Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi

 
Who2 Biography: Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Political Leader
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Who2 Biographies
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Source

  • Born: 26 October 1919
  • Birthplace: Tehran, Iran
  • Died: 27 July 1980 (cancer)
  • Best Known As: The Shah of Iran, 1941-1979

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi became Crown Prince in 1925, when his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, became the official monarch of modern Iran. His father was forced into exile in 1941 and Mohammad Reza took the throne. In 1953 political opposition forced him to leave the country, but he was restored to power with the help of the United States. Mohammad Reza embarked on a domestic policy that encouraged nationalism and modernization, but by the late 1970s his repressive regime was becoming increasingly unpopular. In 1979 a theocratic revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, sent the Shah into exile. He went to the U.S., where he was treated for lymphatic cancer; Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and demanded the Shah's extradition in exchange for 50 hostages. The U.S. refused and the Shah eventually moved to Egypt, where he died.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

(born Oct. 26, 1919, Tehran, Iran — died July 27, 1980, Cairo, Egypt) Shah of Iran (1941 – 79), noted for his pro-Western orientation and autocratic rule. After an education in Switzerland, he replaced his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, as ruler when the latter was forced into exile by the British. His rule was marked by a power struggle with his premier, Mohammad Mosaddeq, who briefly succeeded in deposing him in 1953; covert intervention by British and U.S. intelligence services returned him to the throne the next year. His program of rapid modernization and oil-field development initially brought him popular support, but his autocratic style and suppression of dissent, along with corruption and the unequal distribution of Iran's new oil wealth, increased opposition led by exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In 1979 Pahlavi was forced into exile.

For more information on Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, visit Britannica.com.

Political Biography: Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
Top
Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Political Biographies

(b. Tehran, 26 Oct. 1919; d. 27 Jul. 1980) Iranian; Shah 1941 – 79 Iran was occupied by British and Soviet forces when Mohammed Reza succeeded his father as Shah in 1941. The autocratic regime he inherited disintegrated over the next twelve years under the pressure of foreign interference and mounting domestic unrest, culminating in the Mossadeq government's challenge of 1951 – 3.

After his restoration to the throne in 1953, the Shah rebuilt the royal autocracy with American assistance. Organized opposition was crushed with the imprisonment of Mossadeq, the National Front's abolition and suppression of the Communist Tudeh party. Parliament was turned into a constitutional façade controlled by client landlords, government officials, and businessmen, in which only loyalist political parties were permitted. The Shah, however, took all important decisions. In 1975, he replaced the "yes" and "yes sir" parties by the National Resurgence Party to mobilize mass support for his regime, chiefly through propagandizing a monarchical form of nationalism. The central pillar of his regime's support was an extensive security apparatus that included SAVAK — formed in 1957 with CIA, FBI, and Mossad's assistance — as the front-line organization for intelligence gathering and destructive operations against the regime's opponents. When the security apparatus failed to repress internal opposition, as in 1963 and 1977 – 9, the armed forces were deployed to secure the regime's survival. (On the Nixon doctrine, they also had a regional gendarme role.)

From 1963, the Shah sought to modernize Iran on Western lines and mask his repressive, corrupt regime, principally through the non-violent "White Revolution". At its core was land redistribution to peasants, a campaign against rural illiteracy and female political emancipation. Extensive social welfare provisions were added later. These, and other measures, which included banning marriage until 15; giving women a right to divorce; allowing polygamy only with the wife's consent; the glorification of pre-Islamic Iran; and widespread Western fashions and consumer behaviour, by their perceived anti-Islamic character, helped to precipitate the Islamic revolution which overthrew the Shah in 1979.

Biography: Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Biographies

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919-1980) was king of Iran and second in the Pahlavi dynasty. A revolution, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, forced him into exile.

Mohammad Reza was born on Oct. 27, 1919. His father, who was then an officer in the Persian Cossack regiment, later became shah of Iran as Reza Shah Pahlavi. Upon his coronation in April 1926, his 6-year-old son, Mohammad Reza, was proclaimed crown prince. While at home he was carefully educated for his future role by his imposing and stern father. In 1931 he was sent to Switzerland and attended LeRosey school for boys. He returned to Iran in 1936 and entered the military school. He was married to Princess Fawzia of Egypt. He developed into a sportsman, enjoying soccer and skiing, and later became a licensed pilot.

World War II

In the fall of 1941 Mohammad Reza's father was forced to abdicate the throne by the British and Russian forces who had occupied the country after a short struggle. On Sept. 27, 1941, he succeeded his father as Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. This was a most confused and perilous period for Iran. Not only was there a global war, but Iran was squeezed between the traditionally bitter rivalry of Russia and Britain. To this was added the lure of the vast resources of oil in Iran, which were eagerly sought by the Russians, Americans, and British.

Furthermore, the Soviet pressure on Iran had an ideological dimension which sought revolutionary change in the country. The young Shah was caught in the midst of this struggle between the pro-Soviet Tudeh party, which wanted social revolution without the Shah, and the pro-British National Will party, which wanted the Shah but no social change. The Shah himself was not happy with either.

The Soviet Union refused to evacuate Iran after World War II as it had promised and instead stayed to help a branch of the Persian Communist party set up a separate government in the northwest province of Azarbayjan. Iran complained to the fledgling United Nations organization. After much negotiations the Soviet Union evacuated Azarbayjan on May 9, 1946, and the Shah entered the province in the midst of popular jubilation.

Internal Unrest

But this did not bring tranquility, for the oil problem had not been solved. The new National Front party, formed under the leadership of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq, followed a philosophy of "negative neutralism." This stated that, since Iran had refused to give oil concessions to the Soviet Union, it should take them away from the British.

The country was plunged into such a crisis that by 1953 communication broke down between the Shah and Prime Minister Mosaddeq and also among the prime minister, his cabinet, and the parliament. The crisis, in which the Tudeh party was daily gaining the upper hand, forced the Shah and Sorayya (his second wife) to leave the country. Nine days later Mosaddeq was overthrown, and the Shah returned in triumph.

Mohammad Reza Shah returned with a new resolve. Whereas he had tried to reign as a constitutional monarch, he decided to rule under the constitution. He had distributed his land among the peasants, hoping that other landlords would follow his example, but they ignored the hint and dubbed him the "Bolshevik Shah." It was then that he started what later was called the "White Revolution." After distributing the land among the peasants, he nationalized forests and water, established profit-sharing plans for the workers, emancipated women, and established literacy, sanitation, and development corps, in which educated men spent 2 years of their time in lieu of military service. New industries were created, and Iran became one of the most stable countries in the Middle East.

