Looking back at Mashruteh: late Pahlavi narratives on the Constitutional Revolution

The purpose of this book chapter is that of providing an overview of the official discourse of the late Pahlavi era on the Constitutional Revolution. It will provide insight on how the Shah and the upper elite of the last years of the monarchy in Iran interpreted the aims and legacy of the Revolution, and how the same was subsumed and adopted as a legitimising factor within the state’s own ideological construct of the period, with focus on the Rastakhiz period of 1975-78, when the discourse of the late Pahlavi era was consolidated under the bosom of the single party system. It will rely on speeches and articles made on key occasions, particularly the yearly Constitutional Revolution anniversary celebrations.