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Arrest of Hoveyda
Saideh Pakravan
 Part
fiction, part memoirs, this collection of stories by an insider sheds new light on the
main actors of the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The title story in The Arrest of Hoveyda,
Stories of the Iranian Revolution is a narrative in the distinct voices of five persons
who took part in the meetings of a restricted council in a last-minute attempt to save the
Shah’s crumbling regime. Putting their own spin and interpretation on the chaotic
times they went through then, they talk about the events that led to the arrest of Amir
Abbas Hoveyda, the Shah’s loyal and devoted Prime Minister for thirteen years. While
describing and analyzing the flow of events and the psychology of the men who controlled
them (or were controlled by them), the tale is one of might and fall and a reflection on
public service, on revolution and retribution, and on power and what it does to those who
wield it.
Specifications:
1998: x+134pp.
ISBN:1-56859-100-4 (hard cover): $17.95
Imprint: Blind Owl Press
Book Review: 
Reviewed by Haleh Vaziri from Washington, DC , March 21,
1999
"Satisfies the intellect and the senses."
Saideh Pakravan's "Arrest of Hoveyda" is a rare read. This book, depicting both
actual historical figures and fictitious characters, examines the complex and convoluted
events surrounding Iran's "Islamic" revolution of 1978-79.
As the author wonders how the Westward-looking Pahlavi throne fell under the weight of
dissident pressure to a turban-wearing cleric, she paints in fine brush strokes the
personalities who shaped the revolution's outcome both intentionally and quite by
accident. Highlighting the idiosyncratic nature of history, Pakravan does not judge those
individuals who found themselves engulfed in Iran's revolutionary turmoil. "The
Arrest of Hoveyda" thus compels the reader to go beyond good-guy/bad-guy
interpretations of history.
More significantly, Pakravan's tales evoke the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of Iran
as she experienced them during various precious moments in her life. Perhaps most
rewarding are "Kakouli" and "Quintet" in which she reveals her own
emotions with clarity but without self-indulgence. The reader cannot help but wipe away
Pakravan's salty tears of joy and sorrow. Her joy seems to derive from the smallest
sweetness life has to offer. Her sorrow, from the loss of Iran as epitomized by her
father's assassination.
"The Arrest of Hoveyda" is a first-rate hi-story that satisfies the intellect
and the senses. Pakravan's words will linger with the reader long after closing the
book...She has already cultivated a readership which eagerly awaits her next work.
A reader from California , February 21, 1999.
"Sharply honest, thoughtful and beautifully written book."
Saideh Pakravan has written a beautiful collection of short stories about Iran. The main
story, "The arrest of Hoveyda" attempts to shed some light on one of the most
puzzling events of the revolutionary months that led to the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Most foreign observers had concluded that the arrest of Hoveyda was a cynical -and
ultimately futile- attempt by the Shah to sacrifice his loyal prime minister of 13 years
to his own survival, while many Iranians adept of twisted conspiracy theories advanced
that it was dictated by competing foreign powers (the U.S. or Great Britain)who wanted the
liquidation of "a man who knew too much". Ms. Pakravan does not try to promote
any theory, but her story is compelling by showing that the actors of this tragedy were
all too human. All, even the Shah, meant well for the country but the dynamics of an
undemocratic regime, without checks and balances, left it unprepared for the test of
history. Her description of the anarchy and confusion that reigned among the Iranian
leaders is enlightening in explaining the human dimension of the crisis and the often
haphazard and conflicting decisions. She's chosen to outline the complexity of the
situation by presenting this tragedy from the perspective of 5 important Iranian statesmen
and writers who had been relegated to secondary function in the last years of the Shah,
but were brought back as "wise men" to counsel on means of saving the country.
Some of these individuals are easily recognizable, but others are composites characters.
Their recollection of a telephone conversation they witnessed between the Shah and another
-yet undetermined- person differ in many ways, but they all confirm that it was then that
the still hesitating Shah approved the arrest of Hoveyda. Among these witnesses one can
recognize the author's father, one of the most respected Iranian statesmen, who was among
the many victims executed summarily by the Khomeiny regime. The author also reminds us
indirectly that, in any event, Hoveyda's fate would not have been different given his
later refusal, after his release from prison in the confusion of the collapse of the
regime, to hide from the vengeful Khomeiny regime.
Ms. Pakravan's other short stories that follow "The arrest of Hoveyda" are
beautiful snapshots from her youth and from her years after the revolution that trace her
often difficult, but seemingly successful, personal trajectory in building internal peace
and harmony out of a now shattered world that had attempted to marry the best and at times
worst aspects of Eastern and Western cultures.
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Arrest of Hoveyda
Avicenna and I
Folly of Speaking
In a Voice of Their Own
Kanizu
Marsh
Sargozasht Haji Baba-ye Isfahani
Tup-e Morvari
Winter Sleep
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