Pahlavi Dynasty

State · 1924–1978 CE · at its largest around 1924 CE

Iran under the Pahlavi shahs, founded when Reza Khan took the throne in 1925 and continued by his son Mohammad Reza Shah. Their state-led modernisation ended with the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

On its lands while it lasted

Ruhollah Khomeini (c. 1902 CE – 1989 CE): A Shia cleric who led the Iranian Revolution from exile and became Iran's first Supreme Leader.
Oil struck at Baba Gurgur (1927 CE): A gusher at Baba Gurgur near Kirkuk revealed one of the world's largest oil fields and transformed Iraq's economy.
Saddam Hussein (1937 CE – 2006 CE): President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 who led wars against Iran and Kuwait; after the 2003 invasion he was captured, tried and executed.
Dammam No. 7 strikes oil (1938 CE): The first commercially productive oil well in Saudi Arabia began its flow in March 1938, starting the kingdom's rise as a leading oil exporter.
Tehran Conference (1943 CE): Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met in Tehran for the first Big Three conference, agreeing on an Allied invasion of France in 1944.
1948 Ashgabat earthquake (1948 CE): Earthquake that destroyed most of Ashgabat, the capital of Soviet Turkmenistan, killing tens of thousands.
1953 Iranian coup d'état (1953 CE): A coup by the Iranian military backed by the United States and United Kingdom overthrew Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had nationalized the oil industry.
OPEC founded (1960 CE): Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela founded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at a conference in Baghdad.
1973 oil crisis (1973–1974 CE): Arab oil producers embargoed countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War and cut output, quadrupling oil prices and causing economic shocks worldwide.
Iranian Revolution (1978–1979 CE): Mass protests overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to found the Islamic Republic of Iran.