The worlds biggest party. Grand visions. Execution Capability & Life lessons. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the last Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979.
To organize some thing as simple as a party, one needs the focus, vision and execution capability. Or needs to hire 'operators' who can do so. I came across menu from a party that was held in the desert in Iran. I got intrigued by the machinery it would require to execute. 
The 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire, officially known as the 2,500th Year of the Foundation of the Imperial State of Iran, consisted of an elaborate set of festivities that took place on 12–16 October 1971 to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of
the erstwhile Imperial State of Iran and the ancient Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great.The intent of the celebration was to demonstrate Iran's ancient civilization and history and to showcase its contemporary advances under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.
In October 1971 the Shah of Persia flew in eighteen tons of food to celebrate his country’s 2,500th anniversary and his own glory. Emperors, kings, presidents and sheikhs from all over the world were regaled for three days amidst the ancient ruins of Persepolis.
The Shah hired French architects, interior decorators and couturiers to design 50 tent-like suites for the royal visitors, right next to the ruins. A main tent, measuring 68m by 24m, was to be the banquet hall. The tent city took a year to build and 37 km of silk.
The tents were arranged along five avenues, radiating out from a central fountain. “Billion-Dollar Camping” read the headline in the Schweizer Illustrierte.
“The party of the century”, claimed Life magazine.
The NewYork Times had 2 feature articles too.
“The party of the century”, claimed Life magazine.
The NewYork Times had 2 feature articles too.
Now for some perspective:
The ancient ruins of Persepolis are in the desert. Because of this, a tent city was to be built in the middle of the desert and a plan was created to transform the site into a forest. 4 hectares of soil were delivered to the site for planting trees
The ancient ruins of Persepolis are in the desert. Because of this, a tent city was to be built in the middle of the desert and a plan was created to transform the site into a forest. 4 hectares of soil were delivered to the site for planting trees
About 15,000 trees and flowers were flown into the site so they could be planted. Water was transported to the desert to keep the trees alive. 50,000 songbirds & 20,000 sparrows were flown in from Europe & released in the artificial forest. Which died a few days later.
The ladies were provided with a separate bunker for their jewellery. Right next to the tent city they built an airfield, as well as a 1000-km motorway from Tehran to Persepolis.The site was infested with poisonous creatures so about 30km2 of the area was sprayed with gas.
As Persepolis was located in the desert there wasn’t an airport nearby. So, an airfield was built 50 km away from the tent city and a highway to connect the site to the airfield. Of course, the event had a big kitchen, too. How do you get kitchens to deserts?
Iranian military machines flew in 150 tons of kitchen equipment, some 5000 kilometres, from Paris to Persepolis. The culinary preparations for the celebration began in the summer of 1970, when the Iranians asked Louis Vaudable, the owner of Maxim's in Paris
to manage this part of the festivities.Maxim’s was considered the best restaurant in the world. So from building a city in the dessert, to building an airport, to contracting the best restauranteur to inviting royalty & the political elite all for 3 days of show & tell
3 days before the gala banquet, eighteen tons of food arrived. According to the list, this included: 2700 kg of beef, pork and lamb. 1280 kg of fowl and game. And 30 kg of caviar — although some people claim it was 150 kg + a lorry full of ice. Everything was flown in from Paris
even parsley and chives. Only the caviar came from Iran. The director of Maxim's, Monsieur Louis Vaudable, believes that in the history of humankind there has never been a party as extravagant as this one.
According to protocol, the most eminent guest was Haile Selassie, 79, Emperor of Ethiopia. He was accompanied by his daughter and his dog, Cheecheebee. With its diamond-studded collar, it never left the Emperor’s side, not even on the sofa. US President Nixon
had sent Vice-President Spiro Agnew represent him. Queen Elisabeth of Britain sent her husband Prince Philip and Princess Anne.French President Pompidou first accepted but then cancelled,which angered the Shah. Spotted PIA in the footage our president in tow
The shah is quoted in his memoirs, “I wanted to take advantage of the presence in Persepolis of then President of Pakistan, Yahya Khan, on the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. I hoped to arrange a meeting between him and the president of the USSR,
[Nikolai] Podgorny, and thus to help avert the impending conflict between India and Pakistan over Bangladesh.” The Shah’s efforts however remained fruitless. Iran was a key geo political player for Pakistan and Pakistan was on Irans Foreign Policy agenda vs the other way around.
Bhutto’s tilt towards the Arab world also annoyed the Shah. Ziaul Haq also adopted the same approach after efforts towards building trust with Tehran proved futile.
Bhutto played the Arab card very well. Before the Lahore Islamic Summit in 1974, Pakistan had not received
Bhutto played the Arab card very well. Before the Lahore Islamic Summit in 1974, Pakistan had not received
direct financial aid from any Arab country; with a single stroke Bhutto changed that fact and Arab oil money started flowing in. This was the time when the romance between Iran and Pakistan went downhill. Coming back to our party, historical context here dawn.com/news/1272879
You can re-live part of 2500 celebration history by watching this excellent documentary
An other detailed photographic account here
royalwatcherblog.com/2017/02/27/per…
royalwatcherblog.com/2017/02/27/per…
What are the lessons from a tweet based on a dinner menu? Grand visions(may lead to bad outcomes) Execution Capability(even when done right tied to the wrong vision can create issues) & Life lessons(aren't what they seem) in business just like in politics
It's an equally bad idea to self obsess as much as it is to obsesses about the competition. Flawless execution without a long term strategy & -us a market product fit can lead to un intended consequences. @raza_matin @rebootdude @jehan_ara @babushka99 @Huk06 @YusufJan @norbalm
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