I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1937. I lived in Iran during two different eras, before the revolution and after revolution. Both were under undemocratic rule. Before the revolution in the time of the Shah there was much more freedom. Freedom of religions was allowed and everybody could freely practice their religion. But after the Islamic revolution in 1979 there was much oppression. Restriction came for a group of people like Bahyeis or Jews, but not very much on Christians and by saying Christians mostly Armenians, because we were the largest Christian minority in Iran.
Freedom of the press in the two eras was also like religion. During the Shah's rule well comparably there was much more freedom for the press and media. The latest moving pictures and every kind of moving pictures were coming to Iran immediately after being released from Hollywood. But after the revolution well there was a kind of control over the media and the papers.
Unlike freedom of religion or press there was absolutely no freedom of speech during the Shaw's rule. You couldn't or any party were not allowed too. But again comparing that time to after 1979 the time of Islamic rule there was absolutely noting politically you can say. Especially the leftist who were very much restricted. They were like we have as we say "helbet tuol de" to the party which well in a sense were the communist of Iran. They were very much restricted and banned. They were working and voting under ground kind of.
The biggest difference between the two eras was women's rights. During the time of the Shah they were free. They were given many rights after the 1940's, and they had rights almost equal to men. But after the revolution the Islamic rules and provisions came into effect and women were not as free, and I should say that they were even restricted to how and what to wear, where to go, where not to go, and in what kind of activities they could participate in.
But unlike during the Islamic rule during the Shaw's rule we had a voting system. We had voting and sometimes the government know that who we want to be there and they would put him there. But this was not because the government was working for he people. The government always in Iran was not an entity to the people. They were kind of governing and doing whatever they wanted. At the time of the Shah and after the revolution there are three departments that ruled and govern the country but in the end the final decision makers was the Shah himself and the Mullahs who ruled Iran after the Islamic revolution.
In general corruption, bribery, and torture were part of life in both eras. In Iran the police always used torture as a type of punishment. Especially with the people against the authorities or against the Shah at that time. Or against the Mullahs at this time. There was no mercy. Especially with the government department naming the judicial system and the police and governmental entities and organizations. This also allowed a lot of bribery. You could do almost whatever you wanted to do your way, and there was always a big black market, which was open due to bribes, in Iran used especially for importing merchandize and goods from south of the country and Arabic lands.
Cult worship was also very common throughout both eras of rule in Iran. At the time of the Shah there were the picture of the Shah, and his monument, and his statues everywhere. The Shah was on the money and almost everything. Now the picture of the Imam and Khamenei and those mullahs are everywhere. The leaders of both eras were seen as higher people. For instance Khamenei, a head Mullah, was given a kind of a title of being a messenger of God, and the Shah was seen as the only one over everything and everyone else during his rule.