Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavī (Persian: محمد رضا شاه پهلوی, [mohæmˈmæd reˈzɒː ˈʃɒːhe pæhlæˈviː]; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last shah (king) 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 titles: His Imperial Majesty, Shahanshah (King of Kings, Emperor), Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans) and Bozorg Arteshdārān (Head of the Warriors, Persian: بزرگ ارتشداران).

Mohammad Reza came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father Reza Shah. During Mohammad Reza's reign, the Iranian oil industry was briefly nationalized under the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh before a US-backed coup d'état overturned the regime and brought back foreign oil firms, and Iran marked the anniversary of 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. As ruler, he introduced the White Revolution, a series of economic, social and political reforms with the stated intention of transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the nation by nationalizing certain industries and granting women suffrage.

A secular Muslim himself, Mohammad Reza gradually lost support from the Shi'a clergy of Iran as well as the working class, particularly due to his strong policy of modernization, secularization, conflict with the traditional class of merchants known as bazaari, recognition of Israel, and corruption issues surrounding himself, his family, and the ruling elite. Various additional controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party, and a general suppression of political dissent by Iran's intelligence agency, SAVAK. According to official statistics, Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978, a number which multiplied rapidly as a result of the revolution.

Several other factors contributed to strong opposition to Pahlavi among certain groups within Iran, the most notable of which were U.S. and UK support for his regime, clashes with Islamists, and increased communist activity. By 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 17 January, forced Pahlavi to leave Iran. Soon thereafter, the Iranian monarchy was formally abolished, and Iran was declared an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Facing likely execution should he return to Iran, he died in exile in Egypt, whose President, Anwar Sadat, had granted him asylum.

Mohammad Reza's departure in 1979 marked the end of 2,500 years of dynastic rule in Iran and thus he is known throughout the world by the sobriquet "The Last Shah" of Iran.

Early life

 

Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (first from left) at Le Rosey with Mehrpour Teymourtash (second from right) in Switzerland.

 

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, Shams, 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. Nevertheless, Reza Shah was always convinced that his sudden quirk of good fortune had commenced in 1919 with the birth of his son who was dubbed khoshghadam (bird of good omen).

By the time Pahlavi turned 11, his father deferred to the recommendation of Abdolhossein Teymourtash to dispatch his son to Institut Le Rosey, a Swiss boarding school for further studies. He would be the first Iranian prince in line for the throne to be sent abroad to attain a foreign education and remained there for the next four years before returning to obtain his high school diploma in Iran in 1936. After returning to the country, the Crown Prince was registered at the local military academy in Tehran where he remained enrolled until 1938.

Early reign

Deposition of his father

 

During World War II, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate in favor of his son.    

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, which had declared neutrality in the conflict.

Later that year British and Soviet forces occupied Iran in a military invasion, forcing Reza Shah to abdicate. Pahlavi replaced him on the throne on 16 September 1941. 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.

Much of the credit for orchestrating a smooth transition from Reza Shah to his son was due to the efforts of Mohammad Ali Foroughi. Suffering from angina, a frail Foroughi was summoned to the Palace and appointed Prime Minister when Reza Shah feared the end of the Pahlavi dynasty once the Allies invaded Iran in 1941. When Reza Shah sought his assistance to ensure that the Allies would not put an end to the Pahlavi dynasty, Foroughi put aside his adverse personal sentiments for having been politically sidelined since 1935. The Crown Prince confided in amazement to the British Minister that Foroughi "hardly expected any son of Reza Shah to be a civilized human being", but Foroughi successfully derailed thoughts by the Allies to undertake a more drastic change in the political infrastructure of Iran.

A general amnesty was issued two days after Pahlavi's accession to the throne on 19 September 1941. All political personalities who had suffered disgrace during his father's reign were rehabilitated, and the forced unveiling policy inaugurated by his father in 1935 was overturned. Despite the young Shah's enlightened decisions, the British Minister in Tehran reported to London that "the young Shah received a fairly spontaneous welcome on his first public experience, possibly rather [due] to relief at the disappearance of his father than to public affection for himself."

