Forty years ago, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spearheaded an Islamic Revolution that deposed Iran's shah. The country's authoritarian monarchy was replaced by a repressive theocracy, and almost overnight, Iran was transformed from a crucial U.S. ally to bitter foe.
In Pictures: Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution
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A demonstrator lifted from the ground by a soldier after being clubbed by a stick-wielding army officer (left) during a skirmish in Tehran on January 14, 1979.
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More than 100,000 people gathered outside Tehran's Bazaar Mosque on January 15, 1979. Troops stood by as demonstrators showered them with flowers and kisses while chanting "Long Live Khomeini" and "Death to the Shah."
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Iran's Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his wife, Empress Farah, walk on the tarmac at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran to board a plane on January 16, 1979. The Shah left Iran for what was officially a vacation. Many Iranians rejoiced with chants of "The Shah is gone!" The man who had ruled the country for 37 years would never return from exile, dying some 13 months later.
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A toppled statue of the Shah in a Tehran traffic circle on January 18, 1979.