1. Building an Islamic state
The Iranian Revolution and its aftermath
Muslim clergy and soldiers clasp hands in friendship atop an armored personnel carrier.
Printed in Time magazine, January 29, 1979
From:

2. A cartoon believed to have been published around January, 1980, depicting post-revolution chaos. The artist is unknown. Posted on the Iranian newsgroup soc.culture.iranian

4. This and the map on the following slide from the Univ
This and the map on the following slide from the Univ. of Texas map collection,

6. Iran Prior to Revolution: A very hasty comparative overview
Pre-20th century state: Safavid and Qajar empires
Qajar rule: decentralized, diffuse
Imperialism/Colonialism
British and Russian spheres of influence
Early authoritarian state-building
Pahlavi rule,
Reza Shah,
Muhammad Reza Shah,
A wall in Tehran, 1978 : "Kings are the disgrace of history; you are the most disgraceful king. Death to Imperialism." From:

7. State-building under Reza Shah: brief notes
Secularism
New civil code (1928)
Secular judicial system
Centralization
Creation of police force, civil service
Cosmetic “westernization”
Hat law (1935)
Veil banned (1936)
Nationalism
From “Persia” to “Iran”
New state school curricula
Turkey & Iran compared: the early period
Institutions of government
Occupation

8. State consolidation: Muhammad Reza Shah
Entrenching the monarchy
1953 coup against Mosaddeq
Creation of internal security organization, SAVAK
Tight political control
US aid & oil revenue
patronage
The “White Revolution”
Large-scale industrial development, literacy, education, land reform
After 1975, one-party state
Harsh police rule, systematic torture
Forced “westernization”
Devaluation of the Ulama & Islam

9. 1979 Iranian Revolution: Why
Rising popular opposition
Authoritarianism
Economic woes
Urban middle class suffering
Shah’s reliance on foreign experts
Cracks in the regime
US & NGO pressure
Moderate reforms
Crises
Economic recession
protest & suppression
“The Shah had a lot of sympathy for the poor.”
Cartoon by Iraj Zare; re-printed in Hassan Javadi's Satire in Persian Literature.

10. Left, Muhammad Reza Shah in London, as covered by a Belgian tabloid
Left, Muhammad Reza Shah in London, as covered by a Belgian tabloid. Right, Muhammad Reza with his son. Photos:

11. 1979 Iranian Revolution: Three visions, and then two (and then one)
Representatives of three different and conflicting visions of the new Iran. Left, secular reformer Bani-Sadr; middle, constitutional liberal Mehdi Bazargan, who originally proposed retaining the Shah under a constitutional monarchy, and later, the first prime minister of the new Iranian republic; and right, Ayatollah Khomeini. Photo courtesy of Nikki Keddie, from Bill Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, p. 424.

12. After the Shah: competing visions
1st (early Revolution) Vision
Moderate Constitutional Monarchy
(Mehdi Bazargan, the Freedom Movement & Ali Shari’ati)
2nd Vision
Secular Republic -- respecting but not controlled by Shi’ism
3rd Vision:
Theocracy-government of Ulama

13. Iranian Revolution: Who
A. Khomeini
Moderate, politicized Ulama
Radical Ulama
Bazaari merchants
Theological students
Urban workers
Secular students
Secular Urban Intellectuals
Oil workers on strike, 1978.

14. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 1902-1989
Exiled,
Velayet-e Faqih (Guardianship of the jurisprudent)
Photos of the Ayatolloh Khomeini, from

15. "Anti-government demonstrators in Tehran set fire to portraits of the Shah and his family."
From the November 20, 1978, issue of Time magazine
Ayatollah Khomeini in the Paris suburb of Neauphle le Chateau, late 1978.
Photo by Hatami

16. 1979 Iranian Revolution: How
Early days of protest & suppression
pamphlets,cassettes demonstrations
Violent suppression & continued resistance
Growing confrontation
Sept “Black Friday” in Tehran: wave of protests and violent suppression
Strikes, paralysis of Iranian economy, huge demonstrations, defections in the army
Jan M. Reza Shah flees the country
Feb. 1: A. Khomeini returns to Iran
Main headline: "2,500-year-old despotic monarchy collapses. Cities liberated by the revolutionary army." Kayhan newspaper, February 11, 1979

17. The chaos after the revolution: the first new Islamic-Iranian state
Khomeini
Who exactly should rule, and how??
Presidency &
Prime Ministry
Monarchy replaced by new Islamic republic (March 1979):
But what was an “Islamic Republic?”
Council of Guardians
Issued laws, decrees,
veto power over PM
Various political parties
Local
committees
Revolutionary
Tribunals
Armed
Forces
Revolutionary
Guards

18. Foreign crises * US hostage crisis, Nov. 1979
Newsweek, February 26, 1979
* US hostage crisis, Nov. 1979
* Iran-Iraq War, : about 200,000 Iranians die

19. Internal resistance & purges
Photos:
Former SAVAK chief and three colleagues lie dead after their execution.
: Resistance and Suppression: 10,000 Iranians die

20. After the Revolution (or, the 2nd revolution):
The second Islamic-Iranian state

21. Structure of Government*
Council of Guardians
12 members
Can veto Majlis legislation
Expediency Council
(mediates disputes between
Majlis & Guardian Council)
Cabinet
Parliament
(Majlis)
Elected every 4 years
293 members
Supreme
Leader (faqih)
Armed Forces
Assembly of
Experts
* 86 clerics
President
* 4-year terms (max. 2)
Judiciary
Electorate
* The Iranian Constitution was first passed in 1979 and revised in In addition, some of the government institutions presented here were created after This slide presents the current (2004) structure of the government. This chart was in part modeled on one created by the BBC.

22. The New Theocracy Further changes & later reforms
Economy: state control, privatization
Expansion of public sector (later unsuccessful attempts to contract this)
Creation of foundations to oversee former regime’s property
Nationalization of industries, banks, businesses
Forced departure of foreign companies (1979)
Rationing, subsidies, price controls, redistribution of property
1988 and after: liberalization package
new privatization, reduction of govt subsidies, promotion of exports
But oil still provides 40-50% of government income
New legal code
Sharia legal codes
Polygamy, free male divorce, child custody to fathers in initial post-Revolution phase; increasingly challenged in 1980s

23. Social reforms (and re-reforms)
Cultural revolution,
University purges
New dress codes
Gender segregation
Outlawing of music and liquor
Religious education in schools
Other Social reforms
“Reconstruction Jihad”: Improved rural conditions
Improved education and public health
Initial discouragement of women’s education soon changed
Rise in female literacy: 36% in 1976; 72% in 1996
Grassroots primary health care
Better family planning: drastic reduction in birthrate after 1988
Photo: BBC