On October 26, 1919, a unique celebration took place at the Sadabad Palace in northern Iran. The first son of the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah Pahlavi, was born, and he grew up like any child born in a palace. He attended prestigious schools in Switzerland and later returned to Iran. Then, World War II broke out. Before Hitler's plan for Iranian oil, Russia and England moved quickly to occupy Iran. The Allied forces pressured Reza Shah Pahlavi to hand over power to his son. On September 16, 1941, Muhammad Reza took over the throne from his father. It was hoped that he would be more inclined towards Western and pro-Western countries, and indeed, this became the case. Iran had now become a satellite of Western powers.
During World War II, Iran became the primary transit point for the aid provided by the United States and England to Russia, famously known as the Persian Corridor.
After the war, he made concessions to the West, opening the floodgates of American aid to Iran. However, not everyone in the country was as pro-Western as he was. Especially Mohammad Mossadegh, who advocated for the nationalization of Iran's oil industry, managed to achieve this through parliamentary development in 1951. This alarmed England, and they launched a counterattack. But Mossadegh did not back down and became the prime minister. The British were determined to regain control of Iranian oil at any cost. They imposed an embargo. Eventually, the British sought help from America, and the Ajax operation was launched with the support of the Shah to target the Mossadegh government. However, Mossadegh did not yield. The Shah fled to Rome. A state of chaos was depicted, and in the resulting chaos, Mossadegh was overthrown. The West got what it wanted. With strong ties to the West, the Shah, supported by monarchists, was hailed as a hero upon his return from Rome, and he began to rule the country as he pleased. Before Reza Shah Pahlavi, the key players in Iran were England and Russia. But now, America would take center stage.
By signing numerous political and economic agreements with America, he allowed American influence to permeate every corner of Iran. The Iranian oil industry was entirely handed over to America. Like every dictator, Shah Pahlavi created a monster called "SAVAK" to silence the opposition. The national security and intelligence service established by the Shah quickly turned into a ruthless organization hunting down regime opponents. The communist class and the Shiite sector in Iran began to face significant pressures, and opposition to the Shah's regime grew in many segments of society.
The economic and social program known as the White Revolution in 1963 would be the breaking point. With this program, he aimed to both industrialize the country and push Islamic colors into the background, creating a more secular image of Iran. Although the reforms initially worked between the 1960s and 1970s, achieving goals like establishing an extensive transportation network, land reform, and improving women's rights, the package program ultimately backfired in the long run. Despite Shah Pahlavi's understandable intentions, he believed that he could transform the people into his ideal vision overnight, and he pursued this path forcefully. Islam held a significant place in society. When he fell into the mistake of doing populism against the will of the people, things spiraled out of control. In 1975, he abandoned democracy and declared the Resurgence Party as the sole party, banning all other political activities.
With America and Israel having a strong presence in the country, Western influence, the excessive dominance of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi over the Iranian people, the torture and oppression of SAVAK, and the extravagance of the Shah's lifestyle, combined with the poverty of the people, led to a popular uprising led by Islamists, resulting in the overthrow of Shah Riza Pahlavi in 1979. During this transitional period, the army, which remained neutral and did not turn its weapons against its own people, played an important role. Ayatollah Khomeini, a Shiite religious leader, who had lived in exile for 15 years from 1964 to 1979, first in Turkey and then in Iraq, finally returned to Iran after the revolution and led the country as the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The catalyst for this revolution was the news of the Shah's wife taking a milk bath, along with the excessively lavish lifestyle of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi and his family, and his constant back-and-forth trips to America. The British and American intelligence agencies, especially, failed to anticipate the impending Iranian Islamic Revolution and reported that the Shah would not be overthrown. The extravagant life of Shah Riza Pahlavi and his wife Farah Diba, in particular, gained much attention in the world and Turkish gossip during those years. The Shah and his wife's extravagant lifestyle had greatly angered the people. America, which played a significant role in political history, abandoned him without looking back (due to the embassy siege and hostage crisis). He first went to Egypt, then to Morocco, the Bahamas, and Mexico, fleeing pressure from host countries to hand over the deposed Shah. In the end, albeit reluctantly, his old friend America allowed Shah Riza Pahlavi to enter the United States on October 22, 1979. It is known that the insistence of the famous billionaire David Rockefeller played an important role in making this decision. After receiving treatment, Shah Riza Pahlavi was forced to leave America under pressure from President Carter, and he briefly lived in Panama. However, suspecting that Panama might hand him over to Iran, Pahlavi took refuge in Egypt at the invitation of Anwar Sadat, and he died in that country in 1980.
Muhammad Reza Pahlavi went from being an Iranian prince to becoming the Shah of Iran, and ultimately, he is remembered as the last monarchic leader of Iran. His reign was marked not only by his family's luxurious lifestyle but also by the celebrations of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian Empire in 1971.
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