On Oct. 27, 1967, his forty-eighth birthday, and after 26 years as king, he was crowned as His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Aryamehr, Shahanshah of Iran. What made this coronation a unique one in the annals of Persian history was that his third wife, Farah, was crowned as empress, the first since the coming of Islam in the 7th century. Their 6-year-old son, Reza, was declared crown prince.

During the 1970s, oil-exporting countries such as Iran exercised much world power. It was also the strongest military country in the Middle East. However, the Shah was an autocratic ruler who saw his popularity decreasing, especially among the conservative Muslims who were followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah led a revolution in 1979, forcing the Shah and his family into exile. Mohammed Reza Pahlavi died in Cairo on July 27, 1980.

Further Reading

The best accounts in English of Mohammad Reza Shah are those written by the Shah himself, My Mission for My Country (1961) and The White Revolution of Iran (1967). The first full-length biography of the Shah in English is Ramesh Sanghvi, The Shah of Iran (1969). A scholarly treatment is E. A. Bayne, Persian Kingship in Transition: Conversations with a Monarch Whose Office is Traditional and Whose Goal is Modernization (1968).

Additional Sources

Karanjia, Rustom Khurshedji, The mind of a monarch, London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1977.

Laing, Margaret Irene, The Shah, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1977.

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Answer to history, New York: Stein and Day, 1980.

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, The Shah's story, London: M. Joseph, 1980.

Shawcross, William, The Shah's last ride: the fate of an ally, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988.

Taheri, Amir, The unknown life of the Shah, London: Hutchinson, 1991.

Zonis, Marvin, Majestic failure: the fall of the Shah, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Columbia Encyclopedia - People
Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi (mūhäm'mäd rĭzä shä pă'ləvē), 1919-80, shah of Iran (1941-79). Educated in Switzerland, he returned (1935) to Iran to attend the military academy in Tehran. He ascended the throne in 1941 after his father, Reza Shah Pahlevi, was suspected of collaboration with the Germans and was deposed by British and Soviet troops. He narrowly escaped assassination (1949) by a member of the leftist Tudeh party, and in 1953 he briefly fled the country after a clash with the supporters of Muhammad Mussadegh. A moderate, the shah launched (1963) a reform program with U.S. assistance called the "White Revolution," which included land redistribution among citizens, extensive construction, the promotion of literacy, and the emancipation of women. However in the process, the grassroots population became increasingly isolated as wealth, emanating from the oil industry, was unequally distributed among Iranians. The shah faced further criticism from the internal religious clergy, who disfavored his pro-Western policies. As popular discontent grew, particularly in the early 1970s, the shah became more repressive, calling upon his brutal secret police (SAVAK) to put down domestic strife. Massive rioting erupted in Iran, and widespread support for the exiled religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini grew by 1978. On Jan. 16, 1979, Shah Pahlevi fled the country; Khomeini returned to Iran and took control. When in Oct., 1979, Iranian extremists stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, they demanded the shah in return for the American hostages being held in the embassy. The shah, however, remained abroad; he died in Egypt in 1980.
Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Top
Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia

1919 - 1980

Shah of Iran, 1941 - 1979.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran on 26 October 1919 to Brigadier Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi). He was designated crown prince in April 1926 and graduated from a special primary military school in Tehran in 1931, from Le Rosey secondary school in Switzerland in 1936, and from Tehran Military College in 1938. In 1939, he married Princess Fawzia, the sister of King Farouk of Egypt; they had a daughter, Shahnaz, in 1940 and were divorced in 1948. In 1950, he married Soraya Esfandiari Bakhtiari; this marriage, too, ended in divorce in 1958 because she was not able to produce a male heir. In 1959, he married Farah Diba, who gave birth to Crown Prince Reza in 1961, and three other children thereafter.

Mohammad Reza Shah's thirty-seven-year reign can be divided into five distinct phases: from the 1941 occupation of Iran by the Allied forces to the 1953 coup d'état; the postcoup period (1953 - 1959); the period of political strife (1960 - 1963); the period of the shah's increasingly autocratic rule (1963 - 1976); and the period of revolutionary crisis that ultimately led to the collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty (1977 - 1979).

From 1941 Occupation to 1953 Coup d'Etat

Mohammad Reza acceded to the throne on 17 September 1941, after Russian and British troops invaded Iran on 25 August, forcing Reza Shah to abdicate. A major crisis in the early years of his reign came in 1945 when the Soviet Union refused to withdraw its forces from northern Iran. Through a combination of international pressures and internal maneuverings by Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam, the Russian force finally left Iran in late 1946, and the pro-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan collapsed. For much of this period, the shah was forced to conform to the will of the majles (parliament), which as a political institution dominated both the young monarch and the cabinet. Following an assassination attempt on 4 February 1949, a Constitutional Assembly was convened on 21 April; it granted him the right to dissolve the majles. In March 1951, the British-dominated Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was nationalized by an act of the majles under the initiative of Mohammad Mossadegh, the leader of the National Front, who subsequently became prime minister. Although 1951 to 1953 were "the worst years" of the shah's reign, he did not take any initiative to dismiss Mossadegh until he was urged to do so by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Dwight Eisenhower, who also urged him to appoint Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi as prime minister. When Mossadegh refused to accept the shah's dismissal order on 16 August, the shah fled the country and went to Rome. On 19 August 1953, he was reinstated to power in a coup conceived by MI-6 (British Military Intelligence) and carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency. The leading ulama, the old-guard politicians, the propertied classes, and a core of army generals supported the shah and the coup.

Post-Coup Period

The period 1953 to 1959 began with the repression of members of the intelligentsia who had supported either the National Front or the pro-Soviet Tudeh party, and saw a gradual increase of the shah's power vis-à-vis the old-guard politicians, the propertied classes, and the ulama. In this period, the government signed an agreement with a consortium of major Western oil companies in August 1954, joined the Baghdad Pact (later the Central Treaty Organization, CENTO) in October 1955, established an effective intelligence agency (SAVAK) in 1957, and launched the 1954 - 1962 development plan.

Political Strife (1960 - 1963)

The period from 1960 to 1963 began with a reactivation of opposition groups and increasing pressures from the administration of John F. Kennedy for reforms. In May 1961, the shah appointed Dr. Ali Amini as prime minister and Hasan Arsanjani as minister of agriculture; the latter became the architect of land reform. The shah, who could not tolerate an independent-minded prime minister, dismissed Amini in July 1962 and asked Amir Asadollah Alam, his closest confidant, to form a new cabinet and continue the reform. The land reform program, which was the centerpiece of the shah's White Revolution, and women's suffrage met with strong resistance from the ulama, who joined the opposition forces and instigated urban riots on 5 June 1963 to protest Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's imprisonment. The shah was indecisive in responding to the situation, but Alam took command and gave the shoot-to-kill order to the security forces; more than 100 were killed, and resistance of religious groups was crushed. This event marked the suppression of all opposition forces and the beginning of increasingly autocratic rule by the shah.

