Editing History of Iran (section)

==Late modern period==
===Qajar dynasty (1796–1925)===
{{Main|Qajar dynasty|Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)}}
{{See also|Battle of Krtsanisi|Treaty of Gulistan|Treaty of Turkmenchay|Iranian Constitutional Revolution}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Mihr 'Ali (Iranian, active ca. 1800-1830). Portrait of Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar, 1815.jpg|[[Mihr 'Ali]] (Iranian, active ca. 1800–1830). Portrait of [[Fath-Ali Shah Qajar]]. [[Brooklyn Museum]].
File:Yek toman qajar.jpg|Qajar era currency bill with depiction of [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar]].
File:Map Iran 1900-en.png|A map of Iran under the [[Qajar dynasty]] in the 19th century.
File:Gulistan-Treaty.jpg|A map showing the 19th-century northwestern borders of Iran, comprising modern-day eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Armenia]], and the [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]], before being ceded to the neighboring [[Russian Empire]] by the [[Russo-Persian Wars|Russo-Iranian wars]].
</gallery>
[[Agha Mohammad Khan]] emerged victorious out of the civil war that commenced with the death of the last Zand king. His reign is noted for the reemergence of a centrally led and united Iran. After the death of Nader Shah and the last of the Zands, most of Iran's Caucasian territories had broken away into various [[Khanates of the Caucasus|Caucasian khanates]]. Agha Mohammad Khan, like the Safavid kings and Nader Shah before him, viewed the region as no different from the territories in mainland Iran. Therefore, his first objective after having secured mainland Iran, was to reincorpate the Caucasus region into Iran.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=409}} Georgia was seen as one of the most integral territories.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} For Agha Mohammad Khan, the resubjugation and reintegration of Georgia into the Iranian Empire was part of the same process that had brought [[Shiraz]], [[Isfahan]], and [[Tabriz]] under his rule.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} As the ''[[Cambridge History of Iran]]'' states, its permanent secession was inconceivable and had to be resisted in the same way as one would resist an attempt at the separation of [[Fars province|Fars]] or [[Gilan Province|Gilan]].{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} It was therefore natural for Agha Mohammad Khan to perform whatever necessary means in the Caucasus in order to subdue and reincorporate the recently lost regions following Nader Shah's death and the demise of the Zands, including putting down what in Iranian eyes was seen as treason on the part of the ''[[Wali (administrative title)|wali]]'' (viceroy) of Georgia, namely the Georgian king [[Erekle II]] (Heraclius II) who was appointed viceroy of Georgia by Nader Shah himself.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}}

Agha Mohammad Khan subsequently demanded that Heraclius II renounce [[Treaty of Georgievsk|its 1783 treaty with Russia]], and to submit again to Iranian suzerainty,{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=409}} in return for peace and the security of his kingdom. The Ottomans, Iran's neighboring rival, recognized the latter's rights over [[Kartli]] and [[Kakheti]] for the first time in four centuries.<ref name="Donald Rayfield p 255">{{Cite book|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA255|title=Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia|date=2013
|page=255|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-070-2|language=en}}</ref> Heraclius appealed then to his theoretical protector, Empress [[Catherine II of Russia]], pleading for at least 3,000 Russian troops,<ref name="Donald Rayfield p 255"/> but he was ignored, leaving Georgia to fend off the Persian threat alone.<ref name="Lang">{{ cite book
| author-link=David Marshall Lang
| last= Lang | first=David Marshall
| year=1962
| title=A Modern History of Georgia
| page = 38
| place=London
| publisher= Weidenfeld and Nicolson}}
<!-- every 1962 edition of this book I've found on gbooks is published by Grove Press, and entitled "A Modern History of Soviet Georgia". The edition with the title present in the citation is a 2001 edition published by Curzon. I'm sure we can source this claim elsewhere if nobody has a copy of this book with a page 38 and frontispiece -->
</ref> Nevertheless, Heraclius II still rejected the Khan's [[ultimatum]].<ref name="Suny">[[Ronald Grigor Suny|Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 59. [[Indiana University Press]], {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}}</ref> As a response, Agha Mohammad Khan invaded the Caucasus region after crossing the [[Aras river]], and, while on his way to Georgia, he re-subjugated Iran's territories of the [[Erivan Khanate]], [[Shirvan]], [[Nakhchivan Khanate]], [[Ganja khanate]], [[Derbent Khanate]], [[Baku khanate]], [[Talysh Khanate]], [[Shaki Khanate]], [[Karabakh Khanate]], which comprise modern-day [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Dagestan]], and [[Iğdır Province|Igdir]]. Having reached Georgia with his large army, he prevailed in the [[Battle of Krtsanisi]], which resulted in the capture and sack of [[Tbilisi]], as well as the effective resubjugation of Georgia.<ref name="books.google.nl3">{{Cite book|last=Axworthy|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9HyyYrPIGgC&pg=PT192|title=Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day|date=2008-11-06|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-0-14-190341-5|language=en}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=Agha Muhammad Khan remained nine days in the vicinity of Tiflis. His victory proclaimed the restoration of Iranian military power in the region formerly under Safavid domination.|title=The Cambridge History of Iran |first=William Bayne |last=Fisher |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=7 |year=1991 |pages=128–129 }}</ref> Upon his return from his successful campaign in Tbilisi and in effective control over Georgia, together with some 15,000 Georgian captives that were moved back to mainland Iran,<ref name="Lang"/> Agha Mohammad was formally crowned [[Shah]] in 1796 in the [[Mughan plain]], just as his predecessor Nader Shah was about sixty years earlier.

