How Iran Went From Crown To Clerics – The Untold Journey Of Power, Oil And Uprising | World News

New Delhi: A banquet lit up Tehran. It was the last night of 1977. Lights, laughter and toasts. The then U.S. President Jimmy Carter raised his glass. His words painted a picture. Iran, he said, stood like an island – calm in chaos and stable in fire. Mohammad Reza Shah smiled. But behind that smile, fires smouldered.

The man sitting on Iran’s throne had not earned it in a simple way. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was handed power when Allied forces pushed the elder Shah aside during the Second World War. Nazi ties had made the old man a threat. Oil mattered more than loyalty. British and Soviet boots sealed the decision.

The young Shah lived like a prince from the West. Swiss schools. Fancy cars. Lavish weekends. But his country held a treasure – oil. And the West wanted it badly.

The Shah played along. He proposed a split – let Iran keep half the profits. But the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company refused. They did not see a partner. They saw property.

Then came Mossadegh. A new face. A deep voice. He spoke of dignity. He spoke of justice. And when he took office as prime minister, he did what the Shah never dared. He took the oil back and nationalised it.

Iran cheered. The West panicked.

In London and Washington, phones rang. Orders were passed. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) stepped in. Money changed hands. Stories got planted. Crowds got hired.

And the Shah? He had already fled.

Within months, Mossadegh was out. Military officers stormed in. A new government rose. The Shah came home. This time, with a promise to make Iran rich, strong and modern. The United States stood by his side. For a while, it worked.

Cities gleamed. Women walked free. Western music played in parks. But under the lights, something cracked. The wealth stayed in cities. The poor stayed poor. Projects ran wild. Costs soared. Prices jumped. Dreams dried up.

In silence, the divide grew.

In the countryside, old voices stirred. Religion had not gone. It had only waited.

By the late 1970s, protests swept the streets. Students marched. Shops shut. Mullahs whispered louder. The Shah looked smaller. Crowds grew. Shots fired. More deaths. More marches.

In January 1979, the Shah boarded a plane. He left behind a crown, a broken promise and a nation on fire.

The next flight came from Paris.

A different man sat inside. Black robes. White beard. Eyes like steel. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had returned. After 16 years of exile, he came back to a country that now bowed to him.

Millions lined the roads. The monarchy had ended. Iran, now, belonged to God.

He was bestowed on the title of Supreme Leader. He took the power, too. The new state obeyed Islamic law. And its two enemies stood clear – the United States and Israel.

Soon, a group of students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Dozens of Americans were taken hostage. The Ayatollah did not flinch. He called the United States the “Great Satan”. He called Israel a thief of sacred land.

The revolution had its face.

Then Saddam Hussein saw an opening. Iraq attacked. Iran fought back. The war dragged on. Eight years. Hundreds of thousands dead. Cities ruined. But the regime stood firm. The Ayatollah never gave in.

Yet inside Iran, doubts grew.

Some saw the mirror. They thought they had removed a king. But in his place stood another – wrapped in religion and unbending in rule.

By 1989, Khomeini’s health failed. The question rose – who next?

His first choice stepped aside. In his place rose Ali Khamenei – a man with less scholarly weight but firm loyalty. He took the top seat. The Constitution bent to make it fit. Power changed hands. The ideology did not.

But the years ahead were not simple.

Iran bled. Sanctions hit hard. Its nuclear ambitions brought global heat. Protests kept surfacing. Women asked for voice. Youth asked for jobs. People asked for food.

Still, Khamenei tightened the circle.

New guards rose – The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij. Military muscle grew. Dissent shrank. The system became a fortress. And the outside world watched puzzled. Iran showed two faces – fiercely anti-West, yet open to deals when pressure pinched.

Once, after 9/11, Iran surprised the world. Candles lit up in Tehran. Crowds walked in silence. They mourned American lives. That night, even old enemies whispered condolences.

But winds shift fast.

By the early 2000s, conservatives took back control. Khatami, the reformist, lost ground. Ahmadinejad came in with fire. Defiance returned. Enrichment continued. Israel stayed the villain. So did America.

Even now, cracks show.

Young Iranians scroll social feeds. They study abroad. They speak many tongues. But their future feels trapped. Many want change. But no one leads them. Not clearly. Not loudly. Not yet.

Some look to the past. Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah, speaks online. He calls for unity. For resistance. For a new Iran. But his links to the West raise eyebrows. Many remember the old throne. Few want it back.

Iran’s story has not ended. From emperors to clerics, oil deals to digital rage and veils to slogans. The road winds on. And somewhere, deep in its heart, Iran keeps walking – torn between memory, hope and the weight of its own making.