Increased Autocratic Rule (1963 - 1976)

In the period 1963 to 1976, the shah emerged as the sole policymaker; he allocated oil revenues among various agencies and projects and directly supervised the armed forces and security organizations, foreign policy and oil negotiations, nuclear power plants, and huge development projects. In this period, Iran's gross domestic product grew in real terms by an average annual rate of around 10 percent. Meantime, public services substantially expanded and modernized, and the enrollment at all educational levels increased rapidly. The shah also dramatically expanded the military and security forces and equipped them with advanced weapon systems. In the early 1970s he played a key leadership role in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and helped the organization to raise the price of oil sharply. Meanwhile, he emerged as the leading figure in the Persian Gulf after the withdrawal of British forces in 1971. Furthermore, he signed an agreement with the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1975, ending the two countries' border disputes. By the mid-1970s, the shah managed to establish close ties not only with the United States, Western Europe, and Muslim countries but also with the Communist bloc countries, South Africa, and Israel.

The many diplomatic and economic achievements of the shah led to ostentatious displays of royal hubris. For example, in October 1971 he celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the foundation of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great and formed, in March 1975, a one-party system. Both acts were resented by the intelligentsia and middle classes. He also replaced powerful, independent-minded politicians with more accommodating and submissive aides, a strategy that cost him dearly at times of international and domestic crisis. Concurrently, the shah's White Revolution had undermined the traditional foundation of his authority - the ulama, the bazaar merchants, and the landowning classes. They were replaced by the entrepreneurs, the young Western-educated bureaucratic elites, and new middle classes who had developed uneasy relations with the shah. The intelligentsia resented the lack of political freedom and violations of human rights, the rigged elections, corruption, and close ties with the United States. The old religious groups and the bazaar merchants and artisans resented the un-Islamic Western lifestyle promoted by the shah's modernization policies. The entrepreneurial and political elites were discontented with the shah's autocratic rule, and with the lack of their own political power and autonomous organizational base. Under these circumstances the nucleus of an anti-shah revolutionary coalition was formed by a large group of liberal and radical intelligentsia, and a small group of militant ulama and their important followers in the bazaar.

Pahlavi Dynasty Collapse (1977 - 1979)

The opportunity for the opposition to challenge the shah came after the victory of Jimmy Carter in the U.S. presidential race of November 1976 and the ensuing active support given by his administration to the cause of human rights. When the political upheavals began (1977), the shah's weak and indecisive character contributed to the collapse of the Pahlavi regime and the rise of the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a charismatic figure with a strong will to power. Despite the mass-based nature of the Iranian Revolution, however, not all sectors of the population opposed the shah. The peasantry, for example, constituting over half of the population at the time, continued to support him, though passively. Even labor and the majority of public-sector employees and the middle and lower-middle classes did not join the uprising until the last phases of the revolution, when the shah's regime was on the verge of collapse. After a series of mass demonstrations, mass strikes, and clashes between the shah's security forces and opposition groups in the latter half of 1978, the shah left the country in January 1979; he died of cancer in Cairo on 27 July 1980.

For the shah the ideal model of the imperial persona was the Persian image of the "benevolent autocrat," as exemplified by great Persian monarchs, including his father, Reza Shah. Although this model implied that he should be determined, self-confident, and brave, in reality he was gentle, timid, and indecisive. The shah's inherently fragile character became evident particularly during periods of instability and crisis, whereas his "benevolent autocrat" tendencies came up during periods of stability and success. Furthermore, he was not immune to conspiracy theories. He therefore often saw the secret hands of foreign powers, specifically those of the British, behind virtually every international and domestic incident. He believed, for example, that the Anglophobic Mohammad Mossadegh and the xenophobic Ayatollah Khomeini were British agents. Referring to an Anglo-Russian conspiracy, the shah attributed the Islamic revolution to the "unholy alliance of Red and Black." Belief in conspiracy theories further intensified his inherent vulnerability during periods of crisis. As a result, in the critical periods of 1941 to 1953 and 1960 to 1963, Mohammad Reza showed considerable indecisiveness. On the other hand, in the post-coup period (1953 - 1959) he began to show more determination, and in the stable period of 1963 - 1976, he emerged as a "benevolent autocrat," who devoted himself, in his own way, to the welfare of his people. Finally, during the period of revolutionary crisis (1977 - 1979), the shah, for the third time during his reign, turned indecisive, once again embraced conspiracy theories, and displayed a mood of withdrawal - traits and reactions that may have contributed significantly to his downfall.

Bibliography

Alam, Asadollah. The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran'sRoyal Court, 1969 - 1977, edited and translated by Alinaghi Alikhani. New York: St. Martin's, 1992.

Ashraf, Ahmad. "From the White Revolution to the Islamic Revolution." In Iran After the Revolution: Crisis of an Islamic State, edited by Sohrab Behda and Saeed Rahnema. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1995.

Ashraf, Ahmad, and Banuazizi, Ali. "The State, Classes, and Modes of Mobilization in the Iranian Revolution." State, Culture and Society 1, no. 3 (1985): 3 - 40.

Azimi, Fakhreddin. Iran: The Crisis of Democracy. London: I. B. Tauris, 1989.

Banuazizi, Ali. "Iran: The Making of a Regional Power," in The Middle East: Oil, Conflict, and Hope, edited by A. L. Udovitch. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1976.

Jacqz, Jane, ed. Iran: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1976.

Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza. Answer to History, translated by Michael Joseph Ltd. New York: Stein and Day, 1980.

Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza. Mission for My Country. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.

Roosevelt, Kermit. Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control ofIran. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.

Wright, Denis. "Ten Years in Iran." Asian Affairs 12 (1991): 259 - 271.