Despite his public professions of admiration in later years, Pahlavi had serious misgivings about not only the coarse and roughshod political means adopted by his father, but also his unsophisticated approach to the affairs of the state. The young Shah possessed a decidedly more refined temperament, and among the unsavory developments that "would haunt him when he was king" were the political disgrace brought by his father on Teymourtash; the dismissal of Foroughi by the mid-1930s; and Ali Akbar Davar's decision to commit suicide in 1937. An even more significant decision that cast a long shadow was the disastrous and one-sided agreement his father had negotiated with APOC in 1933, one which compromised the country's ability to receive more favorable returns from oil extracted from the country.

Oil nationalization and the 1953 coup

 

The Shah's portrait on the 1000 Iranian rial banknote, issued by the Bank Markazi Iran. Main article: 1953 Iranian coup d'état  

By the early 1950s, the political crisis brewing in Iran commanded the attention of British and American policy leaders. In 1951, Dr. Mosaddegh was appointed Prime Minister and committed to nationalizing the Iranian petroleum industry controlled by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Under the leadership of the democratically elected nationalist movement of Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq, the Iranian parliament unanimously voted to nationalize the oil industry – thus shutting out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which was a pillar of Britain's economy and provided it political clout in the region.

 

Pahlavi with US President Truman in Washington, c. 18 November 1949

 

At the start of the confrontation, American political sympathy was forthcoming from the Truman Administration. In particular, Mossadegh was buoyed by the advice and counsel he was receiving from American Ambassador in Tehran, Henry F. Grady. However, eventually American decision-makers lost their patience, and by the time a Republican Administration came to office fears that communists were poised to overthrow the government became an all consuming concern (these concerns were later dismissed as "paranoid" in retrospective commentary on the coup from US government officials). Shortly prior to the 1952 presidential election in the US, the British government invited CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. to London to propose collaboration on a secret plan to force Mosaddegh from office. This would be the first of three "regime change" operations led by Allen Dulles (the other two being the successful CIA-instigated 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état and the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba).

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 Mosaddegh with the help of military forces disloyal to the democratically elected government. Referred to as Operation Ajax, the plot hinged on orders signed by the Shah to dismiss Mosaddegh 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 Pahlavi to flee to Baghdad, and then to Rome. After a brief exile in Italy, Pahlavi returned to Iran, this time through a successful second attempt at a coup. A deposed Mosaddegh was arrested and tried. Pahlavi intervened and commuted the sentence to one and a half years. Zahedi was installed to succeed Mosaddegh.

Before the first attempted coup, the American Embassy in Tehran reported that Mosaddegh's popular support remained robust. The Prime Minister requested direct control of the army from the Majlis. Given the situation, alongside the strong personal support of Conservative leader Anthony Eden and Prime Minister Winston 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, 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 Pahlavi. 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 bribed him with $1 million in Iranian currency, which Roosevelt had stored in a large safe – a bulky cache, given the exchange rate at the time of 1,000 rial to 15 dollars.

The Communists staged massive demonstrations to hijack Mosaddegh's initiatives. The United States had actively plotted against him. On 16 August 1953, the right wing of the Army attacked. 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 executed this coup d'état. They failed dismally and Pahlavi fled the country in humiliating haste. Even Ettelaat, the nation's largest daily newspaper, and its pro-Shah publisher, Abbas Masudi, were against him.

During the following two days, the Communists turned against Mosaddegh. Opposition against him grew tremendously. They roamed Tehran raising red flags and pulling down statues of Reza Shah. This was rejected by conservative clerics like Kashani and National Front leaders like Hossein Makki, who sided with Pahlavi. On 18 August 1953, Mosaddegh defended the Government against this new attack. Tudeh Partisans were clubbed and dispersed.

