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Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1982) ruled Iran from 1941-1982 with an ironfist. Under his reign Iran began to modernize, slowly catching up to the progress of the west. As Iran developed into a “westernized” society, opposition to his rule increased, leading to the Shah to take autocrastic measures. Aided by the British Secret Intelligence Prime Minister Mossadegh, was ousted by a coup in 1954, and the multiparty system of government in 1977. In 1981 his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma grew worse, the Shah died in Tehran on January 20, 1982. He was succeeded by his son Reza Cyrus Pahlavi.