Mohammad reza pahlavi
The Safavids had appointed the senior religious scholar as their deputy in judicial matters.
Under the Qajars, the Shahs upheld law and order but the law that was upheld was as interpreted by the religious scholars, who administered the judicial system. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced many scholars with government appointed teachers and judges. Khomeini, exiled since , who by early was recognized as the leader of religious-political opposition to the Shah, depicted him as "the modern Yazid ," so that "rebellion against him was of the just against the unjust and represented a religious duty.
Iranians saw him as a puppet of the West, especially of what Khomeini called the "Great Satan" the U. From early , popular opposition against the Shah gathered momentum, inspired by the speeches of the exiled Khomeini. Mass rallies, work stoppages and general strike in October brought the country to a stand still. On January 16, , the Shah and his wife left Iran at the behest of Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar a long time opposition leader himself , who sought to calm the situation.
He arrived on February 1, and was greeted by millions of Iranians at the airport. Bakhtiar 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 fiercely rejected Dr. Bakhtiar's demands and appointed his own interim government, with Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister, demanding "since I have appointed him he must be obeyed.
On the evening of February 11 the dissolution of the monarchy was complete. What was perceived as a secular, Westernized regime was replaced by what Khomeini called "rule by the jurist," a system in which religion and the state were inseparably linked. The Shah traveled from country to country in his second exile , seeking what he hoped would be a temporary residence.
First he went to Egypt , and received an invitation and warm welcome from president Anwar 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, on October 22, , 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 had been angered by the United States' years of support for the Shah's rule. The Iranian government demanded the return of the Shah to Iran to stand trial. This resulted in the storming of the U. 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 the Shah's book, Answer to History, the American administration were anxious for him to leave and assisted his move to Panama as country after country refused him admission. He describes the actions of his former "friends and allies" at this time as "confused and contradictory.
Pahlavi: Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (born October 26, , Tehrān, Iran—died July 27, , Cairo, Egypt) was the shah of Iran from to , who maintained a pro-Western foreign policy and fostered economic development in Iran.
He left the United States on December 15, , and lived for a short time in the Isla Contadora in Panama where he says he was virtually "a prisoner" since he could not travel without the government's permission. Egyptian President Sadat gave the Shah a state funeral. The tombs lie off to the left of the entrance. 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. It was translated from the original French into English, Farsi Pasokh be Tarikh , and other languages. However, by the time of its publication, the Shah 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.
The Shah 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. In the s and the decade following , the Shah's reputation has staged something of a revival, with many Iranians looking back on his era as time when Iran was more prosperous [33] and the government less oppressive.
Moghissi argues that women were better off under the Shah than under the regime that succeeded him. Far from reforms in Iran promoting the cause of female equality, gains made under the former regime have been lost, she says. However, for many women in present day Iran, where its wearing is legally enforced, it is far from empowering. Mohammad Reza Shah was too insensitive towards the concern of many of his subjects that government should enjoy some degree of Islamic legitimacy.
By alienating the religious scholars, or clergy, he was unable to achieve a balance between temporal or spiritual authority that attracted wide support.
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He was too ready to use strong-arm tactics to enforce his rule and even well intentioned reforms through the SAVAK, acting like a dictator not a constitutional monarch. Much of the infrastructure was left in place for his Islamist successors to enforce their moral and dress codes through the agency of religious police, or "morality police.
Had he earned the love and respect of his people, had he had found a way to work with the religious leaders not against them, had he had allowed greater freedom , the monarchy may have continued. The religious leaders in Iran had worked with the Shah's ever since Iran first became a Shi'a state, thus monarchy as such was not anathema or necessarily unacceptable.
Iran's subsequent isolation from and hostility towards the West may be an over-reaction to the Shah's readiness to ally himself too closely to the West. On the other hand, his manipulation of the Majlis built on the tradition of the great powers, which, during his father's reign, dominated Iran, so much so that the British and Russian ambassadors would each present the Shah their list of approved candidates for "election.
They married in and were divorced in Egyptian divorce and Iranian divorce.
They had one daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi born October 27, They married in , but divorced in when it became apparent that 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. 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," [44] especially considering that under the Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who married a divorced person could be excommunicated.
They were married in , and Queen Farah was crowned Shahbanu, or Empress, a title created especially for her in The new National Front party, formed under the leadership of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq, followed a philosophy of "negative neutralism.
Iranian revolution shah pahlavi biography wikipedia
The country was plunged into such a crisis that by communication broke down between the Shah and Prime Minister Mosaddeq and also among the prime minister , his cabinet, and the parliament. The crisis, in which the Tudeh party was daily gaining the upper hand, forced the Shah and Sorayya his second wife to leave the country. Nine days later Mosaddeq was overthrown, and the Shah returned in triumph.
Mohammad Reza Shah returned with a new resolve.
Iranian revolution shah pahlavi biography
Whereas he had tried to reign as a constitutional monarch, he decided to rule under the constitution. He had distributed his land among the peasants, hoping that other landlords would follow his example, but they ignored the hint and dubbed him the "Bolshevik Shah. New industries were created, and Iran became one of the most stable countries in the Middle East.
On Oct. What made this coronation a unique one in the annals of Persian history was that his third wife, Farah, was crowned as empress, the first since the coming of Islam in the 7th century. Their 6-year-old son, Reza, was declared crown prince. During the s, oil-exporting countries such as Iran exercised much world power.
It was also the strongest military country in the Middle East. However, the Shah was an autocratic ruler who saw his popularity decreasing, especially among the conservative Muslims who were followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah led a revolution in , forcing the Shah and his family into exile.
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi died in Cairo on July 27, A scholarly treatment is E. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Despite its vast oil reserves, Iran continues to grapple with poverty, unemployment, and social inequality. Politically, Iran remains deeply divided between conservative hardliners and reformist voices seeking greater political openness and accountability.
Socially, Iran has undergone profound changes in the decades since the revolution. The internet and social media have provided a platform for dissent and activism, challenging the authority of the clerical establishment and traditional power structures. The legacy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is a complex and contested one, encompassing both the promise of modernization and the perils of authoritarian rule.
Iranian revolution shah pahlavi biography pdf
His reign, marked by economic development and political repression, laid the groundwork for the seismic events of and the birth of the Islamic Republic. Yet, the echoes of his regime continue to reverberate through Iranian society, shaping its politics, economy, and social fabric. Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October , developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included both secular and religious elements and intensified in January Between August and December , strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country.
The Shah left Iran for exile on January 16, , as the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council and an opposition-based prime minister. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government, and returned to Tehran to a greeting by several million Iranians. The royal reign collapsed shortly after on February 11, when guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting, bringing Khomeini to official power.
Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic Republic on April 1, , and approved a new theocratic-republican constitution whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country in December The revolution was unusual for the surprise it created throughout the world: it lacked many of the customary causes of revolution defeat at war, a financial crisis, peasant rebellion, or disgruntled military , occurred in a nation that was enjoying relative prosperity, produced profound change at great speed, was massively popular, resulted in the exile of many Iranians, and replaced a pro-Western semi-absolute monarchy with an anti-Western authoritarian theocracy based on the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists or velayat-e faqih.