The 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 Mosaddegh 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 – bribed 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, Henderson suggested to Ardashir that Mosaddegh not be harmed. Roosevelt gave Zahedi US$900,000 left from Operation Ajax funds.

U.S. actions further solidified sentiments that the West was a meddlesome influence in Iranian politics. In the year 2000, reflecting on this notion, 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 Mosaddegh. 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."

Pahlavi 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.

Assassination attempts

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

The second attempt on Pahlavi's life occurred on 10 April 1965. 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 – Pahlavi 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. A high-ranking Romanian defector Ion Mihai Pacepa also supported this claim, asserting that he had been the target of various assassination attempts by Soviet agents for many years.

Later years

Foreign relations

 

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

 

Pahlavi and Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi meet Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, state visit in India, 1970

 

Pahlavi 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 in the Strait of Hormuz, three strategically sensitive islands which were claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

 

Pahlavi, U.S. president Kennedy, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in the White House Cabinet Room on April 13, 1962

 

Lunar astronaut Neil Armstrong meeting the Shah of Iran during visit of Apollo 11 astronauts to Tehran on 28–31 October 1969

 

Pahlavi and Empress Farah meeting with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow in 1970

 

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. Pahlavi was distrustful of both the Socialist government of Abd al-Karim Qasim and the Arab nationalist Baath party. In April 1969, Pahlavi abrogated the 1937 Iranian-Iraqi treaty over control of the Shatt al-Arab, and as such, Iran ceased paying tolls to Iraq when its ships used the Shatt al-Arab. Pahlavi justified his move by arguing that almost all river borders all over the world ran along the thalweg (deep channel mark), and by claiming that because most of the ships that used the Shatt al-Arab were Iranian, the 1937 treaty was unfair to Iran. Iraq threatened war over the Iranian move, but when on 24 April 1969 an Iranian tanker escorted by Iranian warships sailed down the Shatt al-Arab, Iraq being the militarily weaker state did nothing. The Iranian abrogation of the 1937 treaty marked the beginning of a period of acute Iraqi-Iranian tension that was to last until the Algiers Accords of 1975. 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 Pahlavi 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 Pahlavi agreed to end his support for Iraqi Kurdish rebels.

 

Pahlavi met Algerian president Houari Boumediène and Iraqi vice president Saddam Hussein in Algiers in 1975 for register 1975 Algiers Agreement

 

U.S. president Jimmy Carter meeting with Pahlavi in Tehran in December 1977

 

Pahlavi with President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon during a state visit in 1971

 

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

On July 1964, 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's joining some time in the future.

The Shah of Iran was the first regional leader to recognize the State of Israel as a de facto state, although when interviewed on CBS 60 Minutes by reporter Mike Wallace, he criticized American Jews for their presumed control over US media and finance.

Modernization and Evolution of Government  

With Iran's great oil wealth, Pahlavi became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and self-styled "Guardian" of the Persian Gulf. In 1961, he defended his style of rule, saying "when Iranians learn to behave like Swedes, I will behave like the King of Sweden."

During the last years of his government, the Shah's government became more centralized. 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".

By 1975, he abolished the multi-party system of government in favor of a one-party state under the Rastakhiz (Resurrection) Party. Pahlavi'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." In addition, Pahlavi had decreed that all Iranian citizens and the few remaining political parties become part of Rastakhiz.

Achievements

 

Pahlavi crowning Empress Farah at their coronation ceremony in 1967

 

Pahlavi at a press conference in Niavaran Palace, 24 January 1971

 

Imperial Standard

 

Pahlavi 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, 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 a 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, Pahlavi 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 Arts Festival. 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.

As part of his various financial support programs in the fields of culture and arts, Pahlavi, along with King Hussein of Jordan donated an amount to the Chinese Muslim Association for the construction of the Taipei Grand Mosque.

