What were the situations that led to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the rise of Saddam Hussein?

Answer 1

There were two completely unrelated reasons for these events. It just so happened that both effective power changes occurred in 1979.

The Shah of Iran declined in power because his dictatorial methods of directing the country along with his strong secularist bent alienated many different groups in the country from the Communists, to the Feminists, to the Democracy Advocates, to the Islamists, to the General Clergy, to the Poorer Classes, etc. These groups eventually protested to the point where the Shah of Iran fell. The Islamists took the lead in post-Shah Iran.

Saddam Hussein rose because he was well-connected in the Ba'ath Party. In a military coup in 1968, later called the 17 July Revolution, General Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr and the Ba'ath Party regained power. In the coup's aftermath, al-Bakr was elected Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and President; he was later appointed Prime Minister. Saddam Hussein, who was the Ba'ath Party's deputy at the time, became Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and Vice President, and was responsible for Iraq's security services. As Al-Bakr got older and more senile, Saddam Hussein became the de facto leader of Iraq, especially in the late 1970s. By 1979, Al-Bakr died and Saddam Hussein naturally became his successor.