Who Ruled Iran Before the Islamic Republic?

In 1979, the Iranian Revolution overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, ending 2,500 years of Persian monarchy and fundamentally reshaping the Middle East.

The Shah, a key U.S. ally who was bolstered by a CIA-backed coup in 1953, had ruled since 1941, presiding over an oil-fueled modernization that was overshadowed by autocratic rule, corruption, and public resentment over the royal family’s extravagant lifestyle.

Throughout 1978, Iran was paralyzed by massive street protests, nationwide strikes by civil servants and oil workers, and a growing exodus of Americans.

Fatally ill with cancer and unable to quell the uprising, the Shah fled the country in January 1979 under the guise of a “vacation.”

His departure cleared the way for the return of the exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who swiftly established a theocratic Islamic Republic, an outcome that blindsided Washington and shattered a crucial Cold War alliance, leading directly to the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis and decades of animosity.