THE FORMER Empress of Iran, i, arrives in Cairo annually, travelling from Paris, where she lives for most of the year, to visit the grave of her husband, Mohamed Reza Pahlavi. The late Shah, who was toppled in 1979, was buried in Egypt after being offered refuge by late president Anwar El-Sadat. In her memoirs Diba-Pahlavi offers a subjective account of the controversial rule of the Shah of Iran, insisting that he was dedicated to serving the poor and including the moderate political opposition in Iran's political process. In her memoir the author repeatedly stresses the affinity that her husband's Iranian subjects felt for their ruler and the stresses faced by the royal family after the Iranian revolution when the Shah failed to find refuge anywhere apart from Egypt. During her three-day visit to Cairo Diba- Pahlavi gave several interviews, making clear her approval of the growing opposition the Iranian regime is facing from within and without. She expressed endless admiration for the "courage" of Iranian men and women who dare to challenge the Iranian regime. Opposed to the Iranian regime she may be, but Diba-Pahlavi refuses to lend her voice to calls to impose harsher economic sanctions on Tehran. They would, she says, harm only ordinary Iranians. Instead, she argues that the world, and especially the Arabs, should reach out to the Iranian people as they attempt to end the rule of the Islamic Republic. Though an annual event, this year's Egyptian visit by the former empress had a difference. She was here to launch the Arabic translation of her memoirs. Originally published in French and then translated into several other languages, they are now available in Arabic, published by Dar Al-Shorouk. In her public statements Diba-Pahlavi repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Egypt and the Egyptian people for their hospitality, not least to President Sadat and his family for their support during the early years of her exile, and to President Hosni Mubarak and his family for their continued hospitality. Diba-Pahlavi's reception is in marked contrast to what current Iranian officials might expect. Egyptian-Iranian relations were severed in 1979, following the Iranian revolution, and have yet to be restored. Diplomatic attempts to end the rift have repeatedly failed, with Cairo's insistence Tehran end its support of Islamic militant groups, including Hamas and Hizbullah, a major sticking point.
