Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Shah of Iran
File:Mohammadreza Shah.jpg
Reign	September 16, 1941 - February 11, 1979
Predecessor	Reza Shah
Heir-Apparent	Islamic Republic declared
Issue	Shahnaz, Reza Cyrus, Farahnaz, Ali Reza, Leila Pahlavi
House	Pahlavi dynasty
Father	Reza Shah
Mother	Tadj ol-Molouk

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (Persian: محمدرضا پهلوی Moḥammad Rez̤ā Pahlavī) (October 26, 1919, Tehran – July 27, 1980, Cairo), styled His Imperial Majesty, and holding the imperial titles of Shāhanshāh (King of Kings), and Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans), was the monarchial ruler of Iran from September 16, 1941 until the Iranian Revolution on February 11, 1979. He was the second monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty and the last Shah of the Iranian monarchy.

Early life

Born in Tehran to Reza Pahlavi and his second wife, Tadj ol-Molouk, Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty. He was born with a twin sister, Ashraf Pahlavi.

As a child, he attended Institut Le Rosey, a Swiss boarding school, which he completed in 1935 but never received a diploma. Upon his return to Iran, he enrolled in the local military academy in Tehran, until 1938.

Early reign

Deposition of his father

Reza Shah

In the midst of World War II in 1941, Nazi Germany began Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union, breaking the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact. The act had a huge impact on Iran, as the country had technically declared neutrality. However, Iran had maintained good relations with Nazi Germany and was seen by some as a potential member of the Axis. Thus a preventive invasion was staged by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.

During the subsequent military occupation, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He replaced his father on the throne on September 16, 1941. It was hoped that the younger prince would be more open to influence from the pro-Allied West, which later proved to be the case.

Subsequent to his succession as Shah, Iran became a major conduit for British, and later, American aid to the USSR during the war. This massive supply effort became known as the Persian Corridor, and marked the first large-scale American and Western involvement in Iran, an involvement that would continue to grow until the successful revolution against the Iranian monarchy in 1979.

Oil nationalization and the 1953 coup

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Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh

In the early 1950s, there was a political crisis centered in Iran that commanded the focused attention of British and American intelligence outfits. In 1951, the Iranian parliament, under the leadership of the nationalist movement of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, voted unanimously to nationalize the oil industry. This shut out the immensely profitable Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which was a pillar of Britain's economy and political clout. A month after that vote, Mossadegh was named Prime Minister of Iran.

In response to nationalization, Britain placed a massive embargo on Iranian oil exports, which only worsened the already fragile economy. Neither the AIOC nor Mossadegh was open to compromise in this period, with Britain insisting on a restoration of the AIOC and Mossadegh only willing to negotiate on the terms of its compensation for lost assets. The U.S. president at the time, Harry S. Truman, was categorically unwilling to join Britain in planning a coup against Mossadegh, and Britain felt unable to act without American cooperation, particularly since Mossadegh had shut down their embassy in 1952. Truman's successor, Dwight Eisenhower, was finally persuaded by arguments that were anti-Communist rather than primarily economic, and focused on the potential for Iran's Communist Tudeh Party to capitalize on political instability and assume power, aligning Iran and its immense oil resources with the Soviet bloc. Though Mossadegh never had a close political alliance with Tudeh, he also failed to act decisively against them in any way, which hardened U.S. policy against him. Coup plans which had stalled under Truman were immediately revived by an eager intelligence corps, with powerful aid from the brothers John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) and Allen Welsh Dulles (CIA director), after Eisenhower's inauguration in 1953.

Under the direction of Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., a senior CIA officer and grandson of the former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, the CIA and British intelligence funded and led a covert operation to depose Mossadeq with the help of military forces loyal to the Shah, known as Operation Ajax. The plot hinged on orders signed by the Shah to dismiss Mossadegh as prime minister and replace him with General Fazlollah Zahedi, a choice agreed on by the British and Americans. Despite the high-level coordination and planning, the coup initially failed and the Shah fled Iran. After a brief exile in Italy, however, the Shah was brought back again, this time through a second coup, which was successful. The deposed Mossadegh was arrested, given a show trial, and condemned to death. The Shah commuted this sentence to solitary confinement for three years in a military prison, followed by house arrest for life. Zahedi was installed to succeed Prime Minister Mossadegh.

Assassination attempts

The Shah was the victim of two assassination attempts. On February 4, 1949, the Shah attended an annual ceremony to commemorate the founding of Tehran University. At the ceremony, Fakhr Arai fired five shots at the Shah from a ten foot range. Only one of the shots hit the Shah and his cheek was mildly wounded. Arai was instantly shot by nearby officers. After some investigations, it was found that Arai was a member of the Tudeh party, which was subsequently banned. The second attempt on the Shah's life was on April 10, 1965. A soldier shot his way through the Marble Palace. The assailant was killed before he reached the Shah's quarters. Two civilian guards died protecting the Shah. The Shah was also targeted by Communists who tried to use a TV remote control to detonate a Volkswagen which was turned into an IED. The TV remote failed to function.

