[custom_adv] On Jan. 16, 1979, Iran’s powerful Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned his Peacock Throne and left his nation, never to return home, setting the stage for the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution a month later. [custom_adv] His departure and the ensuing chaos blindsided the United States, which for decades relied on Iran and its absolute ruler as Washington’s closest Mideast ally. Washington sold billions of dollars in weaponry to the shah, whom America empowered in a CIA-backed 1953 coup, and stationed sensitive spying stations in northern Iran to monitor the Soviet Union. [custom_adv] The shah’s departure, initially described as a “vacation,” came as he was fatally stricken with cancer. His arrival in America after months abroad would spark the U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis, stoking the animosity that persists between Tehran and Washington to this day. [custom_adv] Now, 40 years later, The Associated Press is making its stories about the shah’s departure from Iran available, along with historic photos from that climactic day. The stories have been edited for typographical errors, but maintain the AP style of the day, such as using “Moslem” as opposed to Muslim. [custom_adv] The only people to accompany him to Tehran airport, guarded by a substantial contingent of soldiers, were figures close to the court, some military officers and the prime minister, flanked by the speakers of both houses of parliament. [custom_adv] A news conference that the self-styled "King of Kings" was supposed to hold before departing was cancelled at the last minute. The journalists were driven by coach back to Tehran, with the exception of two of their Iranian colleagues and two official photographers who remained at the scene. [custom_adv] Before climbing the gangway, the shah, wearing a blue suit, told the reporters, "What the country now needs is cooperation between all its inhabitants to set the economy back on track." [custom_adv] The empress Farah Diba added in a trembling voice that she believed in her country.As their plane disappeared in the grey sky, an aide-de-camp said: "One battle is lost, but the war is not over." [custom_adv] In Tehran, as in the rest of the country, the shah's departure, announced on radio, meant his definitive defeat."The shah is gone, long live (exiled opposition leader Ruhollah) Khomeini," chanted demonstrators, who immediately ran into the streets of the capital as car horns blared in delight.Soldiers posted at official buildings and strategic intersections, a red carnation sometimes on their guns, calmly watched the explosion of joy.
