I had a ringside seat for the Iranian revolution. Foreign meddling didn’t work then either | Paul Taylor

Even as the first western journalist to interview Ayatollah Khomeini, I had no inkling of what was to come. Perhaps we should have learned from history Watching Iran in flames, I can’t help wondering whether history is coming a grotesque full circle 47 years after the fall of the US-backed Pahlavi dynasty , or whether western powers are simply repeating past errors by attempting violent regime change from outside. As a young reporter, I had a ringside seat for part of the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and installed an austere Islamic republic headed by a Shia Muslim cleric with the titles of “leader of the revolution” and “guardian jurist” ( vali-e faqih ).