August 20, 1953

Shah Is Flying Home

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

OME, Aug. 19--The Shah of Iran, on confirmation of the news that Royalists in his country had overthrown Premier Mohammed Mossadegh, decided to fly back to Teheran tomorrow. His aides immediately called a British airline to charter a plane to take him back to his home, whence he fled on Sunday.

Queen Soraya probably will not accompany him but will remain in Rome, at least for some days.

News of the uprising reached the Shah while he was lunching in his hotel with Queen Soraya and two aides. He went pale and his hands shook so violently that he hardly was able to read when newspaper men showed him the first reports, "Can it be true?" he asked.

The Queen was far more calm. "How exciting," she exclaimed, placing her hand on the Shah's arm to steady him.

Earlier in the day the Shah had said he had left his country only because he wished to avoid bloodshed. "Of course, I hope to go back," he said, in answer to a question. "Everyone lives on hope."

Now that his enemies had been overthrown, his chief concern was to show the legality of the events that had taken place in Teheran.

"This is not an insurrection," he said. "Now we have a legal Government. General (Fazollah) Zahedi is Premier. I appointed him."

"I am very glad that all this has happened in my absence," he continued. "It shows how the people stand. Ninety-nine per cent of the population is for me. I knew it all the time. Everyone who is not a Communist is favorable to my stand."

Holds Court in Lounge

All thought of food had been abandoned by this time. The Shah, his Queen and his two aides left the table and moved to the hotel lounge. There, surrounded by newspaper men and tourists, he sat in an armchair waiting for more news. He repeated more than once: "This is not an insurrection. This is my Government coming into power. It is the legal Government."

Alluding to the dispute with Britain over nationalization of properties owned by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the Shah said: "Our differences with the British remain. But any nation willing to recognize our supreme interests and our sovereignty, and willing also to have decent relations with us based on mutual respect, would have no difficulty in getting on with our people.

"My main hope is that we will always be able to defend our independence and sovereignty. It is a cause of grief to me that I did not play an important part in my people's and my army's struggle for freedom and, on the contrary, was away and safe. But if I left my country, it was solely because of my anxiety to avoid bloodshed. I hope the new Government will be able to serve my nation and to raise their standard of living to a level more nearly approximating that of advanced modern nations."

About this time, the Shah began to become greatly worried by reports that the Teheran radio station had stopped broadcasting. He evidently feared that Dr. Mossadegh's partisans had somehow succeeded in gaining the upper hand. He excused himself hastily and hurried to his fourth-floor apartment, saying, "I'd like to hear all this from B. B. C. (British Broadcast Corporation). Then I'll feel more confident about it."

In the evening, while floods of congratulatory telegrams from friends and well-wishers began to stream into his hotel, the Shah and Queen Soraya left to have dinner at a restaurant.