While #CCP Chairman #HuaGuofeng's visit to #Iran in 1978 was meant to project strength, his translator recalled a different mood... (a short thread) 1/

#Iran #China #IranChina #ChinaIran #twitterstorians #history #womeninhistory #AcademicTwitter #iranian #pahlavi #chinese

"The meeting between the leaders of the two countries that I was most impressed with was a separate meeting between #HuaGuofeng and #Pahlavi. At that time there was no one but else but myself as a translator. Pahlavi's mood during the meeting was already quite depressed..." 2/

"...He said that the situation in Iran is already very difficult, and his future is "unknown." I was very surprised when I heard this sentence: As a head of state, he had no confidence in himself!" 3/

"In fact, the situation was already very tense at this time: after Hua Guofeng arrived, the public security situation was very bad due to the fact that there were demonstrators everywhere on the street..." 3/

"Due to the turbulent situation, for safety reasons, six helicopters were prepared every time we went out for activities, and they did not specify which one to sit in in advance. After getting on board, all six helicopters flew off in different directions." 4/

Why did Hua go during such a dangerous time? In fact, the government almost canceled the visit at the last minute due to the chaotic situation. However, after some deliberation, Chinese diplomats decided that Iran was on the "first line" of strategically important countries. 5/

"They judged the situation in #Iran thusly: the chaos in Iran was caused by the intervention of the #Soviet Union, and #Pahlavi was in a relatively difficult situation. Therefore, they considered the grand strategy of " #UnitedStates against the #SovietUnion [most important]." 6/

"Pahlavi should be supported. So the embassy finally suggested that Premier Hua Guofeng should not change his itinerary." 7/

And that's all for today! Next time, I will talk about the impact on #Sino- #Iranian relations and why many Iranians chanted "death to #China" in 1979.

@RohamAlvandiLSE @iranstudiesUK @IranianWin @Iran_Style @rasmuselling @LorenzLuthi @AnoushEhteshami @ardavank @tugrulkeskin @jacoposcita @yarbatman @EskandarSadeghi @notarashazizi