1. Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Liz Hofer
What was the Shah of Iran’s role in government, what were the reasons for his overthrow, and how did his overthrow impact the people of Iran, the U.S., and/or the rest of the world?

2. The Shahs Role In Government
The Shah is basically a King and his job is to protect his region.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s role as Shah contributed to the Iranian government in these ways:
He used his wealth to modernize the nation to make it better.
He built rural roads, postal services, libraries, and made electrical instillations.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi constructed dams to irrigate Iran’s land which resulted in the country being 90% self sufficient in food production.
He established colleges and universities at his own expense to better education.
He set up an education foundation.
The Shah donated acres to farmers to encourage independent farming.
Under his reign, Iranians earned more money than before.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi planned construction of 18 nuclear power plants.
He built an Olympic complex to host the 1988 Olympics in.
His air force was ranked in the world’s top five.
He was pro- western and Iran had good oil that the U.S wanted.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi gave women equal rights.

3. The Reasons For the Shahs Overthrow
The amount of money earned from the oil was distributed unevenly causing people to suspect the government was corrupt.
A lot of Iranians in the past never liked the westerners. So, when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took power, the people didn’t like how he tried to modernize and befriend westerners, including Americans.
Muslims women believe in being conservative and when he took power, he gave them more rights causing Muslims that were deep in their roots to become very uncomfortable.
Many Iranians saw him as being controlled by the West.

4. The Impact the Overthrow had on the People
Once he was overthrown, woman lost a lot of right that they had gained when they were under his power.
After his reign the next leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, gained popularity of those Iranians who supported the theocracy and opposed normal relationships with the rest.
The overthrow marked the beginning of U.S. sanctions against Iran that further weakened ties between Iran and the U.S.
Oil imports were stopped to the U.S.
Some Iranians located in the US were expelled out.
Around 8 billion dollars of Iranian’s assets were frozen.

5. Citations
James Perloff , . N.p.. Web. 13 Dec < happened>.
"Iran Hostage Crisis." GNU Free Documentation License, 13 Dec Web. 13 Dec < MiddleEast9.htm>.
"Hostage rescue mission ends in disaster." A&E Television Networks, 24 April Web. 17 Dec < mission-ends-in-disaster>.