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Historical Period
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Oil, the Pahlavi shahs, and the 1979 revolution that made the Islamic Republic.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Pahlavi Iran & Islamic Republic · 1925-Present
Modern Iran

Pahlavi Iran & the Islamic Republic

From Reza Shah's authoritarian modernization and the nationalization of oil through the 1953 coup, the White Revolution, and the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that swept away the monarchy, to the war with Iraq, the Green Movement, and Iran's contested place in the world today. Slide across the years to read the major events that made modern Iran.

1925 AD
Reza Shah
1 / 9

Reza Shah founds the Pahlavi dynasty

Reza Khan deposes the Qajars, crowns himself Reza Shah Pahlavi, and launches an authoritarian modernization of Iran.

1925 AD

Reza Shah
  • Political

    Reza Shah founds the Pahlavi dynasty

    Reza Shah Pahlavi, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    Reza Khan deposes the Qajars, crowns himself Reza Shah Pahlavi, and launches an authoritarian modernization of Iran.

9 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1925 AD

Full Chronicle

Pahlavi Iran & the Islamic Republic

From Reza Shah's authoritarian modernization and the nationalization of oil through the 1953 coup, the White Revolution, and the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that swept away the monarchy, to the war with Iraq, the Green Movement, and Iran's contested place in the world today. Slide across the years to read the major events that made modern Iran.

  1. Reza Shah

    • Reza Shah founds the Pahlavi dynasty

      Reza Khan deposes the Qajars, crowns himself Reza Shah Pahlavi, and launches an authoritarian modernization of Iran.

  2. Occupation and Oil

    • The Allies depose Reza Shah

      Britain and the Soviet Union invade Iran and force Reza Shah to abdicate in favour of his young son, Mohammad Reza.

  3. The 1953 Coup

    • The overthrow of Mosaddegh

      A CIA- and MI6-backed coup ousts the elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalizes Iran's oil.

  4. The White Revolution

    • The White Revolution and its opponents

      The shah launches sweeping reforms — land redistribution, women's suffrage — provoking clerical opposition led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

  5. The Islamic Revolution

    • The Islamic Revolution

      Mass protests topple the shah, Khomeini returns in triumph, and Iran is proclaimed an Islamic Republic.

  6. The Iran-Iraq War

    • The Iran-Iraq War

      Iraq invades, beginning an eight-year war of trenches, missiles, and chemical weapons that costs hundreds of thousands of lives.

  7. The Islamic Republic

    • The death of Khomeini

      Ayatollah Khomeini dies; Ali Khamenei becomes Supreme Leader and Rafsanjani begins postwar reconstruction.

  8. The Islamic Republic

    • The Green Movement

      Disputed elections spark the largest protests since the revolution, met with a harsh crackdown.

  9. Iran and the World

    • The nuclear deal and the sanctions era

      Iran and world powers sign the nuclear accord (JCPOA), but its later collapse renews confrontation and economic hardship.