Aaron Kwang POON
Geopolitical Strategist

On 25 August 1941, the Soviet Union and Great Britain invaded Persia (now Iran) after issuing several ultimatums, then forced Shah Reza Khan Pahlavi to abdicate, which he officially did on 16 September. Reza Pahlavi was perceived to be pro-Axis due to his close ties with Weimar and Nazi Germany, For better or for worse, the regime change was a pattern, which would recur not so infrequently during the course of the contemporary history of Iran, as it held one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

It was decided in high places to send him and his family into exile. His son, the Crown Prince Mohammed Pahlavi was put on the throne as he was more compliant with the Allies, which desperately needed to secure the vital supply line from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union via the Trans-Iranian Railway.

The British authorities considered several of its colonies, including Australia, Canada, India, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, East Africa and South Africa. On the other hand, Reza Pahlavi expressed the wish to go to Chile as his first choice, or to Argentina as his second choice, where incidentally many Nazis would flee.

The Shah and his entourage, including family and servants, came up to 20 persons, and they all boarded the Screw Steamer Bandra at Bandar Abbas on 27 September 1941. Only after traveling in the middle of the Indian Ocean was he made aware of the change of destination. It is perhaps worth drawing a parallel with the case of Napoleon Bonaparte, who expressed the desire to be exiled in England, but only learnt that his destination was actually St Helena Island after his ship had set sail.

As there was no direct link between Iran and Mauritius, the Royal Family first had a stopover in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In Mumbai, they were not allowed to disembark, as the British feared he would be a ‘gift to Jinnah’s Muslim League.’ Indeed, the Viceroy of India had concerns about Muslim agitation since Iran was one of the largest and most influential countries in the Muslim world. At the same time, talks about independence of the Jewel of the Crown had already started, with Gandhi and Nehru asking for Purna Swaraj, whereas Jinnah wanted a separate Pakistan.

Prior to coming to Mauritius, Reza Pahlavi apparently did not know much about the place. Only her daughter noted in her travelogue that she had read Paul et Virginie and thus had formed somewhat of an idyllic conception of an island destination.
The ship had a library with some maps that located Mauritius as part of Africa. Apparently, Reza’s son-in-law expressed fear that they might come nose-to-nose with lions and crocodiles. But a more knowledgeable co-passenger assured him that Mauritius had no such fierce animals and, in fact, Mauritius was a favorite holiday resort for wealthy white South Africans. Finally, the Shah and his party took solace in the idea that Mauritius was a ‘civilized place.’

After 26 days at sea, the shores of Mauritius came into sight on 15 October 1941. By a lucky throw of the Divine Dice, Napoleon also reached St Helena on the same fateful day of 15 October of the year 1815.

By the time the Iranian Royal Family reached Mauritius, the Shah had learnt that he was preceded by about 1,500 Jews and the former Yugoslavian PM Milan Stojadinovic.
The Jews were locked up at Beau Bassin prison and basically treated as ‘prisoners of war’ to avoid an undesirable influx and deter other Jews from coming to Mauritius. Stojadinovic was also interned at Val Ory since the British suspected him to be Pro-Axis.
In contrast, the Iranian Royal Family was given the red carpet treatment. The wife of Governor Bede Clifford even took pains to sew a huge Iranian flag with the help of some ladies.

Thus, when the Royal Iranian Family arrived at their new gilded cage at the Château Val Ory, a huge Iranian flag proudly made in Mauritius floated gallantly against the blue sky to make them feel at home far away from home. Governor Clifford even arranged for a French chef and a Creole butler for the Shah. Language and music lessons were also arranged for the Shah’s children based on their interests. Interestingly, one of the Jewish refugees became a music teacher for one of the Iranian princesses.

However, the Shah was not very happy in Mauritius and abominably missed his previous lavish lifestyle. To keep abreast of news at home, he tried to listen to Radio Iran, but the reception was poor. At night, he slept with a revolver under his pillow, fearing very much for his life.

On 29 January 1942, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Soheili, Soviet Ambassador Andrey Smirnov and British Ambassador Reader Bullard signed a Tripartite Treaty of Alliance agreement that literally converted Iran from foe to friend with one stroke of the pen. As a result, telegram and mail service resumed.

