The Rise of Modern Despotism in Iran

The Shah, the Opposition, and the US, 1953–1968

Ali Rahnema

• Publisher: Oneworld Academic
• Year: 2021
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9780861541430
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

How did the Shah of Iran become a modern despot?

In 1953, Iranian monarch Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi emerged victorious from a power struggle with his prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddeq, thanks to a coup masterminded by Britain and the United States. Mosaddeq believed the Shah should reign not rule, but the Shah was determined that no one would make him a mere symbol.

In this meticulous political history, Ali Rahnema details Iran’s slow transition from constitutional to despotic monarchy. He examines the tug of war between the Shah, his political opposition, a nation in search of greater liberty, and successive US administrations with their changing priorities. He shows how the Shah gradually assumed control over the legislature, the judiciary, the executive, and the media, and clamped down on his opponents’ activities.

By 1968, the Shah’s turn to despotism was complete. The consequences would be far-reaching.

Table of contents

• Preface and acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 • A traumatized post-coup society
• 2 • General Zahedi takes power
• 3 • Complications of securing an oil agreement
• 4 • Hoseyn ʿAla, a prime minister in name
• 5 • Eqbal, the obedient prime minister
• 6 • Political earthquakes and ad hoc remedies
• 7 • Eqbal’s bunglings
• 8 • Engineer Sharif-Emami, the Shah’s new political fixer
• 9 • When autocrats sing quasi-democratic serenades
• 10 • Amini’s premiership: promises, promises
• 11 • The Mosaddeqist opposition mobilizes
• 12 • Political illusionism
• 13 • Amini against all shades of opposition
• 14 • The Shah gets his way
• 15 • By the Shah’s grace Amini rules
• 16 • Settling scores with Tehran University
• 17 • National Front students looking out of the box
• 18 • Land reform: the believer, the reluctant facilitator, and the political beneficiary
• 19 • ʿAlam hands over the country to its owner
• 20 • The Shah blows hot and cold on the opposition
• 21 • The last National Front Congress
• 22 • Government-sponsored celebration of emancipated peasants
• 23 • The three-headed monster opposing the White Revolution
• 24 • Political and religious authorities clash
• 25 • Khomeyni’s partisans take to the streets
• 26 • From democratic politics to armed struggle
• 27 • Changing of the guard
• 28 • The year of flying bullets
• 29 • The beloved sun of the Aryans (Aryamehr)
• 30 • The euphoria of wearing the Pahlavi Crown
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Copyright Page