Zonis, Marvin. Majestic Failure: The Fall of the Shah. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

— AHMAD ASHRAF

Wikipedia: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
"The Shah" redirects here. For other uses, see Shah.
Unbalanced scales.svg
 The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2009)
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
محمدرضا شاه پهلوی
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Shahanshah and Aryamehr of Iran
Reign 26 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
Coronation 26 October 1967
Predecessor Reza Shah
Successor Monarchy exiled; Islamic republic declared
Spouse Fawzia bint Fuad (1941–1948)
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari (1951–1958)
Farah Diba (1959–1980 (his death))
Issue
Shahnaz, Reza Cyrus, Farahnaz, Ali Reza, Leila Pahlavi
House Pahlavi
Father Reza Shah
Mother Tadj ol-Molouk
Born 26 October 1919(1919-10-26)
Tehran, Iran (Persia)
Died 27 July 1980 (aged 60)
Cairo, Egypt
Religion Shi'ite Muslim

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, (Persian: محمدرضا شاه پهلوی, pronounced [mohæmmæd rezɒː ʃɒːhe pæhlæviː])[add stress] (26 October 1919, Tehran – 27 July 1980, Cairo), was the emperor of Iran from 16 September 1941, until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. He was the second and last monarch of the House of Pahlavi of the Iranian monarchy. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held several imperial titles: His Imperial Majesty, Shahanshah (King of Kings [1], Emperor), Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans) and Bozorg Arteshtārān (Head of the Warriors [2], Persian: بزرگ ارتشتاران).

Contents

Overview

The Shah came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father, Reza Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah's rule oversaw the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry under the prime ministership of Mohammad Mosaddeq. During the Shah's reign, Iran marked the anniversary of 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. His White Revolution, a series of economic and social reforms intended to transform Iran into a global power, succeeded in modernizing the nation, nationalizing many natural resources and extending suffrage to women, among other things. However, the decline of the traditional power of the Shi'a clergy due to parts of the reforms increased opposition.

While a Muslim himself, the Shah gradually lost support from the Shi'a clergy of Iran, particularly due to his strong policy of modernization, secularization and conflict with the traditional class of merchants known as bazaari, and recognition of Israel. Clashes with the religious right, increased communist activity and a 1953 period of political disagreements with Mohammad Mosaddeq, eventually leading to Mosaddeq's ousting, caused an increasingly autocratic rule. In 2000, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright stated:

"In 1953 the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh. The Eisenhower Administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons; but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs."[3]

Various controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the Tudeh Party and a general suppression of political dissent by Iran's intelligence agency, SAVAK. Amnesty International reported that Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978. By 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 16 January forced the Shah to leave Iran after 37 years of rule. Soon thereafter, the revolutionary forces transformed the government into an Islamic republic.

Biography

Early life

Born in Tehran to Reza Pahlavi and his second wife, Tadj ol-Molouk, Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, and the third of his eleven children. He was born with a twin sister, Ashraf Pahlavi. However, Mohammad Reza, Ashraf, Ali Reza, and their older half-sister, Fatemeh, were born as non-royals, as their father did not become Shah until 1925.

On 21 February 1921, Reza Khan together with Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee staged a successful coup d'état against the reigning Qajar dynasty of Persia. Years later, on 12 December 1925, Reza Khan was declared Shah by the country's National Assembly, the Majlis of Iran. He was crowned in a ceremony on 25 April 1926; at the same time, his son Mohammad Reza was proclaimed Crown Prince of Iran.

As a child, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi attended Institut Le Rosey, a Swiss boarding school, completing his studies there in 1935. Around the same time, his father officially asked the international community to refer to Persia by its internal name, "Iran". Upon Mohammad Reza's return to the country, he enrolled in the local military academy in Tehran; he remained in the academy until 1938.

Early reign

Deposition of his father

During World War II, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate in favor of his son.
Main articles: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and Persian Corridor

In the midst of World War II in 1941, Nazi Germany began Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. This had a major impact on Iran as the country had declared neutrality in the conflict.[4]

That year British and Soviet forces invaded and occupied Iran, forcing Reza Shah to abdicate. His son, Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced his father on the throne on 16 September 1941. It was hoped that the younger prince would be more open to influence from the pro-Allied West, which later proved to be the case.

Subsequent to his succession as Shah, Iran became a major conduit for British and, later, American aid to the USSR during the war. This massive supply effort became known as the Persian Corridor and marked the first large-scale American and Western involvement in Iran, an involvement that would continue to grow until the successful revolution against the Iranian monarchy in 1979.

Oil nationalization and the 1953 coup

Main article: 1953 Iranian coup d'état

In the early 1950s, there was a political crisis centered in Iran that commanded the focused attention of British and American intelligence agencies. In 1951 Dr. Mosaddeq came to office, committed to re-establishing democracy and constitutional monarchy, and to nationalizing the Iranian petroleum industry, which was controlled by the British. From the start he erroneously believed that the Americans, who had no interest in the Anglo-Iranian Oil company, would support his nationalization plan. He was buoyed by the American Ambassador, Henry Grady. However, during these events, the Americans supported the British, and, fearing that the Communists with the help of the Soviets were poised to overthrow the government, they decided to remove Mosaddeq. Shortly before the 1952 presidential election in the US, the British government invited Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., of the CIA to London and proposed they cooperate under the code name "Operation Ajax" to bring down Mosaddeq from office.[5]

In 1951, under the leadership of the nationalist movement of Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq, the Iranian parliament unanimously voted to nationalize the oil industry. This shut out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which was a pillar of Britain's economy and political clout in the region. A month after that vote, Mosaddeq was named Prime Minister of Iran.

Under the direction of Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., a senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer and grandson of former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, the American CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) funded and led a covert operation to depose Mosaddeq with the help of military forces loyal to the Shah. This plan was known as Operation Ajax.[6] The plot hinged on orders signed by the Shah to dismiss Mosaddeq as prime minister and replace him with General Fazlollah Zahedi, a choice agreed on by the British and Americans.

Despite the high-level coordination and planning, the coup initially failed, causing the Shah to flee to Baghdad, then Rome. After a brief exile in Italy, the Shah returned to Iran, this time through a successful second attempt at the coup and through the funding of Morad Aryeh, an eminent Jewish Iranian entrepreneur from Kashan.[7] The deposed Mosaddeq was arrested, given a show trial, and sentenced to solitary confinement for three years in a military prison, followed by house arrest for life. Zahedi was installed to succeed Prime Minister Mosaddeq.[8]

The American Embassy in Tehran reported that Mosaddeq had near total support from the nation and was unlikely to fall. The Prime Minister asked the Majlis to give him direct control of the army. Given the situation, alongside the strong personal support of Eden and Churchill for covert action, the American government gave the go ahead to a committee, attended by the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles, Kermit Roosevelt, Ambassador Henderson, and Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson. Kermit Roosevelt returned to Iran on 13 July 1953, and again on 1 August 1953, in his first meeting with the Shah. A car picked him up at midnight and drove him to the palace. He lay down on the seat and covered himself with a blanket as guards waved his driver through the gates. The Shah got into the car and Roosevelt explained the mission. The CIA provided $1 million in Iranian currency, which Roosevelt had stored in a large safe, a bulky cache given the exchange rate at the time of 1000 rial to 15 dollars.[9]

