U.S. Support for the Shah of Iran: Pros and Cons
American Experience
Learn why the United States came to support the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and how that support led Iranians to view the shah as a puppet of the United States, setting the stage for the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979, in these clips excerpted from Taken Hostage | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. The shah amassed U.S. weapons in exchange for his support of the United States and used his secret police to shut down domestic opposition to his authoritarian government.
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