Mummy mystery grips Iran
The discovery of a mummy rumored to be the former shah of Iran has stirred fascination and controversy.
The Iranian media erupted April 23 with news of the discovery of a mummy that seems to be the remains of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-79) in Iran.
Reza Shah, who is also commonly known in Iran as Reza Khan, ruled the country from 1925 until 1941. As the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Iran during the Second World War, he was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad Reza over his suspected Nazi sympathies. The younger shah was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, ending the monarchy in Iran.
After his abdication, Reza Shah was exiled to South Africa and passed away in Johannesburg in 1944. After his death, his remains were mummified and taken to Egypt, where they were kept until being taken to Iran and buried in Shahr-e-Rey in the south of Tehran, close to the Shah Abdul Azim shrine.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, revolutionary figure Sadegh Khalkhali destroyed Reza Shah’s tomb, but according to Khalkhali’s memoir, no remains were found at the site. Khalkhali’s book posits that before leaving Iran in 1979, Mohammad Reza Shah had dug up his father’s body and taken it to Cairo and then on to Los Angeles.
