Shah's son commits suicide in America
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE apparent suicide of the former shah of Iran's youngest son has shocked and saddened Iranian emigres, many of whom were forced into exile by the Islamic Revolution and hoped their country's monarchy could be restored.
The death of 44-year-old Alireza Pahlavi of a gunshot wound at his home in Boston brought home the tragedies of many who fled Iran more than 30 years ago, and symbolized another lost link to the era of the Western-backed dynasty's Peacock Throne.
In Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency carried a brief story that was the most-viewed early yesterday. The website of the state-run Press TV released a factual account of the death under the headline: "Son of ex-dictator of Iran kills himself."
The official website of older brother Reza Pahlavi, now an exiled opposition figure, announced the death, saying Alireza Pahlavi took his own life on Tuesday, succumbing to his sorrows.
He was the second of the four children of the late Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi and former Empress Farah -Pahlavi to die in exile. A sister was found dead of a drug overdose 10 years ago.
"This represents the story of millions of Iranians who left their country and live with a sense of solitude everywhere in the world," Ramin Shams Molkara, a distant family member, said yesterday.
He said this was particularly true of the first generation of exiles who left Iran as the clerical regime swept to power in 1979 and who still live with a "feeling of abandonment."
Alireza, the monarch's youngest son, was born in -Tehran, then attended schools in New York, Cairo and western Massachusetts before going on to study music at Princeton University.
The death of 44-year-old Alireza Pahlavi of a gunshot wound at his home in Boston brought home the tragedies of many who fled Iran more than 30 years ago, and symbolized another lost link to the era of the Western-backed dynasty's Peacock Throne.
In Iran, the official Islamic Republic News Agency carried a brief story that was the most-viewed early yesterday. The website of the state-run Press TV released a factual account of the death under the headline: "Son of ex-dictator of Iran kills himself."
The official website of older brother Reza Pahlavi, now an exiled opposition figure, announced the death, saying Alireza Pahlavi took his own life on Tuesday, succumbing to his sorrows.
He was the second of the four children of the late Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi and former Empress Farah -Pahlavi to die in exile. A sister was found dead of a drug overdose 10 years ago.
"This represents the story of millions of Iranians who left their country and live with a sense of solitude everywhere in the world," Ramin Shams Molkara, a distant family member, said yesterday.
He said this was particularly true of the first generation of exiles who left Iran as the clerical regime swept to power in 1979 and who still live with a "feeling of abandonment."
Alireza, the monarch's youngest son, was born in -Tehran, then attended schools in New York, Cairo and western Massachusetts before going on to study music at Princeton University.
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