Iranians react to Jimmy Carter's death with much criticism, little praise

Iranians opposed to their nation's Islamist rulers who seized power during the U.S. presidency of Jimmy Carter have reacted to his death at age 100 with a wave of criticism about his enduring impact on Iran and some supportive views of his post-presidential activities.

On the Monday edition of VOA Persian's "On the Line" live audience call-in show, all 12 audience members whose phone calls, video and voice messages were featured in the program criticized Carter, accusing him of enabling the Islamic Republic's first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to seize power in 1979.

Eleven of the 12 audience members who commented for the Persian-language show were calling from Iran, while the other audience member was in the U.S.

Khomeini and his radical Shiite followers toppled the monarchy of Iran's U.S.-backed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on Feb. 11, 1979.

Pahlavi had fled into exile the previous month and arrived in the United States on Oct. 22, 1979, for cancer treatment that Carter approved.

Islamist militants angry with the U.S. for harboring the deposed shah stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, taking 66 Americans hostage.

Thirteen were released weeks later but the remaining 53 Americans were held through the rest of Carter's presidency. Iran freed them after 444 days, upon the Jan. 20, 1981, inauguration of Carter's successor, Ronald Reagan.

The Iranian callers to the VOA Persian show unanimously expressed the view that Carter betrayed the shah by abandoning him as he faced a growing Islamist rebellion and not doing enough to stop Iran from being plunged into a dark era with its people enduring hardship under 45 years of authoritarian Islamist rule.

After leaving office, Carter said he tried to balance strategic and humanitarian considerations in his relationship with and treatment of the shah.

Prominent U.S.-based Iranian supporters of Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed shah, also used the X platform to post sharply critical views of Carter's legacy.

Journalist Behnam Amini wrote in Persian: "The man responsible for the misery of the Iranian nation has died. Soon, the downfall of the regime that he nurtured will come as well."

Also writing in Persian, monarchist Saman Sarraf described Carter as the "founder of the Islamic Republic" and said: "With Carter's death, the Islamic regime is on the brink of collapse."

Reza Pahlavi and his mother, exiled queen Farah Pahlavi, have been silent on Carter's death. The exiled crown prince's office did not immediately respond to a VOA request for comment sent Friday.

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a U.S. nonprofit critical of the Pahlavi dynasty, with a mission to "advance peace and diplomacy, secure equitable immigration policies and protect the civil rights of all Americans," sent VOA a different view of Carter's role in Iran's Islamic Revolution.

In a Friday statement, NIAC President Jamal Abdi said, "It is important to understand that the 1979 [Islamic] Revolution was made and led by Iranians, not by the United States. In fact, U.S. support for the shah, despite his brutality toward protesters and torture of political opponents, was one of the triggers for popular protest."

Abdi also wrote that members of the Iranian American community admire Carter's efforts after his presidency to advance Middle East peace and to warn about the direction of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"President Carter's legacy is multi-layered and complex, and not one that neatly fits the worldviews of his most animated detractors," Abdi wrote.

Exiled Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji, also a critic of the Pahlavi dynasty, offered praise for Carter in a Persian-language post on X, calling him a "lifelong advocate for human rights around the world" in his post-presidency activities.