Agha Mohammad Shah was later assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 in [[Shusha]]{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=329}} (now part of the [[Republic of Azerbaijan]]) and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798. The reassertion of Iranian hegemony over Georgia did not last long; in 1799 the Russians marched into Tbilisi.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Aleksei 
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8niIYSTqToC&pg=PA204|title=Imperial Rule|last2=Rieber|first2=Alfred J.|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Central European University Press
| page = 204 n. 48
| series = Pasts Incorporated. CEU Studies in the Humanities
| volume= 1
|isbn=978-963-9241-98-5|language=en}}</ref> The Russians were already actively occupied with an expansionist policy towards its neighboring empires to its south, namely the Ottoman Empire and the successive Iranian kingdoms since the late 17th/early 18th century. The next two years following Russia's entrance into Tbilisi were a time of confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily [[Georgia within the Russian Empire|absorbed by Russia]] in 1801.<ref name="Lang"/><ref name="Suny"/> As Iran could not permit or allow the cession of [[Transcaucasia]] and Dagestan, which had been an integral part of Iran for centuries,{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|pp=329–330}} this would lead directly to the wars of several years later, namely the [[Russo-Persian Wars]] of [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|1804-1813]] and [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|1826–1828]]. The outcome of these two wars (in the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] and the [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]], respectively) proved for the irrevocable forced cession and loss of what is now eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Armenia]], and [[Azerbaijan]] to Imperial Russia.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=329-330}}<ref name="books.google.nl3"/>

The area to the north of the river [[Aras (river)|Aras]], among which the territory of the contemporary republic of Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia in the course of the 19th century.<ref name="Swietochowski Borderland">{{cite book|last=Swietochowski|first=Tadeusz|author-link=Tadeusz Swietochowski|year=1995|title=Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition|pages=69, 133|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|isbn=978-0-231-07068-3|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174716/https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=L. Batalden|first=Sandra|year=1997|title=The newly independent states of Eurasia: handbook of former Soviet republics|page=98|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFjPAxhBEaEC
|isbn=978-0-89774-940-4|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174717/https://books.google.com/books?id=WFjPAxhBEaEC
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{Cite book|last=Dowling|first=Timothy C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728|title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond | series =2 volumes|date=2014-12-02|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-948-6|language=en
|pages = 728–729}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=E. Ebel, Robert|first=Menon, Rajan|year=2000|title=Energy and conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus|page=181|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sCpf26vBZ0C
|isbn=978-0-7425-0063-1|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174720/https://books.google.com/books?id=-sCpf26vBZ0C
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Andreeva|first=Elena|year=2010|title=Russia and Iran in the great game: travelogues and orientalism|page=6|edition=reprint|publisher=Taylor & Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|isbn=978-0-415-78153-4|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174721/https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Çiçek, Kemal|first=Kuran, Ercüment|year=2000|title=The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation|publisher=University of Michigan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5VpAAAAMAAJ
|isbn=978-975-6782-18-7|access-date=2015-06-20|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174723/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5VpAAAAMAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Ernest Meyer, Karl|first=Blair Brysac, Shareen|year=2006|title=Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia|page=66|publisher=Basic Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssv-GONnxTsC
|isbn=978-0-465-04576-1|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174725/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssv-GONnxTsC
|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
File:Battle Between Persians and Russians - State Hermitage Museum.jpg|Painting showing the [[Battle of Sultanabad]], 13 February 1812. [[State Hermitage Museum]].
File:Russian troops storming Lankaran fortress, January 13th, 1813..jpg|[[Storming of Lankaran]], 1812. Painted by [[Franz Roubaud]].
File:%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BC.jpeg|Battle of [[Elisabethpol]] ([[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]]), 1828. Franz Roubaud. Part of the collection of the Museum for History, [[Baku]].
</gallery>

