Iranian Revolution
Mohammad Mossadegh, Prime Minister between 1951 and 1953, introduced social security and land reform. At the same time, Mohammad Mossadegh, the Shah's Prime Minister, nationalized the Iranian oil industry following a dispute with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC). Mossadegh was overthrown in Operation Ajax by British and American intelligence in 1953, and the political situation was so unstable that the Shah, who had supported the US and UK, was forced into exile. He quickly returned to power and initiated a series of economic and social reforms to modernize the country. Still, a growing divide between a highly westernized population and a more conservative section of the people supported Ayatollah Khomeini.