Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (Persian: محمدرضا شاه پهلوی) (October 26, 1919, Tehran – July 27, 1980, Cairo), styled His Imperial Majesty, Shahanshah (King of Kings), and Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans), was the Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He was the second and last Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Youth, education, and family background
Mohammad Reza was born to Reza Shah Pahlavi (the reigning monarch between the years 1925 and 1941), who established the Pahlavi dynasty, and his second wife Tadj ol-Molouk (1896 – 1982). He attended Institut Le Rosey, a Swiss boarding school, and the Military College in Tehran.
His father, Reza Pahlavi, (1877–1944), had risen from the army ranks to defense minister (after a coup d'état which made Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabaee prime minister), and afterwards to prime minister, before being elected Shah of Iran by the National Assembly, (the Majlis), starting the Pahlavi dynasty.
Reign of Mohammad Reza Shah
Deposition of his father
Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, which broke the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact, had a huge impact on Iran. Iran had technically declared neutrality, though the country had maintained good relations with Nazi Germany and was seen as a potential member of the Axis, and thus a pre-emptive invasion was staged by Great Britain and the Soviet Union. In the proceeding occupation, the Allies forced the Shah to abdicate in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He replaced his father on the throne on September 16, 1941. It was hoped that the younger man would be more open to influence from the pro-Allied West (which proved to be the case) and Iran became a major conduit for British and later American aid to the USSR during World War II. This massive supply effort became known as the "Persian Corridor", and marked the first large-scale American involvement in Iran, an involvement that would continue to grow until the successful revolution against the Iranian monarchy in 1979.
Nationalization of the oil industry
In 1953, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, Iran's prime minister, had succeeded in persuading the parliament to nationalize the oil industry without compensation for the foreign countries previously involved in the program. He gradually entered into a close political alliance with the Communist Tudeh Party, much to the anger of the United States and Great Britain, as well as those of his former allies with Islamic or anti-Communist agendas. This resulted in an embargo on Iranian oil exports, which only worsened the already fragile economy. The CIA and MI6 are believed by many historians to have funded and led a coup d'etat (see next section, Coup controversy) to overthrow the prime minister with the help of military forces loyal to the Shah through Operation Ajax. The coup initially failed and the Shah fled Iran. After a brief exile in Italy the Shah was brought back again, this time through a second coup which was successful. Mossadegh was arrested, tried and put under house arrest. General Fazlollah Zahedi was elected to succeed prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh.
Coup controversy
There is disagreement among scholars and political analysts as to whether it is correct to call the 1953 plot a coup. The term is commonly used in media and popular culture, though technically the overthrow of Mossadegh was neither purely military in nature nor did it lead to a change in the form of government or the constitution in the country. Technically, in fact, it led to the preservation of the constitution, which Mossadegh had been repeatedly neglecting during his term in office [1] [2] [3] [4] See Further reading and external links for more information.
Consolidation of power
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, crowning
Farah Pahlavi as Empress of Iran.
With Iran's great oil wealth, Mohammad Reza Shah became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and self-styled "Guardian" of the Persian Gulf. He later abolished the multi-party system of government so that he could rule through a one-party state under the Rastakhiz (Resurrection) Party in autocratic fashion, which he claimed was a response, among other things, to the Soviet Union's support of Iranian Communist militias and parties, particularly the Tudeh Party. The Shah also authorized the creation of the secret police force, SAVAK (National Organization for Information and Security), infamous for its ruthless persecution of dissidents, and is believed to have overseen its operation personally.
He made major changes to curb the power of certain ancient elite factions by expropriating large and middle-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, much to the discontent and opposition of the Islamic clergy. He instituted exams for Islamic theologians to become established clerics, which were widely unpopular and broke centuries-old religious traditions.
Revolution
His policies led to strong economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s but at the same time, opposition to his autocratic pro-Western rule increased. His good relations with Israel and the United States and his active support for women's rights were moreover a reason for fundamentalist Islamic groups to attack his policies. On January 16, 1979 he and his wife left Iran at the behest of Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar (a long time opposition leader himself), who sought to calm down the situation. He dissolved SAVAK and freed all political prisoners, and allowed Ayatollah Khomeini to return to Iran after years in exile, asking him to create a Vatican-like state in Qom and called upon the opposition to help preserve the constitution, promising free elections. Khomeini rejected Dr. Bakhtiar's demands fiercely and appointed an interim government on his own. Shortly after, with the military announcing their neutrality in the conflict, the dissolution of the monarchy was completed at the hands of the revolutionaries led by Khomeini.
Exile and death
The exiled monarch had become unpopular in much of the world, especially in the liberal West, ironically his original backers and those who had most to lose from his downfall. He travelled from country to country in his second exile seeking what he hoped would be a temporary residence.
First he went to Egypt, and got an invitation and warm welcoming from president Anwar el-Sadat. He later lived in Morocco, the Bahamas, and Mexico. But his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma began to grow worse, and required immediate and sophisticated treatment.
Reluctantly, President Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah to make a brief stopover in the United States to undergo medical treatment. The compromise was extremely unpopular with the revolutionary movement, which were against the United States' years of support of the Shah's rule, and demanded his return to Iran to face a show trial and execution.
This resulted in the capture of a number of American diplomats, military personnel and intelligence officers in what became known as the Iran hostage crisis. Once the Shah's course of treatment had finished, the American government, eager to avoid further controversy, pressed the former monarch to leave the country.
He left the United States and lived for a short time in Panama. Finally he went back to Egypt where he passed away on July 27, 1980, aged 60.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is buried in the ar-Rifai Mosque in Cairo, a mosque of great symbolic value. The last royal rulers of two great ancient empires are buried here, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran and King Farouk of Egypt. Baksheesh is required to view the royals tombs, which lie off to the left of the entrance.
Shortly after his overthrow, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi wrote an autobiographical memoir entitled Answer to History (ISBN 0812827554), which was translated from the original French (Réponse à l'histoire) into both English and Persian (Pasukh bih Tarikh) as well as other languages, and was later published posthumously in 1980.
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. The Shah places 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.
Wives and children
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was married three times. His first wife was Princess Fawzia of Egypt (born November 5, 1921), a celebrated beauty of her day, daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and his second spouse, Nazli Sabri, and a sister of King Farouk I of Egypt. They married in 1939 and divorced in 1948 after her failure to produce an heir to the throne (although later she did in fact have a son with her second husband). Fawzia was extremely unhappy at the Iranian court and longed to return to Egypt, which she did shortly before the forced abdication of her brother and the abolition of the Egyptian monarchy. They had one daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born October 27, 1940).
His second wife was Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari (June 22, 1932-October 26, 2001), daughter of Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiari, Ambassador of Iran to the Federal Republic of Germany, and his German wife, Eva Karl. They married in 1951 and divorced in 1958 when it became apparent that she could not bear children. Given the title Princess Soraya of Iran after the divorce, she briefly debuted as a film actress, appearing in the 1965 movie "Three Faces of a Woman," and became the companion of its Italian director Franco Indovina, 1932-1972.
The Shah's third wife was Farah Diba (born October 14, 1938), daughter of Sohrab Diba, Captain in the Imperial Iranian Army, and his wife, Faredeh Ghotbi. They were married in 1959, and Farah became Shahbanu, or Empress, a title created especially for her. Previous royal consors had been known as "Malakeh" (Arabic: Malika), or Queen. Farah Diba bore him four children:
- Reza Pahlavi II, the Crown Prince (born October 31, 1960)
- Farahnaz Pahlavi (born March 12, 1963)
- Ali Reza Pahlavi (born April 28, 1966)
- Leila Pahlavi (March 27, 1970 – June 10, 2001)
See also
Further reading
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Answer to History, Stein & Day Pub, 1980, ISBN 0812827554.
- Farah Pahlavi, An Enduring Love : My Life with the Shah - A Memoir, Miramax Books, 2004, ISBN 140135209X.
- Stephen Kinzer, All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN 0471265179
- William Shawcross, The Shah's last ride: The death of an ally, Touchstone, 1989, ISBN 067168745X.
- Ardeshir Zahedi, The Memoirs of Ardeshir Zahedi , IBEX, 2005, ISBN 1588140385.
- Amin Saikal The Rise and Fall of the Shah 1941 - 1979 Angus and Robertson (Princeton University Press) ISBN 0 207 14412 5
- Abbas Milani, The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution, Mage Publishers, 2000, ISBN 0934211612.
External links
- The Shah's last interview (conducted by David Frost in Panama).
- The Iranian constitution of 1906 (Persian).
- ISNA interview with Dr. Mahmood Kashani (Persian)
- Mossadegh saved the Shah, by Fereydoun Hoveyda
- The CIA and Iran, Ardeshir Zahedi, May 22, 2000.
- James Risen: Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran -- A special report.; How a Plot Convulsed Iran in '53 (and in '79). The New York Times, April 16, 2000.
- Stephen Fleischman. Shah knew what he was talking about: Oil is too valuable to burn, CommonDreams, November 29, 2005.
- Roger Scruton. [5] In Memory of Iran by Roger Scruton, from 'Untimely tracts' (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1987), pp. 190-1
- Brzezinski's role in overthrow of the Shah, Payvand News, March 10, 2006.
- 'Free elections in 1979, my last audience with the Shah', by Fereydoun Hoveyda
- 1953 CIA coup in Iran
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