By Arya Khorshidi.

When one thinks of Iran today, the mind often turns to its conflict with Israel, its opposition to the United States, and its support for Islamist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet, Iran’s past tells a very different story.

In 1974, Iran lent the UK government £1.2 billion to stabilize its inflation-ravaged economy and deposited several billion dollars in U.S. banks. Iran stood as a firm Western ally, with ties to the United States, the UK, and even Israel. Tehran was on its way to becoming a thriving metropolis, and Iran boasted the world’s fifth-largest military.

Such rapid advancement was spearheaded by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, hailed in 1975 by U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller as “one of the greatest leaders of the modern age.” Under the Shah, Iranian women enjoyed unprecedented freedoms: they could vote, dress in Western fashion, and avoid the hijab. The Shah’s “White Revolution” also ended feudalism and redistributed land to the poor.

Yet this progress was undermined by the 1979 Islamic Revolution, led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The revolution ousted the Shah, plunged Iran into turmoil, and severed ties with the West. Iran became an isolated theocracy, with its new constitution prioritizing Islamic law.

To understand this dramatic shift, we must look back to 1921 when Reza Khan, a military officer, overthrew the unpopular Qajar Dynasty. As the new Shah, Reza Shah sought to modernize Iran, launching reforms that banned the Islamic chador and marginalized Islamic clerics. His insistence on nationalizing Iranian oil angered Britain, and when he adopted a pro-German stance in WWII, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran forced his abdication. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, then ascended to the throne.

Mohammad Reza Shah prioritized diplomacy, improving U.S.-Iran ties. However, nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh’s move to nationalize Iranian oil in 1951 triggered a crisis, which led the Shah to temporarily enter exile. Britain retaliated with an oil embargo that crippled Iran’s economy, and in 1953, the CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup to restore the Shah to power. The coup weakened Iran’s democratic system, and the Shah, fearing instability, established the SAVAK secret police in 1957 to suppress dissent.

With opposition crushed, the Shah pursued aggressive reforms in his 1963 “White Revolution,” expanding women’s rights, redistributing land, and privatizing industry. However, these reforms angered conservative clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, who condemned the Shah’s Westernization as an affront to Islam. Khomeini’s arrest and exile to Iraq only bolstered his influence.

By the early 1970s, Iran’s economy soared due to a boom in the price of oil, transforming the nation into a regional powerhouse. Yet the rapid pace of change alienated many Iranians, who turned back to familiar Islamic traditions. The Shah, wary of antagonising the clergy, granted them key concessions, allowing extensive mosque-building, tax exemptions for clerics, and Quran studies in schools. Instead, the Shah targeted the communist Tudeh Party, using SAVAK to torture and exile its members.

This focus proved disastrous. By 1978, anger over corruption, political repression, and rapid Westernization unified a coalition of Islamists, nationalists, and communists under Khomeini’s leadership. Though Khomeini’s radical ideology, detailed in his book “Islamic Government,” called for a strict theocracy, this work was banned in Iran, leaving most citizens unaware of his true vision.

When protests erupted in 1978, the Shah declared martial law and ordered the military to open fire, fueling greater unrest. Desperate to restore order, the Shah eased censorship, released political prisoners, and promised reforms. However, widespread strikes devastated the economy, and U.S. President Jimmy Carter quietly withdrew support for the Shah, even engaging in covert discussions with Khomeini.

With no allies remaining, the Shah fled Iran in January 1979. Khomeini returned weeks later, rejecting the interim government led by Shapour Bakhtiar and declaring the Islamic Republic. Iran was plunged into instability, ushering in an era of isolation and hostility that endures to this day.

The revolution’s aftermath saw widespread purges of intellectuals, libertarians, monarchists, and perceived enemies of the state. Iran’s legal system was overhauled, imposing strict Islamic codes that marginalized women, silenced opposition, and consolidated Khomeini’s grip on power. The Shah died in exile in Egypt later that year, marking the end of Iran’s imperial era. To this day, the echoes of the revolution continue to shape Iranian politics and its strained relationship with the West.