After decades of revolutionary work by the supporters of the cleric, Ruhollah Khomeini, the Shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, left the capital, Tehran, for Egypt on January 16, 1979, after which events accelerated and the Islamic Revolution triumphed within 35 days.

In light of the popular uprising that swept across the country, the last king of Iran said from Mehrabad airport that he had been "tired for a while and needed a break."

Although he spoke of his intention to return home after receiving treatment abroad;

However, his visit to Aswan, Egypt, marked the beginning of the end of the royal era, which lasted for 2,500 years in Persia.

Al-Jazeera Net sheds light through "Question and Answer" on the most important developments of the period between the departure of the Shah of Iran to Egypt, the date of the announcement of the victory of the Iranian revolution, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic on February 11, 1979.

What did Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi say before leaving Tehran?

How was the news of his departure reflected on the Iranian street?


Just hours after the Iranian parliament gave confidence to Shapur Bakhtiar's government, the Shah said, "I have been tired for a while, and I need a break. I previously said that I will visit abroad after the new government is stabilized. The issue of returning home will depend on my health condition."

And after speaking that the Egyptian city of Aswan would be his first stop before his visit to the United States, the Shah of Iran and his wife, "Shahbano Farah Diba", came with tearful eyes at 09:45 GMT towards the "Royal Eagle" Boeing 707 plane, which was He is leading it himself, stressing that what his country needs in these circumstances is "cooperation among the population to put the economy back on track."

About 4 hours later, Pahlavi was a guest of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, where he and his wife stayed at the Oberoi Hotel, built on an island in the middle of the Nile River.

As soon as the Iranians heard the news of the shah’s departure on Radio Tehran, Khomeini’s supporters across the country took to the streets to express their joy at the defeat of what they called the dictator, and tore his pictures from paper currency.

The army vehicles withdrew from the streets, and large numbers of its officers joined the revolutionary movement. However, some units loyal to the Shahnshahi rule from the army and the SAVAK secret police forces opened fire on supporters of the revolution in the capital (Tehran).

As a result, a number of them were injured.

Khomeini returned to Iran on a plane for Air France (Iranian press)

How did Khomeini, in exile, receive the news of the Shah's "escape"?


The cleric, Ruhollah Khomeini from his exile in the French capital (Paris) considered the escape of the Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi as "the vanguard of the victory of the Iranian people, the beginning of happiness, and the achievement of freedom and independence." Arch of Islam and Muslims. "

In his famous message on January 17, 1979, Khomeini called on the Iranians to unite and cooperate with the security forces returning to the embrace of the homeland, and to insist on revolutionary slogans against the monarchy in their continuous demonstrations until the final elimination of the Shah's regime, in order to block the way to the parties lurking in their revolution. Especially the agents of the ousted Shah and foreign powers, as he put it.

After confirming his intention to return to Iran to establish an "Islamic republican system of government," he stressed the appointment of an interim government as soon as possible to prepare the atmosphere for holding elections for the Constituent Assembly.

After nearly 15 years spent in exile between Iraq and France, Khomeini returned on February 1, 1979 to the capital (Tehran) on board an Air France plane, and he was greeted by crowds described as millions of supporters, amid real fears of the rise of the pro-Shah Air Force To destroy the plane as soon as it entered Iranian airspace.

What were the most prominent events that accelerated the fall of the Bakhtiar government and the victory of the Iranian revolution?

Shortly after his return to Tehran, Khomeini considered Shapur Bakhtiar's government "illegitimate" and established the "Islamic Council of Revolution", which in turn chose Mahdi Bazargan - one of the most prominent opponents of the Shah's regime - as the head of the transitional government that began its work parallel to the Bakhtiar government.

Following Khomeini's call for millions of demonstrations in support of the Bazargan government, large numbers of the Shahanshahi armed forces joined the revolutionary forces, and the rift in the royal institutions increased more and more.

This encouraged the revolutionary forces to establish parallel powers to run the country's affairs.

After the intensification of the clashes between the pro-Shah forces and the revolutionary forces, Khomeini’s supporters took control of a number of weapon depots, which brought about a practical development in the increase of armed groups, which surrounded the camps and controlled a number of them.

At the time, the army leadership was forced to adopt neutrality, ordering the soldiers to return to their barracks and abandon the Bakhtiar government.

After the supporters of the revolution took control of the radio and television, the famous Evin prison, the headquarters of the intelligence, police and gendarmerie, the Senate and the National Council, the Prime Minister, and a number of other government institutions, Bakhtiar submitted his resignation on February 11, 1979, and disappeared from view for several months, before he He travels to the French capital (Paris).

After Bakhtiar's resignation, the revolutionary forces issued a statement read by cleric Fadlallah Mahallati from Iranian Radio, confirming the victory of the revolution and the joining of the military establishment to the People's Movement.

Supporters of Khomeini took to the street after the Shah's escape (Iranian press)

How did the allies deal with the shah after his fall?

After his arrival in Cairo, the Shah of Iran intended to continue his visit to the United States to receive treatment for lymphoma.

But he was surprised by the flow of winds that his ships did not desire, as his Western allies, led by the American administration, abandoned him.

Although he was pro-Western during the Cold War;

However, he found the path to his European and American allies fraught with political dangers, and was forced to travel between Morocco and the Bahamas, then to Mexico and reach the United States, where he settled for a period at a military base in Texas.

After the Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, and detained 52 members of the US mission’s staff and diplomats, they demanded that Washington hand over the shah in exchange for the hostages ’release.

Although the US administration refused the request;

However, she asked Pahlavi to leave her lands quickly, fearing for her citizens.

When Pahlavi wanted to return to Mexico, he found its doors closed in his face, to settle after it in Panama for a short period, before his asylum in Egypt on March 24, 1979, where his only friend, President Anwar Sadat, was receiving him in Cairo.

On July 27, 1980, the last king of Iran died in Cairo at the age of 60 as a result of lymphoma, where President Anwar Sadat held a military funeral for him, and he was buried in the Al-Rifai Mosque in the Egyptian capital.