Iranian Revolution Research Paper

A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically

In the eyes of many Iranians, the Iranian Revolution started before 1979. After the 1953 coup driven by the U.K and U.S ( specifically the C.I.A) the well liked prime minister Dr. Mossadeq was arrested. Reinstated in Mossadeq's place was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, AKA the Shah. The 1979 Revolution was then led by Ayatollah Khomeini who found many problems with the Shah’s rule of Iran, beginning with the Shah’s reform program. Key drivers of the 1979 Revolution were Iranians' growing frustration with economic inequality, the Shah's suppression of political opposition and widespread resentment of the government's close ties to the United States and Britain.

Whilst the discontent that the Iranian citizens felt for their government and their economic situation was a contributing factor in the outbreak of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, it was the growing Western influence in Islamic culture that was the main cause for the revolution. The Iranian/Islamic Revolution refers to the events involving the deposing of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and pro-American government, and the replacement with an anti-Western authoritarian theocracy under the leader of the revolution, the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The revolution was mainly supported by various leftist Islamic organizations and Iranian student movements to firstly, protest against the increasing Westernization of Iran and secondly, it was in

The Iranian revolution of 1978-1979 was a popular uprising in 1978-79 that resulted in the overthrow of the monarch (Shah Palvahi) on April 1, 1979. This led to the establishment of the Islamic republic. It was amazing how the ruling Shah government quickly fell. Before the fall of the Iranian government, the American President (Carter) praised the Iranian government. Many people now know that the CIA put the Shah’s family in power in 1953, overthrowing a popular elected leader.

The Iranian revolution or the 1979 Islamic Revolution refers to an uprising that occurred in Iran between 1978 and 1979 that led to overthrow of Pahlavi Dynasty leading to the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The revolution which began as a democracy movement, ended with establishment of the first Islamic republic in the world and although it may have turned the Iranian state upside down, it become one of the defining 20th Century event. Many believe that the revolution lacked customary causes of a revolution and thus came as a surprise because Iran seemed to enjoy relative prosperity and was experiencing change at a great speed. However, the Iranians seemed unsatisfied with the way its government was run. They

To begin, a few key events that caused the Iranian Revolution must be known to understand the politics and major changes that Satrapi grew up with in Tehran. The Iranian Revolution began on February eleventh, 1979 when the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was succeeded by the Islamic Republic. This took place partly due to an event that occurred about a year earlier; on January ninth, 1978 in the city of Qum,

In the late 1970's, the world was hit with the events of the Iranian Revolution, a movement in which the Shah was overthrown in replacement with Ayatollah Khomeini. Causes for this movement included the economic, political, and socio-economic conditions in Iran before the Revolution. Economically, the Shah's hopes for the country ended up being their downfalls while politically, the Shah's ruling as a dictator prohibited the freedom of the Iranians. Socio-economically, the Shah didn't place much emphasis on religion, angering the majority of the population. The overthrow of the Shah led to the uprise of a religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, a figure supported by many. Unlike advice

In 1979, the United States of America was presented with a situation unlike any before: they received word that their embassy in Tehran, Iran, had been overtaken and all members of the embassy save six were being held hostage by Iranian revolutionaries. The road leading to this climactic period in American and Iranian history led back to almost thirty years of growing anti-American resentment. The Shah and the Supreme Ayatollah of Iran were at odds, creating a power struggle unlike any seen in modern history. The interaction of Western influence and Islamic culture and social structure reacted in an explosive way, culminating in what is now called the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

During Jimmy Carter’s presidency, from 1977 to 1981, the Iran hostage crisis took place. In 1979, young Islamic revolutionaries took more than 60 Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The built up tensions were due the oil interest from western countries especially America after 1953. After the United States feared that the Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh would be getting closer to Moscow, the United States, or more specifically the CIA, overthrew him and put the Shah in his place. The Shah tried using his powers to start economic and social reforms to transform and westernize Iran. There was much disagreement and conflict with Iranian citizens due to the westernizing influence, and an uneven distribution of wealth after 1963.

The Iranian Revolution was an uprising by the common people of Iran who were upset about the doings of their Shah and his government. The Shah’s treatment of his own people can be characterized as unjust and cruel. After all, he severely limited the rights of groups whom he felt threatened his power to rule. He opposed the political rights of religious Shiite groups, which especially enraged Iranians, and led to the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini. The Ayatollah was a religious leader who would overthrow the Shah and establish a proper Islamic State in the nation. Ever since, the so called Islamic Revolution has raised concern over the dangers that Iran may pose to the Western world. Nevertheless, the Iranian Revolution was a progressive movement that reflected the major concerns of Iranians towards corruption in government, all with the intention of removing injustices and enforcing rightful liberties and common needs.

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.

“Because his American-supplied army and his American-trained secret police kept the shah in power, his opponents hated the United States almost as much as they hated their autocratic ruler. The shah’s rule was not one of constant decency” (Carnes and Garraty). From 1977 to 1979, Iran grew more and more unstable, as the Iranian people’s hatred of the shah further intensified. 1977 saw numerous riots, along with both the wounding and even killing of large numbers of the Iranian people. The Iranian people finally rose up against the shah in 1978, by January of the next year the shah was forced to flee. “A revolutionary government headed by a religious leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, assumed power. He that freedom was an enemy of Islam, as well as that Islam condoned terror. Khomeini denounced the United States as the “Great Satan” whose support of the shah, he said, had caused the Iranian people untold suffering” (Carnes and Garraty). Upon his exile, the shah was dying of cancer, after seeking refuge in numerous countries he was finally given refuge in the United States. The Iranian people wouldn’t have it, and began protesting outside the U.S. Embassy demanding the shah be returned, tried, and hanged. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was quickly approaching.

The Iran Hostage Crisis, the beginning of United States interactions with Islamic extremists and economic reform in the middle east lasted from 1979 to 1981. The birth of these extremists lies in the economic policies of the United States and the middle east. The Shah, who was the supreme leader of the nation of Iran, was an ally of the United States for several decades. Despite his support from the U.S. government, he was known as a brutal leader who used excessive force and torture of his people, mostly Iranian students who spoke out against him. After decades of death, torture, abuse and other heinous crimes against humanity, the people of Iran began supporting Ayatollah Khomeini, a fundamentalist. To force events to transpire quicker, students took action by attacking the United States embassy and capturing hostages. These protestors saw the embassy as a physical representation of support for the Shah and his oppressive and cruel regime. The Americans who were working in the embassy on that day were taken hostage. What was suspected as being a relatively short hostage situation

Various factors influenced the 1979 Iranian revolution, but at the core of this significant event was Islamic fundamentalism. The Iranian religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, led this movement to end the thirty-seven-year reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, also known as the Shah of Iran (Diller 1991, p.152). The revolution was a combination of mounting social, economic, political and religious strains. The nation of Iran was never colonized, unlike some of its bordering countries, making its people intolerant of external influences. The Shah had gradually westernized and secularized his country, creating a strong American presence that was being felt

In the early 1950s Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced out of Iran by leftist and Democratic forces and Mohammed Mossedeq was elected as Iran’s new leader (Bowden, 2006, p. 6). In 1953 with strong influence from the British intelligence the Central Intelligence Agency conducted operations that lead to the return of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the shah of Iran which many and in particular Khomeini and his followers holding the hostages believe was a coupe (BBC, 2009). The Shah created and used the SAVAK, secret police, to keep a strong hand on the people until the revolution in 1979(White, 2014, pp. 209). 16 years prior to the revolution in 1961, the Shah exiled the Ruhollah Khomeini, who was a master of Islam to Iraq (PBS, 2013a).