▁regime . ▁ ¶ ▁... ▁people ▁more ▁or ▁less ▁lic ensed ▁by ▁the ▁Shah ." ▁About ▁the ▁immediate ▁court , ▁however , ▁a ▁U . N . ▁official ▁wrote , ▁" There ▁was ▁an ▁atmosphere ▁of ▁over wh el ming ▁nouveau - ric he , ▁mer etr icious ▁chi - chi ▁and ▁sy c oph ancy ▁... " Az imi , ▁The ▁Qu est ▁for ▁Dem ocracy ▁in ▁Iran ▁( Har vard ▁Un iv . ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁ 2 0 1 0 ) ▁p . ▁ 2 8 5 : ▁" In ▁the ▁tw il ight ▁years ▁of ▁the ▁mon archy ▁it ▁was ▁increasing ly ▁clear ▁that ▁the ▁sh ah ▁and ▁his ▁el ite ▁had ▁c ac oon ed ▁themselves ▁in ▁an ▁im pen et rable ▁web ▁of ▁collect ive ▁self - de ception ." ▁Hel ms ▁himself ▁managed ▁to ▁circul ate ▁widely ▁among ▁the ▁traditional ▁el ites , ▁e . g ., ▁becoming ▁a ▁" close ▁friend " ▁of ▁the ▁arist ocrat ▁A hm ad ▁G ore ishi . ▁ ▁The ▁sh ah ' s ▁policy ▁of ▁keeping ▁foreign ▁agents ▁and ▁officials ▁away ▁from ▁his ▁domestic ▁fo es ▁applied ▁equally ▁to ▁the ▁C IA . ▁In ▁fact , ▁the ▁Agency ▁remained ▁somewhat ▁un in formed ▁about ▁his ▁fo es , ▁but ▁for ▁what ▁information ▁S AV AK ▁( I ran ' s ▁state ▁security ) ▁gave ▁it . ▁The ▁C IA ▁evidently ▁did ▁not ▁even ▁closely ▁monitor ▁the ▁sh ah ' s ▁activities . ▁During ▁Hel ms '