On January 16, 1979, the shah of Iran left the country he had ruled for more than 37 years. The streets of Tehran, Iran’s capital, filled with celebration as the news spread that the hated monarchy had been overthrown. The revolution in Iran, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was sparked by many factors, including a widening gap between the different classes of Iranian society, an aggressive campaign of modernization, an ambitious program of land reform, and the brutality of the shah’s oppressive regime. In The Iranian Revolution, read about how the revolution’s role in propelling Iran from a monarchy to a theocracy dramatically altered life in Iran, and how its aftermath continues to shape the politics of the Middle East today.