Criticism of reign and causes of his overthrow

 

At the Federation of American Scientists, John Pike writes:

In 1978 the deepening opposition to the Shah erupted in widespread demonstrations and rioting. Recognizing that even this level of violence had failed to crush the rebellion, the Shah abdicated the Peacock Throne and fled 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 surprise 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."

Explanations for why the Shah was overthrown include that he was a dictator put in place by a non-Muslim Western power, the United States, whose foreign culture was seen as influencing that of Iran. Additional contributing factors included reports of oppression, brutality, corruption, and extravagance. Basic functional failures of the regime have also been blamed — economic bottlenecks, shortages and inflation; the regime's over-ambitious economic program; the failure of its security forces to deal with protest and demonstration; the overly centralized royal power structure.

 

Pahlavi and President Jimmy Carter

 

International policies pursued by Pahlavi in order to increase national income by remarkable increases of the price of oil through his leading role in the Organization of Oil Producing Countries OPEC have been stressed as a major cause for a shift of Western interests and priorities and for an actual reduction of their support for him reflected in a critical position of Western politicians and media, especially of the administration of US President Jimmy Carter, regarding the question of human rights in Iran, and in strengthened economic ties between the United States of America and Saudi Arabia in the 1970s.

In October 1971, Pahlavi celebrated the twenty-five-hundredth anniversary of the Iranian monarchy. The New York Times reported that $100 million was spent. Next to the ancient 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 went on strike in protest. Indeed, the cost was so sufficiently impressive that Pahlavi forbade his associates to discuss the actual figures. However Pahlavi and his supporters argue that the celebrations opened new investments in Iran, improved relationships with the other leaders and nations of the world, and provided greater recognition of Iran.

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; and the 1976 change from an Islamic calendar to an Imperial calendar, marking the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus as the first day, instead of the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina. This supposed date was designed that the year 2500 would fall on 1941, the year when his own reign started. Overnight, the year changed from 1355 to 2535. During the extravagant festivities to celebrate the 2500th anniversary, Pahlavi was quoted as saying at Cyrus's tomb: "Sleep easily, Cyrus, for we are awake."

It has been argued that the White Revolution was "shoddily planned and haphazardly carried out", upsetting the wealthy while not going far enough to provide for the poor or offer greater political freedom.

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," and educated unemployed often supported the revolution.

Black Friday

The Shah-centered command structure of the Iranian military, and the lack of training to confront civil unrest, was a recipe for disaster and bloodshed. There were several instances where army units had opened fire, the most notorious one being the events of September 8th, 1978. On this day, which later became known as 'Black Friday', thousands had gathered in Tehran's Jaleh Square for a religious demonstration. With people refusing to recognize martial law, the soldiers opened fire, killing and seriously injuring a large number of people. Black Friday played a crucial role in further radicalizing the protest movement. This massacre seriously reduced the chances for reconciliation to the level that Black Friday is referred to as point of no return for the revolution.

Revolution

 

 

Pahlavi meeting with members of the U.S. government: Arthur Atherton, William H. Sullivan, Cyrus Vance, President Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977.

 

Pahlavi and Empress Farah shortly before leaving Iran in 1979 during the height of the Iranian revolution.

 

The overthrow of the Shah came as a surprise to almost all observers. The first militant anti-Shah demonstrations of a few hundred started in October 1977, after the death of Khomeini's son Mostafa. 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.

On 16 January 1979, he made a contract with Farboud and left Iran at the behest of Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar (a long time opposition leader himself), who sought to calm the situation. 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. 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 rejected Bakhtiar's demands and appointed his own interim government, with Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister, stating that "I will appoint a state. I will act against this government. With the nation's support, I will appoint a state." In February, pro-Khomeini revolutionary guerrilla and rebel soldiers gained the upper hand in street fighting, and the military announced its neutrality. On the evening of 11 February, the dissolution of the monarchy was complete.

