Pahlevi

I cannot imagine that the Shah’s son and heir Reza Pahlevi is helping matters for the demonstrators as he adopts their cause and puts himself forward as a potential constitutional monarch when they once expel the mullahs.

A Thought Experiment « Antiwar.com Blog 2009

Pahlevi ruled as an authoritarian monarch for the next 26 years, until he was overthrown in a popular revolt in 1979.

Pakistan will implode if the US does not leave Afghanistan 2011

The rebellion of non-Persian peoples, previously attached to the Pahlevi crown in a symbolic Iranian federation, was the most threatening to the power of the mullahs.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

Since the 1920s the Pahlevi crown, although authoritarian, has pushed in the direction of Iranian secular nationalism while maintaining Shia Islam as a state religion.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

Independent Persian dynasties rose to power in 1501 with the Safavids, until the rule of the Pahlevi in 1925.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

During the Cold War, the new Shah Reza Pahlevi stood firmly in the pro-American camp as he was severely criticized by the left wing, which was sympathetic to the Soviets, and the liberals, calling for rapid democratization.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

Under the Pahlevi a modernized state was established in Persia under the name of Iran.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

Iran under the Pahlevi survived World War II even as the Soviets and British exerted influences from the north and the south.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

In order to contain the left wing, Reza Pahlevi had to proceed with land reforms and alphabetization.

The Coming Revolution Walid Phares 2010

Shah Reza Pahlevi, whose strings were pulled from Downing Street and Washington, became a brutal dictator who gave the multinational oil companies access to Iranian reserves.

Think Progress » 750. 2006