What Was Carters Attitude Towards The Shah Of Iran?
The Shah was an ally of the United States. Jimmy Carter, on coming to power, had laid out his foreign policy in terms of Human Rights and not containment. This meant that the United States would as far as possible refrain from supporting regimes that were known for their poor human rights record. The Shah, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, was brought to power by a coup orchestrated by the CIA. His regime was hated by the general populace of Iran. He used suppression and the internal security agency SAVAK to crush all forms of protests. The SAVAK was very similar to other covert agencies from Latin America that had been trained by the CIA. Their methods included detentions, assassinations and horrible forms of torture. Even his military was armed with the intent of suppressing any form of internal strife. Subsequent events prove that even though Carter praised him initially he did not approve of him at all.
