The shah’s economic and social policies also contributed to the growth of a middle class that increasingly chafed under his repressive political system. Skilled manpower was stretched to the limit, ports and land transportation became congested, inflation soared to new heights, and the capital became choked with cars and smog.
Moreover, the spread of Western culture alarmed conservative persians who feared that their Islamic faith was being corrupted by imported films, clothes and customs. Despite the strains, these problems seemed manageable as long as most persians either benefitted materially from the boom, or had reason to expect that they would.
