Shah in Egypt

A young Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran (right background),
walks behind his Egyptian first  wife Queen Fawziyya  (center foreground),
the younger sister of Malik Farouq the last king of Egypt.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919-1980), was the shah (king) of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, as king.  Reza Shah had refused to cooperate with the Allies during World War II (1939-1945), and they forced him to abdicate by occupying Iran.  Mohammad Reza Shah was overthrown in 1979 by a mass movement of Iranians led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Kho­meini, a Muslim religious leader. After Mohammad Reza became shah, he joined the Allies and Iran declared war on Axis powers.  Iran made an important contribution to the Allies’ war effort by acting as a supply route to the Soviet Union.  Between 1941 and 1953, Mohammad Reza Shah ruled as a constitutional monarch according to the Iranian constitution of 1906.  Beginning in the mid-1940s, the shah’s authority was challenged by Iranian Communists and by nationalists led by Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq.  In 1951, the nationalists led by Dr. Mosaddeq passed a law in parliament nationalizing British controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.  Subsequently, the shah was forced to appoint Mosaddeq prime minister. In 1953, the shah agreed to participate in a US and UK organized military coup to topple Prime Minister Mosaddeq.  When the initial stage of coup failed on August 16, 1953, the shah and his wife, Queen Sorayya, fled the country.  But the Americans and the British were successful to overthrow Mosaddeq on August 19, 1953, paving the way for the shah’s return and becoming a dictatorial ruler.  From 1953 until his overthrow in 1979, the shah subverted the constitution and parliament to enhance his own personal power.  He also put Iran in the Western camp as the cold war flared up. In the 1960s, the shah began a program to distribute land to some peasant farmers. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, he used part of Iran’s oil revenue to promote social and economic development. He expanded programs dealing with literacy and health care, and built many schools, airports, highways, railroads, dams, and irrigation facilities. In addition, he bought much military equipment. Economic change led to rapid migration from rural areas to cities and increased the income gap between rich and poor.

The shah’s modernizing program was accompanied by a brutal and repressive rule.  As a result various groups began to oppose him for different reasons.  These included groups from among students, intellectuals, industrial workers and religious leaders.
His critics accused him of denying freedom of speech and other rights and of using secret police and military force to silence opponents. They also claimed his spending policies and government corruption were ruining Iran’s economy. Many conservative Muslims said some of his policies violated teachings of the Muslim religion.
A mass revolution erupted in early 1978 culminating in the shah leaving Iran for exile in January 1979.  His government was overthrown in February.  The shah already had cancer and his illness took a turn for worse after he left Iran In late October 1979, he was admitted to a hospital in the United States. A few days later on November 4, 1979, Iranian revolutionaries took over the United States Embassy in Tehran. They held American embassy workers as hostages and asked the U.S. government to return the shah to Iran for trial. The U.S. government refused to do so. The shah moved to Panama in December 1979 and to Egypt in March 1980.

By: Robin On 12:41 PM

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Alireza Pahlavi

Alireza Pahlavi was a member of the Pahlavi Imperial Family of Iran (Persia). He was the younger son of the former Shah of Iran and his third wife Farah Pahlavi. He was second in order of succession to the Iranian throne before the Iranian Revolution.
Prince Alireza Pahlavi was born on 28 April 1966. He attended the Niavaran Palace primary school in Iran but left Iran alongside his family after the Iranian revolution. He moved to the U.S. where he attended Saint David's School in New York City and Mt Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Pahlavi received a BA degree from Princeton University, a MA degree from Columbia University,[8] and was studying at Harvard University as a PhD student in ancient Iranian studies and philology at the time of his death.
He was engaged in 2001 to Sarah Tabatabai, but it seems that the relationship ended some time afterwards. He was once voted as one of the "world's most eligible princes."

By: Robin On 12:16 PM

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Farah Pahlavi Ski Resort

Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran on a ski-ing holiday, 1975. Empress Farah Pahlavi is the wife of the Shah of Iran.

By: Robin On 1:13 PM

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Ski

Mohammad Reza Shah came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father, Reza Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah's rule oversaw the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry under the prime ministership of Mohammad Mossadegh. During the Shah's reign, Iran celebrated 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. His White Revolution, a series of economic and social reforms intended to transform Iran into a global power, succeeded in modernizing the nation, nationalizing many natural resources and extending suffrage to women, among other things. However, the decline of the traditional power of the Shi'a clergy, due to the reforms, increased opposition.
While a Muslim himself, the Shah gradually lost support from the Shi'a clergy of Iran, particularly due to his strong policy of modernization and recognition of Israel. Clashes with the religious right, increased communist activity and a 1953 period of political disagreements with Mohammad Mossadegh, eventually leading to Mossadegh's ousting, caused an increasingly autocratic rule. In 2000, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright stated:

In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister, Mohammed Massadegh. The Eisenhower Administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons; but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs.[1]

Various controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the Tudeh Party (which had close relations with the Soviet Union) and a general suppression of political dissent by Iran's intelligence agency, SAVAK. Amnesty International reported that Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978. By 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on January 16, forced the Shah to leave Iran after 37 years of rule. Soon thereafter, the revolutionary forces transformed the government into an Islamic republic.

By: Robin On 11:27 AM

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Amjadieh Stadium

The stadium is one of the oldest sports stadiums in Iran. It was built in 1942 and was located in North of Tehran at the time of opening, while it is now in center of Tehran. The stadium has played host to many sporting, cultural, and national events as well as political meetings. Ever since Iran national football team was formed, they played their home matches in Amjadieh Stadium before Aryamehr Stadium was constructed. It was also home to Taj S.C. (Esteghlal F.C.) and Persepolis F.C. before Azadi Stadium was built. It was also home to Shahin F.C. before and after the Iranian Revolution. It has also hosted the 1968 AFC Asian Cup finals. The Asian Club Championship was also held in Amjadieh Stadium in 1970. Additionally, Amjadieh stadium along with Aryamehr Stadium and Apadana Stadium (under the name of Persepolis stadium) was the host of preliminary round of the football matches at the 1974 Asian Games. The stadium has also been the venue for the AFC Youth Championship 2000.

During the Coronation of the Mohammad Reza Shah and the Shahbanou of Iran in 1967, many events took place in Amjadieh Stadium, including the Coronation Parade.
The stadium was to be the final departing site for Operation Eagle Claw, the aborted mission to rescue 52 American hostages being held in Tehran during the Iran Hostage Crisis. The proposed extraction would have involved a rescue force being transported to the embassy, releasing the hostages, and then escorting the hostages across the main road in front of the embassy to the stadium, where helicopters would have retrieved the entire contingent.
On February 24, 1981, the Mojahedin-e-Khalq party held its public meeting in Tehran at the Amjadieh Stadium, around 40,000 people attended.

By: Robin On 2:09 PM

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