Iran Key Concepts
•Majority of Iranian citizens are Shi’ite Muslims
•The only theocratic regime currently in power throughout the
world
•¼ of the Iranian population is under the age of 15, the median age
is 26
•Maintains a Dual Executive: Supreme Leader and President
•Authoritarian Rule: emphasis on shahs, respect to most learned
scholars and clerics
•OIL is the primary export : 80% of its annual budget and finances
90% of its imports
•Most Iranians are Persians, not Arabs. Different cultural history
and ethnic heritage.
•Language is Farsi
Iran “the axis of evil”
It’s more democratic than you would
think.
Iran – Important Facts & Key terms
• Iran was never a colony – this has led to a strong sense of
nationalism
• Natural resources – lack of arable land….but oil!!
• Monarchy – most of its history
• Theocracy – a system of government that bases it’s legitimacy on
religious teachings.
– Shiite Islam
– Democratic elements: Const. in 1906
– Elections, sep of powers, pop sov.
– Can democracy/theocracy coexist?
• Rentier state – a country that derives most of its income on a single
resource. Iran provides 10% of the world’s oil, and uses the income
to subsidize the poor. Iran is a major player in OPEC.
Some
of
Iran’s
ironies
1) Political Culture
– Secular
– Fundamentalist
• Bazarris
• Hezbollis
• Most significant popular culture issue today is the
coming of age if Iran’s younger generation.
30% under the age of 20, 2/3 under age of 30
* concerns – labor and employment
2) Satus of Women
- Sharia law – represses women
- modesty laws
- social restrictions
- divorce laws favor men
- punishments for women
ex. Excluded from soccer games, lose custody of children in divorce,
death for
adultery, strict dress codes
- Success of women
- 50% of labor force, 50% of universities
- Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace prize, human rights lawyer)
3) Can a woman become president? Unclear, but many are running!!
Pahlavi – “White Revolution” 1963
• “White” to counter influence of “red” communists
• Land reform – government bought land from large
absentee owners and sold it to farmers at affordable
prices
• Encourage agricultural entrepreneurship with
irrigation canals, dams, & tractors
• Women’s rights (secularization)
– Suffrage
– Restricting Polygamy
– Women allowed to work outside the home
Iran – important facts about the
Revolution of 1979
Causes
• Secular policies of the Shah
• US foreign policy
• Grass roots revolution
• Ayatollah Khomeini wrote jurist guardianship
while in exile…later became the basis for the
Constitution
Revolution
• Oil prices decrease about 10% in late 70s
• Consumer prices in Iran increase about 20% at the same time
• “Revolution of Rising Expectations” – revolutions occur when
people are doing better than they once were and a set back
occurs
• US puts pressure on shah to loosen restrictions on civil
society, in particular restraints on political opposition
• Once restrictions were eased many groups join the revolt
(students, teachers, labor groups, oil workers, merchants, and
professional associations)
Revolution II
• 1978
– Unarmed demonstrators killed in central square Tehran
– Oil workers go on strike
– Anti-regime rallies attract 2 million participants
• Rallies organized and led by clerics
• Shah flees the country in February 1979
• Khomeini returns to Iran from exile in Paris
Constitution of 1979
• Document & 40 Amendments (Some added in
1989)
• Mixture of theocracy and democracy
• Preamble reflects importance of religion
• Velayat-e faqih (Jurist’s guardianship)
• Gave broad authority to Khomeini and the
clerics
Political Cleavages
• Religion
• Ethnicity
• Social Class
• Reformers vs. Conservatives
Secularism today – much is behind
closed doors
• Satellite dishes
• Western clothes
• Parties with alcohol consumption
• Mohamad Khatami is “heroisized”
Current leaders
of Iran’s dual executive
• Supreme Leader:
Ayatollah Khameini
• President:
Mahmoud Ahmadenijad
Iran – Population & Population Control
• After eight year war with Iraq there were a
million deaths. Ayatollah Khomeini subsequently
encouraged large families, which put a strain on
resource.
• Today, the government supports family planning,
in a variety of ways, including mandatory sex
education and legal abortion.
• Over 3 children and you may lose state subsidies.
• Today birth control is encouraged and subsidized
by the govt. See promotional video of
government subsidized condom factory in Iran.
Population Control Policies
• How does Iran’s population control policy
compare to:
China
Russia
Russia – Government is attempting to
boost a declining population.
