Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Persian: محمدرضا پهلوی [mohæmˈmæd reˈzɒː pæhlæˈviː]) (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini, which abolished the Iranian monarchy to establish the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1967, he took the title Shahanshah (lit. 'King of Kings'), and also held several others, including Aryamehr (lit. 'Light of the Aryans') and Bozorg Arteshtaran (lit. 'Grand Army Commander'). He was the second and last ruling monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty. During World War II, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran forced the abdication of Reza Shah and succession of Mohammad Reza Shah. During his reign, the British-owned oil industry was nationalized by the prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had support from Iran's national parliament to do so; however, Mosaddegh was overthrown in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, which was carried out by the Iranian military under the aegis of the United Kingdom and the United States. Subsequently, the Iranian government centralized power under the Shah and brought foreign oil companies back into the country's industry through the Consortium Agreement of 1954. In 1963, Mohammad Reza Shah introduced the White Revolution, a series of reforms aimed at transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the nation by nationalizing key industries and redistributing land. The regime also implemented Iranian nationalist policies establishing numerous popular symbols of Iran relating to Cyrus the Great. The Shah initiated major investments in infrastructure, subsidies and land grants for peasant populations, profit sharing for industrial workers, construction of nuclear facilities, nationalization of Iran's natural resources, and literacy programs which were considered some of the most effective in the world. The Shah also instituted economic policy tariffs and preferential loans to Iranian businesses which sought to create an independent Iranian economy. Manufacturing of cars, appliances, and other goods in Iran increased substantially, creating a new industrialist class insulated from threats of foreign competition. By the 1970s, the Shah was seen as a master statesman and used his growing power to pass the 1973 Sale and Purchase Agreement. The reforms culminated in decades of sustained economic growth that would make Iran one of the fastest-growing economies among both the developed world and the developing world. During his 37-year-long rule, Iran spent billions of dollars' worth on industry, education, health, and military spending. Between 1950 and 1979, real GDP per capita nearly tripled from about $2700 to about $7700 (2011 international dollars). By 1977, the Shah's focus on defense spending to end foreign powers' intervention in the country had culminated in the Iranian military standing as the world's fifth-strongest armed force. As political unrest grew throughout Iran in the late 1970s, the Shah's position was made untenable by the Cinema Rex fire and the Jaleh Square massacre. The 1979 Guadeloupe Conference saw his Western allies state that there was no feasible way to save the Iranian monarchy from being overthrown. The Shah ultimately left Iran for exile in January 1979. Although he had told some Western contemporaries that he would rather leave the country than fire on his own people, estimates for the total number of deaths during the Islamic Revolution range from 540 to 2,000 (figures of independent studies) to 60,000 (figures of the Islamic government). After formally abolishing the Iranian monarchy, Shia Islamist cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini assumed leadership as the Supreme Leader of Iran. Mohammad Reza Shah died in exile in Egypt, where he had been granted political asylum by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and his son Reza Pahlavi declared himself the new Shah of Iran in exile.

Infobox

Reign

16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979

Coronation

26 October 1967

Predecessor

Reza Shah

Successor

Monarchy abolishedRuhollah Khomeini (as supreme leader)

Born

(1919-10-26)26 October 1919Tehran, Sublime State of Persia

Died

27 July 1980(1980-07-27) (aged 60)Cairo, Egypt

Burial

Al-Rifa'i Mosque

Spouses

mw- Fawzia of Egypt (m. 1939; div. 1948) Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (m. 1951; div. 1958) Farah Diba (m. 1959)

Issue

Princess Shahnaz Crown Prince Reza Princess Farahnaz Prince Ali Reza Princess Leila

Regnal name

Regnal nameMohammad Reza ShahPersian: محمدرضا شاه

Alma mater

Institut Le Rosey Madrasa Nezam

Dynasty

Pahlavi

Father

Reza Shah

Mother

Tadj ol-Molouk

Religion

Twelver Shia Islam

Signature

Persian signature Latin signature

Branch/service

Imperial Iranian Army

Years of service

1936–1979

Rank

Ariabod (Generalissimo)

Commands

Army's Inspection Department

Battles/wars

Revolution of Iran 1953 Iranian coup d'état Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran Siahkal incident Joint Operation Arvand 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict Kurdish separatism in Iran Hama Rashid revolt Iran crisis of 1946