Iran
Islamic Fundamentalism
Map: The Persian Cat
Iranian Oil Resources
Iran Post-WWI
• Nationalism Grows
• Formerly Persia
• Shahs (kings) were both
influenced and controlled by
Great Britain & Russia
• Russia (revolution) loses
interest; Persians fight British
for control & win
• Changed name to Iran
• Changes to Modernize
• Began to industrialize
• Granted women rights
• Opened public schools
Interest in Middle East
• Economic Change
• Western companies discover
large oil reserves in the Middle
East in 1920s
• Oil was (and is) needed for
industrialization
• These countries become rich
as they sell the oil to Europe
and America
• Western countries would begin
to try and gain power in these
lands
Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979)
• Ruled Iran from the crowning of
Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925
• Reza Shah is seen by supporters
as the modernizing force of Iran
• He expanded oil production, built
Iran’s infrastructure
(roads/railroads), and introduced
western education
• He constantly played USSR and
UK against each other and
reached out to Nazi Germany for
trade
• However, by the mid-1930s Reza
Shah's dictatorial style of rule
caused dissatisfaction among
some groups
Iran and World War II
• During WWII, Iran’s location and oil was needed by
the Allies
• USSR and Britain invaded the country in in order to
secure oil fields
• Reza Shah was forced to abdicate
• He was replaced by his son Mohammad Reza Shah
Pahlavi
• Following WWII, the Soviet Union refused to leave
Iran
• In1946, the US threatened to invade Iran and remove
the Soviets by force, so the Soviets left
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh
 Became Prime Minister
in 1951.
 Got rid of corrupt
military officials
Nationalized the
foreign oil companies –
ending British domination
of Iranian Oil and the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(AIOC)
Q4
Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh
 The UK and US boycotted
all Iranian Oil
Mossadegh began to sell
oil to the Soviets instead!
This was a threat to US
and UK economic and
security interests
US Pres. Eisenhower saw
this as a Communist threat
Q4
Political Chaos
• As Mossadegh's power and
popularity grew, so did
political chaos.
• The friction between the
Shah and the prime
minister was heightened by
Mossadegh's unwillingness
to change his position on
the oil issue.
• This chaos led to
intervention by the United
States.
1953 CIA coup overthrew Mossadegh
• CIA and British intelligence
(MI6) worked together to
overthrow the Mossadegh (he
would die under house arrest in
1967)
• The CIA and SIS, handpicked
General Fazlollah Zahedi to
succeed Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh
• US covertly funneled $5 million
to General Zahedi's regime two
days after the coup prevailed.
Results
• Shah given more power in
Iran, but became increasingly
paranoid
• Shah began a program of
modernization and
westernization
• Shah was allied with the US,
and the US supported the
Shah
• As the Shah became more
unpopular, so did the US!
A Democratic Middle East?
• “Had Mossadegh been left in power, he
would have built a democratic Iran, thus
paving the way for other democracies to
take root in the Middle East. America's
shortsightedness reverberates today in
the disastrous state of the region.”
--Nosratollah Amini, former mayor of Tehran and attorney to Prime Minister Mossadegh
What followed was a cozy and symbiotic
relationship between the US and the Shah for a
quarter of a century.
For the US, the relationship
meant:
•Economically, the Shah maintained the
interests of the US corporations, particularly
the oil companies, aerospace industry, and
financial institutions.
•This included purchasing military goods
•By the mid 1970s, the Shah was the largest
buyer of US military goods
It should be noted that in the 1970s, the US told the
Shah to expand Iran’s non-oil energy base by
building a number of nuclear power plants. One such
plant, which started to be built in the mid 1970s is in
Bushehr:
Shah Reza Pahlavi
(r. 1941 – 1977)
Institutes Western
reforms & ties with
the West
The majority of
his people live in
poverty.
 Brutal suppression of
dissidents
 SAVAK (secret police)

The “White Revolution” - 1963
• The Shah’s attempted reforms
– Divested the clergy of their vast landholdings
– Declared new rights for women
• Right to vote
• Right to attend university
– Dramatically increased urbanization and
industrialization
– Many saw this as Iran becoming too
Westernized and abandoning Iranian/Islamic
traditions
– Exiles the Ayatollah Khomeini after he
criticizes the Shah
Ayatollah Khomeini
(r. 1979-1989)
 1902 – 1989.
