Iran under the Shah was hardly a bastion of liberty: “In a 1976 document, Amnesty International detailed some of SAVAK's torture practices and stated that the

Iran under the Shah was hardly a bastion of liberty: “In a 1976 document, Amnesty International detailed some of SAVAK's torture practices and stated that the shah's regime was one of the worst human rights violators in the world.” https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/legal-and-political-magazines/human-rights-abuses-shahist-iran https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/legal-and-political-mag... Some argue the excessive repression is what caused the reactionary backlash of the Islamic Revolution (which initially was also supported by liberal democratic and leftist parties as well).