Revolution of Iran and

it's effect on world

politics specially on
middle east & its
aftermaths
Presented By:

Uzair Ahmad Akram (2019-ag-6862)

Hassan Jalil (2019-ag-6858)
 History of Iran
Iran is also known as persia, officially the islamic republic of iran is a country in western asia. Iran is
home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilization, with historical and urban settlement
back to 7000 BC. The persian empire proper begins in the iron age. Iranian people gave rise to the
medes, the achaemenid, parthian and and sasanian empire
 History of Iran
● History of Iran The Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654) ended the Sasanian Empire and is a
turning point in Iranian history.
● Islamization of Iran took place during the eighth to tenth centuries, leading to the eventual decline
of Zoroastrianism in Iran as well as many of its dependencies.
● Iran, with its long history of early cultures and empires, had suffered particularly hard during the
late Middle Ages and the early modern period.
● Many invasions of nomadic tribes, whose leaders became rulers in this country, affected it
negatively. [Baten,2016]
 Background 1906-1977
Pahlavi dynasty
● The Pahlavi dynasty was the ruling house of the imperial state of Iran from 1925 until 1979, when
the 2,500 years of continuous Persian monarchy was overthrown and abolished as a result of the
Iranian Revolution.
 Pahlavi dynasty
…Cont’d
● The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925. whose reign lasted until 1941 when he
was forced to abdicate by the Allies after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
● He was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran
 Reza Shah
● The Pahlavi dynasty was known for its autocracy, its focus on modernization and Westernization
and for its disregard for religious and democratic measures in Iran's constitution.
● The founder of the dynasty, army general Reza Pahlavi, replaced Islamic laws with western ones
 Reza Shah
…Cont’d
 Reza Shah determined to modernized and centralize the operations of Iran. Using the western
model of industrial development .
The new laws were-
 Forbade traditional Islamic clothing.
 separation of the sexes and veiling of women (hijab).
 Women who resisted his ban on public hijab had their chadors forcibly removed and torn.
 In 1935 rebellion by pious Shi’a crushed on his orders with dozen kills and hundreds injured,
rupturing the relation between Shah and pious Shi'a.
The Last Shah Comes to
Power
Reza Shah was deposed in 1941 by an
invasion of allied British and Soviet
troops who believed him to be
sympathetic with the allies' enemy
Nazi Germany. His son, Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi was installed by the
allies as monarch.
The Last Shah Comes to Power
…Cont’d

Its purpose was to secure Iranian oil

fields and ensure Allied supply lines
for the USSR, fighting against Axis
forces on the Eastern Front. The UK
and USSR left Iran in 1946 and Iran
became independent in 1948. Prince
Pahlavi (later crowned shah) reigned
until the 1979 revolution with one
brief interruption
The Rise of Ayatollah
Khomeini
 Khomeini was an Iranian
religious and political leader,
who in 1979 made Iran the
world's first Islamic republic.
 Ruhollah Khomeini was born in
Kohmeyn in central Iran. He
became a religious scholar and
in the early 1920s rose to
become an 'ayatollah', a term
for a leading Shia scholar.
 The Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
…Cont’d
 He first came to political prominence in 1963 when he led
opposition to the Shah and his program of reforms known as the
"White Revolution“.
 Which aimed to break up landholdings owned by some Shi’a
clergy, allow women to vote and religious minorities to hold
office, and grant women legal equality in marital issues.
 Khomeini declared that the Shah had "embarked on the
destruction of Islam in Iran“ and publicly denounced the Shah as
a "wretched miserable man."
 The Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
…Cont’d
 Khomeini's arrest on June 5, 1963, three days of major riots
erupted throughout Iran.
 Khomeini was detained and kept under house arrest for 8 months.
After his release he continued his agitation against the Shah,
condemning the regimes‘s close cooperation with Israel and its
"capitulations“.
 In November 1964, Khomeini was re-arrested and sent into exile
where he remained for 14 years until the revolution.
 Prior to the
Revolution [1970-
1977]
 Several events in the 1970s set the
stage for the 1979 revolution:
 In October 1971, the 2,500th
anniversary of the founding of the
Persian Empire was held at the site of
Persepolis .
 Prior to the Revolution [1970-1977]
…Cont’d

 By late 1974 the increase of inflation and waste and an "accelerating gap"
between the rich and poor, the city and the country. Shah spent hundreds
of millions of dollars on buying military weapon from America.
[Graham,1980]
 In 1976, the Shah declared economic austerity measures to dampen
inflation and waste. The resulting unemployment disproportionately
affected the thousands of recent poor and unskilled migrants to the cities.
 Prior to the Revolution [1970-1977]
…Cont’d

 In 1977 the Iranian people saw the death of the very popular and influential modernist
Islamist leader Ali Shariati, allegedly at the hands of SAVAK, removing a potential
revolutionary rival to Khomeini.
 Finally, in October Khomeini's son Mostafa died. Though the cause appeared to be a heart
attack, anti-Shah groups blamed SAVAK poisoning and proclaimed him a 'martyr.’