 Became an Islamic scholar
Began to speak out against the
Shah in the 1960s.
 Arrested and imprisoned
several times by the Shah.
 Exiled in 1978 & went to
Allah Hu Akbar, Marg Bar Shah!
• By 1979, demonstrations
increased demanding the
Shah be deposed
• Demonstrators demanded
the return of the exiled
Ayatollah Khomeini
• The country was out of
control
The Shah with President Jimmy Carter
Throughout the turmoil, the US stayed loyal to the Shah
“Iran is an island of stability in one of the
more troubled areas of the world. This is
a great tribute to you, Your Majesty, and
to your leadership and to the respect,
admiration and love which your people
give to you. There is no leader in the
world for whom I feel such deep gratitude
and personal friendship as the Shah.”
-President Jimmy Carter, The New York Times, January 1,
1978.
An “island of stability,” Iran was not!
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi’s modernization programs were
unpopular.
In 1979, Iran exploded in revolutionary turmoil.
Masses of people, from every segment of society, poured into
the streets to end the rule of the Shah.
Reasons for the Fall of the Shah
 The Shah spent the oil profits for top of the line
American military hardware.
 Little money to reinvest back into the Iranian
economy.
 Religious leaders angry with the Shah for too much
“Westernization.”
 Government corruption.
 The Shah’s constitutional violations of the basic
human rights of his citizens.
Why it happened?
• Opposition to the Shah
(Sunni) was wide spread
• Many Shiites wanted the
Iran governed by Islamic
law
• The Islamic clergy
became the voice of
opposition
• The revolution was
governed by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini
(Shiite)
Anti-Shah
Protests
Opponents of the Shah
1. Oil field workers
2. Students and other
intellectuals
3. Middle class
businessmen
4. Iranian nationalists
5. Muslim clerics
• On your Left Side,
• Why do you think
each of these groups
had issues with the
Shah’s reign?
• Explain and give
examples.
• On your Left Side, answer:
• What cause of the Iranian Revolution does this
political button address?
Anarchy & Revolution
The Shah leaves Iran on 1/16/79. Facing likely
execution should he return to Iran, he died in exile in
Egypt
Ayatollah Khomeini
Leads the Revolution
Khomeini returns to Iran on
February 11, 1979 as Supreme
Around 6:30 am
on November 4, the
Muslim Student
Followers of the
Imam’s Line (500
Islamic students)
forced themselves
into the U.S.
embassy in the
capital city of
Teheran.
http://www.thememoryhole.org/espionage_den/pic_41_0001.html
Islamic Fundamentalism and
Theocracy in Iran
Iran After Revolution
• Government Change
– Iran goes from a Shah (king)
to an Islamic Republic with a
theocratic constitution
• Theocracy
– Religious government
– God is seen as head of state
– All laws must be in line with
religion (in this case Islam)
Iran’s Government
(AYATOLLAH)
Islamic State Returns
• Enemies of the Islamic Revolution are
tried and executed
• All political parties and organizations
are banned
• Independent and non-Islamic
newspapers are closed.
• Banks and Industries are Nationalized.
Iranian Revolution Escalates
• US interests in the
Persian Gulf are
threatened.
– No access to Iranian Oil
– Cancellation of $7 billion
of uncompleted arms
contracts
• Anti American
sentiment runs high –
US was “The Great
Satan”
SAVAK Suspects Taken
The Fate of the Shah’s Generals
Iranian Revolutionary Poster
• The caption reads: When the devil leaves, the
angel returns!
American Hostages Crisis
Why it happened…
• Khomeini, who had returned to Iran in
triumph in February 1979, presided over
the establishment of an Islamic republic.
• On November 4, 1979, after the Shah had
been allowed entry into the United States
for medical care (cancer), relations with
the United States broke down
Iran: Takes American Hostages
• On November 4,1979, a mob
of around 500 Iranian
students stormed the US
Embassy in Tehran
• 66 Americans taken hostage
• 14 were released early on,
but 52 would remain captive
for 444 days (Jan. 20, 1981)
Iran Hostage Crisis
• Argo
• Codename for an operation
where the CIA saved 6 U.S.
diplomats from Iran at the
time
• These 6 diplomats were not
taken as hostages – they had
escaped out of the back of the
embassy compound and
eventually were hidden by the
Canadian Ambassador
• Made into a movie
After many months of negotiations, the US and Iran
signed the Algiers Accord in 1980, setting up the Hague
Tribunal to settle all financial claims between the US and
Iran.
