I was returning home after having graduated from Beirut Law School with the hope of joinning Iran^'s foreign service. Iran seemed even more backward and poorer than Lebanon, an underdeveloped country under French colonial rule. Most of the arable land was in the hands of a few feudal landownwers who treated the peasants as medieval serfs and contested the authority of the central government,refusing to pay taxes and allow education and health officers on their "territories". Elsewhere, in the north, south and west, tribal chieftains acted as independant rulers. Gangs of robbers infested the roads between cities and even villages. The parliament and government were dominated by feudals, clergymen, tribal leaders and aristocrats. The People were denied all political and individual rights. Severe censorship reigned. Only in Tehran, the capital city, a few intellectuals dared to express criticism (and that because of Allied presence and insistence)

As I traveled inside the country, the man from Andimeshk gradually symbolized in my mind the situation of the country and its citizens. I went through long periods of despair and frustration. The grip of landowners on rural areas, of Bazaar merchants on finance and commerce, of mullahs on the masses, of the ruling class on society at large, seemed unshakable. On top of that, the British who had an exclusive concession on the southern oil fields, dictated their will through many politicians at their pay.

Soon enough I discovered that I was not alone in my ruminations. Most of the young educated Iranians from all walks of life entertained similar thoughts. They were terribly pained by the afflicting situation of the people,by the interference of foreign powers in the affairs of their country, by the shameless exploitation of the peasants and workers, by the widespread corruption of the rulers and the bureaucrats, by the gross violations of human rights. The conspicious presence of soldiers of three occupation armies compounded their grievances. Except for the extremists on the left who advocated a social revolution and on the right who dreamed of an ultra nationalist dictator, the majority wanted a thorough and ~e ways and means to attain their goal. But on one thing they all agreed: the urgent necessity to pull the country out of backwardness and to take it into the 20th century.

The leftists put their hopes in the Soviet Union , while the Iliberalsi expected the Americans to save Iran from both the British and the Russians and impose a democratic regime.But almost immediately after Germany and Japan's defeat,the Cold War started and Washington considered Iran as a shield against the Soviet Union: changing the regime would be dangerous; it would be safer for American interests to keep an authoritarian and repressive regime. The disappointment among members of my generation was immense. Those who could afford it left the country while others entered the private sector or became civil servants out of sheer necessity.In 1950 when Dr.Mossadegh succeeded in nationalizing the British oil company,a new spell of hope loomed at the horizon. A large number of young and less young people joined the movement triggered by the nationalization of oil.But as soon as august 1953,Mossadegh was ousted by a CIA inspired coup.

This time dejection overcame completely among us.We thought that it was totally impossible to change the course of things, to fight the Shah, the ruling class and their American supporters. Once again many abandoned the struggle for modernization and real independance. To the elder politicians Mossadegh's removal confirmed the influence of Britain in the world in general and in Iran in particular. The younger generation, on the contrary, saw in the coup the unmistakable proof of the rise of America's power. Some of its members undertook the task to inform American diplomats and journalists about the realities of Iran, with the hope to revive in Washington the Roosevelt administration's idea of democratization in their region of the world. They were rewarded in the early sixties, by Kennedy's presidency and his insistence on the necessity of deep and sweeping reforms in Iran.

The Shah who needed Washington's support and protection against the Soviets accepted. But to carry on the reforms he could not rely on the old political class. He badly needed the cooperation of the "technocrats" of our generation. A great debate started among them:

Should they accept to join the Shah's autocratic regime? The "realists" were aware of the impossibility (and the danger?) of introducing overnight a western type of democracy in Iran. Nourrished by their western education (and the pervasive influence of marxism in European and American universities) they thought that they should first build up a solid economic and social infrastructure. Extremists of the left and some Mossadegh's National Front hardliners refused any cooperation with the Shah. The sceptics prefered to remain on the sidelines and watch.

At this juncture, a friend and colleague of mine, Hassan-Ali Mansoor (who had befriended Americans since 1948) and my brother Amir Abbas Hoveyda, founded the "Progressive Forum " which was not a political party but a discussion group of young educated people considering possible economic and social development plans. The membership grew very quickly, including people from different political, philosophical and social backgrounds; sons or daughters of feudal landowners, upper classes,middle classes,bazaar merchants,religious families, etc. Some were liberals, leftists, former communists, nationalists, rightists, monarchists, pro-republicans, pro-Mossadegh, democrats, religious free-thinkers,etc. But they all believed in the urgency of economic development and modernization. Together they drew up most of the programs which the Shah approved and gathered later under the title of "White Revolution" (as opposed to "red" or bloody")

At the time, I was living in Paris. I had a job at the Unesco which allowed me to sustain a decent living. I also was very active in the Arts. I had already published several books, both fiction and nonfiction. I also was writing film reviews in the "Cahiers du Cinema" and other magazines. I collaborated with Rossellini on some of his films, and contemplated to shift to production and direction. I did not envisage to return to Iran, except for short visits to my family. I did not believe in the possibility of any change in the fabric of Iranian society. But some of my closest friends had joined the "Progressive Forum" and woed me to join them. They would tell me that the Shah, encouraged by the US, had agreed to call on Mansoor to form a new cabinet and implement the reforms. In 1963, the "Progressive Forum" transformed itself into a political party under the name of "Iran Novin" (New lran). And eventually Mansoor became Prime minister, and my brother, Minister of finance in a cabinet made of young "technocrats".