extended. Illiteracy in the 15-year-and–
over age group has dropped from 87
percent in 1956 to nearly 60 percent for
1971.
Nearly 97,000 men and womeo are
engaged in a oational "Literacy Corps,"
primarily to teach basic skills to Iran's
sizable peasant dass, who are finding it
almost impossible to employ modero
agricultura! machinery without the abil–
ity to read and write.
School attendance has increased from
2 million in 1962 to 4.7 million. The
government had set as its goal the con–
struction of 2, 500 new schools ( ooe for
each year of Persian history) by the
time of the anniversary celebrations.
This figure was exceeded by 700.
Other reforms included gJVJog
women the right to vote, abotition of
chi ld-labor abuses, profit-shari ng plans
for factory workers, and oumerous
health and environmental improvements.
Remarkably, the multi -faceted White
Revolution has been accomplished
withio the framework of stable econom–
ics. lrao's rate of ioAation over the past
decade has bcen among the lowest in
the world.
The
Shah's
Key Role
According to Iran's Minister of Econ–
omy, Hushang Ansary, Shah Reza Pah–
lavi has "in thc short span of less than
a dccade done more for his people than
many a leader could hope to do in a
lifctime."
The success of the White Revolution
would have been patently impossible
without the constant guidance and di–
rection given to the program by the
Shah. Even his critics give him credit
for the changes in Iran. The Shah
possesses a unique comprehension of
economics and thc processes and
problems of national development.
In his autobiography, the Shah
writes: "... the plain truth is that I de–
rive my chief satisfactions from grap–
pling with complex economic and other
problems.... To me there is nothing
drab about, let us say, an intricate c¡ues–
tion of expanding agricultura! produc–
tivity. To me it comes absorbingly alivc
The
PLAIN TRUTH
43
U.S.S.R.
IRAN
ARABIAN
PENINSULA
just because even a slight advancc in
solving it can mean so much to thou–
sands of ordinary citizens here in this
part of the world.
"I really love rny work, the challengc
it offers, and the satisfactions it brings.
Visible signs of progress greet me whcr·
ever I go in
my
country aod these tell
me we are on the right road"
(lHiu ion
Fo,.
My
Comltf)',
pages 140 and 326).
Severa! years before the White Revo–
lution, the 52-ycar-old mooarch was
urged to be formally coronated. (He as–
sumed rule in 1941 but had never gone
through the coronation ceremony.) The
Shah replied that he did not want to be
crowned "ruler of a nation of beggars."
When the nation appeared to be
firmly on the road to economic ma turity,
the coronation ceremony was held on
October 26, 1967. He crowned himself
in the traditional manner of Persian
kings. His official title - Shahanshah"
- rneans "King of kings."
Arabian
Sea
Crossroads of the World
Tt
is somewhat of a joke that each
major country claims to be strategically
placed in the world. But with lran it is
no laughing matter.
Iran has been the crossroads between
East and West since the beginning of
time. Sorne of the greatest trade routes
in history have crossed lran, perhaps the
most notable being the famous silk
route to China. Even in today's air age,
Iran, with its international airport at
Teheran, is a vital link in east-west tra–
vel and communications.
But the routes of trade have also been
the routes of conquest, and Iran has
been the unwill ing host to Alexandcr
the Great, (or as the Iranians call him,
Alexander of Macedon - reserving the
title of "The Great" for Cyrus) , Gen·
ghis Khan, and Tamerlane.
Even in recent history, Iran has
played a crucial role in political and