Iran agreed to release the hostages and pay reparations
to the US corporations. The US agreed to unfreeze the
Iranian assets and not to interfere in Iran’s affairs again.
Alerassool, M. (1993). Freezing assets. New York: St. Martin Press.
Fayazmanesh, S. (2003). “The Politics of US Economic Sanctions,” Review of Radical Political Economics.
….“it is and from now on will be the policy
of the U.S. not to intervene, directly or
indirectly, politically, or militarily, in Iran’s
internal affairs.”
This was viewed as a major victory over the
West by a middle-eastern Muslim country.
http://www.iranholocaustdenial.com/images/stories/propaganda/khomeini_propaganda200.jpg
52 American Hostages
Released in Jan., 1981
EFFECTS: 1979 Iran Hostage
Crisis
• Anti-Iranian feeling in US
• President Carter seen as having
failed to gain release of
hostages
• Conservative Republican
President Ronald Reagan won
1980 Presidential election in US
• Hostages released on Reagan’s
inauguration in exchange for $8
billion ($5 billion was used by
Iran to pay debts to US anyway)
• Khomeini needed money with
war against Iraq looming
Iran-Iraq War
Will go more in depth when we
cover Iraq
The relationship between Iran and Iraq had been a stormy one
during the Shah’s reign.
The Shah had tried to destabilize the Iraqi government in 1972
on behest of the US and Israel.
Iraq had territorial claims over entire Shatt al-Arab (Arvand
river) which runs from Iraq through part of Iran into the Persian
Gulf
Iraq feared the Islamic Revolution in Iran would inspire the
oppressed Shiite minority in Iraq to revolt
Saddam Hussain and
the Shah of Iran, 1975
• The war lasted from September 22, 1980-August 20, 1988
• It lasted 8 years and was conducted in the style of WWI,
using masses of people in the trenches
• Resulted in massive losses of men and money on both sides
(including the use of chemical weapons)
• President Carter declared “strict neutrality in the conflict ”on the
part of the US.
• The US actually sent military support through
Iraq’s allies Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
Despite the US help, Iraq could not win the war.
Thus, when in 1986, Iran scored victories in Iraq’s Faw
peninsula, the US engaged Iran directly.
 it re-flagged Kuwaiti
ships,
 it sunk Iranian boats and
oil platforms, and
 USS Vincennes shot
down an Iranian civilian
plane, killing 290 on board.
• The shooting down of the Iranian civilian airliner by
the US was the beginning of the end of the Iran-Iraq
War.
• Iran reached the conclusion that they could not win a
war against the US and Iraq. They therefore accepted
a ceasefire in 1988.
• The end result was a
complete stalemate.
• All borders were returned
to prewar agreements.
• Note: all US actions were
contrary to the Algiers
Accord.
The Khomeini Revolution
Policy Challenges
 Iran is the first country in which Islamists have had to
deliver on the promises of a society characterized by
social justice and moral propriety.
 During the first decade of the Islamic Republic
 Some redistribution of wealth
 New leadership came mostly from humble or middle-class
backgrounds
 Adopted policies that helped the poorest Iranians




Rural development
Health
Women’s education
Roads
 Poverty, inequality, and underemployment continued to be
major public grievances.
Policy Challenges
 Job creation has been very inadequate.
 Need to increase economic output.
 Population grows by one million a year.
 Discontent spurred out migration from the country
 One in four Iranians with higher education live abroad
 Iranians now often have family abroad in the US, Canada, and
Europe
 Corruption
 Dissatisfaction with the status quo among some of
Iran’s ethnic minorities
Inspired Terrorism
• In the 1980s, Iran's
theocratic government
turned the country into a
center for the propagation
of terrorism abroad.
• It sponsored, financed,
and armed such factions
as Hezbollah & Hamas
• Revolutionary leaders became heroes to fanatics all
over the world
• Inspired the founders of the Afghan Taliban, which
would eventually give rise to Osama bin-Laden and
al Qaeda
Women in Iran
A woman’s hijab represents her
Islamic and moral values.