===Migration of Caucasian Muslims===
{{See also|Ayrums|Qarapapaqs|Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians}}
[[File:Persian Cossack Brigade.jpg|right|thumb|Persian Cossack Brigade in [[Tabriz]] in 1909]]
Following the official loss of vast territories in the Caucasus, major demographic shifts were bound to take place. Following the 1804–1814 war, but also per the 1826–1828 war which ceded the last territories, large migrations, so-called [[Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians|Caucasian Muhajirs]], set off to migrate to mainland Iran. Some of these groups included the [[Ayrums]], [[Qarapapaqs]], [[Circassians]], Shia [[Lezgins]], and other [[Transcaucasus|Transcaucasian]] Muslims.<ref name="Caucasus Survey">{{cite web|url=http://www.caucasus-survey.org/vol1-no2/yemelianova-islam-nationalism-state-muslim-caucasus.php|title=Caucasus Survey|access-date=23 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415070826/http://www.caucasus-survey.org/vol1-no2/yemelianova-islam-nationalism-state-muslim-caucasus.php|archive-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>

After the [[Battle of Ganja (1804)|Battle of Ganja of 1804]] during the [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)]], many thousands of Ayrums and Qarapapaqs were settled in Tabriz. During the remaining part of the 1804–1813 war, as well as through the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|1826–1828 war]], a large number of the Ayrums and Qarapapaqs that were still remaining in newly conquered Russian territories were settled in and migrated to [[Solduz]] (in modern-day Iran's [[West Azerbaijan province]]).<ref name="Mansoori">{{cite book|last=Mansoori|first=Firooz|title=Studies in History, Language and Culture of Azerbaijan|year=2008|publisher=Hazar-e Kerman|location=Tehran|isbn=978-600-90271-1-8|page=245|chapter=17|language=fa}}</ref> As the ''[[Cambridge History of Iran]]'' states; "The steady encroachment of Russian troops along the frontier in the Caucasus, General [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|Yermolov]]'s brutal punitive expeditions and misgovernment, drove large numbers of Muslims, and even some Georgian Christians, into exile in Iran."{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=336}}

From 1864 until the early 20th century, [[Ethnic cleansing of Circassians|another mass expulsion took place]] of Caucasian Muslims as a result of the Russian victory in the [[Caucasian War]]. Others simply voluntarily refused to live under Christian Russian rule, and thus departed for Turkey or Iran. These migrations once again, towards Iran, included masses of Caucasian [[Azerbaijanis]], other Transcaucasian Muslims, as well as many North Caucasian Muslims, such as Circassians, Shia Lezgins and [[Lak people (Dagestan)|Laks]].<ref name="Caucasus Survey"/><ref>A. G. Bulаtovа. Lаktsy (XIX — nаch. XX vv.). Istoriko-etnogrаficheskie ocherki. — Mаkhаchkаlа, 2000.</ref>
Many of these migrants would prove to play a pivotal role in further Iranian history, as they formed most of the ranks of the [[Persian Cossack Brigade]], which was established in the late 19th century.<ref name="mepc.org">{{cite web|url=http://mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/iranian-armed-forces-politics-revolution-and-war-part-one?print|title=The Iranian Armed Forces in Politics, Revolution and War: Part One|date=22 May 2012 |access-date=23 May 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165712/http://mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/iranian-armed-forces-politics-revolution-and-war-part-one?print|url-status=live}}</ref> The initial ranks of the brigade would be entirely composed of [[Circassians]] and other Caucasian Muhajirs.<ref name="mepc.org"/> This brigade would prove decisive in the following decades in Qajar history.