Exile and death

 

Pahlavi and Henry Boniet in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1979

 

During his second exile, Pahlavi traveled from country to country seeking what he hoped would be temporary residence. First he flew to Assuan, Egypt, where he received a warm and gracious welcome from President Anwar El-Sadat. He later lived in Morocco as a guest of King Hassan II, as well as in the Bahamas, and in Cuernavaca in Mexico near Mexico City, as a guest of José López Portillo. He suffered from gallstones that would require prompt surgery. He was offered treatment in Switzerland, but insisted on treatment in the United States.

On 22 October 1979, President Jimmy Carter reluctantly allowed Pahlavi into the United States to undergo surgical treatment at the New York–Weill Cornell Medical Hospital. While in Cornell Medical Center, Pahlavi used the name "David D. Newsom" as his temporary code name, without Newsom's knowledge.

Pahlavi was taken later by U.S. Air Force jet to Kelly Air Force Base in Texas and from there to Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base. 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, but he stayed in the hospital.

Tomb of Pahlavi, located at the Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo

 

There are claims that 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 Pahlavi's book, Answer to History, in the end the USA never provided Pahlavi any kind of health care and asked him to leave the country.

He left the United States on 15 December 1979 and lived for a short time in the Isla Contadora in Panama. This caused riots by Panamanians who overwhelmingly objected to the Shah being in their country. Panamanians viewed it as their country being used as a stooge of the United States. The new government in Iran still demanded his and his wife's immediate extradition to Tehran. A short time after Pahlavi's arrival, an Iranian ambassador was dispatched to the Central American nation carrying a 450-page extradition request. That official appeal greatly alarmed both Pahlavi and his advisors. Whether the Panamanian government would have complied is a matter of speculation among historians.

After that event, Pahlavi again sought the support of Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat, who renewed his offer of permanent asylum in Egypt to the ailing monarch. Pahlavi returned to Egypt in March 1980, where he received urgent medical treatment, including a splenectomy performed by Dr. Michael DeBakey, but nevertheless died from complications of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia (a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma) on 27 July 1980, aged 60. Egyptian President Sadat gave the Shah a state funeral.

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 to the left of the entrance. Years earlier, his father and predecessor, Reza Shah had also initially been buried at the Al Rifa'i Mosque.

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, Pahlavi sent one of 73 Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages to NASA for the historic first lunar landing. 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 Pahlavi 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, Pahlavi 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. Pahlavi 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.

Recently, Pahlavi's reputation has staged something of a revival, with some Iranians looking back on his era as a time when Iran was more prosperous and the government less oppressive. 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."

Pahlavi's writings

Pahlavi published several books in the course of his kingship and two later works after his downfall. Among others, these are:

• Mission for my Country. 1960.
• The White Revolution. 1967.
• Toward the Great Civilization. Persian version: Imperial 2536 (1977). English version: 1994.
• Answer to History. 1980.
• The Shah's Story. 1980.

Women's rights  

Under 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. 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

 

Pahlavi and three of his children: Princess Farahnaz, Reza and Alireza

 

Pahlavi married three times:

Fawzia

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk suggested to Reza Shah during the latter's visit to Turkey that a marriage between the Iranian and Egyptian courts would be beneficial for the two countries and their dynasties. In line with this suggestion, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi and Princess Fawzia married. Dilawar Princess Fawzia of Egypt (born 5 November 1921, died 2 July 2013), a daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and Nazli Sabri; she also was a sister of King Farouk I of Egypt. They married on 15 March 1939 in the Abdeen Palace in Cairo. Reza Shah did not participate in the ceremony. They were divorced in 1945 (Egyptian divorce) and in 1948 (Iranian divorce). Together they had one child, a daughter:

• HIH Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 27 October 1940).

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

His second wife was Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari (22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001), a half German half Iranian woman and the only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Iranian Ambassador to West Germany, and his wife, the former Eva Karl. They married on 12 February 1951, when Soraya was 18 according the official announcement, however it rumored that she was actually 16 at the time, the Shah being 32. As a child she was tutored and brought up by Frau Mantel, and hence lacked proper knowledge of Iran as she herself admits in her personal memoirs stating "I was a dunce - I knew next to nothing of the geography, the legends of my country, nothing of its history, nothing of Muslim religion". The Shah and Soraya's controversial marriage ended in 1958 when it became apparent that even through help from medical doctors 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.

