Prince Reza Pahlavi (Persian: رضا پهلوی‎, born 31 October 1960) is the last crown prince of the former Imperial State of Iran and current head of the House of Pahlavi. He is the older son of the late Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi. In 1979, Reza Pahlavi left Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution.

Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran, Iran, as eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and Empress Farah Pahlavi. Reza Pahlavi's siblings include his sister Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (12 March 1963), brother Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (28 April 1966 – 4 January 2011), and sister Princess Leila Pahlavi (27 March 1970 – 10 June 2001), as well as a half-sister, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (27 October 1941).

He left Iran at the age of 17 for air force training. He spent a year at Williams College, but was forced to leave because of the turmoil in Iran. With the monarchy overthrown and an Islamic Republic established, Reza Pahlavi did not return to Iran. He received a BSc degree by correspondence in political science from the University of Southern California, because Williams did not offer that option. A jet fighter pilot, Reza Pahlavi completed the United States Air Force Training Program at the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas. In 1980, at the start of the Iran–Iraq War, Pahlavi, a highly-trained fighter pilot, wrote to General Valiollah Fallahi, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, offering to fight in the air force for Iran in the war. The offer was rebuffed.

Amir-Abbas Hoveyda (Persian: امیرعباس هویدا;‎ Amīr `Abbās Hoveyda , February 18, 1919 – April 7, 1979) was an Iranian economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran from January 27, 1965 to August 7, 1977. He was prime minister for 13 years and is the longest serving prime minister in Iran's history. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Mansur's cabinet. He was executed in 1979 after put on trial for treason, financial corruption, killing protesters and dissidents, and running the nation in a dictatorial manner.

Born in Tehran to Habibollah Hoveida (Ayn al-Molk), a seasoned diplomat, most prominent during the latter years of the Qajar dynasty, and Afsar al-Moluk, a descendent of the very royal family the senior Hoveida would serve for much of his adult life. While Hoveida's father had been a Bahá'í, he had left the religion and Hoveida himself was not religious. He was the nephew of Abdol Hossein Sardari, also known as "Schindler of Iran". Because of the responsibilities borne by diplomats such as Ayn al-Molk, the Hoveida family was never fixed in one residence for any prolonged length of time. This nomadic existence is clearly evident in Amir Abbas’ education. Studying in various countries gave Hoveida a unique cosmopolitan flair that would remain being his most enduring characteristic. During the family's stay in Beirut, Lebanon, Hoveida attended Lycée Français, an institution affiliated with the French government. His love for France and its culture are rooted in his tutelage at the lycée. French literary works by the likes of André Gide, André Malraux, Molière, and Baudelaire, captivated the young Hoveida and gave way for his intellectual growth. Some pundits suggest that it was Hoveida's intellectual prowess which initially attracted him into the shah's folds.

Shah Mohammad (1780–1862) was a Punjabi poet who lived during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and is best known for Jangnama— a colossal work that gave an eyewitness account of the First Anglo-Sikh War that took place after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

It was initially thought that Shah Mohammad was from Batala, a steel town in the Gurdaspur district.It took more than a century to establish that Shah Mohammad actually belonged to the border village of Wadala Veeram in the Amritsar district and not Batala.

It was Maula Baksh Kushta, a famous Punjabi critic, who also hailed from Wadala Veeram, who first pointed out that Shah Mohammad belonged to his own village.

A team of researchers in 1973, led by the then Director of the Punjabi Languages Department, visited this village and with the help of revenue records, discovered an old marble slab fixed on the well of Shah Mohammad's house thus proving that the poet did indeed belong to this village.

Wadala Veeram was a Muslim-dominated village which witnessed communal frenzy as the country inched towards the Partition, claiming many Sikh and Muslim lives.

Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavī (Persian: محمدرضاشاه پهلوی, [mohæmˈmæd reˈzɒː ˈʃɒːhe pæhlæˈviː]; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last Shah of Iran. He ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. He was the second and last monarch of the House of Pahlavi of the Iranian monarchy. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held several titles: His Imperial Majesty, Shahanshah (King of Kings, Emperor), Aryamehr (Light of the Aryans) and Bozorg Arteshtārān (Head of the Warriors,Persian: بزرگ ارتشتاران).

Mohammad Reza came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father Reza Shah. During his reign, the Iranian oil industry was nationalized under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, and Iran marked the anniversary of 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great. The Shah's White Revolution, a series of economic and social reforms intended to transform Iran into a global power, succeeded in modernizing the nation, nationalizing many natural resources, and extending suffrage to women.