AHC/WI: Secular Liberal Democratic Iran

With a POD no earlier than 1919 and no later than 1980, have Iran be a secular and liberal democracy. What would the effects of a liberal democratic Iran on the middle east?
 
Either you can have the Shah be less of a dick or you can have the US not overthrow Mossadegh. The former is easier.
 
No Ayatollah hijacking the revolution. Instead some charismatic socialist comes into power. They first turn their backs to the west (since they supported the Shah) and start warm ties with the Soviet Union. They turn into a Venezuela for a little while. They gather a lot of popular support and the islamists continue to die down because the government developes the countryside and builds homes for the poor and also promotes secularism and even atheism (that's just what socialists do). Just like Venezuela it intially goes good however in the late 80's and early 90's their economic growth slows down. They also lose a lot of support after the Soviet Union collapses. Popular protest happen again and the government implents a market economy and slowly opens up the country. Eventually the socialists get into a scandal and are voted out of power after elections are called because of peaceful protests. The new government (probably some centrist party, supported by the west) implents a real parliamentairy democracy and a liberal constitution with the freedom of speech and religion guaranteed.
 
1919. That leaves out all the fun of the Constitutional Revolution. :p Perhaps an Iranian Soviet Socialist Republic developing post WWI might get you secularization, democracy can come later...
 
Is it possible to keep the British and Soviets from invading Iran in 1941? Maybe more savvy diplomacy by Reza Shah? If so, would that help in any eventual moves towards democracy?
 
Perhaps it's impolite to self-advertise, but my timeline does this. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but toot toot.

Seriously, semi-secular, nominally neutral, multiparty constitutional monarchy.
 
Either the Pahlavis accepted the role of a "strict", European-style constitutional monarch, Mossadegh remained as prime minister of Iran, or in an earlier PoD, a liberal-minded or moderate Qajar Shah appointed Reza Khan Pahlavi as his prime minister.

Tricky, right?
 
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