-
Introduction The study of modern authoritarian regimes invariably necessitates an examination of their internal security apparatuses. In the case of Iran under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1941-1979), the Organization of National Intelligence and Security (SAVAKSAVAK Full Description The secret police and intelligence service of the Shah’s Iran, established with American and Israeli assistance in 1957. SAVAK monitored and suppressed political opposition through surveillance, arrest, torture, and assassination. Its brutality was a significant factor in turning the Iranian population against the Shah’s regime, uniting secular nationalists, Islamists, and Marxists in opposition. SAVAK’s methods became a central grievance of the 1979 Iranian…