The Shah and the Iranian Revolution | Oil, Power, and the Illusion of Modernity | Ancient to Recent | Episode 33

In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we step into the glittering world of 1960s and 70s Tehran, where nightclubs, foreign visitors, and booming oil revenues gave the impression of a nation racing confidently into the modern age. At the center stood Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, a monarch determined to reshape his country through rapid modernization and centralized power.

Beneath the neon lights, however, another Iran was emerging. While oil wealth transformed Tehran and empowered a new elite, millions were left behind in the countryside and swelling urban slums. Political repression, corruption, inequality, and cultural upheaval quietly eroded the regime’s foundations.

This episode traces the Shah’s rise after the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mosaddegh, the consolidation of autocratic rule under Savak, and the ambitious reforms of the White Revolution. We explore how policies designed to modernize and stabilize Iran instead deepened social divisions and fueled opposition from both the secular left and the religious right.

As American influence grows, oil revenues surge, and the Shah’s confidence reaches its peak, a powerful voice of resistance emerges in exile: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. What appeared to be a strong and stable state was, in reality, far more fragile than it seemed.

Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins a new series on the Iranian Revolution, uncovering how the Shah’s Iran moved from apparent triumph to the brink of collapse.

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