Political Cartoon Commentary
On your Left side:
What is the message of this
political cartoon?
Explain.
The dictatorship is gone! Bring on the
dictatorship!
Support for the Palestinian
Cause
Funds Hamas and
Hezbollah.
The Ayatollah with
Yasir Arafat.
Khomeini’s Death
(June, 1989)
Iran: Government
Institutions of the Islamic Republic
 Iran is a theocracy – a government ruled by
religious leaders.
• Authoritarianism (not totalitarianism) –
leaders claim to be all powerful, but do not
interfere with every aspect of the citizens lives
• Union of political & religious authority
• Shi’ism & Sharia – key components of
everyday life
Institutions of the Islamic Republic
 Supreme Leader
 Highest authority in the Islamic Republic
 Combines religious and temporal authority
 Assembly of Experts
 Choose the Leader
 President
 Elected by universal suffrage every four years
 Must be a male Twelver Shiite; does not have to be a cleric
 Majlis - Parliament
 290 elected members
 Assembly of Experts
 88 elected Mujtahids (Islamic theologians)
 All candidates must be approved by the Guardian
Council
Pros and Cons of Theocracy
Pros
1. Likely totalitarian: bills
easily passed and imposed
2. Strict discipline, so less
crime
3. Very adherent to
religious principles
4. High patriotism and
morale in the case of
economic/natural disaster
5. Organized, orderly and
effective government
Cons
1. Powers of leader are likely
to be used for corrupt
practices
2. Conservative; limited
change
3. Radical, easy to swing to
fanatical state
4. Indoctrination, propaganda,
no freedom of the press
5. Hard for non-clerics to
create sweeping change or
initiate new ideas
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei
Replaced Ayatollah Khomeini – June 1989
Iranian Presidents since Khomeini’s Death
Hashemi Rafsanjani
1989-1997
Mohammad Khatami
1997-2005
Hassan Rouhani
2013-
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
2005-2013
Akbar Hasemi Rafsanjani
• Two time Iranian president
• Decided to revive nuclear program in
1980’s
• Lost to Ahmadinejad in 2005 election
• Seeks to cooperate with UN regarding
nuclear program
Mohammad Khatami
• Shia theologian and Reformist
politician
• Khatami advocated freedom of expression,
tolerance, and civil society
• Wanted to improve diplomatic relations with
Asia and European Union
• Free market economy and foreign investment
• an outspoken critic of former President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Degree in Engineering
 Elected mayor of Tehran in 2003
 Won ~60% of the popular vote in 2005
presidential election
 Outspoken and often controversial for his
views on Israel, the US, Great Britain, and
human rights
• Hard stance on belief that Iran should
possess nuclear weapons

Hassan Rouhani



An Islamic cleric and a former member of the Majlis &
the Assembly of Experts
Described as a centrist - supports personal freedom &
free access to information
Appointed women to government positions
• Seen as a reformist who has improved
Iran's diplomatic relations with other
countries through exchanging letters
• Sept. 27, 2013 - Speaks with President
Barack Obama by telephone, the first
direct conversation between leaders of
Iran and the United States since 1979
Iranian Relations with Western
Nations
• Today there are no formal diplomatic
relations between Iran and The US
• Do not exchange ambassadors
-Iran maintains an interests section at the
Pakistani embassy in Washington D.C
-US maintains an interests section at the
Swiss embassy in Tehran
Hostility
• Hostility begins after the 1979 Iranian Revolution
• US fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons
shortly after the Revolution
• United States launched Operation Praying Mantis
against Iran 1988
– Largest American naval combat operation since
World War II
• US District court judge says that the Iran was
responsible for the 1983 attack on US Embassy
• 1995-the United States starts an embargo on
trade with Iran
• US Fed court finds 1996 Khobar Towers bombing
was authorized by Ali Khomeini (Ayatollah of Iran)
Iranian Nuclear Program
• Since 2003 the US has alleged that Iran has a program to
develop nuclear weapons
• Iran says that its nuclear program is only to generate electricity
• US and Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
– US and other countries in violation for not disarming
– Iran in violation for not reporting nuclear material to IAEA
• March 8 2006 – US and European countries call on Security
Council of UN to act against Iran
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
continued to escalate this issue
by restricting UN inspectors’
access to Iranian facilities
President G. W. Bush State of the Union Address
29 January 2002
“States like these [North Korea, Iran, and Iraq] and their
terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the
peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction,
these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could
provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to
match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to
blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price
of indifference would be catastrophic.”
