The 1979

Islamic
Revolution
Members (1208)
Jamie, Por, PK, Babe, Sand
What’s the story and why does it
happened?
Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi
Shapour Bakhtiar
(Prime Minister)
Ruhollah Khomeini
 1. Pahlavi wants to westernized.
2. Iran became westernized
3. People started to revolt.
4. Pahlavi started to execute
revolutionaries
5. Bakhtiar became a new prime
Recap 6.
minister
People march against Pahlavi
7. Pahlavi and Bakhtar escape.
Islamic Revolution
8. Khomeini back in power
9. People were happy
10. Revolution is won and
declared themselves as
Islamic Republic
 Social
Changes
Before
● Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
became powerful
● Good relations with US but conflict
with traditional Iranian Muslim views
○ Result: strong opposed from
many areas
● Growth in economy due to oil and
steel exports (higher value)
● Poorest section of the Iranian: the
most religious and the least
westernized
● Increased gulf between rich and
poor
After
● Iraq invaded Iran: war ended in
1988
● Iran is officially known as the
“Islamic Republic of Iran”
● Enforced conservative social values
● The Family Protection Act was
declared void
○ Result: enforcing Islamic
codes of dress
● Suppress Western cultural
influence
● Anti-Imperialists
● Create religious government
Example from Persepolis
 How did the The majority of the Iranian
consider it to be the release of

Iranian people oppression from the absolute

monarchy. However, they were

feel? also unhappy with the

westernization that increase in the
violation of human rights and
personal privacy e.g. women were
forced to wear hijab. The Western
influences was also conflicts with
the traditional muslim beliefs.
 The outsiders were unable to understand
the causes and the significance of the Islamic

How did other

revolution in Iran; however, they conceived the
subsequent events and its impacts that cause a
deep shift in the Cold War and geopolitics.

countries feel?
Therefore, some countries feel the same way as
the Iranian.

To the US, the revolution benefits them in

some ways including propagating culture;
inversely, they lost their key strategic ally as well
as gained a new enemy.