Pahlavi Iran
Imperial State of Irana | |||||||||
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| 1925–1979 | |||||||||
Coat of arms
(1933–1979) | |||||||||
| Motto: مرا داد فرمود و خود داور است Marâ dâd farmud o xod dâvar ast "Justice He bids me do, as He will judge me" | |||||||||
| Anthem: (1925–1933) سلامتی دولت علیهٔ ایران Salâmati-ye Dowlat-e 'Aliyeye Irân "Salute of the Sublime State of Persia" (1933–1979) سرود ملی شاهنشاهی ایران Sorud-e Mellî-e Šâhanšâhi-ye Irân "Imperial National Anthem of Iran" Flag anthem: (1933–1979) سرود پرچم شیر و خورشید Sorud-e Parčam-e Šir-o Xoršid "Lion and Sun Flag Anthem" | |||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Tehran 35°41′N 51°25′E / 35.683°N 51.417°E | ||||||||
| Official languages | Persian | ||||||||
| Religion | Shia Islam | ||||||||
| Demonym | Iranian • Persian | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
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| Shah | |||||||||
• 1925–1941 | Reza Shah Pahlavi | ||||||||
• 1941–1979 | Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi | ||||||||
| Regency Council | |||||||||
• 1953 | Regency Council of Iran (1953) | ||||||||
• 1979 | Regency Council of Iran (1979) | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1925–1926 (first) | Mohammad Ali Foroughi | ||||||||
• 1979 (last) | Shapour Bakhtiar | ||||||||
| Legislature | Bicameral parliament | ||||||||
| Senate (1950–1979) | |||||||||
| National Consultative Assembly (1925–1979) | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Founded | 15 December 1925 | ||||||||
| 1941–1946 | |||||||||
| 8 May 1949 | |||||||||
| 1951–1953 | |||||||||
| 21 July 1952 | |||||||||
| 19 August 1953 | |||||||||
| 26 January 1963 | |||||||||
| 5 June 1963 | |||||||||
| 31 July 1973 | |||||||||
| 2 March 1975 | |||||||||
| 1978–1979 | |||||||||
| 11 February 1979 | |||||||||
| 1 April 1979 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1978 estimate | 37,126,535 | ||||||||
• Density | 23/km2 (59.6/sq mi) | ||||||||
| GDP (PPP) | 1978 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $614.16 billion | ||||||||
• Per capita | $16,542 | ||||||||
| GDP (nominal) | 1978 estimate | ||||||||
• Total | $77.99 billion | ||||||||
• Per capita | $2,101 | ||||||||
| Currency | Iranian rial (ریال) (IRR) | ||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+3:30 (IRST) | ||||||||
| Calling code | +98 | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | IR | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Iran | ||||||||
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Personal
Overthrow, exile and death (1979–1980) Works and writings |
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The Imperial State of Iran, officially known as the Imperial State of Persia until 1935 and commonly referred to as Pahlavi Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty. The Pahlavi dynasty was created in 1925 and lasted until 1979 when it was ousted as part of the Iranian Revolution, which ended the Iranian monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Pahlavis came to power in 1925 with the ascension to the throne of Reza Shah, a former brigadier-general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, and the overthrow of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Iranian ruler under the Qajar dynasty. Iran's Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on 12 December 1925, deposed the young Ahmad Shah and declared Reza Shah as the new shah of the Imperial State of Persia. In 1935, Reza Shah asked foreign delegates to use the endonym Iran instead of the exonym Persia when addressing the country in formal correspondence. Reza Shah declared Iran neutral during World War II. Nonetheless, Iran was occupied by British and Soviet forces following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Subsequently, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate.
After Reza Shah's forced abdication, he was succeeded by his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who became the last Shah of Iran. By 1953, Pahlavi's rule became more autocratic and firmly aligned with the Western Bloc during the Cold War in the aftermath of the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, which was engineered by the United Kingdom and the United States. In correspondence with this reorientation of Iran's foreign policy, the country became an ally of the United States in order to act as a bulwark against Soviet ideological expansionism, and this gave the Shah the political capital to enact a hitherto unprecedented socioeconomic program that would transform many aspects of Iranian life through the White Revolution. Consequently, Iran experienced prodigious success in all indicators, including literacy, health, and standard of living. By mid-1978, however, the Shah faced growing public discontent that culminated in a full-fledged popular revolutionary movement led by religious cleric Ruhollah Khomeini. The royal family went into exile in January 1979, sparking a series of events that quickly led to the end of monarchy and the establishment of the Islamic Republic by April of the same year. Following Pahlavi's death of cancer on 27 July 1980, his son Reza was sworn in as successor to the throne.