The 1970s and particularly 1978–9 were times of change in Iran and Afghanistan. In Iran Mohammad Reza Shah was overthrown by the revolution of February 1979. In Afghanistan, Muhammad Daud Khan ousted King Zaher Shah in 1973. Nur Mohammad Taraki assassinated President Daud Khan in a pro-Soviet coup in 1978 and in 1979 another coup by Hafizullah Amin provoked an invasion by Soviet forces and the installation of Babrak Karmal. The political and social events and the conflict that followed in both c…