Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - Wikipedia

During World War II, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran forced the abdication of Reza Shah and succession of Pahlavi. During his reign, the British-owned oil industry was nationalized by the prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had support from Iran's national parliament to do so; however, Mosaddegh was overthrown in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, which was carried out by the Iranian military under the aegis of the United Kingdom and the United States. Subsequently, the Iranian government centralized power under the Shah and brought foreign oil companies back into the country's industry through the Consortium Agreement of 1954.[3]

By the 1970s, the Shah was seen as a master statesman and used his growing power to pass the 1973 Sale and Purchase Agreement. The reforms culminated in decades of sustained economic growth that would make Iran one of the fastest-growing economies among both the developed world and the developing world. During his 37-year-long rule, Iran spent billions of dollars' worth on industry, education, health, and the military. Between 1950 and 1979, real GDP per capita nearly tripled from about $2700 to about $7700 (2011 international dollars).[4] By 1977, the Shah's focus on defence spending to end foreign powers' intervention in the country had culminated in the Iranian military standing as the world's fifth-strongest armed force.

Explanations for the overthrow of Mohammad Reza include his status as a dictator put in place by a non-Muslim Western power, the United States,[321][full citation needed][322][full citation needed] whose foreign culture was seen as influencing that of Iran. Additional contributing factors included reports of oppression, brutality,[323][full citation needed][324] corruption, and extravagance.

International policies pursued by the Shah in order to increase national income by remarkable increases in the price of oil through his leading role in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been stressed as a major cause for a shift of Western interests and priorities, and for a reduction of their support for him reflected in a critical position of Western politicians and media, especially of the administration of US President Jimmy Carter regarding the question of human rights in Iran, and in strengthened economic ties between the United States of America and Saudi Arabia in the 1970s.