If the Shah would have stayed in power, Iran would likely be a democracy today. In spite of his flaws he is much better than anything that Middle East or Iran has today perhaps with the exception of Jordan. In any case, he was overthrown not because of his human rights abuses (which have been wildly overexaggerated by the current regime in Iran) but because he was promoting silly "western" ideas like women's rights, etc. Needless t say, this did not go over well with the radicals. Also, I don't think his failing health helped matters much.
Having said that, Carter really f'd upped on Iran and completely misunderstood the intentions of the clerics. That was the beginning of the war that we are currently fighting.
More proof that the Peanut Farmer should have stayed on the range, and out of our safety.