[July 27] Mohammad Reza, shah of Iran

True Name: محمدرضاشاه پهلوی

Parents: Reza Shah, shah of Iran, and Tadj ol-Molouk

Date of Birth: 26 October 1919
Royal House: Pahlavi
Spouse: (1) Fawzia, daughter of Faud I, king of Egypt, and Nazli Sabri, then (2) Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Iranian ambassador to West Germany, and Eva Karl, then (3) Farah, daughter of Captain Sohrab Diba, and Farideh Ghotbi
Predecessor: Reza Shah
Reign: 1941 – 1979
Summary: The victim of American intervention and revolutionary sentimentality, Mohammad Reza was the last shah of Iran and ruled for almost four decades before the Iranian Revolution removed him from power. Born in 1919 to Reza Shah, the twin brother of Ashraf Pahlavi, his sister, Mohammad did not become officially royalty until his father became shah in 1925. In 1930, Mohammad was sent to boarding school in Switzerland, the first Iranian prince to be sent abroad for his education. When he returned in 1936, he joined a local military academy in Tehran. Although Iran was neutral in World War II, Britain and the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1941 to secure oil reserves. Iran had been helping the allies through the Persian Gulf during the first two years of the war and it became known as the Persian Corridor. Reza Shah was deposed by the invading Allied Powers due to pro-German sympathies and a lack of modernization in the empire. Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Foroughi fought to keep a Pahlavi on the throne and ensured the succession of Mohammad Reza in September 1941.

Mohammad Reza served as the figurehead leader of the Iranian government during World War II but by the 1950s, he was under duress. His new prime minister, Dr. Mosaddegh, wanted to nationalize the oil industry which was controlled in part by Britain. He was successful and the British were pushed out, endangering their own economy. US president Harry Truman supported the take-over but Eisenhower did not and fears ran wild that Iran was in the midst of a communist coup. The United States attempted to remove the new prime minister with the help of Mohammad Reza, but the plan backfired and the shah spent six months on the run from Baghdad, then to Rome. A second coup attempt succeeded and the shah was allowed to return to Iran. When Mohammad regained his office, he became increasingly fearful of technocrats and intellectuals and he barred them from government, leaving the government in the hands of conservatives. He feared communist influence in his country. He became actively involved in local royal politics, supporting the Yemeni royal family against republicans in the late 1960s and assisting the sultan of Oman in a rebellion in 1971. The shah worked to increase his standing with the other Persian Gulf states. His government, however, was in constant conflict with Iraq concerning especially shipping rights on a shared canal and the two countries almost went into open war numerous times. The shah was personally responsible for funding weapons in Kurdistan to fight against Iraq. In an interesting twist, Iran was the first Muslim leader to recognize the State of Israel, though he was constantly critical of the power of Jews in America. By the last years of his reign, Mohammad Reza became increasingly autocratic, outlawing rival political parties and installing his photograph through Iran. The disparity of wealth in Iran was made obvious in the 2,500-year anniversary celebration the shah held for the Iranian monarchy in 1971. It cost around $100 million while nearby villages were starving. The revolts began soon after. In 1977, the first major protests began. The next year, nation-wide strikes crippled the economy and millions marched against the shah. On 16 January 1979, Mohammad Reza left Iran at the suggestion of his prime minister. By the 17th, much of the iconography of the Pahlavi dynasty was destroyed. Thousands of political prisoners were released and Ayatollah Khomeini, a Shi'a religious leader, was allowed to return to Iran after years in exile. Khomeini was offered a Vatican City-like state in Qom where he could establish a home for Shi'a Islam. Instead, Khomeini appointed his own government and took over Iran. By 11 February 1979, the monarchy was dissolved and in its place, a theocracy was installed ruled directly by Ayatolla Khomeini. The former shah jumped from country to country for two years, trying to find a new home. He was finally allowed in the United States to undergo surgical treatments for gallstones. When the US Embassy in Tehran was stormed, the US promptly booted the shah from the United States. He fled to Panama and then Egypt where he soon died from complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was buried in the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo, the final resting place of the last king of Egypt as well. His son, Reza, succeeded him in his pretention to the Iranian throne.

Date of Death: 27 July 1980
Successor: Farah (as pretender)

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• Celestine I, pope of Rome (432)
• Conrad, king of Germany & Italy (1101)
• James I, king of Arágon (1276)
• Rudolf IV, duke of Austria (1365)