The Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s rule over Iran (1941–1979) was marked by deep political controversy due to his autocratic governance, close alignment with Western powers, and dependence on the SAVAK secret police to silence opposition.

His return to consolidated power after the 1953 CIA- and MI6-backed coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh fostered widespread nationalist resentment and perceptions that he was a foreign-installed ruler.

The White Revolution of the 1960s brought land reform, expanded education, and advanced women’s rights, but it also alienated the clergy, disrupted rural economies, and deepened class divides.

The surge in oil revenues during the 1970s funded rapid modernization and lavish state projects, yet also fueled accusations of corruption, extravagance, and detachment from the struggles of ordinary Iranians.

His secularization policies and harsh suppression of both leftist and Islamist groups forged an unlikely alliance of opposition forces, culminating in the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and established the Islamic Republic.