Actually, mail sent from Mauritius to Iran went through Cairo, Egypt, where the British Secret Service checked them and allowed only the ones deemed ‘non-sensitive and non-detrimental to British interest.’ Back then, the latest technology allowed the pressing of recorded messages on vinyl discs, although that medium was out of reach of commoners. In one such recording, Reza urged his son not to trust the British. As a delicious bite of history, the Shah once managed to send a letter hidden in a box of chocolate through a relative visiting Mauritius.

Although the Colonial Office directed Governor Clifford to use his discretion to ‘prevent the Shah from creating turmoil’, it would appear that the Governor went out of his way to make the Shah’s stay as pleasant as possible. As an anecdotal side dish, the Iranian chef once reported that the Chateau had run out of opium and the predicament eventually fell upon the ears of the Governor.

Naturally, Clifford first contacted the Commissioner of Police, who flatly refused, arguing that such a request was inconceivable, not to mention utterly illegal. Governor Clifford had to resort to other channels and eventually got some from Chinatown, which was infamous for its opium dens.

As a result of Iran being classified as an ally, several of the members of the Royal Family regained their freedom of movement and some even chose to leave. The recurring complaint was the dearth of proper social and cultural events to keep them royally entertained.

Contrary to expectations and much to the relief of the Governor, the haughty Shah did not take much interest in the local Muslim community, despite attempts by the latter to engage. Perhaps, it was imparted upon him by the British authorities to keep his distance, or his majesty deemed it beneath him to mingle with the masses. On one occasion, a delegation of local Muslims paid a visit to Val Ory at the end of Ramadan. It is said that they were left in the cold in the yard of the Chateau, without even the chance of exchanging traditional greetings on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

During his stay, a persistent rumor started flying around. It was said that Japan and Madagascar, then under the Nazi-controlled French Vichy Government, would join forces to take over Mauritius, and then transfer the leadership to the Shah. Accounts from Jews during their imprisonment in Mauritius tend to corroborate this narrative, and the British Government appeared to have taken this risk seriously enough.

As Governor Clifford was reassigned to Trinidad, Reza Shah and what was left of his family boarded the SS Empire Woodlard on 16 April 1942. All in all, the Shah spent a little more than half a year in Mauritius. The Shah disembarked in Durban while Clifford continued on his journey.

It is reported that the Shah drank one bottle of wine during the day and two-thirds of a pint of brandy before going to bed every day. Unsurprisingly, that was detrimental to his health and he eventually succumbed to a cardiac complication in his villa in the affluent neighborhood of Parkton, Johannesburg, at the age of 66 on 26 July 1944.

After British PM Wilson acted the decision to withdraw East of Suez in 1968, oil-rich Iran made a bid to lead and control the geostrategic space of the Indian Ocean.
Along with the Indian and Australian Navy, Iran would secure maritime chokepoints and trade routes. The initiative would jockey on Ceylon’s PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s proposal at the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Cairo to make the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace (IOZP). The Alliance never took hold as New Delhi was wary of Iran’s hegemonic ambitions and was suspicious of Australia’s true alignment.

Nevertheless, the other idea that Iran put forward for an Indian Ocean Common Market later morphed into the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
As one of the first state visits, PM Seewoosagur Ramgolam undertook a state visit to Iran in 1972 to formally establish diplomatic relations. It is believed that the idea of creating an Iranian military base was raised during the bilateral meeting, but the project did not materialize. Later in 1977, Iran initiated negotiations with the Seychelles for same.
Princess Shams Pahlavi visited Mauritius and managed to purchase the Château Val Ory from its owner André Le Coultre in 1972. The intention was to restore and convert it into a museum in honor of her father.

After the Yom Kippur War broke out in October 1973, the price of crude oil jumped from $3 to $12 per barrel. It is rumored that Seewoosagur Ramgoolam sealed a secret deal with Mohammed Pahlavi to secure petroleum products at a friendly price.
As Lord Palmerston or De Gaulle avers, and the story of the Shah of Iran intimates, there are no eternal allies or perpetual enemies, but only ephemeral common interests.

References

The main source for this article comes mainly from diplomatic cables, official correspondence, and intelligence reports which have been largely declassified after the statutory time window prescribed by the UK Public Records Act.

[1] Diplomatic Cables and Official Correspondence about Persia (Iran)

[2] Great Britain Embassy in Iran. Tehran Intelligence Reports