[Moin,2000]
 The Iranian Revolution of 1979
 The Iranian Revolution is considered the 3rd greatest revolution in history.

 With many other problems, there was much opposition against the
Mohammad Reza Shah, and how he used the secret police SAVAK, to control
the country.
 Strong Shi’i opposition was lead against the Shah, and the country came close
to a situation of civil war.
 The opposition was lead by Ayatollah Khomeini, who lived in exile in Iraq and
later in France. His massages were duplicated and spread all around the
country from there.
 The Iranian Revolution of 1979
[Black Friday]

 Black Friday the name given to 8 September 1978 because of the shootings in
Jaleh Square in Tehran.
 Between 84-88 people were killed in the incident and 205 were injured.
 The deaths were described as the pivotal event in the Iranian Revolution that
ended any “hope to compromise” between the protest movement and regime
of Mohammad Reza Shah.
 The Iranian Revolution of 1979

 late 1978, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, became the symbol of religious
opposition to the Shah.
 strikes rocked the country, virtually shutting down both the public and private
sectors that autumn, including the crucial oil industry.
 The Shah acknowledged that he was unable to impose his will on the country
in early 1979, and makes Shahpur Bakhtiar the last PM of Iran.
 The Iranian Revolution of 1979
…Cont’d

 Khomeini labels Shahpur Bakhtiar the enemy.

 January 16 the Shah left the country, after urging the military to remain loyal
to the new regime.
 The Shah said he was going on ‘holiday’. He never returned and died in 1980.
 The first phase of the revolution was now complete.
 The Iranian Revolution of 1979
…Cont’d

 Ayatollah Khomeini, made a triumphant return to Teheran on February 1, after

14 years of exile.
 Khomeini called for the establishment of an Islamic Republic, but Bakhtiar
tried to hold onto existing constitutional government.
 Soon Bakhtiar was forced out of office, into hiding and ultimately in to exile.
 Aftermath of the Revolution
[Consolidation of power by Khomeini]

 From early 1979 to either 1982 or 1983 Iran was in a "revolutionary crisis mode.
 After the system of despotic monarchy had been overthrown, the economy
and the apparatus of government had collapsed, military and security forces
were in disarray.
 Yet, by 1982 Khomeini and his supporters had crushed the rival factions,
defeated local rebellions and consolidated power.
 Aftermath of the Revolution
[Hostage Crisis] 

 The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic standoff between Iran and the USA.
 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days from 4th
November, 1979, to January 20, 1981.
 It occulted after a group of Iranian collage students belonging to the Muslim
Student Followers of the Imam’s Line, took over the USA embassy in Tehran.
 Aftermath of the Revolution
[Invasion of Iraq]
 Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 22 September, 1980, and ending on 20 August
1988.
 Iraq wanted to replace Iran as a dominant Persian Gulf State, and worried that
the 1979 revolution would lead Iraq’s Shi’ite majority to rebel against the
Ba’athist government.
 Iraq planned to annex the oil-rich Khuzestan Province and the east bank of
Shatt al-Arab.
 Aftermath of the Revolution
[Establishment of Islamic republic
government]

 On 30 and 31 March,1979 a referendum was held over whether to replace the

monarchy with an "Islamic Republic".
 In June 1979 the Freedom Movement released its draft constitution for the
Islamic Republic that it had been working on since Khomeini was in exile.
 Khomeini now rejected the constitution – its correctness notwithstanding – and
Khomeini declared that the new government should be based "100% on Islam.
 The Impact of The Revolution
Effect on Women
Effect on Economy
Effects on Religious Freedom
Social Changes
Islamic Sharia law become the new court system
Impact on International Relationship
Conclusion
The Revolution in 1979 were
considered as of the most influential
revolution in modern era. It over
through 2500 years of Monarchy and
established new system of ruling the
revolution make Iran as Islamic
republic from monarchy and brings
many constitutional changes
according to Islamic Sharia law.
 Thanks
Do you have any questions?