1. The Islamic Revolution
Religion Peace &Conflict

3. “Why did the Revolution break out?”

4. Iran under the Shah Pahlavi:
Iran was an ally of the West;
1963 White Revolution;
1967 he crowned himself as “King of the Kings”;
1971 he held a celebration of 2,500 years of Persian monarchy;
1976 he replaced the Islamic calendar with an imperial calendar;
1957 SAVAK;
1973 economic reforms;

5. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi:

6. 1973-1976 Economic crisis in the form of acute inflation: :
Increase in oil revenues and the subsequent rise of prices;
Influx of over 60,000 well paid foreign technicians;
The failure of agricultural to keep up with the rise of the population;
The jump of food prices in the world market;
The industrialisation programme;
The expenses caused by the vast military apparatus;
Labour shortage and aggravation of the agricultural problems.

7. Social crisis :
Traditional devout middle class (bazaaris) and urban working class;
Reasons:
1. Benefited partially from rapid modernization fueled by petro-dollars,
2. Economic uncertainty and dreadful living conditions;
3. Alienated from modernist, and secular ideology;
4. Shah tried to decrease their power.

8. Shite clergy: Ayatollahs,, Ulemas, Muslim scholars and Mullahs, local Muslim leader;
Reasons:
1. Shah’ s open mistrust of the mullahs;
2. Secularization of Iran and mullahs lost their jobs;
3. Schools of theology to teach ‘approved religion’;
4.Clergy was not represented within the government.

9. Institutional crisis:
1977 Jimmy Carter ‘s human right policy ;
Groups of Iranian exiles denounced the atrocity of the SAVAK;
Iran lacked of democratic institutions that further alienated group of people from political participation.

10. Ayatollah Khomeini (1902-1989):
he emerged as an antigovernment voice among the ulemas,
Exile:
-1964, Turkey;
, Iraq,
, France.
1970s “Velayat e-Faqih” (Governance
of the jurist)

11. Islamic Revolution:
1977 Beginning of protests and by the liberal opposition, the clergy took little part in the short-lived “Tehran spring” (Iranian Students 175,000);
Fedayeen;
Jan Publication by the Tehran newspaper “Ettela’ at” of an insulting attack on Khomeini,
Jan Qom Incident: 100 students killed;
8 Sept 1978 (Black Friday) 87 dead and 205 wounded. Opposition declared 4,000 dead.
Dec Over a 1,000,000 Iranians celebrated Ashura and defied the Shah’s curfew by shouting “Allah Akbar”;
16th Jan 1979 the Shah left Iran under Prime Minister Baktiar,
1st Feb Khomeini returned to Tehran

12. Theoretical framework:
Iran’s national, Islamic religious-cultural identity, (Shiism offered a common sense of history, identity, symbols, and values)
Social justice to the grip of Pahlavi Regime and Western imperialism (world imperialism, including multinational corporations and cultural imperialism, racism, class exploitation, class oppression, class inequality and West oppression)
Sacred duty to struggle and to make the supreme sacrifice in order to liberate the country from class oppression and colonial domination (Martyrdom of Husayn became the religious-political paradigm fro the Iranian Revolution)

13. Khomeini’s promises:
A new Islamic republic based on a truly Islamic society;
This society would be free of class inequality;
The new Islamic society would be based on equality, fraternity and social justice; 
Political Islam + Populism + Utopia

14. On February 1, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran after 15 years in exile (and 16 days after the flight of the Shah). Khomeini became Iran's supreme spiritual leader in December 1979:

16. The Islamic Republic:
1st April 1979 referendum: 99% votes for the Islamic Republic,
2nd December 1979 referendum: 99% votes for the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the Assembly of Experts;
17% of the population did not support the referendum and did not vote (Mujahidin, Fedayeen and National Front)
Repression of the opposition (Revolutionary Guards, Pasdaran)
First President Bani Sadr, First Prime Minister Bazargan,

18. Consolidation of the Islamic Republic (1979-1989):
Internal factors:
Growth of the central bureaucracy ( ,000 civil servants; , 000 civil servants);
Purge of the top echelons (between 1979 and Islamic court executed 497 political opponents);
Pasdaran;
Centralization of the power;

19. Iran-Iraq war ( ):
1983 Iran pushed Iraq out and advanced into Iraq’s territory with the slogan “The road to Jerusalem goes through Baghdad”;
Militias became Pasdaran;
War= national emergency;
Nationalization of enterprises;
Sharia Law extended;
1983 Chador;
Censorship.

20. Hostage Crisis (Nov. 1979-Jan.1981):
Group of Islamists took over the American embassy in Tehran for 444 days,
1981 Agreement in Algiers:
- America pledged not to intervene in Iran’s affair,
- America released Iran’s frozen assets,
- America promised cooperation with Iran to extradite Pahlavi wealth.
In practice:
- Iran further isolated.

21. Post- Khomeini ( ):
Khamenei became the Supreme Leader (Leader ceased to be addressed as the Supreme faqih but he became a Supreme Leader)
Amendments to the Constitution,
Economic crisis led to several reforms,
The Economist :“Iran, although an Islamic state imbued with religion and religious symbolism is an increasing anti- clerical country.”

22. Iran Today: Major regional power; 70 million people;
Third largest producer of oil and has the globe’s third- second largest proven reserves of gas and oil;
Strong centralized State;
Strong national identity derived from Shia as well as pre- Islamic heritage, and from the shared history,
Shia in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan look toward Iran as their protector,

23. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad : Elected in 2005: sixth President of Iran;
Conservative;
September 2005 speech before the United Nations: Ahmadinejad professed his desire to pursue Iran's nuclear technology program, which he claimed was for peaceful purposes.
He condemned the United States for not only proliferating weapons of mass destruction, but also sowing a "climate of intimidation and injustice."
From May 2006 to March 2007, the United Nations Security Council passed a series of resolutions requiring Iran to terminate its nuclear enrichment programs.

24. Iranian election protest:
: series of protests following the Presidential elections against the victory of President Ahmadinejad and in support of opposition candidates Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi;
The protest was named “Green Revolution” reflecting presidential candidate Mousavi's campaign color;
2013: Hassan Rouhani elected 7th President of Iran.

25. President Hassan Rouhani
Mousavi’s supporter

26. Nuclear Technology: Iran:
Insist on the right to develop nuclear technology, citing international law,
Need to find alternative forms of energy,
Inalienable right of developing countries to enter the modern world and to develop cutting edge science,
It has no intention of expanding its nuclear program to producing weapons,
U.S.:
Its real intention is to develop weapons of mass destruction,
These weapons will violate international law and change the whole balance of the Middle East.
Iran’s support of Hezbollah and Hamas.

27. “Do you think contemporary Iran represent a threat for the world?”