Before Iran became one of America’s greatest geopolitical rivals, it was one of its closest allies.

From 1941 to 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, attempted to transform the country into a powerful, modern state. His ambitious reforms brought massive infrastructure projects, rapid industrialization, expanded education, and new rights for women. Fueled by booming oil revenues, Iran’s economy grew at one of the fastest rates in the world during the 1960s and 1970s.

But modernization came with unintended consequences.

Land reforms displaced rural farmers, religious leaders lost power and influence, urban populations exploded, and economic inequality grew. Meanwhile, the Shah increasingly relied on authoritarian tactics to suppress political opposition.

By the late 1970s, resentment was building across Iranian society—from clerics and bazaar merchants to students and intellectuals.

In this episode of The Journalism of Everything Podcast, host Darisse Smith explores how the Shah’s modernization project reshaped Iran—and how it helped ignite the revolution that would ultimately overthrow him.

In the next episode, we’ll examine the rise of Ruhollah Khomeini and the revolution that fundamentally transformed Iran and its relationship with the United States.

History rarely begins where we think it does.

#IranHistory
#IranianRevolution
#MohammadRezaPahlavi
#MiddleEastHistory
#ColdWarHistory
#Geopolitics
#WorldHistory
#JournalismPodcast
#HistoryPodcast
#TheJournalismOfEverything