Pahlavi Clan" and ignore "the corruption that saturated the regime". In 1960, there were rumours that Princess Ashraf, Shah's twin sister was arrested in Geneva carrying a suitcase containing $2 million worth of heroin. She was regarded as Iran's main drug dealer until 1979. A 1976 CIA report declared that she has a "near legendary reputation for financial corruption" and her son Shahram controls some-twenty companies that serve as "cover for Ashraf's quasi-legal business ventures". Prince Hamid Reza, the Shah's half-brother, was ostracized from the royal family because of his widespread scandals of promiscuity, addiction and involvement in drug trade. According to William Shawcross, hundreds of call girls from Madame Claude's establishment in Paris passed through Tehran for Mohammad Reza Shah and members of his court. Impact on the 1979 revolution Some scholars have raised the point that widespread corruption among officials and royal court led to the public dissatisfaction and helped the Iranian Revolution. In Handbook of Crisis and Emergency Management, the Pahlavi dynasty is described as an example of governments losing legitimation because of corruption and facing a public service crisis as a result. According to Fakhreddin Azimi, Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, "the unbridled misconduct of the Pahlavi clan undermined the Shah's proclaimed commitment to combating corruption and seriously damaged his credibility and Stature". Right before the revolution, in a 1978 National TV appeal to the nation, Shah said : I pledge that past mistakes, lawlessness, injustice, and corruption will not only no longer be repeated, but will in every respect be rectified... I guarantee that in future the government in Iran will be based on the Constitution, social justice, and the will of the people, and will be free from despotism, injustice, and corruption. On the other hand, Khomeini repeatedly argued that the only way to eliminate corruption was through a revolution. See also Economy of Iran Crime in Iran Smuggling in Iran Fuel smuggling in Iran History of the Islamic Republic of Iran Aghazadeh Notable cases Banking cases 2011 Iranian embezzlement scandal Fatemi Circle Shahram Jazayeri Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha Mahafarid Amir Khosravi Mahmoud Reza Khavari Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani Babak Zanjani Institutions in charge of fighting corruption General Inspection Office Supreme Audit Court of Iran Islamic Revolutionary Court References Abbas Milani. Eminent Persians, Syracuse University Press, 2008, Stephanie Cronin. The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society under Riza Shah, 1921-1941, Routledge, 2012,