Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran, reigning from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown in the 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 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 Pahlavi. 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. The Shah initiated major investments in infrastructure, subsidies and land grants for peasant populations, profit sharing for industrial workers, construction of nuclear facilities, and nationalization of Iran's natural resources.
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. In the 1970s, the Shah 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 the military. 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 defence spending to end foreign powers' intervention in the country had culminated in the Iranian military standing as the world's fifth-strongest armed force. Pahlavi also ruled as an authoritarian monarch, and human rights were often curtailed or violated. This led to increasing internal opposition.
As political unrest grew throughout Iran in the late 1970s, sparked in part by the "Iran and Red and Black Colonization" newspaper article, 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. Pahlavi died in exile in Egypt, where he had been granted political asylum by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
The legacy of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi is divisive. Pahlavi has been characterized as a pro-western dictator. Pahlavi's government has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including the frequent use of torture. He remains widely credited with the modernisation of the Iranian economy in the late 20th century, although the perceived economic benefits were not distributed evenly.
Early life, family and education
Mohammad Reza was born on 26 October 1919 in Tehran to Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), a brigadier general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, and his second wife, Tadj ol-Molouk. His father was of Mazandarani origin and was born in Alasht, Mazandaran province. His paternal grandmother was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), whose family had emigrated to Iran following the Russo-Persian Wars in the nineteenth century. Tadj ol-Molouk was born in Baku, Russian Empire (present-day Azerbaijan), and was the daughter of Teymūr Khan Ayromlou, a Qajar army general of Ayrum descent.
Mohammad Reza was Reza Khan's eldest son and the third of his eleven children by four women. He was born with his twin sister, Ashraf; his other full siblings were his older sister Shams and younger brother Ali Reza. Reza Khan reportedly regarded his first son's birth as a good omen and called him khoshghadam ("bird of good omen"). Following the enactment of Iran's surname law, Reza Khan adopted the surname Pahlavi, derived from Middle Persian. On 24 April 1926, the day before his father's coronation, six-year-old Mohammad Reza was proclaimed Crown Prince of the newly established Pahlavi dynasty.
Growing up, Mohammad Reza was very close to his twin sister Ashraf, who described her brother as the "centre of my existence." He also shared a close relationship with his mother, Tadj ol-Molouk, and his older sister Shams. Tadj ol-Molouk was assertive and deeply superstitious, encouraging her son's belief that he was destined for an important future. Upon becoming Crown Prince, however, he was separated from his mother and sisters and was placed under the educational supervision of military officers. Reza Shah further ordered that everyone, including his mother and siblings, address the Crown Prince as "Your Highness".
Mohammad Reza had a difficult relationship with his father, whom he later described in his autobiography Mission for My Country as "one of the most frightening men" he had known. According to historian Abbas Milani, Reza Shah was an authoritarian and emotionally distant father, and Mohammad Reza grew up fearful of him and lacking self-confidence. Their relationship remained highly formal; Reza Shah addressed his son as shoma ("sir") rather than the informal tow ("you"), and expected the same formality in return.
In 1931, at the recommendation of Minister of Court Abdolhossein Teymourtash, Reza Shah sent the Crown Prince to Institut Le Rosey, a private boarding school in Switzerland. He left Iran on 7 September 1931 and became the first Iranian heir apparent to be sent abroad for his education. His adjustment to life in Switzerland was initially difficult. Accustomed to the deference afforded to him in Iran, he reportedly demanded that fellow students stand at attention in his presence, but soon adapted to the comparatively egalitarian environment of the school. As a student, Mohammad Reza played competitive football. In addition to his native Persian, Mohammad Reza spoke English, French, and German fluently. He developed a lasting interest in French language and culture; writing for the school newspaper in French in 1935 and 1936, he credited Le Rosey with broadening his outlook and introducing him to European civilization. He also befriended Ernest Perron, a teacher who introduced him to French literature and became one of his closest confidants. When Mohammad Reza returned to Iran in 1936, Perron accompanied him and subsequently remained associated with the royal court at the Marble Palace.
After returning to Iran, Mohammad Reza completed his secondary education and enrolled at the Madrasa Nezam, a military academy in Tehran. He graduated as a second lieutenant in 1938 and was subsequently promoted to captain, a rank he held until his accession to the throne. From 1938 to 1941, he served as an army inspector, travelling throughout Iran to examine both civil and military installations.