The Communists staged massive demonstrations to hijack the Prime Minister’s initiatives. The United States had announced its total lack of confidence in him; and his followers were drifting into indifference. On 16 August 1953, the right wing of the Army reacted. Armed with an order by the Shah, it appointed General Fazlollah Zahedi as prime minister. A coalition of mobs and retired officers close to the Palace, attempted what could be described as a coup d’etat. They failed dismally. The Shah fled the country in humiliating haste. Even Ettelaat, the nation’s largest daily newspaper, and its pro-Shah publisher, Abbas Masudi, published negative commentaries on him.[10]

During the following two days, the Communists turned against Mosaddeq. They roamed Tehran raising red flags and pulling down statues of Reza Shah. This frightened the conservative clergies like Kashani and National Front leaders like Makki, who sided with the Shah. On 18 August 1953, Mosaddeq hit back. Tudeh Partisans were clubbed and dispersed.[11]

Tudeh had no choice but to accept defeat. In the meantime, according to the CIA plot, Zahedi appealed to the military, and claimed to be the legitimate prime minister and charged Mosaddeq with staging a coup by ignoring the Shah’s decree. Zahedi’s son Ardeshir acted as the contact between the CIA and his father. On 19 August 1953, pro-Shah partisans -organized with $100,000 in CIA funds-finally appeared and marched out of south Tehran into the city center, where others joined in. Gangs with clubs, knives, and rocks controlled the streets, overturning Tudeh trucks and beating up anti-Shah activists. As Roosevelt was congratulating Zahedi in the basement of his hiding place, the new Prime Minister’s mobs burst in and carried him upstairs on their shoulders. That evening, Ambassador Henderson suggested to Ardashir that Mosaddeq not be harmed. Roosevelt gave Zahedi US$900,000 left from Operation Ajax funds.

The Shah returned to power, but never extended the elite status of the court to the technocrats and intellectuals who emerged from Iranian and Western universities. Indeed, his system irritated the new classes, for they were barred from partaking in real power.[12]

The Shah was a strong supporter and patron of the Iran Scout Organization. A stamp showing the Shah in Scout's uniform was issued in 1956.[13] In 1960 during a state visit the Shah was awarded the highest award of Pfadfinder Österreichs (Silberner Steinbock am rot-weiß-rotten Band), the National Scout Organisation of Austria.[14]

Assassination attempts

The Shah was the target of two unsuccessful assassination attempts. On 4 February 1949, the Shah attended an annual ceremony to commemorate the founding of Tehran University.[15] At the ceremony, Fakhr-Arai fired five shots at the Shah at a range of ten feet. Only one of the shots hit the Shah and his cheek was grazed. Fakhr-Arai was instantly shot by nearby officers. After an investigation, it was determined that Fakhr-Arai was a member of the Tudeh Party,[16] which was subsequently banned.[17] However, there is evidence that the would-be assassin was not a Tudeh member but a religious fundamentalist.[18][19] The Tudeh was nonetheless blamed and persecuted.

The second attempt on the Shah's life occurred on 10 April 1965.[20] A soldier shot his way through the Marble Palace. The assassin was killed before he reached the Shah's quarters. Two civilian guards died protecting the Shah.

According to Vladimir Kuzichkin, a former KGB officer who defected to the SIS, the Shah was also allegedly targeted by the Soviet Union, who tried to use a TV remote control to detonate a bomb laden Volkswagen Beetle. The TV remote failed to function.[21]

Later years

Foreign relations

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Empress Farah, departing Andrews Air Force Base after a visit to the United States on 16 November 1977

The Shah supported the Yemeni royalists against republican forces in the Yemen Civil War (1962-70) and assisted the sultan of Oman in putting down a rebellion in Dhofar (1971). Concerning the fate of Bahrain (which Britain had controlled since the 19th century, but which Iran claimed as its own territory) and three small Persian Gulf islands, the Shah negotiated an agreement with the British, which, by means of a public consensus, ultimately led to the independence of Bahrain (against the wishes of Iranian nationalists). In return, Iran took full control of Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, three strategically sensitive islands in the Strait of Hormuz which were claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

During this period, the Shah maintained cordial relations with the Persian Gulf states and established close diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. Relations with Iraq, however, were often difficult due to political instability in the latter country. The Shah was distrustful of both the Socialist government of Abd al-Karim Qasim and the Arab nationalist Baath party. He financed Kurdish separatist rebels, and to cover his tracks, armed them with Soviet weapons which Israel had seized from Soviet-backed Arab regimes, and then handed over to Iran at the Shah's behest. The initial operation was a disaster, but the Shah continued attempts to support the rebels and weaken Iraq. Then in 1975, the countries signed the Algiers Accord, which granted Iraq equal navigation rights in the Shatt al-Arab river, while the Shah agreed to end his support for Iraqi Kurdish rebels.[22]

The Shah also maintained close relations with King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and King Hassan II of Morocco.[23]

On July 1964, Shah Pahlavi, Turkish President Cemal Gürsel and Pakistani President Ayub Khan announced in Istanbul the establishment of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) organization to promote joint transportation and economic projects. It also envisioned Afghanistan joining some time in the future.

The Shah also maintained close relations with Pakistan. During the 1965 war between Pakistan and India, the Shah provided free fuel to the Pakistani planes, which landed on Iranian soil, refueled and then took flight.

The Shah of Iran was the first Muslim leader to recognize the State of Israel, although when interviewed on CBS 60 Minutes by reporter,Mike Wallace, he criticized American Jews for their control over US media and finance.[24]

During his reign however, it was reported in the New York Times (1982), that half of the arms to Iran were "being supplied or arranged by Israel".

Modernization and autocracy

Further information: White Revolution
The Shah with President of the United States Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon during a state visit in 1971.

