The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the monarchical government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was superseded by Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamist cleric who had headed one of the rebel factions, and became the country’s supreme leader.The ousting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, formally marked the end of Iran's historical monarchy.
In 1953, the CIA and MI6-backed 1953 Iranian coup d'état overthrew Iran's prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The coup reinstated Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as an absolute monarch and significantly increased the level of influence of the United States over Iran.
In 1963, the Shah had launched the White Revolution, a top-down modernization and land reform program that alienated many sectors of society, especially the clergy. Khomeini emerged as a vocal critic and was exiled in 1964. However, as ideological tensions persisted between Pahlavi and Khomeini, anti-government demonstrations began in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included communists, socialists, and Islamists. Mass protests were underway. A key turning point occurred on 19 August 1978, when the Cinema Rex fire by Islamic militants killed around 400 people. However a large portion of the public believed it was a false flag operation by SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, to discredit the opposition and justify a crackdown, fueling nationwide outrage and mobilization. By the end of 1978, the revolution had become a broad-based uprising that paralyzed the country for the remainder of that year.
On 16 January 1979, Pahlavi left Iran for exile, leaving his duties to Iran's Regency Council and Shapour Bakhtiar, the opposition-based prime minister. On 1 February 1979, Khomeini returned, following an invitation by the government; several million greeted him as he landed in Tehran. By 11 February, the monarchy was brought down and Khomeini assumed leadership while guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed Pahlavi loyalists in armed combat. Following the March 1979 Islamic Republic referendum, in which 98% approved the shift to an Islamic republic, the new government began drafting the present-day constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Khomeini emerged as the absolute supreme leader of Iran in December 1979.
The revolution was fueled by widespread perceptions of the Shah's regime as corrupt, repressive, and overly reliant on foreign powers, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, at the expense of Iran's sovereignty and cultural identity. However others perceived the revolution's success as unusual, since it lacked customary causes of revolutionary sentiment, e.g. defeat in war, financial crisis, peasant rebellion, or disgruntled military. It occurred in a country experiencing relative prosperity, produced profound change at great speed, and resulted in a massive exile that characterizes a large portion of Iranian diaspora, and replaced a pro-Western secular but authoritarian monarchy with an anti-Western Islamic republicInternational Journal of Middle East Studies 19, 1987, p. 261 based on the concept of (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), straddling between authoritarianism and totalitarianism. In addition to declaring the destruction of Israel as a core objective, post-revolutionary Iran aimed to undermine the influence of Sunni leaders in the region by supporting Shi'ite political ascendancy and exporting Khomeinist doctrines abroad. In the aftermath of the revolution, Iran began to back Shia militancy across the region to expand its influence in the Arab world, seeking to establish an Iranian-led Shia political and military order in the Middle East.
Names
While the name "Iranian Revolution" is common, it is also referred to as the , the or the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Background (1891–1977)
Reasons advanced for the revolution and its populist, nationalist, and later Shia Islamic character include:
A backlash against forced Westernization and imperialism; The 1953 Iranian coup d'état; A rise in expectations created by the 1973 oil revenue windfall; An overly ambitious economic program; Autocratic Rule; Anger over a short, sharp economic contraction in 1977–1978; and Other shortcomings of the previous regime.
The Shah's regime was seen as oppressive, brutal, corrupt, and lavish by some of the society's classes at that time. It also suffered from functional failures that brought economic bottlenecks, shortages, and inflation. The Shah was perceived by many as beholden to—if not a puppet of—a non-Muslim Western power (i.e., the United States) whose culture was affecting that of Iran. At the same time, support for the Shah may have waned among Western politicians and media—especially under the administration of US President Jimmy Carter—as a result of the Shah's support for OPEC petroleum price increases earlier in the decade.Cooper, Andrew Scott. 2011. The Oil Kings: How the US, Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East. Simon & Schuster. . When President Carter enacted a human rights policy which said that countries guilty of human rights violations would be deprived of American arms or aid, this helped give some Iranians the courage to post open letters and petitions in the hope that the repression by the government might subside.
