This chapter opens with John finally spending time in Iran. In the 1970s it became clear that some serious adjustments to the approach MAIN took toward Iran compared to Iran's neighbor Saudi Arabia must be made. What was the difference? Iran had developed their oil riches. Saudi needed help, financially anyway in accomplishing their economic development. Iran didn't need that. So what John and MAIN did was they revamped Shah's image. He was made to look like a great ally and friend of "America". IE the corporation of America. They had to gloss over the fact that he was a King and undemocratic. King of like Charles of England.
The afternoon after touring some of Iran's historic spots, there was a note slide under John's room door. It was an invitation for a conversation with a gentleman who John was told to be a radical who wanted to turn back the hands of time. What John found was the polar opposite. A well educated civilized gentleman named Yamin. Yamin told John the importance of the desert to the Bidoun people. The Shah wanted to turn the Iranian Desert into a tropical paradise. Except it wouldn't be a paradise. That's not the natural state of a desert. It wasn't Shad's idea. Of course, it was the American government's plan. Why? Why was converting the desert in Iran into something it wasn't really important? OIL! Most of Iran's deserts are where the oil is pumped. If the US government could get control of the desert, then it could control the oil. As simple as that.
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