Iran from the 1979 Revolution to Today

#1. Why Reza Shah didn't work

religious differences (clerks had to much power in Iran) so it was harder to secularize Iran
o prohibited the veil
no long history contact with European countries (geographically isolated)
when he dies his son comes into power
o Pahlavi Dynasty (only Reza Shah and the son Muhammad Reza Shah)
#2. The reign of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
terrible guy, only cared about wealth, ostentatious; much less respected
Phase 1 (1941-1953) The Mosaddiq Crisis (middle of Cold War)
o Mosaddiq democratically elected as the prime minister of Iran and he was not a communist at
all, he was a nationalist
o he was outraged that Britain still controlled the oil fields of Iran since William D'Arcy oil
concession (Anglo-American Oil Company)
o Mosaddiq tries to renegotiate the terms with the Oil Company but doesn't work; he
nationalizes the oil fields of Iran
the Iranian government took control over the oil fields
o Britain and the United States intervene
CIA plan to overthrow Mosaddiq and to support the Shah who loves US and Britain
this plan was called Operation Ajax
the prime minister is ousted and then puts the Shah into firm control of power
first successful coup run by the CIA
o ever since this, Iran hates the United States
Phase II (1953-1979)
o had two options: suppress the people or cut ties with the US
he decides to suppress the people
o SAVAK
secret police, entrusted with spying Iranians and if anyone is found to found a threat
to the regime in any way they are caught and thrown to jail and tortured and killed
trained by Israeli defense people
known as "worse record in human rights in the world" in 1976
Jimmy Carter in 1977: Iran is "a peaceful island in a sea of turbulence"
3 reasons for being unpopular
o (1) megalomaniac (demanded to be called emperor), (2) ally of the West, bff with the US, (3)
tortured and killed a lot of his people
#3. The Iranian Revolution (1979)
Ayatollah Khomeini (d. 1989)
o very close to the hidden imam
o once Shah was out, he led Iran as an Islamic theocracy to this day
o women had more rights under the Shah, but are classified as second class citizens under
Ayatollah Khomeini
not a Islamic jihadist movement, but to get a movement to get rid of the Shah
o the direction of the Revolution was very unclear
right after the Revolution, the hostage crisis begins
o US embassy kept hostage for 144 days (on the news every night) - Argo is based on this
#4. Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
Iraq wanted more coastline, because they wanted more deep water sea ports; major oil fields in the
southern borderline of Iran and Iraq (Abadan)

this was good for Ayatollah Khomeini because this is distracting the people of Iran from him to the
people of Iraq
nobody wins, nothing changes, and everything stays the same
Sadam (Iraq) is helped by the United States, but didn't beat Tehran so they attacked Kuwait <-known as the first Gulf War

#5. Significance and Legacy of the Revolution

Iran is the first and only Shia theocracy in the world
seen as the axis of evil by the United States
exacerabates the difference between Sunni and Shias
o Iran supports Assad of Syria (sees itself the protectors of Shia in the Middle East and the
world
#6. Iran from 1989 to Today
Iran ruled by Ayatollah Khamenei (supreme religious leader of Iran)
o condemning #ISIS
we don't even know if Iran has any nuclear weapons, but on the meanwhile Israel has 80 nuclear
weapons