Iranian Revolution

This continued to exacerbate the gap between the social classes of Iran. The main reason for the Shah’s confidence in bringing his people prosperity was the mass amount of revenue Iran was generating from Oil. The nationalization of Iran’s oil in the fifties meant increased profits for the nation. Iran’s economy was growing exponentially; its GDP was five times higher in 1976 than it was in 1960 (Clawson, p.15). Islamic modernists, such as Marxist Mujaheddin-e-Khalq, opposed the Shah’s capitalist economic policies (Diller 1991, p.152). There were several other groups that were not pleased with the Shah’s growing focus on economic growth, including the ulemas (councils composed of local Mullahs or respected religious leaders) (Sanders 1990, p.66). These ulemas possessed considerable local influence, as they were in charge of the educational systems and had influence over the urban poor and bazaar merchants (Diller 1991, p.152). In the midst of all that was going on in Iran, Khomeini lived in exile in Paris. The Ayatollah however, was well informed, and managed to sneak tapes into the country to his supporters and the local ulemas. These tapes spread the word of Islamic fundamentalism to these groups that opposed that Shah, and gave them a binding power that eventually would be the revolution of February 1979. Not long, Khomeini had

Iran was now unprotected, and a new power came into being. The Arabs invaded and the quality of life changed. “People fell into poverty as the greedy court imposed ever-increasing taxes. Tyranny tore apart the social contract between ruler and ruled that Zoroastrian doctrine holds to be the basis of organized life” (21). The Iranian people couldn’t survive with a ruler who had no sympathy or respect for them. Their life was being over run by foreigners.

With the shah still sick, it was hard to manage what was back in Iran. The speed of change in Iran was too hard to get command. “The shah was in trouble, reaping the harvest of years of brutal and unpopular policies, including the use of secret police that controlled dissent with arbitrary arrests and torture.” It was obvious that the shah had lost all control of his people of Iran, but the president had hoped for an alliance of opponents to be formed. A man

Shi’ite Islam was, and still is, the prominent ideology for Iran’s citizens, and its deep history suggests how their government should be run differently from that of the Shah. Shi’ite Islam places the legitimacy of power on the Imam, totally independent of state (Elwell-Sutton, 393). The religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini should take charge of the country instead of the Shah because Khomeini’s authority would be based off of religion. Shi’ite thinking says that religious power (true justice) will always be in conflict with the

At the time of the 1953 coup, oil revenues were less than 34 million. But by 1977 oil revenue was at over 20 billion. This big leap in oil revenue led to the increase of people in the middle class. In 1953, the middle class was only 5.4% of the labor force but by 1977 the modern middle class formed 6.7% of the labor force in Iran. The expansion of the middle class is impressive, except the Shah administration did not form a good relationship with these people. The Shah put in place policies that benefited the upper class instead of the middle and lower classes (the people that do all the work). Furthermore, Structural Causes of the Iranian Revolution, by Ervand Abrahamian (May, 1980) continues to talk about the importance of the middle class in Iran. The strongest piece of the middle class in Iran were the bazaars, who accounted for two thirds of the retail trade in Iran. From 1953 to 1975 the regime’s policy was very relaxed towards the bazaars and the bazaars were successful. But in 1975 due

The Iranian Revolution Iran is a country located in the Middle East. The main source of income for the country is oil, the one object that had greatly influenced its history. Iran 's present government is run as an Islamic Republic. A president, cabinet, judicial branch, and Majilesor or legislative branch, makes up the governmental positions. A revolution that overthrew the monarch, which was set in 1930, lasted over 15 years.

The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution of 1979 took place in Iran. It is when Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi the emperor of Iran during that time, was overthrown by the revolutionary forces led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and thereafter established the Islamic National Republic of Iran. The Iranian Revolution brought a big change into the international community and how it viewed revolutions. As Iran’s revolution lacked many of the fundamental causes that were though to give rise to revolutions. It was unusual in the sense that it had no ‘agrarian’ pattern. As the traditional social structure was maintained after the revolution and it reinstated old structure as the Muslim clergy came into power. To understand what led to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, we need to look back into the Iranian history and the timeline leading up to the revolution. In doing so, we can use the psychological theories of revolution and structural- functionalist theories of revolution in order to analyses and explain the cause of the Iranian Revolution.

The perception of the Iranian Revolution In 1979 the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution, leaving the Ayatollah to take charge of the country. The Shah was very westernized and he focused on pleasing Western countries, he did things to benefit such countries in order to become friends with them and he wanted Iran to become like them. He even gave the U.S and the U.K the “keys” to the oil fields which was a key aspect of Iran’s economy at the time. On the other hand the Ayatollah was very restrictive and conservative, he wanted Iran to be a very religious place where everyone had to follow very precise and stricts rules.

