Persepolis, 40 years later

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Shah of Iran's celebrations in Persepolis (October 12-16, 1971) of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire, I post a link to this beautiful and thorough 2002 tribute from the "Glittering Royal Events" site. The celebrations (nicknamed "Disneyland in the Desert" by Western journalists and attended by most of the world's leading royalty) surely constituted one of the most spectacular royal occasions of the 20th century, though alas the lavish event was easily exploited in propaganda by the Shah's enemies in spite of the good it did in terms of infrastructure and publicity. I wonder, as the evil current Iranian regime stumbles from one insanity to another, when those who spent the 1970s denouncing the Shah as a "tyrant" as if nothing could be worse will apologize. Something tells me we shouldn't hold our breath...