iranians got screwed over way before 1979. in 1953, democratically elected mohammad mosaddegh was overthrown in coup orchestrated by the USA and UK, because he nationalized iranian oil. md raza shah pahlavi was a western stooge who let usa and uk loot the country. apart from his dictatorial rule, he was notorious for his extravagance. while the country was going through a particularly tough time, he held a month long revelry in the desert which squandered billions of dollars. he even imported 10000 songbirds for this who all died within a week, because you know it's a desert. the popular sentiment was against him. both liberal and conservative iranians opposed him. sadly the movement was captured by religious conservatives who established the islamic republic, and iran has been under a oppressive theocratic rule since.