The Wall Street Journal - The 1979 revolution was in large part a reaction to the earlier coup and intervening years.

Regarding Eric S. Edelman and Franklin C. Miller�s �Hostilities With Iran Began in �79� (op-ed, Jan. 9): To be fair, hostilities with Iran can be traced pretty clearly to the U.S.-U.K. orchestrated coup against democratically elected President Mohammad Mosaddegh in favor of Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1953.

The 1979 revolution was in large part a reaction to the earlier coup and intervening years, where the shah crushed internal dissent via the much feared secret police, the Savak, which was established with the help of, among others, the CIA. The Savak tortured and killed thousands of Iranians.

Read more here