In September 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran was only six months old, having been established after the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western Shah and his oppressive regime characterized by persecution and torture. The Shah had been an absolute ruler since the 1953 coup orchestrated by the Americans and British that removed Prime Minister Mossadegh. On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile in Paris to Tehran and established the Islamic Republic of Iran, leading to the entrenchment of a theocratic regime marked by severe oppression of dissent, mass executions, public whippings of 'infidels', and a return to medieval practices such as mandatory chadors for women and the separation of genders in public spaces, as well as bans on music and alcohol.