Coup

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 neither was purely military in nature nor led 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. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

The majority of scholars and newspapers state that the 1953 plot was a coup. Indeed, the declassified record of the very plans of the US and UK, the two actors behind Mossadegh's removal from power, reveals that they themselves regarded it as such. For example, Appendix E of the coup documentation is entitled "Military Critique; Lessons Learned from TPAJAX; re Military Planning Aspects of Coup d'Etat."

On April 28, 1951, Mossadegh, on the Shah's suggestion, was named Prime Minister of Iran by a vote of 79-12 by the democratically elected legislative Iranian body known as the Majlis and the parliament's vote had been accepted by the Shah as legitimate at that time. However, In August of 1953 Mossadegh attempted to convince the Shah to leave the country. The Shah refused and formally dismissed the prime minister. However, the Shah's authority to dismiss Mossadegh has been questioned with some saying that only the Majlis had the formal authority to dismiss the Prime Minister. Mossadegh used this idea after the coup during his trial in November of that year.[10][11]

Mossadegh refused to resign, however, and when it became apparent that he was going to fight, the Shah, as a precautionary measure called for by the British/American plan, fled to Baghdad and from there on to Rome. Once again, massive protests broke out across the nation. Anti- and pro-monarchy protestors violently clashed in the streets, leaving almost 300 dead. The military intervened as the pro-Shah tank regiments stormed the capital and bombarded the prime minister's official residence. Mossadegh surrendered, and was arrested on August 20, 1953. Mossadegh was tried for treason, and sentenced to three years in prison.

One view is that the forceful ousting of Prime Minister Mossadegh was a counter coup after Mossadegh's dismissal. The other view is that Mossadegh had acted under emergency powers to preserve the sovereignty of Iran against the intervention of the CIA and British Intelligence acting on behalf of western oil companies.

See Further reading and external links for more information.

Later years

Foreign relations

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Another magazine cover with The Shah and Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, this one in Tehran.

The Shah supported the Yemeni royalists against republican forces in the Yemen Civil War (1962-70) and assisted the sultan of Oman in putting down a rebellion in Dhofar (1971). Concerning the fate of Bahrain (which Britain had controlled since the 19th century, but which Iran claimed as its own territory) and three small Persian Gulf islands, the Shah negotiated an agreement with the British, which, by means of a public consensus, ultimately led to the independence of Bahrain (against the wishes of Iranian nationalists). Iran still lays claim to Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa, three (strategically sensitive) islands in the Strait of Hormuz, however, which are claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

File:Le Soir Shah.jpg

The Shah and Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in London.

During this period, the Shah maintained cordial relations with the Persian Gulf states and established closer diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. Relations with Iraq, however, were often difficult until 1975 when both countries signed the Algiers Accord, which granted Iraq equal navigation rights in the Arvand/Shatt al-Arab river, with the Shah also agreeing to end his support for Iraqi Kurdish rebels. [12]

The Shah also maintained close relations with King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and King Hassan II of Morocco. [13]

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Hosted by Cemal Gürsel in Turkey

In July 1964, Shah Pahlavi, Turkish President Cemal Gürsel and Pakistani President Ayub Khan announced in Istanbul the establishment of the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) organization to promote joint transportation and economic projects also envisioning Afghanistan joining some time in the future. The Shah maintained close relations with Pakistan. During the 1965 war of Pakistan with India the Shah provided free fuel to the Pakistani planes who used to land on Iranian soil, refuel and then take off.

The Shah of Iran was the first and only one of two Muslim leaders (other being Turkey) to recognize the State of Israel. The relations would deteriorate after the creation of the Islamic Republic.

The Shah of Iran saluting Winston Churchill on the occasion of Churchill's 69th birthday at the close of the Tripartite Conference of Tehran November 1943. The person in the dark suit is Ali Soheili serving his second term as Prime Minister of Iran.

Westernization and autocracy

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, crowning Farah Pahlavi as Empress of Iran.

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Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, and his wife, Empress Farah, prepare to depart after a visit to the United States.

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. In 1975, he 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. In addition, the Shah had decreed that all Iranian citizens and the few remaining political parties must become part of Rastakhiz. [14] The Shah also authorized the creation of the secret police force, SAVAK (National Organization for Information and Security, which was organized with the help of the CIA and Mossad.).This infamous agency operated its own secret prison, used torture extensively, assassinated dissidents, and kept the CIA informed.

He made major changes to curb the power of certain ancient elite factions by expropriating large and medium-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. The mullahs were accustomed to having total control over admission to their ranks.

Revolution

Main article: Iranian revolution

The Iranian Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi meeting with Arthur Atherton, William H. Sullivan, Cyrus Vance, President Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski,1977.

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 Islamic fundamentalist 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. Bakhtiar 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, promised free elections and called upon the opposition to help preserve the constitution proposing a `national unity` 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 he must be obeyed." In February, pro-Khomeini Revolutionary guerrilla and rebel soldiers gained the upperhand in street fighting and the military announced their neutrality. On the evening of February 11 the dissolution of the monarchy was complete.

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 welcome 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, on 22 October 1979 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 stand trial.

