Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, aka "Shahanshah Aryamehr" means "King of Kings" was the Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He was educated in Switzerland and was familiar with the western ideas. In 1941, Britain and USSR occupied Iran and forced Reza Shah the Great to resign in favor of his
son. Later the young Shah became the most important ally to the West in the Middle East.
With Iran's great
oil wealth, Mohammad Reza Shah became the pre-eminent leader of the Middle East, and Guardian of the Persian Gulf. He abolished the multi-party system of
government such that he could rule through a
one-party regime in autocratic fashion. He made major changes to curb certain ancient elite factions by breaking up all large and middle-sized estates for the benefit of more than six million small farmers. In what was called 'the White Revolution', he took a number of populist measures, including extending suffrage to women, to favour the people. He instituted exams for Islamic theologians to become established priests ("Mullahs"), which were widely unpopular and
broke centuries
old religious traditions.
His policies led to strong economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s but at the same
time, opposition to his autocratic rule increased. On
January 18, 1979, he and his
family left Iran because he didn't wanted to rule when his people didn't appreciate goodness. Following the Shah's departure, conservative Muslims led by the Ayatollah Khomeini who had returned from
French exile staged a revolution, abolished the monarchy and sadly established an Islamic Republic.
In the same
time, Shah of Iran was diagnosed with a deadly cancer and finally and after two years of exile, in which traveling from
country to country seeking what he hoped in his exile, would be merely a temporary residence. He was welcomed by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and remained there until his
death on June 27, 1980. He is interred at Al-Refai Mosque in Egypt.
