From Territorial Dispute to Diplomatic Partnership

By the late 1960s, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi realized that a forced takeover of Bahrain would be a diplomatic disaster. It would alienate the Arab world and likely fail due to lack of local support. He decided to play the "statesman" instead. In a surprising move during a visit to India in 1969, he announced that Iran would respect the will of the Bahraini people, provided it was expressed through an internationally recognized process.