The Iranian Revolution was its climax in 1979 with the Revolutionary goal being met by its supports. Supporters of the revolution stood mixed in their goals for a new Iran. The Islamic Extremist lead by Ayatollah Khomeini wanted to install an Islamic regime inside of Iran that would follow Islamic law. Religious clerics viewed the Shah as not being a positive leader of Iran and wanted him overthrown and the country left as is. Iranians such as the middle class and students wanted to install an Islamic republic in place up the autocratic monarchical society which the Shah created. All of these groups came together to follow Ayatollah Khomeini under the presence of overthrowing the Shah himself. Needless to say Ayatollah Khomeini overthrow the Shah but, he installed his Islamic regime in Iran and the other groups’ views of government that helped where ignored. Marjane starts Persepolis with the overthrow of the Shah from power in Iran. Her parents being protestors supporting the overthrow of the Shah she had a unique view of the ordeal in Iran. Her comic book Persepolis covers many issued faced by her, her family, and the Iranians themselves. This essay is about fact checking those facts with legitimate sources from scholarly journals and books. The controversies of the Iranian revolution events of 1979 are valid in Persepolis, which are by the failure of the Shah to deliver economic prosperity, close ties to the United States and Britain because of the oil, and eventual

Iran has always, it seems, been the breeding ground for some kind of political upheaval or another. In recent times, back in 1979, there was a major revolution which was, in some ways, similar to the revolution we are seeing today. The people were angry and they were tired of being controlled by the government that was in power. They had concrete ideals and were incredibly passionate about their revolution. The revolution Iran is experiencing today does not appear to be quite as passionate and does not appear to maintain a belief in any real solid political system. They just know they want something different. In the following paper we present an illustration of the current revolution that is taking

The emergence of the Islamic Republic in late 1970’s Iran demonstrates how middle class Iranian people purged themselves of the Pahlavi Dynasty in an effort to continue down a more righteous and egalitarian path. As a result, the country underwent a complete social upheaval and in its place grew an overtly oppressive regime based in theoretical omnipotence. In response to this regime, the very structure of political and social life was shaken and fundamentally transformed as religion and politics became inexorable. As a result, gender roles and the battle between public and private life were redrawn. Using various primary and secondary sources I will show how the Revolution shaped secular middle class Iranians. Further, I will show how the

In order to understand ideology in Iran, placing constituents of the ideological aspects on a spectrum accentuates an established left and right. Specifically, a labeled representation of said spectrum includes: modernization and Westernization on the left, Islam as moderate, and Islamic fundamentalism on the far right. To demonstrate the ideological spectrum described above, the historical context of Iran, generally speaking, symbolizes ideological shifts in society throughout the 1900’s. Beginning with Reza Shah’s administration, politics began to shift middle left in proportion of non traditional Western influence and providing Women with more rights and opportunities. Throughout Reza Shah’s period, abolishment of the chador, readily increased

However, the ideas had already spread throughout the Iranian people and religious protesting escalated continuously. People’s ideas of recreating a religious based government persisted to an unstoppable level. Khomeini, whom many protesters felt to be a hero, said in a speech in 1979, “Do not try to westernize everything you have! Look at the West, and see who the people are in the West that present themselves as champions of human rights and what their aims are. Is it human rights they really care about, or the rights of the superpowers? What they really want to secure are the rights of the superpowers. Our jurists should not follow or imitate them” (Ayatollah Khomeini: speech on the uprising of Khurdad 15, 2010). Based on this quote, the “voice” of the protesting Iranians was that westernization was not a good thing because the west does not care for human rights and freedoms of the lesser powers in the world and that the way to change for the better is to impose the Islamic values that already existed into society. In January of 1979, the Shah fled the country under the pressure of the people and Khomeini returned to Iran to be greeted as a hero (Bentley & Ziegler, n.d., p. 1117). Fighting erupted between Khomeini’s supporters and remaining military officials and on the eleventh of February the government fell. On the first of April, Khomeini proclaimed the beginning of the new Islamic republic (Islamic

This book, “Iran Awakening”, is a novel written by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi weaves the story of her life in a very personal and unique way, telling the account of the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of a new, religious fundamentalist regime in which opposition to the government are imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. By simply reading the Prologue, one can see the love Ebadi has for Iran and her people. This love that Ebadi has for the oppressed of Iran is a theme that appears throughout the book and seems to be a large factor behind her drive to stand up for those who cannot stand up for

The main actors of the revolution were Mohamed Bouazizi, young cyber activists, young unemployed generation, and civil society group including trade union movement, lawyers, and opposition parties that joined as the conflict escalated.