The Iranian Revolution of 1979 as a Truing Point in the Region - Essay Example

The Iranian Revolution Essay Date Student’s Name Institution’s Name The Iranian Revolution Introduction The two outstanding names when one mentions Iranian revolution is; Shah and Ayatollah. The competition between these two and the rivalry during the Iranian revolution shaped the course of the war. However, the causes of the Iranian revolution and its condition based on the peoples beliefs. Generally people were against Shah due to beliefs that Shah was not religious enough. Also, others believed that the policies put in place by Shah were too oppressive to the people. Furthermore, others believed that Shah was concentrating on modern lifestyle other than preserving the culture and religion of Iran. Briefly, the Iranian revolution was indeed a turning point for Iranian people and their destiny. Looking at two decades before the Iranian revolution, it is clear that Iran had a strong democratic government but changes came in after the Revolution. The democratic government that existed earlier on collapsed. It was due to the divisions which existed between the society and the American policy. The collapse was also due to the economic, political, sociological and cultural differences that made the revolution inevitable. Therefore, it is a fact that although, the Iranian revolution was caused by rivalry between Shah and Ayatollah, the consequences marked the turning point of Iran. Events After the overthrow of the Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh, the Shah made an effort to modernize Iran socially and economically. He tried hard to balance his power with reforms that would win the support or favor from the common Iranians. Some property owners tended to oppose the change. Ayatollah Khomeini decided to issue a religious edict against Shah’s reform. .Ayatollah later died on 5th June. His death was caused by anti-government demonstrations and rioting in various cities. After his death, the Iranians were not happy and therefore, they too decided to riot. In two days, many had been arrested, and hundreds of thousand had died. The government tried to put the official number to 86, but statistics showed that the number was approximately 10,000. The organization process threatened the needs of the traditional forces brought about by the confrontation between Shah and some groups like; Aminah and Eisenstaedt express1. Parsa argued that the central authority disintegrated, assumed leadership and clergy extended religious authority to the vacuum created in the political sphere. Agreeably, so many reasons caused the Iranian revolution. Income earned from the Iranian oil industry was not used to help people in need but for pleasure by the loyal leaders along with defense spending2. However there are more issues that brought in problems. Two groups of social classes were supposed to support Shah. However, these two social classes did not help Shah because they did not trust him3. People also worked so hard, but their pay was not as that of the upper-class people. The shopkeepers were the country’s middle class. They had demonstrated not once because they controlled most of the country's national trade and imports. Shah was later provoked came by when he announcing the Resurgence Party that brought about ‘bazaars’ (shopkeepers) by annulling the old ones hence, causing inflation. Shah announced through the media that the bazaars were profiting at the expense of the country and asked the customers to denounce the bazaars. The regime announced changes in religion. Shah announced the spiritual leader. It led to protests from the country’s clerics (the ‘ulama’) that later resulted to killing and uprisings. The ‘ulama’ did not recognize Shah as the spiritual leader since he did not originate from their rank4. Ayatollah’s interference in politics should be well understood that there was no distinction between state power and religious practice5. Khomeini, however, did not abolish most of the modern institutions like the constitution, parliament, and elections. The law paid attention to equality and social justice. It also guaranteed freedom of the press, the expression of the political opinion, political groups and gatherings6. Robin Wright said that the new constitution did not create a theocracy since the government was split7. There was under estimation of Khomeini’s Islamic movement by Shah’s reign since Shah did not like the tobacco industry. The ‘ulama’ had significant influence in the Iranian government. Persian tobacco industry employed 200,000 people. Hence, many people depended on the industry. Most of the Iranian fights were mainly to overthrow Shah’s government. Khomeini had been in politics since his childhood. In the 1960s he started preaching against Shah, accusing him of supporting the Americans. Even after being taken to exile, he continued with his opposition against Shah8. He recorded on tapes smuggled across the border in Iran. He mostly talked about how much he hated Shah and about the plight. While in exile, many leaders of opposition started to call on him. They wanted to seek his support to take advantage of his following. However, he was too smart to take desire in establishing the Islamic government in Iran9. He instead concentrated in uniting different groups with an objective o9f overthrowing Shah’s government. Shah died on July 1980, but the American hostages who had been held were not released until Reagan took the oath in the court on January 1981. Khomeini died in 1989. Today, Iran might be the only country with a government led by Ayatollah Ali Khomeini and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The long-term objective of the