Britain had a roval visitor last weekEmpress Farah, the wife of the Shah of Iran. Here for the opening of the World of Islam Festival in London, she was followed by strong pickets of Iranian students protesting against her presence in this country. As they stated in their leaflets: "She does not reoresent the franian people, artists or the Iranian Moslems, but a dictatorship engaged in the most savage repression of all these.' Two years ago, one of Iran's best contemporary writers, Gholamhossein Sa'edi-best known internationally as the script writer of the film The Cowwas arrested and after months of torture forced to give an interview denouncing his writings as 'rubbish. More recently four famous Iranian artists were arrested and sentenced to 2-11 years prison in secret for no apparent crime other than rehearsing for a performance of a play by Gorki. Another writer, Hamid Mo'meni, has just been seized by the SAVAK, who refuse to say wiat tney nave done to him.
The Iranian Moslem clergy also suffer from similar repression. They too have to put religion at the service of the regime or else face imprisonment and torture. There are hundreds of radical clergy men in the Shah's jails, and several of their leaders have been killed under torture.
The Shah's dictatorship has nothing in common win Islamic art and culture. The presence of Farah at the Festival was nothing but a sick joke-an insult both to the Iranian people, whom she claimed to represent, and to the Festival itself. Nevertheless the police once again showed whose side they were on by arresting six people at the pickets.