With Iran's great oil wealth, Mohammad Reza Shah became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and self-styled "Guardian" of the Persian Gulf. He became increasingly despotic during the last years of his regime. In the words of a US Embassy dispatch, “The Shah’s picture is everywhere. The beginning of all film showings in public theaters presents the Shah in various regal poses accompanied by the strains of the National anthem... The monarch also actively extends his influence to all phases of social affairs...there is hardly any activity or vocation which the Shah or members of his family or his closest friends do not have a direct or at least a symbolic involvement. In the past, he had claimed to take a two party-system seriously and declared “If I were a dictator rather than a constitutional monarch, then I might be tempted to sponsor a single dominant party such as Hitler organized”.[25]

However, by 1975, he abolished the multi-party system of government so that he could rule through a one-party state under the Rastakhiz (Resurrection) Party in autocratic fashion. All Iranians were pressured to join in. The Shah’s own words on its justification was; “We must straighten out Iranians’ ranks. To do so, we divide them into two categories: those who believe in Monarchy, the constitution and the Six Bahman Revolution and those who don’t.... A person who does not enter the new political party and does not believe in the three cardinal principles will have only two choices. He is either an individual who belongs to an illegal organization, or is related to the outlawed Tudeh Party, or in other words a traitor. Such an individual belongs to an Iranian prison, or if he desires he can leave the country tomorrow, without even paying exit fees; he can go anywhere he likes, because he is not Iranian, he has no nation, and his activities are illegal and punishable according to the law”.[26] In addition, the Shah had decreed that all Iranian citizens and the few remaining political parties must become part of Rastakhiz.[27]

Official Coat of Arms & Flag of Shahanshah Aryamehr
Shah crowning Empress Farah at their coronation ceremony in 1967.

Achievements

The Shah made major changes to curb the power of certain ancient elite factions by expropriating large and medium-sized estates for the benefit of more than four million small farmers. In the White Revolution, he took a number of major modernization measures, including extending suffrage to women, much to the discontent and opposition of the Islamic clergy, the participation of workers in factories through shares and other measures, the improvement of the educational system through new elementary schools and literacy courses set up in remote villages by the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces. The latter step was called "Sepāh e Dānesh", "Army of Knowledge". As part of the White Revolution, the Armed Forces were engaged in infrastructural and other educational projects throughout the country ("Sepāh e Tarvij va Âbādāni") as well as in health education and promotion ("Sepāh e Behdāsht"). Moreover, he instituted exams for Islamic theologians to become established clerics. As a further step, in the seventies the governmental program of a free of charge nourishment for children at school ("Taghzieh e Rāigān") was implemented. Under the Shah's reign, the national Iranian income showed an unprecedented rise.

In the field of diplomacy, Iran realized and maintained friendly relations with Western and East European countries as well as the state of Israel and China and became, especially through the close friendship with the United States, more and more a hegemonial power in the Persian Gulf region and the Middle East. The suppression of the communist guerilla movement in the region of Dhofar in Oman with the help of the Iranian army after a formal request by Sultan Qaboos was widely regarded in this context. As to infrastructural and technological progress, the Shah continued and developed further the policies introduced by his father. As part of his programs, projects in several technologies, such as steel, telecommunications, petrochemical facilities, power plants, dams and the automobile industry may be named.

In terms of cultural activities, international cooperations were encouraged and organized, such as the Shiraz Festival of Arts. Many Iranian students were sent to and supported in foreign, especially Western countries and the Indian subcontinent. The Aryamehr University of Technology was established as a major new academic institution.[28][29][30]

Criticism of reign and causes of his overthrow

Main article: Causes of the Iranian Revolution#Policies and policy mistakes of the Shah

At the Federation of American Scientists, John Pike writes:

In 1978 the deepening opposition to the Shah erupted in widespread demonstrations and rioting. SAVAK and the military responded with widespread repression that killed thousands of people. Recognizing that even this level of violence had failed to crush the rebellion, the Shah abdicated the Peacock Throne and departed Iran on 16 January 1979. Despite decades of pervasive surveillance by SAVAK, working closely with CIA, the extent of public opposition to the Shah, and his sudden departure, came as a considerable suprise to the US intelligence community and national leadership. As late as 28 September 1978 the US Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the shah "is expected to remain actively in power over the next ten years." [31]

Explanations for why the Shah was overthrown include that he was beholden to — if not a puppet of — a non-Muslim Western power, (the United States),[32][33] whose alien culture was seen as contaminating that of Iran. Additional contributing factors included perceptions of oppression, brutality,[34][35] corruption, and extravagance.[34][36] Basic functional failures of the regime have also been blamed — economic bottlenecks, shortages and inflation; the regime's overly-ambitious economic program;[37] the failure of its security forces to deal with protest and demonstration;[38] the overly centralized royal power structure.[39]

In October 1971, the Shah celebrated the twenty-five-hundredth anniversary of the Iranian monarchy. The New York Times reported that $100 million was spent.[40] Next to the ruins of Persepolis, the Shah gave orders to build a tent city covering 160 acres (0.65 km2), studded with three huge royal tents and fifty-nine lesser ones arranged in a star-shaped design. French chefs from Maxim’s of Paris prepared breast of peacock for royalty and dignitaries around the world, the buildings were decorated by Maison Jansen (the same firm that helped Jacqueline Kennedy redecorate the White House), the guests ate off Limoges porcelain china and drank from Baccarat crystal glasses. This became a major scandal as the contrast between the dazzling elegance of celebration and the misery of the nearby villages was so dramatic that no one could ignore it. Months before the festivities, university students striked in protest. Indeed, the cost was so sufficiently impressive that the Shah forbade his associates to discuss the actual figures.[41][42]

However the Shah and the supporters of the Shah argue that the celebrations opened new investments in Iran, improved relationships with the other leaders and nations of the world, provided greater recognition of Iran, and kept the history of Iran alive among other different arguments.

Other actions that are thought to have contributed to his downfall include antagonizing formerly apolitical Iranians — especially merchants of the bazaars — with the creation in 1975 of a single party political monopoly (the Rastakhiz Party), with compulsory membership and dues, and general aggressive interference in the political, economic, and religious concerns of people's lives;[43] and the 1976 change from an Islamic calendar to an Imperial calendar, marking the birth of Cyrus as the first day, instead of the flight of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. Overnight, the year changed from 1355 to 2535.[44]

Some achievements of the shah — such as broadened education — had unintended consequences. While school attendance rose (by 1966 the school attendance of urban seven to fourteen year olds was estimated at 75.8%), Iran's labor market could not absorb a high number of educated youth. In 1966 high school graduates had "a higher rate of unemployment than did the illiterate,"[45] and educated unemployed often supported the revolution.

Revolution

Main articles: Iranian Revolution and United States-Iran relations
The Iranian Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi meeting with Arthur Atherton, William H. Sullivan, Cyrus Vance, President Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski,1977.

