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In the aftermath of WWII, both the US and the Russia are interested in Iran's vast oil resources
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The shah appoints Mosaddegh to be Iran's prime minister. Mosaddegh's agenda includes nationalizing oil and redistributing land.
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CIA begins drafting plan to restore to power a government that gives preference to the US.
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US president Eisenhower approves operational plan for coup.
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CIA intensifies propaganda effort--operation AJAX--by planting stories in US newspapers to weaken Mosaddegh government.
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First coup attempt begins but quickly fails because Mossadegh has advanced warning.
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Tehran newspapers publish the Shah's decrees and supporters of the shah protest in the streets. The US begins another coup. By the end of the day, Iran is in the hands of Zahedi. Members of the Mosaddegh government are hiding or being imprisoned.
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Zahedi replaces Mossadegh as prime minister. The US restores the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to power. Pahlavi ensures cooperation on oil and promises to prevent communist expansion. Hundreds of National front leaders, communist Tudah Party officers, and political activists are arrested.
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The "White Revolution" introduced a series of land reforms to elimiate most large landowners, destroying the traditional upper class. Meanwhile, a huge jump in oil revenue creates inflation, increased income inequality, and corruption. During this yime, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini emerges as the leader of shah opposition. Pesants seek refuge in mosques, where they hear taped sermons of Khomeini.
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Several million demonstrators take to the streets in Tehran. The regime collapses and the Shah flees Iran.
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While in exile in Paris for speaking out against the shah's relationship with the US, Khomeini establishes an official opposition movement.
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When President Jimmy Carter admits the exiled Shah to the US for medical treatment, a group of Iranian students storm the US embassy in Tehran and take fifty two American citizens and diplomats hostage.
