THOUSANDS of Iranians are ­contacting the widow of the last Shah as dissatisfaction with the Islamic Revolution grows, it has been revealed.

It is the latest evidence of widespread discontent within the fundamentalist state, which has been hit by economic mismanagement and the effects of international sanctions and faces the prospect of impending military conflict with Israel over its nuclear programme.

Empress Farah, 73, who has lived in exile since Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee the country in 1979 following a coup led by the religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, revealed she has been deluged with thousands of ­e-mails following a release of a documentary three weeks ago on YouTube.

The film, in which she explained the final years of the reign of the Shah, who died in 1980, has been viewed more than 268,000 times.

Speaking from her home in Paris, she said: “From the onset, the Islamic Republic of Iran created malicious myths and lies about the Pahlavi era that the public bought into. Although it has continued to do so throughout these past 33 years, people can now see through them and are therefore avidly seeking to find the truth.