When I compare the situation in Iran with that of the Indian subcontinent, I realize that although Britain directly colonized India, in terms of the pressure imposed on a nation by evil superpowers, our situation was worse than theirs. They did not suffer from treachery, hypocrisy, corruption and dependence by their domestic forces; a bunch of English had entered their country.
The Indian ingroup included people like Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Shaukat Ali, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, etc. They fought against the British and suffered a lot; however our situation was different
The British put Reza Pahlavi in power as their puppet so that he would carry out whatever they wanted. These arguments cannot be denied; these are not my accounts; these are certain events that have happened in history, recorded by historians and are proved by documents published thirty or forty years thereafter.
A few days ago, I was reading one of those documents about a meeting among Zia'eddin Tabatabaee, Reza Shah and some British agents during which Reza Shah said “I do not know politics and have no knowledge about it; I do as you command; I am at your orders!” And indeed that was what happened. However, the moment they felt that he has moved down from that level of obedience and was developing some sort of inclination toward- not even true independence but- Hitler's Germany [obviously Reza Shah was of such manners that when he looked at Hitler he would get excited and enjoyed what he did,] the British removed him and put his son in power. These are the realities of our country.
Ayatollah Khamenei, December 1, 2004
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