Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ( Irgc )

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.

“The Shah, who had been in exile, contacted the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) put together Operation AJAX to drive Mossadegh from Iran and put himself back in power.” The Shah also followed up on the United States idea and he started a unique police group that was officially called SAVAX. The CIA trained these people and they were not really big fans of the Iranian people. This group had special skills that one police officer normally wouldn’t have, all of the members of SAVAX also had the talent of spying which was used for listening in on the Iranian citizens.

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

Thesis: Iran, because of these events, is in worse condition because of the cultural revolution, poisoned from within, and is the victim of the actions of the western powers.

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

On President Jimmy Carter’s third year as president, the shah of Iran was in deep trouble. Iran had brutal and unpopular policies that many people did not agree with. Revolution broke out in the January of 1979, because many Iranians didn't agree with the shah's ruling. The shah had no support due to his “secret police” that would

The [Bush] administration found it consistently difficult to get the measure of Tehran. Bush depicted it as a “nation held hostage by a small clerical elite that is repressing and isolating its people,” but the reality was far more complex. (482)

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.

As Michael Axworthy states on the back cover of his book, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind, Iran is a “land of contradictions”. As this is true these contradictions is what makes Iran, Iran. Iran today is looked as the pinnacle of the Islamic faith in the form of a Government structure. Since 1979, Iran has been known as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran will continue being an Islamic Republic for centuries to come. Iran has a rich history of intellectuals and scholars. Iran is known for its vibrant culture that dates back longer than the Western Ideals were even conceived. However Axworthy asks a question about Iran and its impact on the world’s history and the current events that we see in Iran today, Axworthy asks “Is Iran an aggressive power, or a victim?” This statement is a true paradox, can Iran be the next Nazi Germany, the next Soviet Union or the next Great Islamic Caliphate or is Iran just fighting to keep its culture alive from a vast array of attacks from foreign entities and internal struggles.

Country that can elected a leader and is able to share power not easy to control, influence, and exploitation, because that society can make decision for themselves and will not except any negative influence from the outside. A powerful leader like Dr. Mossadegh was the obstacle for exploration of Iran from the exploitation from both outsider power and corrupted part of Iranian elite. Young Shah, who always claimed that wants best for Iran and Iranian, simply couldn’t understand what is the importance of Dr. Mossadegh, not only as a powerful leader, but also as the conclusion of Iranians movement for democracy. The act of overthrowing Dr. Mossadegh started soon, the coop under name “Operation Ajax” organized by CIA succeeded, and Iranian were throwing back to

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 revolutionary children of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, Pasadaran, were the poor, marginalized thugs of the Pahlavi era with a huge appetite for violence. They founded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, and became the main tool of oppression in the hands of their Shiite Fuhrer. Over the past three decades, they evolved and built a military-industrial-financial complex. However, they have not limited themselves to the normal economy. They expanded Iran’s underground economy and their own control over it: they built a mafia cartel.

Although America is quick to put the Shah back on the Iranian throne, the recent Iranian turmoil’s teaches the Shah a few lessons. The aftermath of the coup d’état results in the Shah arresting his opponents, dissolving parliament, electing government leaders to do his bidding, and the formation of the Shah's secret police organization called Savak. At first, the Shah uses Savak to eliminate all of his political opponents. Activists are imprisoned, tortured, and executed, and as a result, much of the opposition against the Shah was destroyed. All that were left who opposed the Shah, were waiting for the Ayatollah. The opposition would not re-emerge of a secular one, but religious. The Ayatollah is the main leader of the oppositions, and reveals in 1963 that the Shah's policies are a threat to Islam, and were created by a Jewish and American conspiracy. He is arrested on June 5th. The following days, protesters gather in the streets, and the Shah orders the army to shoot them down. For the first time, the Ayatollah gains national attention. In October, 1964, the Shah makes a deal with the United States, and the Ayatollah is released from jail because he is a religious leader. The Ayatollah continues to preach against the Shah. The deal the Shah has made with the United States, is immunity for Americans in Iran, in exchange for a two hundred million dollar grant to purchase American weapons. The Ayatollah made a case that this deal undermined the

Its nuanced precursors that date back to the economic and ideological limitations of the Shah’s nationalization efforts have showed the world how the Islamic Revolution could not only appeal to Iran’s marginalized people but maintain its hold on the populace for decades

Iran, known as Persia until 1935, became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling shah was driven out by a widespread revolution. Also known as the Islamic Republic of Iran, it borders the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and is located between Iraq and Pakistan. It also shares borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan. Iran is roughly 1,648,195 square feet, the eighteenth largest country in the world with a population size of 82,801,633. It is governed as a theocratic republic, which is their legal system based on Islamic law. The judiciary system of Iran follows some aspects of Sharia law, but is also mixed with civil law that is authorized and overseen by Parliament. Alongside Parliament is their president, Hassan Ruhani, who has held office since August 2013, however; the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is at the very top of Iran’s configuration of power. Khamenei controls Iran’s domestic and foreign policies, serves as commander in chief of their armed forces, and directs the republic’s intelligence and security operations. Iran’s economy is characterized by its reliance on oil and gasoline exports. Their Gross National Income is 1.209 trillion per capita (PPP). Petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, and copper are some of their largest natural resources and their biggest export is petroleum (80%) to China, India, Turkey, and Japan. Industrial supplies, capital goods, and technical services from the UAE, China,