Iran vs. Israel Today
Iran vs. Israel Today
• Iran Threatens Israel
– Iranian President
Ahmadinejad refuses to
recognize the existence of
Israel
– Working to create a nuclear
weapon to destroy Israel
• Israeli Response
– Sept 2012 - Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu tells the U.N.
that Israel will attack Iran if
in nuclear danger
– Drew a “red line” that if Iran
Iran vs. Israel Today
Iran vs. Israel Today
2009 Election Protests
• The 2009 Iranian Presidential Election sparked
peaceful and violent protests over disputed
election results.
• The incumbent president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, won the election in a landslide,
64.22% to 33.86% for challenger Mir-Hossein
Mousavi.
• Mousavi and his supporters claimed
widespread election fraud, maintaining that
Mousavi should have won.
2009 Election Protests
• The violence escalated, and some protest marches
turned into riots.
• Government security forces cracked down on both
peaceful and violent protests.
• Government supported paramilitary Basij militiamen
attacked marchers, sometimes with gunfire,
supported by regular police forces.
Videos of protests: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8263467.stm
Pictures of protests:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html
2009 Election Protests
• Many protests were organized through Twitter
and text messaging, while the world quickly got
word of the protests through the internet.
• The death of one protester, Neda Agha-Soltan,
was captured on video, and she quickly became a
rallying point for the protesters.
• Most of the protests had stopped by mid-August,
but smaller protests occurred into 2010. After the
wave of revolutions in the Arab world, more
protests started, but were quickly put down.
• Between 36 and 72 people were killed, and many
more injured in the violence.
On your Left Side, answer:
• CARTOON 1:
• Is this cartoon in support of
Ahmadinejad or Mousavi?
•
• What does the cartoon suggest about
the government in Iran?
On your Left Side, answer:
• Is this cartoon in support of
Ahmadinejad or Mousavi?
• Who are the bearded men in black
meant to symbolize?
• What is the skeletal remains of the
horse meant to represent?
• What does the artist imply about the
reform movement’s opinion of the
On your Left Side, answer:
• Is this cartoon in support of Ahmadinejad
or Mousavi?
• What does the cartoon suggest about the
role of the Supreme Leader in the
election?
• Who or what is the “loser” according to the
cartoon?
• What does this cartoon imply about
democracy in Iran?
Game Theory
An American view of Iranian nuclear power: What
children’s story is this political cartoon playing off of?
PINOCCHIAYATOLLAH
Scott Stantis (Birmingham News) 1/28/05
A view of Iran’s nuclear power
from Al-Jazeerah
Nobody else (particularly Iran and Arab countries) should have nuclear
weapons except Israel, says Bush.
-- Hassan Bleybel 10/23/03
Iran’s Nuclear Program (Cont.)
• There have been multiple rounds of negotiations
between Iran and the so-called P5+1, which
comprises the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany.
• For years they failed to make headway.
• But the mood changed after the election of Hassan
Rouhani as president in June 2013.
• Five months later, following secret bilateral talks
between the US and Iran, negotiators agreed an
interim deal.
Summary of Treaty
• What Iran will do:
• Halt enrichment of
uranium above 5%
purity
• "Neutralise" its
stockpile of near-20%enriched uranium
• Not install any more
centrifuges (the
machines used to
enrich uranium)
• What world powers
will do:
• Not impose further
nuclear-related
sanctions
• Suspend certain
sanctions on trade
• Transfer $4.2bn
(£2.6bn) to Iran in
installments from
sales of its oil
Iran’s Nuclear Program (Cont.)
• The deadline for the final agreement is November 24,
2014
• The US and Iran have been having secret diplomatic
correspondence trying to reach a permanent deal
• Iran has recently agreed to turn over its uranium to
Russia
– Russia will convert it to fuel rods for power plants
– Makes the uranium useless for making a weapon
• If no deal is reached, Iran will be hit with a new
round of heavy economic sanctions!
• All sides are publicly confident an agreement
can be reached