Contemporary History (Since Qajar till Present Day)       Following an uprising led by the prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh the young shah had to leave the country. Then through a CIA engineered coup returned to power. Naturally he had to maintain a pro-Western foreign policy and an internal policy of economic and social development with Western aid and compatible with Western tastes and trends. Mohammad Reza Shah ruled Iran for over 38 years, until the victory of the Islamic Revolution.   Major Events Since the Start of the Islamic Revolution 1978 Mass demonstrations were put up by the Iranian people in the major cities, notably Tehran, Qom, Tabriz and Esfahan. There were occasional strikes which gradually became more widespread and frequent. On 5th August, Imam Khomeini, who was on exile in Iraq, was forced to leave that country. He moved to Paris from where he guided and led the Islamic Revolution. There were changes of government, one prime minister being replaced by another. On 6th January 1979 the last, Shapur Bakhtiar, came to power 1979 onwards. On 6th January, Bakhtiar became the Shah's last prime minister. Stikes spread and there were confrontations between the Shah's forces and the Revolutionary militia. On 16th January the Shah left Iran. He died in Egypt several months after, having suffered very bad treatment by the Americans, his old friends and aIlies. On 1st February Imam Khomeini arrived in Tehran.     On 10th February Bakhtiar declared martial law but the people disregarded the law according to Imam Khomeini's guidelines. There were bloody street fights and gradually the armed forces joined or surrendered to the people. On 31st March there was a general referendum and aImost unanimously people chose an Islamic Republic for their country. On 2nd December, the Islamic Republic Constitution was approved by the people through another referendum. On 21st September Iraq began his attacks on Iran at a time when Iran was least prepared for a war. It made rapid advances into Iran soon capturing Khorramshahr and Susangerd and approaching Ahwaz. Abadan was sieged and was about to collapse when it was suddenly freed through courageous and daring operations by Iranians: the army, the Revolutionary forces and the people. In a series of military operations, Iran inflicted one defeat after another on the Iraqis. Korramshahr was freed after two years, on 24th May 1982.     The war continued for eight years. Meanwhile, many countries and the United Nations intervened and tried bring about peace between the two countries. On 18th July 1988 Iran finally accepted the UN resolution 598 and made peace with Iraq having regained its territories. On 4th July 1989 Imam Khomeini passed away. Immediately the Council of the Experts appointed Ayatollah Khamenei as the new leader. Hojjatoleslam Rafsanjani became the President replacing Ayatollah Khamenei. On 28th July 1989 the Iranian Constitution was changed and all executive powers and duties were given over to the President rather than the prime minister.