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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 briefly nationalized under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh before a coup d'tat brought back foreign firms, and Iran marked the anniversary of 2,500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great.

Fawzia
Dilawar Princess Fawzia of Egypt (born 5 November 1921), a daughter of King Fuad I of Egypt and Nazli Sabri; she also was a sister of King Farouk I of Egypt. They married in 1939 and were divorced in 1945 (Egyptian divorce) and 1948 (Iranian divorce). Together they had one child, a daughter:
 * HIH Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 27 October 1940).

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari
His second wife was Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari (22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001), the only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary, Iranian Ambassador to West Germany, and his wife, the former Eva Karl. They married in 1951, but divorced in 1958 when it became apparent that she could not bear children. Soraya later told The New York Times that the Shah had no choice but to divorce her, and that he was heavy hearted about the decision.

He subsequently indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, a daughter of the deposed Italian king, Umberto II. Pope John XXIII reportedly vetoed the suggestion. In an editorial about the rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic princess", the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, considered the match "a grave danger," especially considering that under the 1917 Code of Canon Law a Roman Catholic who married a divorced person would be automatically, and could be formally, excommunicated.

Farah Diba
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi married his third and final wife, Farah Diba (born 14 October 1938), the only child of Sohrab Diba, Captain in the Imperial Iranian Army (son of an Iranian Ambassador to the Romanov Court in Moscow, Russia), and his wife, the former Farideh Ghotbi. They were married in 1959, and Queen Farah was crowned Shahbanu, or Empress, a title created especially for her in 1967. Previous royal consorts had been known as "Malakeh" (Arabic: Malika), or Queen. The couple remained together for twenty years, until the Shah's death. Farah Diba bore him four children:
 * HIH Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (born 31 October 1960), heir to the now defunct Iranian throne
 * HIH Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 12 March 1963)
 * HIH Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (28 April 1966 – 4 January 2011)
 * HIH Princess Leila Pahlavi (27 March 1970 – 10 June 2001)