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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Photo by Ghazarians.

Top 10 Facts About Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of Reza Shah Pahlavi, an army officer who became the ruler of Iran and the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.

He is most remembered as the Shah of Iran who initiated major investments in infrastructure, subsidies and land grants for peasant populations, profit sharing for industrial workers, construction of nuclear facilities, the nationalization of Iran鈥檚 natural resources, and literacy programs which were considered some of the most effective in the world.

Religious clerics described these reforms as too western and lead a popular uprising on 1st April 1979.

1.Eldest Son of Reza Shah Pahlavi.

Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of Reza Shah Pahlavi, an army officer who became the ruler of Iran and the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925. His father is famed for the reunification of Iranian forces.

His father a former Brigadier-General of the Persian Cossack Brigade was of Mazandarani origin and his second wife, Tadj of-Molouk.

His paternal grandfather, Abbas-Ali, was Mazandarani, and served in the Anglo-Persian War, while his paternal grandmother, Noush-Afarin, was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia. Ashraf was his twin sister.

2. He First Attended School in Switzerland

Mohammad Reza was the first Iranian prince in line for the throne to be sent abroad to attain a foreign education.

He stayed in Switzerland for four years before returning to obtain his high school diploma in Iran in 1936.

After returning to the country, he joined the local military academy in Tehran in 1938, he completed military training, and graduated as a Second Lieutenant.

 3. Reza Inherited the Throne From His Father at Young Age

In 1941 the Soviet Union and Great Britain, fearing that the shah would cooperate with Nazi Germany to rid himself of their tutelage, occupied Iran and forced Reza Shah into exile.

Due to the absence of a viable alternative, the soviet Union permitted Mohammad Reza to assume the throne.

Before the age of 22 years, he ascended the throne and continued with his father’s reform policies, but a contest for control of the government erupted between the shah and an older professional politician, Mohammad Mosaddegh, a zealous Iranian nationalist.

The new shah’s reign also began against a backdrop of social and political disarray, economic problems, and food shortages.

Despite his vow to act as a constitutional monarch who would defer to the power of the parliamentary government, Mohammad Reza increasingly involved himself in governmental affairs and opposed or thwarted strong prime ministers

4. He Divorced his First Wife

He married Dilawar Princess Fawzia, a daughter of King Faud 1 of Egypt in November 1921. In 1940, they got their daughter, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi. They divorced in 1948.

In 1951, he married Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, who unfortunately was infertile leading to their divorce in 1958. In 1959, he married Fiva Diba and she gave birth to their first son, Crown Prince Reza in October 1960.

5. He Nationalized  the Oil Industry

In March 1951 Mosaddegh secured passage of a bill in the Majles, parliament, to nationalize the vast British petroleum interests in Iran.

Mosaddegh鈥檚 power grew rapidly, and by the end of April, Mohammad Reza had been forced to appoint Mosaddegh’s premier.

Under Mohammad Reza, the nationalization of the oil industry was nominally maintained, although in 1954 Iran agreed to split revenues with a newly formed international consortium, that was responsible for managing production.

6. Introduced the White revolution, that Brought Distribution of Wealth to Iranians

With help of the US, Mohammad Reza introduced the White Revolution, a series of economic, social, and political reforms aimed at transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the nation by nationalizing key industries and land redistribution.

The regime implemented many Iranian nationalist policies leading to the establishment of Cyrus the Great, Cyrus Cylinder, and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great as popular symbols of Iran.

He initiated major investments in infrastructure, subsidies and land grants for peasant populations, profit sharing for industrial workers, and construction of nuclear facilities.

He also initiated the nationalization of Iran鈥檚 natural resources and literacy programs which were the most effective in the world.

 By the 1970s, the Shah was seen as a mastered statesman and used his growing power to pass the 1973 Sale and Purchase Agreement.

Iran is one of the fastest growing economies due to all the reforms Reza made.

7. His Personalized Nature of Reforms Edged Out Competitors to the Monarch

The White Revolution solidified domestic support for the shah, but he faced continuing political and religious criticism from those who believed Westernization is antithetical to Islam.

He faced Opposition due to his autocratic rule, corruption in his government, the unequal distribution of oil wealth, forced Westernization, and the activities of SAVAK, the secret police, in suppressing dissent and opposition to his rule.

It became markedly accentuated after Iran began to reap greater revenues from its petroleum exports in 1973.

It trumped the efficiency and effectiveness of the government and led to the crown cultivation of divisions within the army and the political elite, ultimately leading to a lack of support for the regime by its natural allies when needed most.

8. Some Military and Religious Clerics Opposed his Revolution

Thousands of upper and middle-class Iranians and their money left Iran during the beginning of the revolution.

The monarch took a personal interest in the most picayune governmental matters, a discouraged initiative by frequently overruling and dismissing officials, and refusing to allow officials to cooperate, for fear of regicidal conspiracies.

The shah was careful to meet with each of his top aides and generals individually. In the absence of a fully functioning shah, the system could not function.

9. Overthrown by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini  

An image of Khomeini and his successor Ali Khamenei. Photo By Khamenei. ir.

In October 1979 when the shah traveled to Egypt, Morocco, The Bahamas, and Mexico before entering the United States on October 22, 1979, for medical treatment of lymphatic cancer. He was overthrown through a popular uprising supporting a religious cleric living in exile Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Two weeks later Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehr膩n and took hostage more than 50 Americans, demanding the extradition of the shah in return for the hostages鈥� release.

10. He Died of Cancer

Mohammad Reza was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1974. In 1978, his health worsened and he stopped appearing in public. He traveled to the USA on 22nd August  1979 to seek medical treatment and later sought asylum in Panama and Egypt, where he died on 27th July 1980.