Successful King Business

"Let me tell you quite bluntly that this king business has given me nothing personally but headaches," said Shah Mo hammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran to the Na tional Press Club. "During the whole of these 20 years of my reign, I have continually lived under the strain and stress of my duties." In the past two decades, said the Shah, he had been the target of several assassination attempts, been vilified by "elements of international sub version," turned over 90% of his private fortune to be used "for the benefit of my people." As he moved from Washing ton to New York last week on the second leg of his U.S. visit, he reinforced the impression already made in the capital that he is an earnest, responsible monarch -- no longer, he wryly admitted, the Europe-roaming playboy of earlier days.

In Manhattan, a city still impressed by the "king business," the Shah and his Empress Farah got the full treatment, including a ticker tape parade. The Empress was received backstage at Broadway's Camelot, visited the Guggenheim Muse um and the Museum of Modern Art. Diplomatically, she said that she "did not know much about modern art. But it is always very interesting for me to see and learn more."

In speeches, the Shah reconfirmed Iran's commitment to the West. He recalled that on the day he took his throne at the age of 21, in 1941, Teheran was "invaded and occupied" by Russian troops. At the end of the war, the Russians who "molested my country" were forced out only by the combined efforts of the U.S. and the United Nations. Because of this experience, said the Shah, "we decided to throw our lot officially and openly with the Western nations."

The most pressing problem facing Iran, said the Shah, was to "catch up with the most progressive caravan of world civilization." Though he said Iran now has one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East, individual incomes still average only $165 a year. By drastic economic programs, the Shah wants to raise incomes until in "the next 20 years, they should compete with the advanced countries of Europe." Again and again he said that there is no pride in being ruler of a poor country.

At week's end the Shah took with him a firm commitment for increased U.S. military aid to Iran. Details were not dis closed, but from the State Department came word that the Shah was "extraordinarily satisfied."

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