20th Century middle Eastern Issues

Iranian Revolution

Iranian RevolutionLib.utexas.edu 2004

Iranian Revolution

CIA.gov

Iranian Revolution

CIA.gov

Iranian RevolutionBackground

-Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980)

supported and put in power by the CIA in 1953

-Why? What was happening in 1953?

Cold War

Iranian RevolutionMuhammad Musaddiq

Opposed to Reza Pahlavi

Wants to end Britain’s control of Iran’s oil. He was ousted in 1953.

Ibtauris.com

Iranian RevolutionReza Shah Pahlavi

(1919-1980)

Why was he so disliked?

Between 1953 and 1963 poverty remained among the Iranian people the gap between the rich and poor grew.

Iran was oligarchy of one thousand families. One of the great landowners was the Shah (king), Muhammad Reza Pahlavi.

Secularism increased and the power and influence of Shia scholars decreased.

The Shah allied himself with secularists in conflict with Muslims who held traditionalist values on such matters as tobacco, alcohol, movies, gambling and foreign dress.

Pahlavi.org

Iranian RevolutionAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

(1900-1989)

Why was he so influential?

-learned Shiite legal expert

-Against American influences. He

bans music, movies and

women’s rights while in power.

-Sets up a theocracy or rule

by religion.

-Muslims become skeptical about

Western models of economic

development

Globalsecurity.org

Iranian RevolutionAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989)

How does he gain power?

-Reza Pahlavi bans Khomeini in 1962

-Khomeini stays in An Najaf in Iraq for fifteen years.

-He is expelled in 1977 because he is a Shi’ite.

-Shah Reza Pahlavi relaxes censorship laws in 1977, the

writings of Khomeini begin to circulate.

-January 9, 1978, student protests the visit by President

Jimmy Carter, strikes ensue

-Shah steps down on January 16, 1979.

Iranian RevolutionFedaiyan-e Islam

Some discontented Muslims formed an underground group called the Fedaiyan-e Islam. They tried to assassinate the Shah's prime minister. The Shah responded by repressing the Fedaiyan-e Islam and executing a few of its members.

Iranian RevolutionMarch 22, 1963

The Shah launched an effort to modernize Iran economically and socially. He sought to balance his increase in power with reforms that would win more favor from common Iranians. The Shah announced that his reforms would take Iran into the jet age while the mullahs wanted to remain "in the age of the donkies.”

In the holy city of Qom, theological students who were agitating against a scheduled opening of liquor stores were attacked by the Shah's security agents – SAVAK. The disturbance spread to students in the city of Tabriz. There and in Qom, according to some, government forced killed hundreds.

Iranian RevolutionSAVAK and Martial Law

Ayatollah Khomeini was arrested on June 5, 1963 which caused anti-government demonstrations and rioting in a variety of cities. The Shah declared martial law. Khomeini went into exile, Khomeini settled in a Shiite community in southern Iraq. From Iraq, Khomeini continued his attacks on the Shah, sending into Iran pamphlets and tape recordings.

Iranian RevolutionReform and Censorship Laws

From 1963 and into the seventies, the Shah struggled to modernize Iran – with help from the U.S.,

The Shah accepted Israel and foreign policy strategists saw him as a stabilizing force in the Middle East.

With U.S. help, Iran laid plans for a proliferation of atomic power plants, and the new economic development included the introduction of new fertilizers and pesticides.

Between 1963 and 1967 Iran's economy rose dramatically. Oil production boomed, producing an abundance of cash for Iran. Steel mills rose from 1,902 in 1963 to 7,989 in 1977. There were also new oil refineries, aluminum smelters, machine tool factories and new tractors, trucks and automobiles. Public education improved dramatically, as did public health services.

Iranian RevolutionReform and Censorship Laws

Shah continued his repression against clerics hostile to his modernization. In 1966 he established book censorship, with police agents raiding mosque libraries. In 1967 new laws gave women the right to apply for divorce without the husband's permission, a man had to secure his wife's consent before taking a second wife, and legal matters involving families were transferred from religious to secular courts.

Iranian RevolutionPresident Carter

In 1977, Jimmy Carter became President and put human rights into his foreign policy agenda. The Carter administration suggested that if Iran did not improve its human rights record, aid, including military assistance, might be terminated.

Scu.edu

Iranian RevolutionIran Timeline

June 6, 1963 Martial law ordered as riots follow the arrest of Ayatollah Khomeini.

January 16, 1979 Shah leaves the country after turmoil and heads to Egypt.

February 1, 1979 Revolutionary forces under Khomeini seize power after his

return to the country (He had gone into exile after arrest in

1963).

March 31, 1979 Referendum approved the establishment of an Islamic republic

with Khomeini in de facto control.

April 7, 1979 Prominent Iranians executed.

Nov. 4, 1979 Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran and held sixty-

six occupants hostage, demanding the return of the shah from the

U.S. After the shah's death in 1980 in Egypt, an agreement was

negotiated that freed the hostages on 20 January 1981.

December 2, 1979 Khomeini became absolute ruler for life.

July 27, 1980 The Shah dies

November 1980 The First Gulf War broke out between Iran and Iraq.

Iranian Revolution

Iranian Revolutionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY0ixG94cHE

Iranian Revolution

Iranian Revolutionhttp://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php

Iranian Revolution

Iranian Revolution BBChttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/middle_east_the_iranian_revolution/html/1.stm

Iranian RevolutionU.S. Hostages

Students seized the U.S. embassy on November 4, 1979. Khomeini wavered at first but then gave the students his support. Khomeini called the United States the "Great Satan" and the U.S. embassy a "den of spies." Prime Minister Bazargan and his cabinet resigned on the 6 th following the hostage taking. Iran expected U.S. deliver to Iran the Shah as an exchange for freeing the hostages.

Iranian RevolutionIran Iraq War

1980-1988

Iranian Revolution