Editing Richard Helms (section)

===At the Shah's court===
[[File:Hoveyda.jpg|thumb|[[Amir Abbas Hoveyda|Hoveyda]], prime minister of Iran 1965–1977, executed by the [[Interim Government of Iran (1979)|Provisional Revolutionary Govt.]] in 1979]]

"The presentation of ambassadorial credentials to the [[Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi|Shah]] was a rather formal undertaking," reads a photograph caption in Helms' memoirs, which shows him in formal attire, standing before the Shah who is dressed in military uniform.<ref>Helms (2003), photograph following p. 240 (at page 'xiv' of series).</ref> Helms enjoyed an elite student experience which he shared with the Shah, as circa 1930, both had attended [[Le Rosey]], a French-language prep school in Switzerland.<ref>Abbas Milani, ''The Shah'' (2011) p. 44. Not Richard Helms, but his older brother was a classmate of the Shah.</ref>

Decades later, the CIA station chief in Iran first introduced Helms to the Shah. Helms was there about an installation to spy on the Soviets:<ref name="Shawcross, 1988">Shawcross, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988) p. 266.</ref> "I had first met the Shah in 1957 when I visited Tehran to negotiate permission to place some sophisticated intercept equipment in northern Iran."<ref>Helms (2003) p. 417.</ref>

A "celebrated" story was told in elite circles about Helms' appointment. The Soviet ambassador had said with a sneer, to [[Amir Abbas Hoveyda]] the Shah's prime minister, "We hear the Americans are sending their Number One spy to Iran." Hoveyda replied, "The Americans are our friends. At least they don't send us their Number Ten spy."<ref>Shawcross, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988) p. 206.</ref> Helms, for his part, referred to Hoveyda as "Iran's most consummate politician."<ref>Fakhreddin Azimi, ''The Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle against Authoritarian Rule'' (Harvard University 2008, 2010) p. 199 (Helms' quote).</ref>

For many years, the CIA had operated extensive technical installations to monitor [[Soviet Air Force|Soviet air traffic]] across Iran's northern border.<ref>Cf., [[Project Dark Gene]].</ref> Also the CIA, along with [[Mossad]] and [[United States Agency for International Development|USAID]], since the early 1950s had trained and supported the controversial Iranian intelligence and police agency [[SAVAK]].<ref>Fakhreddin Azimi, ''The Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle against Authoritaian Rule'' (Harvard University 2008, 2010) at p. 164 (Savak).</ref>
Further from 1972 to 1975 the CIA was involved in assisting Iran with its project to support the [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] struggle against Iraq. As a result of this security background and official familiarity with the government of Iran, Helms figured that as the American ambassador he could "hit the ground running" when he started work in Tehran.<ref>Helms (2003) p. 417 (intercepts, Kurds). Helms remarks that then as always "the Shah acted as his own chief of intelligence".</ref><ref>Shawcross, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988) p. 266 (CIA 'listening posts' re Soviets), pp. 72, 160–161, 198 (CIA and Savak), at pp. 163, 165* (CIA and the Kurds), p. 266 (quote). "The CIA owned in Iran one of its largest operations in the world" (p. 264).</ref>

Long before Helms arrived in country his embassy, and other western embassies as well, entertained an "almost uncritical approval of the Shah. He was a strong leader, a reformer who appreciated the needs of his people and who had a vision of a developed, pro-Western, anti-Communist, prosperous Iran." The shah remained an ally. "Too much had been invested in the Shah—by European nations as well as by the U.S.—for any real changes in policy."<ref>Shawcross, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988) p. 263 ("uncritical" quote), p. 270 ("invested" quote).</ref><ref>David Harris, ''The Crisis: The President, the Prophet, and the Shah—1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam'' (Boston: Little, Brown 2004) p. 44. Later in 1978–1979 revolutionary crowds in Tehran "called him 'the American Shah' and they were right on the mark."</ref> Helms inspected and adjusted the security provided for the embassy, which was located in the city on 25-acres with high walls. A CIA officer accompanied Helms wherever he went. The usual ambassador's car was "a shabby beige Chevrolet" with armor-plating. There was "the traditional ambassador's big black Cadillac, with the flag flying from the front fender" but Helms used it only once, accompanied by his wife.<ref>Helms (2003) pp. 418–419, 421.</ref><ref>Cf., Cynthia Helms, ''An Ambassador's Wife in Iran'' (1981).</ref>