The revolution that substituted the monarchy of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with Islam and Khomeini is credited in part to the spread of the Shi'a version of the Islamic revival. While often described mainly as a religious revolt, the revolution also grew from a mix of nationalist goals, political populism, and religious radicalism. It resisted westernization and saw Ayatollah Khomeini as following in the footsteps of the Shi'a Imam Husayn ibn Ali, with the Shah playing the role of Husayn's foe, the hated tyrant Yazid I. Other factors include the underestimation of Khomeini's Islamist movement by both the Shah's advisors—who considered them a minor threat compared to the Marxists and Islamic socialists—and by the secularist opponents of the government—who thought the Khomeinists could be sidelined.
Tobacco Protest (1891)
At the end of the 19th century, the Shi'a clergy (ulama) had a significant influence on Iranian society. The clergy first showed itself to be a powerful political force in opposition to the monarchy with the 1891 Tobacco protest. On 20 March 1890, the long-standing Iranian monarch Nasir al-Din Shah granted a concession to British Major G. F. Talbot for a full monopoly over the production, sale, and export of tobacco for 50 years.Keddie, Nikki. 1966. Religion and Rebellion in Iran: The Tobacco Protest of 1891–92. Frank Cass. p. 38. At the time, the Persian tobacco industry employed over 200,000 people, so the concession represented a major blow to Persian farmers and bazaaris whose livelihoods were largely dependent on the lucrative tobacco business. The boycotts and protests against it were widespread and extensive as result of Mirza Hasan Shirazi's fatwa (judicial decree).Lambton, Ann (1987). Qajar Persia. University of Texas Press, p. 248 Within two years, Nasir al-Din Shah found himself powerless to stop the popular movement and cancelled the concession.Mottahedeh, Roy. 2000. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. Oneworld. p. 218.
The Tobacco Protest was the first significant Iranian resistance against Shah and foreign interests, revealing the power of the people and the ulama influence among them.
Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911)
The growing dissatisfaction continued until the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a parliament, the National Consultative Assembly (also known as the Majlis), and approval of the first constitution. Although the constitutional revolution was successful in weakening the autocracy of the Qajar regime, it failed to provide a powerful alternative government. Therefore, in the decades following the establishment of the new parliament, a number of critical events took place. Many of these events can be viewed as a continuation of the struggle between the constitutionalists and the Shahs of Persia, many of whom were backed by foreign powers against the parliament.
Reza Shah (1921–1941)
Insecurity and chaos that were created after the Constitutional Revolution led to the rise of General Reza Khan, the commander of the elite Persian Cossack Brigade who seized power in a coup d'état in February 1921. He established a constitutional monarchy, deposing the last Qajar Shah, Ahmad Shah, in 1925 and being designated monarch by the National Assembly, to be known thenceforth as Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty.
There were widespread social, economic, and political reforms introduced during his reign, a number of which led to public discontent that would provide the circumstances for the Iranian Revolution. Particularly controversial was the replacement of Islamic laws with secular Western ones and the forbidding of traditional Islamic clothing, separation of the sexes, and veiling of women's faces with the niqab. Police forcibly removed and tore the chadors off women who resisted his ban on the public hijab.
In 1935, dozens were killed and hundreds injured in the Goharshad Mosque rebellion. During the early rise of Reza Shah, Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi founded the Qom Seminary and created important changes in seminaries. However, he would avoid entering into political issues, as did other religious leaders who followed him. Hence, no widespread anti-government attempts were organized by the clergy during the rule of Reza Shah. The future Ayatollah Khomeini was a student of Sheikh Abdul Karim Ha'eri.
Anglo-Soviet invasion and Mohammad Reza Shah (1941–1951)
In 1941, an invasion by allied British and Soviet troops deposed Reza Shah, who was considered friendly to Nazi Germany. They installed his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as Shah. Iran remained under Soviet occupation until the Red Army withdrew in June 1946.
The post-war years were characterized by political instability, as the Shah clashed with the pro-Soviet Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam, the communist Tudeh Party grew in size and influence and the Iranian Army had to deal with Soviet-sponsored separatist movements in Iranian Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan.
Mosaddegh and The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (1951–1952)
From 1901 on, the British Owned Anglo-Persian Oil Company (renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935), enjoyed a monopoly on the sale and production of Iranian oil. It was the most profitable British business in the world. Most Iranians lived in poverty while the wealth generated from Iranian oil played a decisive role in maintaining Britain as a preeminent global power. In 1951, Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh pledged to throw the company out of Iran, reclaim the petroleum reserves and free Iran from foreign powers.