Furthermore, the 1828 [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]] included the official rights for the Russian Empire to encourage settling of [[Armenians]] from Iran in the newly conquered Russian territories.<ref>"Griboedov not only extended protection to those Caucasian captives who sought to go home but actively promoted the return of even those who did not volunteer. Large numbers of Georgian and Armenian captives had lived in Iran since 1804 or as far back as 1795."
Fisher, William Bayne;Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Hambly, Gavin; Melville, Charles. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' Cambridge University Press, 1991. p. 339.</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://feb-web.ru/feb/griboed/texts/piks3/3_4_v3.htm A. S. Griboyedov. "Zаpiskа o pereselenii аrmyan" iz" Persii v" nаshi oblаsti"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113142046/http://feb-web.ru/feb/griboed/texts/piks3/3_4_v3.htm |date=13 January 2016 }}, Fundаmentаl'nаya Elektronnаya Bibliotekа</ref> Until the mid-fourteenth century, Armenians had constituted a majority in [[Eastern Armenia]].{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=11, 13–14}} 
At the close of the fourteenth century, after [[Timur]]'s campaigns, the [[Timurid Renaissance]] flourished, and Islam had become the dominant faith, and Armenians became a minority in Eastern Armenia.{{Sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=11, 13–14}} After centuries of constant warfare on the [[Armenian plateau]], many Armenians chose to emigrate and settle elsewhere. Following [[Shah Abbas I]]'s massive relocation of Armenians and Muslims in 1604–05,<ref>[[Arakel of Tabriz]]. ''The Books of Histories''; chapter 4. Quote: "[The Shah] deep inside understood that he would be unable to resist Sinan Pasha, i.e. the Sardar of Jalaloghlu, in a[n open] battle. Therefore he ordered to relocate the whole population of Armenia - Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, to Persia, so that the Ottomans find the country depopulated."</ref> their numbers dwindled even further.

At the time of the Russian invasion of Iran, some 80% of the population of [[Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)|Iranian Armenia]] were Muslims ([[Persian people|Persians]], [[Turkic peoples|Turkics]], and [[Kurds]]) whereas Christian [[Armenians]] constituted a minority of about 20%.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=12–13}} As a result of the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), Iran was forced to cede Iranian Armenia (which also constituted the present-day [[Armenia]]), to the Russians.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=1–2}}{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|page=141}} After the Russian administration took hold of Iranian Armenia, the ethnic make-up shifted, and thus for the first time in more than four centuries, ethnic Armenians started to form a majority once again in one part of historic Armenia.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=14}} The new Russian administration encouraged the settling of ethnic Armenians from Iran proper and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkey]]. As a result, by 1832, the number of ethnic Armenians had matched that of the Muslims.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=12–13}} It would be only after the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878]], which brought another influx of Turkish Armenians, that ethnic Armenians once again established a solid majority in [[Eastern Armenia]].{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=13}} Nevertheless, the city of Erivan retained a Muslim majority up to the twentieth century.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=13}} According to the traveller [[H. F. B. Lynch]], the city of Erivan was about 50% Armenian and 50% Muslim (Tatars{{efn|The term "Tatars", employed by the Russians, referred to [[Turkic languages|Turkish-speaking]] Muslims (Shia and [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]) of [[Transcaucasia]].<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim">{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900-1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=35 (note 25)}}</ref> Unlike Armenians and [[Georgians]], the Tatars did not have their own alphabet and used the [[Persian alphabet|Perso-Arabic script]].<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim"/> After 1918 with the establishment of the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]], and "especially during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era", the Tatar group identified itself as "[[Azerbaijanis|Azerbaijani]]".<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim"/> Prior to 1918 the word "[[Azerbaijan (toponym)|Azerbaijan]]" exclusively referred to the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian province of Azarbayjan]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900-1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=xiv}}</ref>}} i.e. Azeris and Persians) in the early 1890s.{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}}

Fath Ali Shah's reign saw increased diplomatic contacts with the West and the beginning of intense European diplomatic rivalries over Iran. His grandson [[Mohammad Shah Qajar|Mohammad Shah]], who succeeded him in 1834, fell under the Russian influence and made two unsuccessful attempts to capture [[Herat]]. When Mohammad Shah died in 1848 the succession passed to his son [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar]], who proved to be the ablest and most successful of the Qajar sovereigns. He founded the first modern hospital in Iran.<ref>Azizi, Mohammad-Hossein. "The historical backgrounds of the Ministry of Health foundation in Iran." Arch Iran Med 10.1 (2007): 119-23.</ref>

===Constitutional Revolution and deposition===
{{main|1921 Persian coup d'état}}

The [[Persian famine of 1870–1872|Great Persian Famine of 1870–1871]] is believed to have caused the death of two million people.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=617680|title=The Great Persian Famine of 1870–71|first=Shoko|last=Okazaki|date=1 January 1986|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=49|issue=1|pages=183–192|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00042609|s2cid=155516933 }}</ref>

A new era in the history of Iran dawned with the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]] against the Shah in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Shah managed to remain in power, granting a limited constitution in 1906 (making the country a [[constitutional monarchy]]). The first [[Majlis]] (parliament) was convened on 7 October 1906.

