Iranian Revolution Issues - Essay Example

? Topic: Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution is believed to be one of the most significant events of history and brought many economic and global changes. We will examine how the US has intervened during the situation when both Israel and Iran were US allies in 1967 and even in the years after that and how has events like Gulf War, Sanctions regime, al-Qaeda and the second Iraq War has affected Iran. The Iranian Revolution is also interlinked with Lebanese Civil War and Israeli-Palestinian conflict The Iran-Iraq war has been one of the most significant events in the history which had given rise to innumerable more important events affecting the world and its super powers. It all started in 1974-75 when the Shah of Iran was informed of the Bathist regime in Baghdad. They were known to be supplied by weapons from the Soviet Union for controlling the northern Gulf their own way. Iran supported and funded the Kurds to rebel against Iraq to weaken them. He also provided sanctuary to Iraqi Kurds in Iran. Algiers agreement was signed in 1975, in order to redefine the boundary of Shatt al Arab. Shatt al Arab is found in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The river also forms a border between Iran and Iraq just when the river discharges into the Persian Gulf. Two Iranian cities, Abadan and Khorramshahr, and the Iraqi city of Basra are located on the coastline of this river. One of the factors for the Iran-Iraq war was disputes on territorial claims. This waterway served as source of peace agreement between ancestors of Iran and Iraq. But Saddam Hussein violated the rules in 1980 and tried to invade the waterway and bring in into the Iranian territory. It also dislocated as many as 250,000 Kurds from their homeland. It can be related to the Israeli policies against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for over forty years now (Abrahamian, 2008). The outrage was set ablaze once again between Iran and Iraq with the onset of Iran Iraq War in 1991. The Shia-Sunni dispute was an old one and can be traced back to the Iranian Revolution of 1977-79. Shia’s protest against the people of Baghdad was on secularism and that they were not given equal rights and positions on economic as well as educational level. Shia people were very loyal to their beliefs and this disturbed the Baghdad greatly who were weak in unity and thus, enticed them to invade Iran in 1980. The issue was propagated as Iraq being the Shia side of Islam and Iraq legalized as the Islamic republic of Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini made a direct appeal for the Iraqi Shia community to put an end to the rule of Saddam Hussein and bring forth an Islamic Republic. Saddam Hussein decided to bring a downfall to his government before he could get his power back. His decision had the support of US, oil-rich producers if Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states who did not like Khomeini’s revolutionary Islam. The invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein continued to be a horrible long war costing many thousands of billions of dollars and much causality. Iran fought fearlessly for their rights. The war had crippled the Iraqi oil industry and reduced income levels. All in all, the conflict was a horrible one with thousands of lives lost during the years 1982-1988. Iranian war dead estimates were about 262,000 and those of Iraq were 105,000 (Wright, 2005). There were certain goals that the United States had for the Iraq war in 2003. They wanted to demolish a regime from Iraq that they believed was to develop and utilize weapons of mass destruction which further gave shelter and protection to terrorists who tend to give way to human right abuses. The US was of the opinion that all this did injustice to the United Nation’s demands and that Iraq must compel to the international regulations and obligations. This invasion was further backed up with the view that the present ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was giving initiative to those weapons of mass destruction which was a big threat to the security of the neighboring countries and to the world as a whole. There were continuous war rallies in Tehran with local people supporting the view that "Imam Khomeini: 'Saddam has no alternative but to commit suicide" Circa 1981. The purpose was to disarm Iraq, whatever consequences it took. The Iraqi civilians were also being tortured and exploited. Al-Qaeda, an extremist group was also known to be a part of Iraq but initiated by Osama bin Laden, one of the wealthiest members of the Arab community. US president George Bush claimed that the capture of Osama bin Laden and Zarqawi was essential because if they gain control of Iraq then it will become a breeding ground for terrorists and their outrageous attacks just like the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre in 2001. US prime minister, Tony Blair confronted that oil was not a factor in the Iraqi war and just a conspiracy but it was important to protect these oil fields from the hands of terrorists. Iraq started using mustard gas and chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War. For the first time, the use of nerve agent tabun was used by Iraqi military forces against Iran on the battlefield in 1984. Not only this, but Iraq also used chemical weapons like mustard gas and hydrogen cyanide in the Halabja Massacre of 1988 and also in the Anfal Campaign fought against the Kurds. Even today it is not quite evident that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and its nuclear threshold technology, but both Saudi Arabia and Israel are doubtful about it Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Ali Khomeini started the much anxiety driven Islamization against the western world. They were known to be extremists and anti-Americanism and wanted to completely erase the name of Israel from the worlds map. They were funding Hezbollah and Hamas and also making Guerilla Cells in Iraq. Their use of nuclear weapons also turned Americans against them and they come a long way from the Iranian revolution, but today they tension between both is released to an extent as Iranians have agreed to most of what US demanded, such as the destruction of Taliban and Iraqi Bath government. Ahmadinejad had turned against Israel, Zionism and Jews in revenge as to why Palestinians are not given the same rights and positions as Jews have after the Holocaust movement when Germany came in to support them, while Palestinians have to suffer and get punished for Europe’s sins. He made a strong outcry against Israel’s brutalism against Palestine. SAVAK (1957-1979) was established by Iran’s Shah Mohammad Raza Pahlavi. It was a secret police and intelligence service. People were afraid of this organization because of the way it tortured and executed the opponents of the Pahlavi rule. It got closed after the power of Khomeini and the Iranian revolution. Kuwait is known as to be the most developed and fourth richest country in the world per capital and its oil reserves rank as the fifth largest in the world. After the Gulf War of 1990, Iraq had invaded and occupied Kuwait in 2 August, 1990. The annexation continued for seven whole months, when finally the US forces intervened. Great economic and environmental unrest was caused when Iraqi forces put 750 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire which accounted for 950,000 m3 of oil being burned in a day. This had caused great damage and catastrophe to the Kuwait’s infrastructure, which took 2 years and US$ 50 billion to rebuild after the war and reach the oil output before Iraqi invasion (Keddie, 2005). Saudi Arabia has a total population of about 20 million and 2 million of this population is Shia Muslims. They are only a minority being only around 10 to 15%. They mostly live in the eastern part of the province and only a small percentage of them live in big cities like Mecca, Medina and Riyadh. Being a minority, they were always discriminated regarding their religion or culture. They are categorized as Iranian puppets. Shias are known to be responsible for the bombings of oil pipelines in 1998. Therefore, some of them were executed for being traitors. Saudi government was trying to punish them, in response to Iranian militancy by restricting their freedoms economically. They could openly and easily treat them violently. Dammam is a city of Saudi Arabia with Shia population of about 600,000, estimating about a quarter of the total Dammam population. But there is only mosque for them to pray, the call to prayer is not legal there. There is not even a cemetery for them. References: Abrahamian, Ervand. History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press. P.160-1. 2008. Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East Second Edition. Oxford University Press, Inc. 2008. Harris, David. The Crisis: the President, the Prophet, and the Shah — 1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam. Little, Brown.  2004. Hoveyda, Fereydoun. The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian mythology and Islamic revolution. Praeger.  2003. Keddie, Nikki. Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution. Yale University Press. 2005. Kepel, Gilles. The Trail of Political Islam. Harvard University Press. 2005. Kurzman, Charles. The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran. Harvard University Press. 2004. Ruthven, Malise. Islam in the World. Oxford University Press.  2004. Wright, Robin. The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation In Iran. Alfred A. Knopf: Distributed by Random House.  2005. Zanganeh, Lila Azam (editor). My Sister, Guard Your Veil, My Brother, Guard Your Eyes: Uncensored Iranian Voices. Beacon Press.  2006. Read More