• Federal Government provides $7,000 subsidy per child
• The governor of a central province told employers to contribute to a
Kremlin campaign to boost the birthrate by giving couples the day off to
have sex. And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months — on Russia’s
national day on June 12 — she will qualify for a prize, perhaps even
winning a new home. Russia wants to reverse a trend in which the
population is shrinking by about 700,000 people a year as births fail to
outpace a death rate fueled by AIDS, alcoholism and suicide. This is the
third year the Ulyanovsk region, famous as the birthplace of Lenin, has
dedicated a day to encouraging couples to produce more babies.
Iran Institutions of
Government
Power Struggle in Iran between Pres/Supreme
Leader
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.ht
ml?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136176773&
m=136182617
Iran – Branches of Government
• President’s Cabinet http://www.president.ir/en/
• Judiciary – Sharia law
• 60 Minutes Report
• Judiciary – controls/regulates media and can shut
down newspapers.
Elections
• Citizens over 15 may vote
• National elections held for the following:
– Assembly of Religious Experts
– Representative to the Majlis
– President
• Elections to Majlis and President are by plurality,
winner-take all
– Elections are done over two rounds
– First round narrows field down to 2 candidates
Iran’s
Presidential Election of
2009
Ahmadinejad vs. Mousavi
• Religious hard line
politician
• Incumbent President
• Mayor, Engineer
• Critic of the United
States and Israel
• Reformist Politician
• Prime Minister
• Member of Expediency
Council
• Educated at Tehran
University
Ahmadinejad Supporters
Mir Houssein Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rhanavard
Mousavi’s wife generated much enthusiasm in the election
Rallies with thousands supporting her
She is well educated and accomplished
Pro Mousavi Rally in Tehran
Several pro Mousavi rallies with thousands of people widely reported
Green was the color worn to show support of Mousavi
Supporters were from all walks of life
American Style Debate between Ahmadinejad and
Moussavi
Issues debated were substantive. Watch English translation on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DNmR15Lui8
Election Facts
• 85% turnout (59% in last election)
• Participation from many demographic
groups and many levels of religious
observance
• Mousavi – hero to secular population
• Ahmadenijad – hero to fundamentalist
population
Official Election Results
proved to be a shock for many
Ahmadenijad wins a lanslide
• Ahmadinejad = 68% of the vote
• Mousavi = 33% of the vote
Was the election fradulent? Impossible to know
for sure. UN observers were not allowed in, but
there were some outside monitors.
Election results
Protests
July 2009
Post Election
• After protests – people wore green = “Green
Movement”
• 1 protest had 3 million people and came from
all walks of life
• “Where is my vote” – many signs with this
question
• Killing of Neda, a protester, became the
symbol of the opposition to this election
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/te
hranbureau/deathintehran/view/
Ayatollah Khameini swears in Ahmadenijad
•Khameini went to Friday prayer and declared Ahmadenijad
the winner before the Guardian Council had the opportunity to
conduct recounts
•Some recounts were conducted, but not a full recount
•Why not a second revolution? Why would Khameini not
allow Mousavi to win, and then over rule his actions?
Theocratic & Democratic Elements of Iran’s
Government Structure
Structure
Theocratic
Characteristics
•Supreme
Leader
•Jurist
•Guardian
Council
•Jurist
guardianship;
interpreter of shari’a; six
member selected by the
Supreme Leader
•Six
•Assembly
of Religious
•Jurist
•Directly
Experts
Democratic
Characteristics
guardianship;
ultimate interpreter of
shari’a; appointed for life
guardianship;
interpreter of shari’a
members selected
by the Majlis; which is
popularly elected,
indirect democratic tie
people
elected by the
Theocratic & Democratic Elements of Iran’s
Government Structure
Structure
Theocratic
Characteristics
Democratic
Characteristics
•Appointed
by the
Supreme Leader; most
members are clerics
•Some
•Majlis
•Responsibility
•Directly
•Judiciary
•Courts
•Expediency
Council
shari’a
to uphold
held to shari’a
law; subject to the
judicial judgments of the
Supreme Leader,
Guardian Council
clerics
members are not
elected by the
people; pass qanun
(statutes)
•Court
structure similar
to those in democracies;
“modern” penalties, such
as fines and
imprisonment
US Relations
• Reformists & Conservatives constantly
disagree regarding diplomatic relations with
the US
• Ex: Following 9-11-01, President Khatami immediately
offered his condolences to American people, but
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei forbid public debate
about improving relations with US, and implied
Americans brought the situation on themselves
• Nuclear Weapons
– For energy or defense?