The discovery of [[petroleum]] in 1908 by the British in [[Khūzestān Province|Khuzestan]] spawned intense renewed interest in Persia by the [[British Empire]] (see [[William Knox D'Arcy]] and [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company]], now [[BP]]). Control of Persia remained contested between the United Kingdom and Russia, in what became known as [[The Great Game]], and codified in the [[Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907]], which divided Iran into spheres of influence, regardless of her national sovereignty.

During World War I, the country was occupied by British, Ottoman and Russian forces but was essentially neutral (see [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian Campaign]]). In 1919, after the [[Russian Revolution]] and their withdrawal, Britain attempted to establish a [[protectorate]] in Iran, which was unsuccessful.

Finally, the [[Constitutionalist movement of Gilan]] and the central power vacuum caused by the instability of the Qajar government resulted in the rise of Reza Khan,  later [[Reza Shah Pahlavi]], who established the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] in 1925. In 1921, Reza Khan, an officer of the [[Persian Cossack Brigade]], (along with [[Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabai]]) lead a military [[1921 Persian coup d'état|coup]] against governing officials (leaving the Qajar monarchy nominally head of state).<ref>according to ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' it was targeted at officials who were in power and actually had a role in controlling the government — the cabinet and others who had a role in governing Iran.
{{cite encyclopedia
| first = Niloofar | last = Shambayati
 | volume=VI/4 | pages = 351–354
| year = 2015 | orig-date= 1993
| title= Coup D'Etat of 1299/1921
 | encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Iranica | url= https://iranicaonline.org/articles/coup-detat-of-1299-1921 }}</ref> In 1925, after being prime minister for two years, Reza Khan did depose the Qajar dynasty and became the first shah of the Pahlavi dynasty.

===Pahlavi era (1925–1979)===
{{Main|Pahlavi Iran}}

==== {{anchor|Reza Shah (1925-1941)}}Reza Shah (1925–1941) ====
{{main|Persian Cossack Brigade}}
[[Reza Shah]] ruled for almost 16 years until 16 September 1941, when he was forced to [[Abdication|abdicate]] by the [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran]]. He established an [[authoritarianism|authoritarian government]] that valued [[Iranian nationalism|nationalism]], [[militarism]], [[secularism in Iran|secularism]] and [[anti-communism]] combined with strict [[censorship]] and [[state propaganda]].<ref>Michael P. Zirinsky; "Imperial Power and Dictatorship: Britain and the Rise of Reza Shah, 1921–1926", International Journal of Middle East Studies 24 (1992), 639–663, Cambridge University Press</ref> Reza Shah introduced many socio-economic reforms, reorganizing the army, government administration, and finances.<ref name="Columbia_Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090201151652/http://www.bartleby.com/65/re/RezaShah.html
| url = http://www.bartleby.com/65/re/RezaShah.html
| url-status= usurped
| archive-date= 1 February 2009
| encyclopedia= The Columbia Encyclopedia
| edition= Sixth
| orig-date= 2001 | year = 2007
| title= Reza Shah Pahlevi
}}</ref>

To his supporters, his reign brought "law and order, discipline, central authority, and modern amenities – schools, trains, buses, radios, cinemas, and telephones".<ref name="Ervand, 2008 p.91">Ervand, ''History of Modern Iran'', (2008), p.91</ref> However, his attempts of modernisation have been criticised for being "too fast"<ref>The Origins of the Iranian Revolution by Roger Homan. International Affairs, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Autumn, 1980), pp. 673–677.{{JSTOR|2618173}}</ref> and "superficial",<ref>Richard W. Cottam, Nationalism in Iran, University of Pittsburgh Press, ISBN o-8229-3396-7</ref> and his reign a time of "oppression, corruption, taxation, lack of authenticity" with "security typical of [[police state]]s."<ref name="Ervand, 2008 p.91"/>

