The last Shah wasn't the last in some sort of long dynasty that ruled Iran. His da d founded the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925. He lead a military coup using Cossack troops. Originally he wanted establish a republic, but the British pushed him to the fake monarchy idea. So forget the idea that the revolution overthrew 5000 years of history, when in fact it got rid of a nasty autocratic father and son gig. The role of the Mullahs in Iran is much older than 1979. Trouble first started in 1890, when a secret deal was hatched to give a monopoly of tobacco production to the British. This enraged people when it was leaked out, leading to the assasination of a Shah. The Shahs were leading an increasingly decadent lifestyle, culminating in a full on coup when the Shah started charging tariffs to pay for his holiday in Russia.. There was a Merchant class uprising , with the clerics joining them. Things went a bit turbo after that, with government cossacks committing massacres, before Shah Qajar giving in with the 1906 Constitution, moving Iran to a Constitutional Monarchy, with democracy of a sort. It lead to the Shah not really understanding the point of a Parliament, dissolving it because he didn't like it. in 1909, another coup, and the Shah's son was installed. The new Shah tried his best when he came of age, but WW1 happened, Britain and the Russians fought the Ottomans over Iran, then the Soviets. The Shah was pretty powerless with the Soviets running the hinterland. One of his colonels sent him off into exile. This colonel, Reza Khan, established the fake Pahlavi dynasty. It was the Majis, the parliament formed after 1906 that was made up of merchants and clerics, that proclaimed him Shah. As for the nonsense the Mullahs are anti-history, and somehow, like the Sunni Taliban, are intent in destroying pre-Islamic artworks. Not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Cultural_Heritage,_Tourism_and_Handicrafts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Iran https://www.synotrip.com/hmdliven/here-are-some-pre-islam-tourist-attractions-iran Yes, there is repression of modern artists. But that's not unique to Iran. Try being an artist in Saudi Arabia. You won't get far.
