AP WAS THERE: Shah leaves Iran as 1979 revolution looms

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Jan. 16, 1979, Iran's powerful Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi abandoned his Peacock Throne and left his nation, never to return home, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution a month later.

His departure and the ensuing chaos blindsided the United States, which for decades relied on Iran and its absolute ruler as Washington's closest Mideast ally. Washington sold billions of dollars in weaponry to the shah, whom America empowered in a CIA-backed 1953 coup, and stationed sensitive spying stations in northern Iran to monitor the Soviet Union.

The shah's departure, initially described as a "vacation," came as he was fatally stricken with cancer. His arrival in America after months abroad would spark the U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis, stoking the animosity that persists between Tehran and Washington to this day.

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 1979 file photo, a soldier bends to kiss the feet of Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi on the tarmac of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran, Iran. Behind the shah is his wife, Empress Farah. Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the shah abandoning his Peacock Throne and leaving his nation for the last time in his life, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution only a month later. (AP Photo, File)

Now, 40 years later, The Associated Press is making its stories about the shah's departure from Iran available, along with historic photos from that climactic day. The stories have been edited for typographical errors, but maintain the AP style of the day, such as using "Moslem" as opposed to Muslim.

IRAN CHEERS DEPARTURE

By ROBERT H. REID

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 1979 file photo, a banner denouncing Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is put up at the entrance of Tehran University in Tehran, Iran. Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the shah abandoning his Peacock Throne and leaving his nation for the last time in his life, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution only a month later. (AP PhotoBernhard Frye, File)

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran — Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a weeping king driven from his kingdom, flew his royal jet out of Iran Tuesday on a journey from which he may never return.

His departure set off an explosion of joy by millions of his people. If his triumphant foes have their way, the shah's flight means the end of monarchy in a land ruled by kings for 2,500 years.

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 1979 file photo, a smiling Iranian soldier is hailed by demonstrators who decorated them with flowers and pictures of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in Tehran, Iran. Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the shah abandoning his Peacock Throne and leaving his nation for the last time in his life, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution only a month later. (AP Photo, File)

Jubilant Iranians poured into Tehran's streets, singing and dancing, cheering each other in celebration of victory in the bloody year-long popular struggle against the man who has ruled their nation since 1941.

"The shah is gone forever!" they chanted.

Motorists honked horns and flashed headlights. People waved portraits of Ayatollah Khomeini, the bearded Moslem leader who marshaled a broad political and religious movement that forced the shah from the country.

FILE - In this Jan. 19, 1979 file photo, more than a million supporters of an Islamic Republic assembled around the Shayad monument, in Tehran, Iran. Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the shah abandoning his Peacock Throne and leaving his nation for the last time in his life, setting the stage for the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution only a month later. (AP PhotoAristotle Saris, File)

But not all Iranians rejoiced. Diplomatic sources said pro-shah soldiers fired at demonstrators in northern Tehran and there had been some injuries. The reported violence pointed up the divisiveness that remains in Iran and may foreshadow continued bloodshed.

The 59-year-old monarch took the controls himself and piloted his "Shah's Falcon" Boeing 727 jetliner into the bright skies over Tehran and on to Aswan, Egypt, where he was welcomed by President Anwar Sadat.

He is expected to stay there for a few days before flying on to the United States for what is officially described as an "extended vacation." Reportedly he will meet in Aswan with former President Gerald R. Ford, who had long been scheduled to meet with Sadat there.

President Carter said in an interview aired Tuesday night by NBC News that he thinks the Soviet Union, Iran's neighbor to the north, wants stability in Iran.

The broadcast was taped Saturday, before the shah's departure. Carter said a change in government in Iran "doesn't mean Iran will no longer exist."

There was no official Soviet comment from Moscow. A dispatch filed from New York by Tass, the Soviet news agency, mostly quoted Western press reports, but also said the monarch left "like a fugitive, without a pompous sendoff and without an honorary escort."

At Tehran's airport, two royal guard officers fell tearfully to their knees to try and kiss the shah's feet as he neared the plane ramp, an eyewitness reported. He told them to stand, and the officers then lifted a copy of the Koran, the Moslem holy book, over their heads as a canopy under which the royal couple mounted the ramp, the shah in a dark suit and winter coat, the Empress Farah in fur hat and collar.

The monarch - "Shah of Shahs," ''Center of the Universe, Shadow of the Almighty" - left behind shattered dreams of glory for his Pahlavi dynasty and a volatile political situation.

THE SHAH IS GONE

By The Associated Press

Jubilant Iranians danced in the streets of Tehran Tuesday, chanting "The shah is gone" as word spread swiftly through the capital that the monarch had left the country.

Their joy spread to other parts of the Arab world and to Paris, where the shah's arch foe, Ayatollah Khomeini, greeted the news with the Moslem expression, "God is great."

Statues of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi were pulled to the ground in Tehran, and some Iranians cut his portrait out of banknotes.

Horns honked, bakers gave away free cakes and cookies, and Iranians dumped candy into passing cars. They sprinkled each other with rosewater as they heard that the shah had slipped out of the country and flown to Egypt.

Throughout Iran, cheering demonstrators held aloft portraits of Khomeini, the self-exiled Shiite Moslem leader who directed the religious opposition to the shah. He has vowed to establish an Islamic republic in Iran, where more than 90 percent of the population is Moslem, as is the shah.

The shah, under withering religious and political pressure, left unannounced early Tuesday for Egypt and is expected to go to the United States. He said his departure was for medical treatment, but there is wide speculation he will not return.

When the shah arrived in Aswan in southern Egypt he was greeted by small crowds along the route he traveled with President Anwar Sadat.

In Tehran, the joy was mixed with bitterness toward the man who had held virtually absolute rule.

"We hope the next national government will be able to bring the shah back and put him on trial," said Hamid Shahbazi, a student.

"We'll be happy when the shah is dead," said a girl who gave her name as Nistanish.

Other Iranians expressed hope their country could return to normalcy after a year of anti-shah strikes and rioting that took at least 1,500 lives.

"First of all I hope the oil workers go back to so I will be able to buy some fuel oil for my central heating," said Alsofah Niasi, a housewife.

In Damascus, Syria, where 270 members of the Palestinian National Council were meeting to discuss their goal of an independent Palestinian state, the news of the shah's departure provided a distraction.

"Everyone is happy," said Mahmoud Labady, a spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization. "We see the victory in Iran as a victory for the PLO too. It shows a trend in the Middle East against American interests and influence."

There was no official comment from Moscow, but the Soviet news agency Tass, quoting "eyewitnesses," said the monarch left "like a fugitive without a pompous send off and without an honorary escort."

In Paris, scores of Iranian exiles turn the knobs on shortwave radios, looking for Iranian broadcasts. They had heard the news on French radio, but many said they wouldn't believe it until they heard it from home.

The 78-year-old Khomeini, who has lived in a modest villa in a Paris suburb since Oct. 6, made an appearance Tuesday afternoon and was swallowed up in a swirl of admirers as he crossed the street to the operations house where he prepared messages to be beamed at Iran.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.

The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”

On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”

“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.

“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.

Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.

“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”

Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.

“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”

Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.

In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.

A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”

The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.

Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.

O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.

He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.

The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.

Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.

Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.

U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.

“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.

A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.

Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.

People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)