The overthrow of the Shah came as a surprise to almost all observers.[46][47] The first militant anti-Shah demonstrations of a few hundred started in October 1977, after the death of Khomeini's son Mostafa.[48] A year later strikes were paralyzing the country, and in early December a "total of 6 to 9 million" — more than 10% of the country — marched against the Shah throughout Iran.[49]

On 16 January 1979, he and his wife left Iran at the behest of Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar (a long time opposition leader himself), who sought to calm the situation.[50] Spontaneous attacks by members of the public on statues of the Pahlavis followed, and "within hours, almost every sign of the Pahlavi dynasty" was destroyed.[51] Bakhtiar dissolved SAVAK, freed all political prisoners, and allowed the Ayatollah Khomeini to return to Iran after years in exile. He asked Khomeini to create a Vatican-like state in Qom, promised free elections and called upon the opposition to help preserve the constitution, proposing a 'national unity' government including Khomeini's followers. Khomeini fiercely rejected Dr. Bakhtiar's demands and appointed his own interim government, with Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister, demanding "since I have appointed him he must be obeyed." In February, pro-Khomeini Revolutionary guerrilla and rebel soldiers gained the upper hand in street fighting and the military announced their neutrality. On the evening of 11 February the dissolution of the monarchy was complete.

Exile and death

During his second exile, the Shah traveled from country to country seeking what he hoped would be a temporary residence. First he stayed in Egypt, where he received an invitation and warm welcome from president Anwar El-Sadat. He later lived in Morocco, the Bahamas, and Mexico, but he developed symptoms of suffering from stones in his gallbladder and common bile duct that required prompt surgery. He was offered treatment in Switzerland but insisted on treatment in the United States.

On 22 October 1979, at the request of David Rockefeller, President Jimmy Carter reluctantly allowed the Shah into the United States to undergo surgical treatment at the New York Hospital. It was anticipated that his stay in the U.S. would be short; however, surgical complications ensued which required six weeks of confinement in the hospital before he recovered. His prolonged stay in the U.S. was extremely unpopular with the revolutionary movement in Iran, which still resented the United States' overthrow of Prime Minister Mosaddeq and the years of support for the Shah's rule. The Iranian government demanded his return to Iran to stand trial but the U.S. government refused to turn him over.[52]

This resulted in the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, and the kidnapping of American diplomats, military personnel and intelligence officers, which soon became known as the Iran hostage crisis. According to the Shah's book, Answer to History, in the end the USA never provided the Shah any kind of health care and asked him to leave the country.[53]

He left the United States on 15 December 1979, and lived for a short time in the Isla Contadora in Panama. The new government in Iran still demanded his and his wife's immediate extradition to Tehran. A short time after the Shah's arrival, an Iranian ambassador was dispatched to the Central American nation carrying a 450 page extradition request. That official appeal greatly alarmed both the Shah and his advisors. Whether the Panamanian government would have complied is a matter of speculation among historians.

After that event, the Shah again sought the support of Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat, who renewed his offer of permanent asylum in Egypt to the ailing monarch. The Shah returned to Egypt in March 1980, where he received urgent medical treatment but nevertheless died from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma on 27 July 1980, aged 60. Egyptian President Sadat gave the Shah a state funeral.[54]

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is buried in the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo, a mosque of great symbolic importance. The last royal rulers of two monarchies are buried there, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran and King Farouk of Egypt, his former brother-in-law. The tombs lie off to the left of the entrance.

Legacy

Iranian newspaper clip from 1968 reads "A quarter of Iran's Nuclear Energy scientists are women", a marked change in women's rights.

In 1969, the Shah sent one of 73 Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages to NASA for the historic first lunar landing.[55] The message still rests on the lunar surface today. He stated in part, "...we pray the Almighty God to guide mankind towards ever increasing success in the establishment of culture, knowledge and human civilization." The Apollo 11 crew visited the Shah during a world tour.

Shortly after his overthrow, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi wrote an autobiographical memoir Réponse à l'histoire (Answer to History). It was translated from the original French into English, Persian (Pasokh be Tarikh), and other languages. However, by the time of its publication, the Shah had already died. The book is his personal account of his reign and accomplishments, as well as his perspective on issues related to the Iranian Revolution and Western foreign policy toward Iran. The Shah places some of the blame for the wrongdoings of SAVAK and the failures of various democratic and social reforms (particularly through the White Revolution) upon Amir Abbas Hoveyda and his administration.

In the 1990s and the decade following 2000, the Shah's reputation has staged something of a revival, with many Iranians looking back on his era as a time when Iran was more prosperous[56][57] and the government less oppressive.[58] Journalist Afshin Molavi reports even members of the uneducated poor - traditionally core supporters of the revolution that overthrew the Shah - making remarks such as 'God bless the Shah's soul, the economy was better then;' and finds that "books about the former Shah (even censored ones) sell briskly," while "books of the Rightly Guided Path sit idle."[59]

Women's rights

Main article: White Revolution

Under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's father, the government supported advancements by women against child marriage, polygamy, exclusion from public society, and education segregation. However, independent feminist political groups were shut down and forcibly integrated into one state-created institution, which maintained many paternalistic views. Despite substantial opposition from Shiite religious jurists, the Iranian feminist movement, led by activists such as Fatemah Sayyeh, achieved further advancement under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His regime's changes focused on the civil sphere, and private-oriented family law remained restrictive, although the 1967 and 1975 Family Protection Laws attempted to reform this trend.[60] Specifically, women gained the right to become ministers such as Farrokhroo Parsa and judges such as Shirin Ebadi, as well as any other profession regardless of their gender.

Marriages and children

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was married three times.

Fawzia of Egypt

His first wife was Princess Fawzia of Egypt (born 5 November 1921), a daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and Nazli Sabri; she also was a sister of King Farouk I of Egypt. They married in 1939 and were divorced in 1945 (Egyptian divorce) and 1948 (Iranian divorce). They had one daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 27 October 1940).

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

His second wife was Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari ( 22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001), the only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Iranian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, and his wife, the former Eva Karl. They married in 1951, but divorced in 1958 when it became apparent that she could not bear children. Soraya later told The New York Times that the Shah had no choice but to divorce her, and that he was heavy hearted about the decision.[61]

He subsequently indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, a daughter of the deposed Italian king, Umberto II. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess", the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, considered the match "a grave danger,"[62] especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who married a divorced person could be excommunicated.

