The Purpose Of The United Nations

Hello, everyone. I am William Andel, representing the United States of America on a important matter. Many people feel the need for a change. This is not just a simple change,either; it is an international change. Everywhere in the world, people are ravaged by war and suffering. Everyone would like to snuff that out, I’m sure, but the UN is at the forefront of this change. Why have we ignored the countries that have reached out to help?

British leaders would not concede anything but the remainder of the status quo, and Iran wanted nothing but nationalization. A British attempt to calm down the nationalist feelings in the Majlis, the Iranian congress, and their demand to revoke the company’s concession was the Supplemental Treaty of 1949. This did not go over well with the Iranians because it “did not … offer Iranians any greater voice in the company’s management or give them the right to audit the company’s books.” The citizenry did not fall for it and protested. A report completed by Richard Funkhouser, the State Department’s petroleum expert, concluded that “Anglo-Iranian was … genuinely hated in Iran.” When Razmarah was prime minister in 1950 “he asked that Iran have the right to inspect the books of the company; … that Iranian personnel in the company be increased; that oil sold in Iran be priced on cost; … and that Iran be informed of where its oil was being sold,” but the British would not concede. By the end of 1952, “it had become clear that the Mossadegh government in Iran was incapable of reaching an oil settlement.” In 1952 Mossadegh ended diplomatic relations with the British expelling all British agents. If negotiations would have agreed to a Marshall Plan for Iran, or if the United States could have sent

The Pahlavi dynasty in Iran lasted from 1925-1979. In 1925 Reza Shah Pahlavi was appointed and reined until 1941 when his son Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi succeeded him after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was considered pro – Western, who worked closely with many U.S. Presidential administrations. In 1951 the European educated Mohammed Mosadegh, Prime Minister of Iran wanted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry. This political, economic and ideological conflict resulted in Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi being forced into exile for a short period of time. Mosadegh’ s policies would have adversely affected the British and American governments who had previously been in control of Iran’s oil. Therefore the Intelligence

Mossadegh was eventually forced to resign by the British. Iranians were upset about this because they admired Mossadegh for his dedication to social reform (Kinzer 140). It wasn’t too long before Iranian people begged for Mossadegh’s return and was reelected, showing he’s a suited leader for Iran (Kinzer 140). The British were still attempting to bring down the National Iranian Oil Company by creating a convert action campaign against Mossadegh (Kinzer 113). This didn’t intimidate Mossadegh nor Iran as they were “ready to accept and even embrace much pain in their sacred cause” (Kinzer 115). This pain was a result of Iran’s economy

“…had a poor grasp of economic realities; he vastly overestimated the importance of Iranian oil production to the world at a time when the market was actually glutted. As a result, he did not realize how easily Britain could block its sale…He also did not take into account that nationalization would deprive Iran of its legitimate claim to investments made by the AIOC…” (The History of Iran—Elton L. Daniel, page 155).

In mid-1953, democratic leader Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran was overthrown in favor of electing General Fazlollah Zahedi the new Iranian Prime Minister. This was caused by a coup led by the British Secret Intelligence Service and the US Central Intelligence Agency, though plans for the coup began in Britain about 2 years before the US became involved. Britain, since the early 18th century, had been very involved in Iranian economic affairs, due to Iranian leader Nasir al-Din Shah selling large chunks of Iranian industry to foreign investors in order to fund his well-known over-exuberance. Of his foreign investors, Britain bought into Iran heavily, purchasing rights to run a telegraph through Iran to India, exclusive rights to tobacco in Iran, and exclusive rights to industry, farmland, resources, roads, banks, and currency in Iran, though the latter would later be revoked (31). This decision to subsequently, over time, led to “control over the nation’s most valuable assets” to be given to foreigners, rather than the Iranian people (32). After Nasir al-Din Shah’s death in 1901, his son Muzzaffar sold the rights to Iranian oil to Britain for 60 years. This decision led to Iranian riots because this would take oil out of Iranian control and Iranian economy would suffer as a result. To combat this, in 1906, Iran formed an Iranian parliament, known as the Majlis, to defend the Iranian people and keep Iran out of poverty. Feeling threatened, Britain stepped in and integrated

The United Nations, often shortened to UN, is an intergovernmental organization, (IGO). The UN’s purpose, as it was originally intended in its creation in 1945, is to “provide a global institutional structure through which states can sometimes settle conflicts with less reliance on the use of force”, as according to our Pearson Revel e-textbook. In the context of the time in which it was created, this purpose was aimed towards preventing another hegemonic/total war from occurring again. The 51 states gathering in San Francisco to create the UN put forward their founding document- the UN Charter. This document, according to Pearson Revel, is based on the principles that states are equal, have sovereignty over their own affairs, enjoy independence and territorial integrity, and fulfill international obligations. The Charter also lays out the structure and the methods of the UN. In this structure is the UN General Assembly, (a body comprising of all current 193 states), the UN Security Council, (a body of five great powers that sit permanently and ten rotating members), the Secretariat, (the UN’s executive branch, led by the Secretary-General), and the World Court, (the judicial branch of the UN).

