Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza Shah

Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza Shah

(born Oct. 26, 1919, Tehran, Iran—died July 27, 1980, Cairo, Egypt) Shah of Iran (1941–79), noted for his pro-Western orientation and autocratic rule. After an education in Switzerland, he replaced his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, as ruler when the latter was forced into exile by the British. His rule was marked by a power struggle with his premier, Mohammad Mosaddeq, who briefly succeeded in deposing him in 1953; covert intervention by British and U.S. intelligence services returned him to the throne the next year. His program of rapid modernization and oil-field development initially brought him popular support, but his autocratic style and suppression of dissent, along with corruption and the unequal distribution of Iran's new oil wealth, increased opposition led by exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In 1979 Pahlavi was forced into exile.