Occupation of Iran in World War 2

Foreseeing the danger, or perhaps motivated by a simple desire for power, Colonel Reza Khan overthrew the Persian government in 1921, concluding an agreement with the USSR, which left some room for Russian Communist forces to operate on Iranian soil.  However, those were only meant to be applicable against ‘white Russian’ forces.  With this breathing space, Khan soon made himself the new Shah in 1926, taking the name of Pahlavi.  The Shah, as we will now refer to him, launched a program of rapid modernisation and industrialisation.  He crushed the power of the Islamic judges and priests, ordered the adoption of European style dresses and began a massive reorganisation.