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[[Image:HgfyuShah.jpg|right|thumb|Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]

[[Image:HgfyuShah.jpg|right|thumb|Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]

'''Reza Shah Pahlavi''' lived from October 16, 1919 to July 27, 1980.  He was the [[Shah]] of [[Iran]], after the Soviet Union (who had invaded Iran in World War II) pressured his father to abdicate in 1941.<ref>Tripartite Treaty of Alliance, 29 January 1942,  Philip W. Ireland, ed., ''The Near East'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942; 2d impression, 1945); also in ''The Middle East'', 1948 (London: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1948), pp. 29-30.</ref>  In 1949 the Communist party of Iran known as the [[Tudeh party]] was banned after an assassination attempt on his life.

'''Mohammad Reza Pahlavi''' lived from October 16, 1919 to July 27, 1980.  He is remembered as an American ally who aided in the defeat of [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Nazi Germany]] and a loyal [[Cold War]] ally, only to be deposed by the [[Carter administration]] and the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] whose [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] went on to pursue [[nuclear weapons]] and threaten the [[United States]] and its allies.

 

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became the [[Shah]] of [[Iran]], after the abdication of his father [[Reza Shah Pahlavi]] in 1941.<ref>Tripartite Treaty of Alliance, 29 January 1942,  Philip W. Ireland, ed., ''The Near East'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942; 2d impression, 1945); also in ''The Middle East'', 1948 (London: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1948), pp. 29-30.</ref>  In 1949 the Communist party of Iran known as the [[Tudeh party]] was banned after an assassination attempt on his life.

American administrations had long viewed the Shah of Iran as one of the most dependable pro-West leaders in the whole Mideast and Southwest Asia area.  In 1955 the Shah was one of the signatories of the [[Baghdad Pact]] which united the "northern tier" countries of [[Turkey]], [[Iraq]], Iran, and [[Pakistan]], in a military alliance with [[Great Britain]] called the Baghdad Pact, and later the [[Central Treaty Organization]] (CENTO).  Along with the Saud monarchy in [[Saudi Arabia]], the Pahlavi dynasty in Teheran was the linchpin in the United States "two-pillar" policy in the Middle East—a policy that had brought Saudi Arabia and Iran into prominence as being critical to Western interests.

American administrations had long viewed the Shah of Iran as one of the most dependable pro-West leaders in the whole Mideast and Southwest Asia area.  In 1955 the Shah was one of the signatories of the [[Baghdad Pact]] which united the "northern tier" countries of [[Turkey]], [[Iraq]], Iran, and [[Pakistan]], in a military alliance with [[Great Britain]] called the Baghdad Pact, and later the [[Central Treaty Organization]] (CENTO).  Along with the Saud monarchy in [[Saudi Arabia]], the Pahlavi dynasty in Teheran was the linchpin in the United States "two-pillar" policy in the Middle East—a policy that had brought Saudi Arabia and Iran into prominence as being critical to Western interests.