However even after the marriage it is reported that Pahlavi still had great love for Soraya and it is reported that they met several times after their divorce and that she lived her post-divorce life comfortably as a wealthy lady even though she never remarried;being paid a monthly salary of about 7000 dollars monthly from Iran. Following her death in 2001 at the age of 69 in Paris, an auction of the possessions included a 3 million dollar Paris estate, a 22.37 carat diamond ring and a 1958 Rolls-Royce.

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," especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who married a divorced person would be automatically, and could be formally, excommunicated.

Farah Diba

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi married his third and final wife, Farah Diba (born 14 October 1938), the only child of Sohrab Diba, Captain in the Imperial Iranian Army (son of an Iranian Ambassador to the Romanov Court in Moscow, Russia), 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 Pahlavi's death. Farah Diba bore him four children:

• HIH Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (born 31 October 1960), heir to the now defunct Iranian throne
• HIH Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 12 March 1963)
• HIH Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (28 April 1966 – 4 January 2011)
• HIH Princess Leila Pahlavi (27 March 1970 – 10 June 2001)

Wealth

Pahlavi inherited the wealth built by his father Reza Shah who preceded him as king of Iran and became known as the richest person in Iran during his reign, with his wealth estimated to be higher than 600 million rials  and including vast amounts of land and numerous large estates specially in the province of Mazandaran obtained usually at a fraction of its real price. Reza Pahlavi facing criticism for his wealth decided to pass on all of his land and wealth to his eldest son Mohammad Reza in exchange for a sugar cube, known in Iran as habbe kardan. However shortly after obtaining the wealth Mohammad Reza was ordered by his father and then king to transfer a million tooman or 500,000 dollars to each of his siblings. By 1958 it was estimated that the companies possessed by Pahlavi had a value of 157 million dollars (1958 USD) with an estimated additional 100 million saved outside Iran. The rumors and constant talk of his, and his family's corruption greatly damaged his reputation and lead to the creation of the Pahlavi Foundation in the same year and the return of some 2,000 villages inherited by his father back to the people often at very low and discount prices, however it can be argued that this was too little too late as the royal family's wealth and corruption can be seen as one of the factors behind the Iranian revolution in 1979. Pahlavi's wealth was even considerable during his time in exile. While staying in the Bahamas he offered to purchase the island that he was staying on for 425 million dollars (1979 USD), however his offer was rejected by the Bahamas claiming that the island was worth far more. On 17 October 1979 again in exile and perhaps knowing the gravity of his illness he split up his wealth between his family members, giving 20% to Farah, 20% to his eldest son Reza, 15% to Farahnaz, 15% to Leila, 20% to his younger son, in addition to giving 8% to Shahnaz and 2% to his granddaughter Mahnaz Zahedi.

In January 14, 1949, an article titled "Little pain expected in exile for Shah" by The Spokesman Review newspaper found that the Pahlavi dynasty had amassed one of the largest private fortunes in the world; estimated at well over $1 billion dollars at the time. A list submitted to the ministry of justice in protest to the royal families penetration of every corner of nations economy detailed that the Pahlavi dynasty dominated the economy of Iran at the time. The list showed that the Pahlavi dynasty had interests in, amongst other things, 17 banks and insurance companies, including an 90 percent ownership in the nations third-largest insurance company, 25 metal enterprises, 8 mining companies, 10 building materials companies, including 25 percent of the largest cement company, 45 construction companies, 43 food companies, and 26 enterprises in trade or commerce, including a share of ownership in almost every major hotel in Iran. According to another source, the Pahlavi's owned 70 percent of the hotel capacity in the country at the time. Much of the Pahlavi dynasty fortune was required to be transferred to the "Pahlavi Foundation", a charitable organization and the families trust. The organization refuses to give any value of its assets or an annual income but a published book in Iran by Robert Graham, a British journalist, calculates that on the basis of its known holdings, the foundation assets total over $2.8 billion at the time.

