http://www.vintag.es/2014/09/pictures-of-tehran-iran-ca-1960...
The problem with all this is if it achieves escape velocity then it can take a long long time to undo the damage. We're almost four decades into Iran being an Islamic state and I wonder how that would have all ended if there had not been so much meddling in Iran and Iraq (and less money flowing to the house of Saud).
Quite possibly Iran (then Persia) would have been a real powerhouse in the region, highly educated citizenry and vast natural resources.
Very appropriate that the US had a huge hand to play in dislodging the normalcy of life in both of these places.
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-340480...
Here is Ethiopia for instance:
http://addisairport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/addisabab...
Highrises are simply a function of the price of ground in cities going up dictating more use per square unit of area.
And FWIW the roots of most of our civilizations lie in the Arab world, at some point in time those regions were the moderns and our regions were backwards.
To directly answer your question: Major cities like that have existed all over the globe for many centuries, the 'modern' look as you call it was most likely inspired by looking abroad but that has never stopped anybody from imitation.
Turkey was well underway to becoming a very modern state, Iran ditto. All this long before we began propping up the Shah and destabilizing the region around Turkey. The meddling began roughly around the time oil became important and really took off after World War II, in part accelerated because of the cold war.
Yes, Islamic fundamentalism is the anomaly, and it would not nearly be as powerful as it is without the CIA and the Saudi's funding and arming their initial round.
Let's just use this as an example, from the website you linked to above: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yOvi_Hupn0M/VA34gNyV1DI/AAAAAAAA8R...
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Do you think that kind of thing was "normal" for the Islamic middle east?
Turkey was well underway to becoming a very modern state
The temporary modernization of Turkey was a result of having rulers and elites who looked to the west to copy their success. It was absolutely not a result of a popular movement. Modernization was not supported by the bulk of the population at any point in time.
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZIqdrFeFBk