Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Light of the Aryans
Official portrait, 1973
Shah of Iran
Reign16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
Coronation26 October 1967
PredecessorReza Shah
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
Ruhollah Khomeini (as supreme leader)
Born(1919-10-26)26 October 1919
Tehran, Qajar Iran
Died27 July 1980(1980-07-27) (aged 60)
Cairo, Egypt
Burial
Al-Rifa'i Mosque
Spouse
(m. 1939; div. 1948)
(m. 1951; div. 1958)
(m. 1959)
Issue
  • Princess Shahnaz
  • Crown Prince Reza
  • Princess Farahnaz
  • Prince Ali Reza
  • Princess Leila
Regnal name
Mohammad Reza Shah
Persian: محمدرضا شاه
Alma mater
DynastyPahlavi
FatherReza Shah
MotherTadj ol-Molouk
ReligionTwelver Shia Islam
Signature
Persian signature
Latin signature
Military service
Branch/serviceImperial Iranian Army
Years of service1936–1979
Rank
  • Captain from 1936 to 1941
  • Generalissimo from 1941 to 1979
CommandsArmy's Inspection Department

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi[a] (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. Following the Iranian Revolution, his reign ended the Pahlavi dynasty and the Iranian monarchy's 2,500 year-rule of Persia.

During World War II, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran forced the abdication of his father Reza Shah and succession of Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1953, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, which was carried out by the Iranian military under the support of the United States and Britain.[1]

In 1963, the Shah introduced the White Revolution, a series of reforms aimed at transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the country by nationalizing key industries and land reform. As political unrest grew throughout Iran in the late 1970s,[2] the Shah fled Iran for exile in January 1979.[3] After formally abolishing the Iranian monarchy, Shia Islamist cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became the Supreme Leader of Iran. The former Shah later died in exile in Egypt in 1980 and is buried at the Al-Rifa'i Mosque.

References


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  1. Kinzer (2003), p. 195 ff..
  2. Razipour, Suzanne Maloney and Keian (24 January 2019). "The Iranian revolution—A timeline of events". Brookings.edu. Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. Kabalan (2020), p. 113.