Farah Diba

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi married to his third and final wife, Farah Diba (born 14 October 1938), the only child of Sohrab Diba, Captain in the Imperial Iranian Army, and his wife, the former Farideh Ghotbi. They were married in 1959, and Queen Farah was crowned Shahbanu, or Empress, a title created especially for her in 1967. Previous royal consorts had been known as "Malakeh" (Arabic: Malika), or Queen. The couple remained together for twenty years, until the Shah's death. Farah Diba bore him four children:

  1. Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince (born 31 October 1960)
  2. Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 12 March 1963)
  3. Ali-Reza Pahlavi (born 28 April 1966)
  4. Leila Pahlavi ( 27 March 1970 – 10 June 2001)

Honors

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ D. N. MacKenzie. A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. Routledge Curzon, 2005.
  2. ^ M. Mo'in. An Intermediate Persian Dictionary. Six Volumes. Amir Kabir Publications, 1992.
  3. ^ 3/17/00 Albright remarks on American-Iran Relations
  4. ^ Pierre Renouvin, World War II and Its Origins: International Relations, 1929-1945. page 329
  5. ^ Kermit Roosevelt, Counter coup, New York, 1979
  6. ^ Risen, James (2000). "Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html. Retrieved 2007-03-30. 
  7. ^ http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=1013
  8. ^ Pollack, The Persian Puzzle (2005), pp.73-2
  9. ^ Robert Graham, Iran: The Illusion of Power, p. 66
  10. ^ New York Times, 23 July 1953, 1:5
  11. ^ New York Times, 19 August 1953, 1:4,5
  12. ^ R.W. Cottam, Nationalism in Iran
  13. ^ "1956. National scout jamboree.". Flags on Stamps. http://www.flagsonstamps.info/Iran.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-04. 
  14. ^ Pribich, Kurt (2004) (in German). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich. Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs. pp. 189. 
  15. ^ Ali Vazir Safavi
  16. ^ The Shah
  17. ^ Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
  18. ^ Stephen Kinzer, All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN 0-471-26517-9
  19. ^ Dreyfuss, Robert (2006). Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. Owl Books. ISBN 0805081372. 
  20. ^ JSTOR: The Journal of Politics: Vol. 32, No. 1 (Feb., 1970)
  21. ^ Kuzichkin, Vladimir (1990). Inside the KGB: My Life in Soviet Espionage. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-8041-0989-3. 
  22. ^ Iran - State and Society, 1964-74
  23. ^ Interview with Farah Pahlavi by Mary Bitterman, 2004-03-15.
  24. ^ Mike Wallace interviews Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
  25. ^ Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Mission for my Country, London, 1961, page 173
  26. ^ Fred Halliday, Iran; Dictatorship and Development, Penguin, ISBN 0-14-02.2010-0
  27. ^ Opposition to Mohammad Reza Shah's Regime
  28. ^ Robert Graham, Iran, St. Martins, January 1979
  29. ^ Gholam Reza Afkhami, The Life and Times of the Shah, University of California Press, January 2009, ISBN 0520253280, ISBN 978-0520253285
  30. ^ Abbas Milani, The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution, Mage Publishers, 1 October 2003; ISBN 0934211884, ISBN 978-0934211888
  31. ^ Ministry of Security SAVAK, researched and written by the respected intelligence analyst John Pike.
  32. ^ Brumberg, Reinventing Khomeini (2001).
  33. ^ Shirley, Know Thine Enemy (1997), p. 207.
  34. ^ a b Harney, The Priest (1998), pp. 37, 47, 67, 128, 155, 167.
  35. ^ Iran Between Two Revolutions by Ervand Abrahamian, p.437
  36. ^ Mackay, Iranians (1998), pp. 236, 260.
  37. ^ Graham, Iran (1980), pp. 19, 96.
  38. ^ Graham, Iran (1980) p. 228.
  39. ^ Arjomand, Turban (1998), pp. 189–90.
  40. ^ The New York Times, 12 October 1971, 39:2
  41. ^ (R.W Cottam, Nationalism in Iran, P.329)
  42. ^ Michael Ledeen & William Lewis, Debacle: The American Failure in Iran, Knopf, p. 22)
  43. ^ Abrahamian, Iran Between Two Revolutions (1982) pp. 442–6.
  44. ^ Persian pilgrimages By Afshin Molavi
  45. ^ Fischer, Michael M.J., Iran, From Religious Dispute to Revolution, Harvard University Press, 1980, p.59
  46. ^ Amuzegar, The Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution, (1991), p.4, 9-12
  47. ^ Narrative of Awakening : A Look at Imam Khomeini's Ideal, Scientific and Political Biography from Birth to Ascension by Hamid Ansari, Institute for Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini, International Affairs Division, [no publication date], p.163
  48. ^ Kurzman, The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran, HUP, 2004, p.164
  49. ^ Kurzman, The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran, (2004), p.122
  50. ^ "1979: Shah of Iran flees into exile". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/16/newsid_2530000/2530475.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-05. 
  51. ^ Taheri, Spirit (1985), p. 240.
  52. ^ Darling, Dallas. Ten Things the U.S. needs to learn from Iran’s Islamic Revolution. AlJazeera Magazine. 14 February 2009
  53. ^ Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Answer to History. Stein & Day Pub, 1980. ISBN 978-0772012968
  54. ^ Shah's Flight. TIME. 31 March 1980
  55. ^ Rahman, Tahir (2007). We Came in Peace for all Mankind- the Untold Story of the Apollo 11 Silicon Disc. Leathers Publishing. ISBN 978-1585974412
  56. ^ Molavi, Afshin, The Soul of Iran, Norton (2005), p.74
  57. ^ Iran Report 2 February 2004
  58. ^ Sciolino, Elaine, Persian Mirrors, Touchstone, (2000), p.239, 244
  59. ^ Molavi, Afshin, The Soul of Iran, Norton (2005), p.74, 10
  60. ^ Deniz, Kandiyoti (1996). Gendering the Middle East: Emerging Prespectives. Syracuse University Press. pp. 54-56.  ISBN 0-8156-0339-8
  61. ^ "Soraya Arrives for U.S. Holiday" (PDF). The New York Times. 1958-04-23. pp. 35. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C13FD355D1A7B93C1AB178FD85F4C8585F9. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  62. ^ Paul Hofmann, Pope Bans Marriage of Princess to Shah, The New York Times, 24 February 1959, p. 1.

External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Search Wikiquote Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Born: 16 October 1919 Died: 27 July 1980
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Rezā Shah		 Shah of Iran
16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979		 Vacant
Political offices
Preceded by
Rezā Shah
as Shah of Iran		 Iranian Head of State
16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979		 Succeeded by
Rūhullāh Khumaynī
as Supreme Leader of Iran
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
 — TITULAR —
Shah of Iran
11 February 1979 – 27 July 1980
Reason for succession failure:
Iranian Revolution		 Succeeded by
Rezā Pahlavī

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi biography from Who2.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Political Biography. A Dictionary of Political Biography. Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mohammad Reza Pahlavi".  Read more