This resulted in the kidnapping 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 on 15 December 1979 and lived for a short time in the Isla Contadora in Panama. Finally he went back to Egypt where he died on July 27, 1980, aged 60. Egyptian President Sadat gave the Shah a state funeral.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is buried in the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo, a mosque of great symbolic value. The last royal rulers of two empires are buried here, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran and King Farouk of Egypt, his former brother-in-law. The tombs lie off to the left of the entrance.

Shortly after his overthrow, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi wrote an autobiographical memoir entitled Answer to History (ISBN 0-8128-2755-4), 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. In the book, the Shah also 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.

Marriages and children

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was married three times. Unlike his father, who had three wives concurrently, he was married (and divorced) serially.

His first wife was Princess Fawzia of Egypt (born November 5, 1921), a daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and his second wife, the former Nazli Sabri; she also was a sister of King Farouk I of Egypt. They married in 1939 and were divorced in 1945 (Egyptian divorce) and 1948 (Iranian divorce), after her failure to produce an heir to the throne. They had one daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born October 27, 1940).

His second wife was Soraya Esfandiary (June 22, 1932-October 26, 2001), the only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Ambassador of Iran to the Federal Republic of Germany, and his wife, the former Eva Karl. They married in 1951 and divorced in 1958 when it became apparent that she could not bear children.

After the divorce, the Shah, who told a reporter who asked about his feelings for the former queen that "nobody can carry a torch longer than me," indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, a daughter of the deposed Italian king Umberto II. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. 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."

The Shah's third wife was Farah Diba (born October 14, 1938), the only child of Sohrab Diba, Captain in the Imperial Iranian Army, and his wife, the former Faredeh Ghotbi. They were married in 1959, and Queen Farah was crowned Shahbanu, or Empress, a title created especially for her, in 1967. Previous royal consorts had been known as "Malakeh" (Arabic: Malika), or Queen. Farah Diba bore him four children:

1. Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince (born October 31, 1960)
2. Farahnaz Pahlavi (born March 12, 1963)
3. Ali Reza Pahlavi (born April 28, 1966)
4. Leila Pahlavi (March 27, 1970 – June 10, 2001)

Quotes

On the revolution

• The role of the U.S.: I did not know it then – perhaps I did not want to know – but it is clear to me now that the Americans wanted me out. Clearly this is what the human rights advocates in the State Department wanted … What was I to make of the Administration's sudden decision to call former Under Secretary of State George Ball to the White House as an adviser on Iran? … Ball was among those Americans who wanted to abandon me and ultimately my country.

• Promise to the nation: You, the people of Iran, rose against injustice and corruption… I too, have heard the voice of your revolution. As the Shah of Iran, and as an Iranian, I will support the revolution of my people. I promise that the previous mistakes, unlawful acts and injustice will not be repeated.

On the role of women

• Women are important in a man’s life only if they’re beautiful and charming and keep their femininity and ... this business of feminism, for instance. What do these feminists want? What do you want? You say equality. Oh! I don’t want to seem rude, but.. you’re equal in the eyes of the law but not, excuse my saying so, in ability ... You've never produced a Michelangelo or a Bach. You've never even produced a great chef. And if you talk to me about opportunity, all I can say is, Are you joking? Have you ever lacked the opportunity to give history a great chef? You've produced nothing great, nothing! … You're schemers, you are evil. All of you.

- When later he was asked in an interview by Barbara Walters if he had said this, he answered "Not with the same words, no."

• ... women- who after all make up half the population- should be treated as equals...

• I have never believed that women were diabolical creatures if they showed their faces or arms, or went swimming, or skied or played basketball. If some women wish to live veiled, then it is their choice, but why deprive half of our youth of the healthy pleasure of sports?

See also

• Shahanshah
• Ey Iran
• Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
• Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
• Persian Corridor
• Tehran Conference
• Trans-Iranian Railway
• Middle East Theatre of World War II
• Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr.
• Nuclear program of Iran
• National Car Museum of Iran, showcases the cars of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Further reading

• Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Answer to History, Stein & Day Pub, 1980, ISBN 0-8128-2755-4.
• Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, The Shah's Story, M. Joseph, 1980, ISBN 0-7181-1944-4
• Farah Pahlavi, An Enduring Love : My Life with the Shah - A Memoir, Miramax Books, 2004, ISBN 1-4013-5209-X.
• Stephen Kinzer, All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN 0-471-26517-9
• William Shawcross, The Shah's last ride: The death of an ally, Touchstone, 1989, ISBN 0-671-68745-X.
• Ardeshir Zahedi, The Memoirs of Ardeshir Zahedi , IBEX, 2005, ISBN 1-58814-038-5.
• 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 0-934211-61-2.
• David Harris, "The Crisis: the President, the Prophet, and the Shah--1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam" New York: Little,Brown &Co, 2004. ISBN 0-316-32394-2.
• Kapuściński, Ryszard (1982). Shah of Shahs. Vinage. ISBN 0-679-73801-0

External links

• Interview with Mike Wallace - YouTube Video
• Azadi TV: The Shah
• 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. [15] 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
• Shah of Iran and US Presidents
• Toasts of the President and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, at a State Dinner in Tehran: May 30, 1972
• A large amount of relevant historical PICTURES

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