Western Influence On Iranian Culture

The reformation of the country of Iran toward Islam caused turmoil among the people because the drastic changes forced on the people were not easily accepted. One of the major changes is that

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

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

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.

While often mistaken for the Iranian revolution, the cultural revolution is far different. The only real similarity they share is the fact that Ayatollah Khomeini played an important role in both. The Iranian Revolution lasted from January 1977 to February 1979 (Afary). Iran was in a sense trading in its monarchy for an Islamic republic (“e-Publications@Marquette”). The Shah was overthrown and the exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to Iran to lead the new republic (Reinbold). The cultural revolution however, was the period following the Iranian revolution where schools closed down to rid education of any and all Western and non-Islamic influences(“Iran Shuts Down Higher Education”). Although the differences between the Iranian Revolution and the Iranian Cultural Revolution were very distinctive, they are directly connected to each other.

The Iranians from 1925-1979 lived under the oppressive regime of the Pahlavi Dynasty. During this time, the Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi also known as Reza Khan, took the first step in consolidating power. Reza Shah was appointed prime minister by the last Shah of the Qajar Dynasty, Ahmad Shah Qajar and quickly moved to consolidate his power by removing his fellow conspirators and quashing threats

Pre-revolutionary Iran was very different from revolutionary Iran. During the revolution, Khomeini held power(). He was a devout religious leader that enforced very strict laws on how the country should live by bringing religion and government together. Because of this, women were forced to wear veils and wear long garments to hide their figure. Reza Shah ruled Iran before Khomeini and had entirely different political ideals. He wanted to keep religion and government separate from each other (). As soon as Reza Shah was inaugurated into power, he seeked to progress Iran by adopting western ideas and culture (Sarder 1). Throughout his rule, Reza Shah turned Iran into an urbanized country by making social classes and improving their educational

After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, president Ali Rafsanjani came on power. One of his goals was to ameliorate relation with Western powers. Then, in 1997, Iran elected President President Muhammed Khatami. He was a reformist. Thanks to him and his efforts, relations with the western society was

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

The focus of this investigation is on the United States’ influence on the National Revolution of Iran of 1978-1979. Topics investigated include the sociocultural and political differences between the two countries which

The book starts out talking about Egypt and Iran in the late nineteenth century. It says how during the nineteenth century, the major European powers expanded their overseas empires and protected their principal imperial possessions by entering into agreements among themselves or by neutralizing the rulers of territories bordering on those possessions. Next, the chapter talks about Iran during the second half of the nineteenth century. European influences came to Iran, because powerful forces of decentralization had taken root in Iran during the chaotic period between the fall of the Safavids in 1722 and the consolidation of the Qajar dynasty. The next chapter discusses how those that had escaped direct occupation-Iran, the Ottoman Empire, Afghanistan, and Morocco-

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.

During Satrapi’s early childhood, the traditions and history of Iran had been going through drastic changes. The Iranian Revolution was when Iran’s monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and replaced with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who led the revolution. ii

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).

As well, there is a revival of the classical Islamic art in the 50's, especially with the abstract movement in Europe, from where patterns become a source of inspiration for contemporary work. This trend keeps increasing, as professors at our university agreed, there is a revival in traditional Islamic art as well as an increase awareness of history by the public, plus the increased economic affluence of the country.