Many people visit movie theatres each year in search for an action packed thriller of top secret agents, corrupt governments, world superpowers, attempted assassinations, and large sums of drug money, however, most people are so nave to think this scenario is only the product of someone's imagination. Although this "script- has happened many times before, no clash between nations, nor secret missions have come close to the stirring reality of the Iran-Contra Affair.
In 1921, Reza Pahlavi, an officer in Iran's only military force, used his troops to support a coup against the government of the Qajar Dynasty. Within four years he had established himself as the most powerful person in the country by suppressing rebellions, and gaining powerful allies. In 1925, a special assembly ousted Ahmad Shah, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, and named Reza Pahlavi as the new shah. .
As ruler, Reza Shah tried to avoid any involvement with Britain and the Soviet Union but many of his development projects required foreign technicians but still tried to avoid giving contracts to British and Soviet Companies. Although Britain, through its ownership of the Angelo-Iranian Oil Company, controlled all of Iran's oil resources, Reza Shah preferred to obtain technical assistance from Germany, France, Italy and other European countries. This made problems for Iran after 1939, when Germany and Britain became enemies in World War II. Reza Shah proclaimed Iran was a neutral country, but Britain insisted that German engineers and technicians, who were in Iran, were spies with missions to sabotage the British oil facilities in southwestern Iran. Britain demanded that Iran throw out all German citizens, but Reza Shah refused, claiming it would slow down progress on his projects .
Following Germany's invasion of the USSR in June 1941, Britain and the Soviet Union became allies. Both turned their attention to Iran and saw the newly opened Trans-Iranian Railroad as a route for transportation from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet region.