Many of the new laws and regulations created resentment among devout Muslims and the clergy. For example, mosques were required to use chairs; most men were required to wear western clothing, including a hat with a brim; women were encouraged to discard the [[hijab]]—hijab was eventually [[kashf-e hijab|banned in 1936]]; men and women were allowed to congregate freely, violating Islamic [[Sex segregation and Islam|mixing of the sexes]]. Tensions boiled over in 1935, when bazaaris and villagers rose up [[Goharshad Mosque rebellion|in rebellion]] at the [[Imam Reza shrine]] in [[Mashhad]] to protest against plans for the hijab ban, chanting slogans such as 'The Shah is a new [[Yazid I|Yezid]].' Dozens were killed and hundreds were injured when troops finally quelled the unrest.<ref>Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs : Iran and the Islamic Revolution'' by Shaul, Bakhash, Basic Books, c1984, p.22</ref>

====World War II====
{{See also|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Polish civilian camps in World War II|Persian Corridor}}
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| caption1 = [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] with FDR at the [[Tehran Conference]], 1943.
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While [[Operation Barbarossa|German armies were highly successful]] against the [[Soviet Union in World War II|Soviet Union]], the Iranian government expected Germany to win the war and establish a powerful force on its borders. It rejected British and Soviet demands to expel German residents from Iran. In response, the two [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invaded in August 1941]] and easily overwhelmed the weak Iranian army in ''[[Operation Countenance]]''. Iran became the major conduit of Allied [[Lend-Lease]] aid to the Soviet Union. The purpose was to secure Iranian [[oil field]]s and ensure Allied [[supply line]]s (see ''[[Persian Corridor]]''). Iran remained officially neutral. Its monarch [[Rezā Shāh]] was deposed during the subsequent occupation and replaced with his young son [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]].<ref>Richard Stewart, ''Sunrise at Abadan: the British and Soviet invasion of Iran, 1941'' (1988).</ref>

At the [[Tehran Conference of 1943]], the Allies issued the [[Tehran Declaration]] which guaranteed the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, when the war actually ended, Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran not only refused to withdraw but backed revolts that established short-lived, pro-Soviet separatist national states in the northern regions of Azerbaijan and [[Iranian Kurdistan]], the [[Azerbaijan People's Government]] and the [[Republic of Kurdistan]] respectively, in late 1945. Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May 1946 after receiving a promise of oil concessions. The Soviet republics in the north were soon [[Iran crisis of 1946|overthrown]] and the oil concessions were revoked.<ref>Louise Fawcett, "Revisiting the Iranian Crisis of 1946: How Much More Do We Know?." ''Iranian Studies'' 47#3 (2014): 379–399.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Iranian Crisis of 1945–46 and the Cold War |last=Hess |first=Gary R. |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=89 |number=1 |date=March 1974 |pages=117–145|doi=10.2307/2148118 |jstor=2148118 |url=http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf|access-date=2023-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215211023/http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2016 }}</ref>

===={{anchor|Mohammad-Reza Shah (1941-1979)}}Mohammad-Reza Shah (1941–1979)====
[[File:Operationajax.jpg|thumb|Tehran men celebrating the [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]]]]
Initially there were hopes that post-occupation Iran could become a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The new, young Shah [[Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi]] initially took a very hands-off role in government, and allowed [[parliament]] to hold a lot of power. Some elections were held in the first shaky years, although they remained mired in corruption. Parliament became chronically unstable, and from the 1947 to 1951 period Iran saw the rise and fall of six different prime ministers. Pahlavi increased his political power by convening the [[Iran Constituent Assembly, 1949]], which finally formed the [[Senate of Iran]]—a legislative [[upper house]] allowed for in the 1906 constitution but never brought into being. The new senators were largely supportive of Pahlavi, as he had intended.

In 1951 Prime Minister [[Mohammed Mosaddeq]] received the vote required from the parliament to [[nationalize]] the British-owned oil industry, in a situation known as the [[Abadan Crisis]]. Despite British pressure, including an economic blockade, the nationalization continued. Mosaddeq was briefly removed from power in 1952 but was quickly re-appointed by the Shah, due to a popular uprising in support of the premier, and he, in turn, forced the Shah into a brief exile in August 1953 after a failed military coup by [[Imperial Guard (Iran)|Imperial Guard]] Colonel [[Nematollah Nassiri]].

