Even construction works were carried out for Western interests
The day railroads were introduced into this country, the first thing that occurred to everybody was that the railroads had to connect the capital city to the Persian Gulf through the central provinces - that is to say, Fars and Isfahan. That was the most natural thing that they could have done in this country. But they did not do so… during the reign of Reza-Khan [Pahlavi Regime], Iran’s railway was built based on the interests of the powers which were the big enemies of our country—that is, the UK and Soviet Union at those times—and they named it ‘cross-country railway’! An absolute lie; how come cross-country? For the Allies of World War II—that is, the UK and the Soviet Union—to transfer armaments and supplies through our country, and to use our oil, they built a railway that stretched from—a point at some distance from—the Persian Gulf to Tehran; and then, from Tehran to the Caspian Sea: so that the Russian and British troops could be connected and transport arms, equipment and supplies to one another and take the Iranian oil to anywhere they needed. Thus, the policy of the constructive work in the country, which consisted of building a railway, was so much influenced by colonial policies and foreigners’ infiltration. Consequently, the outcome was that a city like Shiraz—located at the heart of the country—had no railway.