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The III -Served Prince. Such faithful service is more apt to be fawning than effective or reliable. Last month, on a visit to the Abadan refineries on the Per sian Gulf, Farah Diba demanded to see the living conditions inside one of the worker's homes and, when she had, burst into tears. Solicitously, the official who was guiding her asked "to be allowed" to make a contribution to the families on the block. Ostentatiously, he collected identity cards, jotted down names — and, as Farah Diba drove away, tore up the list and tossed it into the gutter.
The cost of that kind of officialdom could be seen in the recent elections. The Shah originally intended the elections as a way of cleaning out some of parliament's more notorious rascals. He personally approved the slates of candidates of the only two organized parties in the race, and seems to have hoped for a fair fight. But when a few independent candidates launched lively anti-Nationalist campaigns, Premier Eghbal and his cronies panicked.
The resulting fraud was too blatant to be disguised. Cycling rapidly past a polling booth in downtown Teheran, one citizen let fall a pouch full of documents that included 40 personal-identity cards to be used in fraudulent voting. When the government ticket in one rural district seemed sure to lose, election officials simply stayed home "ill."
The Perils of Ambition. By some Western diplomats, the Shah is rated as "the most intelligent ruler in the Middle East" — and he showed his sensitivity to his country's mood by his quick reaction last week to the election scandal. But whether he has done enough is less clear. The caretaker Premier he chose to replace the hapless Eghbal, ex-Minister of Mines and Industries Jaffar Sharif-Imami, 50, is an honest but uninspiring choice. His Cabinet gave no voice to the independent feeling that ran so high during the elections. More disturbing are the indications that the Shah, in a moment of peril, is veering back toward the dangerous game of trying to pacify the Russians. As one of his first official acts, Sharif-Imami ended the anti-Soviet radio broadcasts with which Iran has countered the Russian diatribes. In response to a planted press-conference question on the possibilities of a "new phase" in Soviet-Iranian relations, the Shah pointedly declared that Iran's foreign policy is based on "membership in the United Nations and friendship for all neighbors."
Like all great tasks, the one which Mohammed Reza Pahlevi has set for himself involves great hazards. He has committed himself not just to a holding action for feudalism but to the evolution of a mod ern state. Sooner or later, the Shah must find trustworthy and independent subordinates to whom he can delegate authority and must create responsible institutions to close the gap between the court and the people. For, as last week's election fiasco showed, Iran can no longer be governed by the simple kingly fiat: "I have given orders. Let them be carried out."