239. Research Memorandum From the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Hughes) to Secretary of State Rusk1

RNA–46

SUBJECT

  • Iran Designates a Regency Council and Plans a Coronation

By constitutional amendment Iran has provided for a Regency Council to assist the Crown Prince should he succeed to the throne before he is 20. Coronation of the Shah and Empress Farah will take place on October 26. This paper takes a brief look at the history of the Pahlavi Dynasty and analyzes the succession arrangements as they now stand.

Abstract

Reza Shah the Great was crowned the first King of the Pahlavi Dynasty in 1926 and remained on the throne for 15 years until the British forced him into exile and his son Mohamed Reza became Shah. The formal coronation has never taken place, although the present Shah has ruled for just over 26 years. His first two marriages produced no male heir, but a son was born to the Shah and Queen Farah in 1960. Although succession was thus assured, the Shah did not see fit to provide for a Regency Council until he had stabilized the monarch’s position and had found a trusted person who could serve as Regent without constituting at the same time a potential rival. Empress Farah’s warm personality has proved a definite asset to the Shah’s social modernization program, particularly in regard to women’s rights, and for the last year she has filled an increasingly official role during various trips inside Iran. On September 7 a Constituent Assembly approved changes in the Iranian Constitution which provide that she will serve as Regent for the Crown Prince in case he assumes the throne before he is 20. The Shah will crown himself and then Empress Farah in splendid ceremony on October 26, his birthday, with Crown Prince Reza Cyrus Ali looking on in implicit emphasis of the planned continuation of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

[Here follows the body of the paper.]

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 15–1 IRAN. Confidential.