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Beginning in October, 1977, following the death of Mostafa Khomeini, large scale protests against the Shah Mohammad Pahlavi began. The unpopularity of Pahlavi would only increase from there, and the Shah's complacency and refusal to deal with the revolution ultimately lead to his overthrow and the establishment of the Islamic Iranian Republic.
According to the Wikipedia page on the Iranian Revolution, "Another scholar, sociologist Charles Kurzman, argues that, rather than being indecisive or sympathetic to the revolution, the Carter administration was consistently supportive of the Shah and urged the Iranian military to stage a 'last-resort coup d'etat' even after the regime's cause was hopeless." So, what if the Iranian military recognized early on the very real rising threat of Islamic fundamentalists, and removed Pahlavi from power? Who would likely succeed the Shah? What would be the impact on Iran going forward, and could the revolution be avoided altogether?