The Anglo-Persian Agreement followed in 1919, whereby the British gained control of the country's treasury, army, and communications network, enforcing their power by declaring martial law. [add something about the state of the country and how it fueled/surged nationalist resistance] As Marjane's father tells her, it was Reza Khan who, with the assistance of the British, overthrew the corrupt Qajar dynasty and was appointed shah (king). Propelled by the gust of nationalism that had emerged in response to foreign takeover and domestic tumult, Reza worked to curtail outside influence, reform and modernize the country. Nevertheless, he ruled with an iron-fist that ultimately led to his downfall, coming to be severely detested by the populace, succumbing to fascist sympathies during WII, and being forced to abdicate in 1941. Though his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Shah) inherited the throne, Reza's real successor was Mohammad Mossadegh, a statesman of tremendous passion who would come to represent Third World nationalism and go down as one of the most popular figures in Iranian history. "Two central beliefs shaped Mossadegh’s political consciousness. The first was a passionate faith in the rule of law, which made him an enemy of autocracy and, in particular, Reza Shah. The second was a conviction that Iranians must rule themselves and not submit to the will of foreigners." (Kinzer 53) It was in 1949 that Mossadegh, a vocal member of the majlis, formed and became leader of the National Front, an umbrella organization dedicated to fortifying democracy and limiting foreign influence. In a span of two years, the National Front became the governing coalition and Mossadegh was elected prime minister by an overwhelming majority vote. The nationalization of Iran's oil industry came soon after, a vehement backlash against the

led to economic turmoil in Iran, the creation of the SAVAK, and the beginning of westernization. Economically, the main source of income for Iran was oil, which had been rapidly expanding since the 1950’s. However, under Pahlavi’s regime, Iran established foreign oil firms that helped Pahlavi gain the support of the U.S. but threatened his own country’s economy. A boom in oil prices and excessive government spending in the 1970’s led to high rates of inflation and the decrease of Iranian’s buying power. Prior to the shah’s foreign oil reforms, there was a Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddeq, who was an outspoken advocate of nationalism, that almost succeeded in deposing the shah. He promoted national oil firms for the betterment of the Iranian economy, but the shah’s 1953 coup, backed by the U.S. C.I.A., deposed Mosaddeq and brought back foreign oil firms. This coup angered Intellectuals and made Iranians unsure about the shah’s intentions. To somewhat control these uncertainties, the U.S. C.I.A. helped Pahlavi, in 1957, establish the SAVAK, a notorious and efficient secret police which allowed him to control the media and gain even more support from world superpowers. After this, the shah pursued westernization in Iran. He brought in 150,00 foreigners to run high technology industries which diminished the need for urban workers and led to industrialization. Many Iranians were displeased by this. Additionally, Pahlavi led a very secular rule

Reza Shah had plans to modernize Iran while he was the ruler. These plans included developing large-scale industries, implementing major infrastructure projects, building a cross-country railroad system, establishing a national public education system, reforming the judiciary, and improving health care. (Ghasemi) Also, the rate of imports and exports increased, with Germany, the US and the Soviet Union becoming Iran’s primary trading partners. From 1954 to 1960, oil revenues increased rapidly and sustained foreign aid led to greater investment and rapid economic growth. However, inflation increased and the value of the Iranian currency decreased.

The Shah came to power during World War II, when a Soviet invasion forced his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, out of power. However, during his early years, the man with the real power in Iran was Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh nationalised the Iranian oil industries, which was extremely harmful to the global economy and various countries. Thus, the United States and United Kingdom instituted a coup d'etat that dethroned Mosaddegh. It was through this coup d’etat that Mohammad Reza truly gained power and control in Iran, as he was essentially a puppet for the western world’s wishes. Additionally, during Mohammad Reza’s reign, Iran hit its anniversary of 2,500 years of Persian-run monarchy since Cyrus the Great. Both these factors were certainly unsettling to the general Iranian population; however, there was more to

Before the revolution, Shah Reza Pahlavi was the ruler of Iran. Under his leadership power was clustered and concentrated among his close allies and networks of friends and others with whom he had close relations. By 1970s, the gap between the poor and the rich was widening and huge distrust about his economic policies grew. Resentment towards his autocratic leadership grew fuelling people to dissent his regime further. Shah now was considered an authoritarian who took full control of the Iran government preventing the Iranians from expressing their opinion. The government has transformed from the traditional monarchial form of government to authoritarian with absolute authority replacing individual freedom of the Iranians. This transformation to Iranian was unacceptable because they needed to control their own affairs. They wanted self-government where they could take control as opposed to what Shah was doing. Shah was seen as a western puppet for embracing authoritarian form of government (Axworthy, 2016).

Before the Iranian Revolution, the U.S. had increased broad control over Iran by pushing Mohammad Reza Shah to a hegemonic control over Mohammad Mossadegh, a magnetic Iranian Premier.2 Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1951, an organization that Britain got billions of dollars from per year.3 Nationalization irritated Britain 's pioneers who then put a ban on Iran, weakening its economy. The U.S. was anxious Iran would tumble to socialism, which was viewed as a danger on account of the progressing cool war in the middle of America and the Soviet Union. English weight and the trepidation of a comrade takeover brought about U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower

In the late 19th century, Iran (then named Persia) was in the midst of the Persian Constitutional Revolution. Taking place from 1905-1907, the revolution was the result of citizen unrest with the Persian government, especially the lack of limits of power of the Shah, and the spending choices of the current Shah, Mozaffar ad-Din. In 1906, the Shah signed a constitution largely based on the Belgian Constitution (Abrahamian, Loc 849). In the 1910s, Persia had a neutral stance during World War I, but there was still fighting and chaos in the area (Abrahamian, Loc 1035). In 1921, a man named Reza Khan lead a British-orchestrated coup to occupy Tehran, as part of an effort to gain control of all military forces in Persia. Khan soon became war minister, the highest ranking military official (Abrahamian, Loc 1094), and would become prime minister in 1923 (Abrahamian, Loc 153). Reza Khan was a self-educated military commander who had risen through the ranks of the Iranian military. Khan would be was granted the title of Shah in 1925 and would found the Pahlavi dynasty (Abrahamian, Loc 1126). He achieved a great deal during his reign, including expanding areas of trade, but eventually became disliked by many

Before we are able to determine the success or failure of the United Nations in its determination to advocate and support human rights on an international scale, it is imperative that we come to an understanding of the purpose, functions, and structure of the United Nations.