Why did Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi lose popular support despite growth in Iran's economy and standard of living?

Answer 1

Iran had problems with the British, and prior to the Shah so publicized in the news, Iran's royal family worked extensively with the British, and when the British left, the Shah of the 1970's worked with the Americans, hence he was seen as a traitor.

Answer 2

Answer 1

He was the Shah of Iran, he lost popularity with the Islamic evolutionary leader The Khomeini , who was sent into exile in Paris returned back to Iran. and forced the Shah and his family to go into exile.

Answer 2

While he was still Shah, he lost popularity for a number of other reasons. These included: hording wealth among the elite of Iran, denying people the rights to vote for their politicians, having a brutal secret police, depriving Iran of its natural oil wealth, being ultra-secularist, and appearing to be a puppet to foreign/Western interests.

As for the particular issue of Iran's improving economy and standard of living, while Iran on average was improving, most of that benefit was conferred on the wealthy in Iran. The median wealth decreased during the Shah's later years (60s and 70s) and many Iranians were working longer hours in these decades as well.

Answer 3

Iranians in general were opposed to Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and opposed him from nearly every political perspective. These include:

• Some said that the Shah was not religious enough
• Some believed that the Shah's policies were too oppressive
• Some believed that the Shah was modernizing without preserving Iran's cultural heritage and others were angry that he was moving too slowly
• Some believed that the Shah was a sellout to foreign interests and others believed his foreign focuses were too narrow.
• Some believed that the Shah did not grant women enough rights and others thought that women had too many rights.
• Some believed that the Shah should have encouraged more middle class growth and others believe he should have put more capital into industry.
• Some wanted more privatization and others wanted more nationalization.

As concerns the specific reasons for the Iranian protests and the eventual revolution, they were numerous:

Wealth & Employment Issues: Most importantly was the wealth inequality between the Shah and the nobility and common Iranian citizen. There was immense poverty throughout the country and high unemployment, underemployment, low wages, and few protections for laborers.

Religious Conservatism: Most Iranians were religiously conservative (similar to the American Bible-belt as opposed to the Fundamentalists) and resisted the Shah's Westernization and Secularization movements in Iran. The Shah made clear that religion was not important to him as a ruler, whereas it was a concern among the people.

Puppet to Foreigners: The Shah was also seen as a Western puppet, especially when the CIA overthrew the Iranian President Mossadegh in 1953 to re-install the Shah of Iran and considering how Iran profited very little from its own petroleum.

Brutal Secret Police: The Shah had a notorious secret police called the SAVAK which harassed people and killed scores of others.

Authoritarianism: Iranians wanted to be in control of their own affairs. Iranians wanted some form of self-government or democracy. The Shah was an authoritarian who prevented people from expressing their own opinions.

Issue for Fundamentalists: Particularly in the fundamentalist camp, the fundamentalists in Iran felt that the Shah epitomized a Western culture of greed and materialism, because he tried to establish a more secular government. As with many rulers, he accumulated vast personal wealth. He also employed various means to suppress political dissent. It was ultimately the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini who in 1979 succeeded the Shah and established an Islamic religious government.

Note: The fact that these grievances existed does not mean that the Islamic Republic of Iran afterwards "fixed" these problems.