Iranian government since the revolution started was economic independence, comfortable living for citizens and full employment. At the end of the Iranian revolution, the country faced many challenges, which disrupted the real existing economic status of the nation10. The revolution marked the beginning of a series of problems in the well-being of the Iranian nation. The war that lasted for eight years claimed over 300, 000 lives and injured carefully to over half a million people11. The cost of the war in the country was approximately close to five hundred U.S dollar billions. After the hostilities of the war had ceased the government tried to develop the critical sectors of her economy. The industries were severely destroyed, and the government attempted to revive them back to improve the economic status of the nation. These were health care, education, energy sectors, transportation, communication and began to integrate its communication and transport with its neighboring states. Consequences The Iranian revolution and the triumph entry of the forces of the Khomeini marked the genesis of the highly and critical times in relations between the America and the Iranian Shah. On the United States side, the conflicts due to Iranian Revolution had conflicting interests to its targets and intentions and it had the negative diversion12. For both United States and Shah was that the involvement of United States had paid off well especially in the initial stages. By making military ties with the United States had made her projected herself as a full ally hoping to solve problems of the political regime with the United States13. Although Shah’s aim of wooing and winning the support of the United States was to strengthen his military forces and boost economic modernization of his country, United States Involvement in Iran had a particular interest14. Therefore, it develops a classic cold war one between her and Shah. Due to the differences between the United States and Shah like Washington geopolitical interest, which received a blow during the crisis, it destroyed the good relationship between the two which existed earlier on. Even to those who were not tracking the situations on the ground notice that the hostage crisis of the conflict changed and destroyed the relationship between the two. Fifty-two American hostages taken by the revolutionaries for four hundred and forty-four days worsened the situation. The hostage crisis signaled the beginning of the rivalry between the United States, her allies, and Iran, which resulted in economic sanction decades later15. The sanctions then affected the Iran’s economy by destroying havoc the world’s oil market in Iran16. Even, up to date due to the humiliation the United States suffered, it has been unrelentingly hostile to Iran. Also, the clerical revolt that was against monarchy was due to the social and political emancipation of women. Conscious as well as systematic efforts to exclude clerical from controlling the Iranian society took place. The Pahlavi Shahs were mainly the ones who conducted it. For instance, the clergy was excluded and excused from their role in judiciary and education17. The revolution based on the Islamic religion that occurred at the core of the revolution was nothing much. Its basis was on people for instance clergy who fear for significant loss. The people were the worried loss, for example, their legal and moral influence and their material18. They, therefore, reassert themselves in order to prevent the transfer of power to a newly formed, modern bureaucratic system19. It is the reason if one examines the eighteen years since the Islamic came to power, one will notice that the policy adoption is not based on the ideology. He or she will realize that it is only policy implementation for the sake of survival and continuation of an Islamic fundamentalist state. Conclusion Therefore, the events of the Iranian revolution led to varied consequence. The consequence gives the issues facing the Iranians during the turning point. The political ferment period after the departure of Shah in 1980 provided the turning point of Iranians destiny. Immediately after revolution, Iranians had several options. The decision was whether to create a social democracy or build a socialist state. On the other hand, they had to consider whether adapting a legal system under government based on Ayatollah’s principles was the best option or not. The fact that the present Iranian government is of Islamic republic, proofs the inevitable changes brought in by the Iranian revolution. Bibliography Abrahamian, E, Iran between two revolutions, Princeton University Press Princeton, 1983. Amuzegar, J, The dynamics of the Iranian revolution: the Pahlavi’s' triumph and tragedy, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1991. Arjomand, SA, The turban for the crown the Islamic revolution in Iran, Oxford University Press,New York, 1988. Entessar N, The Iranian Revolution, Oxford Bibliographies, 2015, retrieved 5 October 2015, Farzanegan, MR, & GM Markwardt, ‘The effect of oil price shocks on the Iranian economy’, Energy Economics, vol. 31, no, 1, 2009, pp. 134-151 January, B, The Iranian Revolution, Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, 2008. Moghadam, VM, 'Revolution, religion, and gender politics: Iran and Afghanistan compared', Journal of Women's History, vol. 10, no. 4, 1999, pp. 172-195. Parsa, M, 'Ideology and political action in the Iranian revolution, Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, vol. 31, no. 1, 2011, pp. 53-68. Rasler, K, ‘Concessions, repression, and political protest in the Iranian revolution’, American Sociological Review, vol. 61, no. 1, 1996, pp 132-152 Read More