In Iran alone the Pahlavi foundation owned four leading hotels -- the Hilton, the Vanak, the Evin and the Darband. The foundation made gained international attention for purchasing the DePinna building on Fifth avenue, New York, at the time in 1975 valued at $14.5 million. Such investment in a foreign market by the Pahlavi foundation gained media attention because in order to do such foreign investment the foundation had to register as an American charitable foundation with the declared aim of using the rental to pay for Iranian students studying in America. The advantage of such charitable status was that the U.S. authorities could not investigate the books of the Pahlavi Foundation in Iran.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was also known for his interest in cars and had a personal collection of 140 classic and sports cars including but not limited to a Mercedes-Benz 500K coupe, one of the only six ever made.

Honors

 

Imperial Family after the Coronation. From left Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Empress Farah Pahlavi and Princess Shams Pahlavi. In the middle Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi and Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

 

 

Universal Newsreel about the Shah's 40th birthday, 1959

 

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Persia (1926)
• Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlevi of Persia (1932)
• Collar of the Order of Muhammad Ali of Egypt (1939)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) (1942)
• Croix de Guerre w/ Palm of France (1945)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Propitious Clouds of the Republic of China, special grade (1946)
• Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit of the United States (1947)
• Knight of the Order of the Golden Spur of the Vatican (1948)
• Royal Victorian Chain (RVC) (1948)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Zulfiqar of Iran (1949)
• Collar of the Order of Hussein ibn Ali of Jordan (1949)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Renaissance of Jordan (1949)
• Order of the King Abdul Aziz Decoration of Honour, 1st Class of Saudi Arabia (1955)
• Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Bundesverdienstkreuz of West Germany (1955)
• Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Order of Merit of Lebanon (1956)
• Grand Collar of the Order of the Yoke and Arrows of Spain (1957)
• Grand Cross w/ Collar of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy (1957)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Idris I of Libya (1958)
• Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum of Japan (1958)
• Knight of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark (1959)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (1959)
• Order of Pakistan, 1st Class (1959)
• Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria (1960)
• Order of Ojaswi Rajanya of Nepal (1960)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer of Greece (1960)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold of Belgium (1960)
• Grand Cross w/Collar of the Order of St Olav of Norway (1961)
• Grand Collar and Chain of the Order of Solomon of Ethiopia (1964)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Supreme Sun of Afghanistan (1965)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of Egypt (1965)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin of Argentina (1965)
• Grand Cordon w/Collar of the Order of Independence of Tunisia (1965)
• Grand Collar of the Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil (1965)
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammad of Morocco (1966)
• Order of al-Khalifa of Bahrain (1966)
• Order of Independence of Qatar (1966)
• Order of the Badr Chain of Saudi Arabia (1966)
• Order of the Chain of Honour of the Sudan (1966)
• Order of the Flag with Diamonds Hungary (1966)
• Grand Cordon of the Grand Star of Yugoslavia (1966)
• Collar of the Order of the Seraphim of Sweden (1967) (Knight–1960)
• Order of the Crown of the Realm (DMN) (1968)
• Knight of the Order of the Royal House of Chakri of Thailand (1968)
• Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland (1970)
• Military Order of Oman, 1st Class (1973)
• Grand Collar of the Order of Charles III of Spain (1975)
• Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle of Mexico (1975)
• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion, 1st Class w/ Collar of Czechoslovakia (1977)

Gallery

 

• 

  Flag of Iran during the Pahlavi dynasty 1925 to 1979

   

• 

  The Coat of Arms of Iran, during Pahlavi dynasty 1925 to 1979. The Farvahar (Atra) is seen. (In the circle, right, top).