=====1953: U.S. aided coup removes Mosaddeq=====
{{main|1953 Iranian coup d'état}}
Shortly thereafter on 19 August a successful [[Coup d'état|coup]] was headed by retired army general [[Fazlollah Zahedi]], aided by the United States ([[CIA]])<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=CIA documents acknowledge its role in Iran's 1953 coup|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23762970|work=BBC News|access-date=20 August 2013|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309131918/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23762970|url-status=live}}</ref> with the active support of the British ([[MI6]]) (known as [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|Operation Ajax and Operation Boot]] to the respective agencies).<ref>{{cite book|last=Kinzer|first=Stephen|title=The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|year=2013}}</ref> The coup—with a [[black propaganda]] campaign designed to turn the population against Mosaddeq<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gölz|first=Olmo|date=2019-01-01|title=Gölz "The Dangerous Classes and the 1953 Coup in Iran: On the Decline of 'lutigari' Masculinities." In Crime, Poverty and Survival in the Middle East and North Africa: The 'Dangerous Classes' since 1800. Edited by Stephanie Cronin, 177–90. London: I.B. Tauris, 2019.|url=https://www.academia.edu/40997855|journal=Crime, Poverty and Survival in the Middle East and North Africa}}</ref> — forced Mosaddeq from office. Mosaddeq was arrested and tried for treason. Found guilty, his sentence was reduced to house arrest on his family estate while his foreign minister, [[Hossein Fatemi]], was executed. [[Fazlollah Zahedi|Zahedi]] succeeded him as prime minister, and suppressed opposition to the Shah, specifically the [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]] and Communist [[Tudeh Party]].

[[File:Newsreel - Echo News Reel Number 88 about the Rule of Shah in 1971.ogv|thumb|1971 film about Iran under the Shah]]
Iran was ruled as an autocracy under the Shah with American support from that time until the revolution. The Iranian government entered into agreement with an international consortium of foreign companies which ran the Iranian oil facilities for the next 25 years, splitting profits fifty-fifty with Iran but not allowing Iran to audit their accounts or have members on their board of directors. In 1957 martial law was ended after 16 years and Iran became closer to the West, joining the [[Baghdad Pact]] and receiving military and economic aid from the US. In 1961, Iran initiated a series of economic, social, agrarian and administrative reforms to modernize the country that became known as the Shah's [[White Revolution]].

The core of this program was land reform. Modernization and economic growth proceeded at an unprecedented rate, fueled by Iran's vast petroleum reserves, the third-largest in the world. However, the reforms, including the White Revolution, did not greatly improve economic conditions and the liberal pro-Western policies alienated certain [[Islam]]ic religious and political groups. In early June 1963 [[Movement of 15 Khordad|several days of massive rioting]] occurred in support of [[Ayatollah]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] following the cleric's arrest for a speech attacking the Shah.

Two years later, premier [[Hassan Ali Mansur]] was assassinated and the internal security service, [[SAVAK]], became more violently active. In the 1970s, leftist [[Guerrilla groups of Iran|guerilla groups]] such as [[Mujaheddin-e-Khalq]] (MEK), emerged and contributed to overthrowing the Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Nearly a hundred Iran political prisoners were killed by the SAVAK during the decade before the revolution and many more were arrested and tortured.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' (1999), pp. 135–6, 167, 169</ref> The Islamic clergy, headed by the Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] (who had been exiled in 1964), were becoming increasingly vociferous.

Iran greatly increased its defense budget and by the early 1970s was the region's strongest military power. Bilateral relations with Iraq were not good, mainly due to a dispute over the [[Shatt al-Arab]] waterway. In November 1971, Iranian forces seized control of [[Seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs|three islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf]]; in response, Iraq expelled thousands of Iranian nationals. Following a number of clashes in April 1969, Iran abrogated [[Treaty of Saadabad|the 1937 accord]] and demanded a renegotiation.

In mid-1973, the Shah returned the oil industry to national control. Following the [[Yom Kippur War|Arab-Israeli War of October 1973]], Iran did not join the Arab oil embargo against the West and [[Israel]]. Instead, it used the situation to raise oil prices, using the money gained for modernisation and to increase defense spending.

A border dispute between Iraq and Iran was resolved with the signing of the [[Algiers Agreement (1975)|Algiers Accord]] on 6 March 1975.