Consolidation of Khomeini's Power

The referendum

1 April 1979 - went 99% in favour of an Islamic Republic (20 of 21 million voted), with 99.5% voting for the constitution in December

Growth of the bureaucracy

The central bureaucracy grew from 20 ministries with 304,000 civil servants in 1979 to 26 ministries with 850,000 civil servants in 1982

Economic control

The Economic Ministry increased its control by issuing ration cards, introducing price controls, opening food cooperatives and restricting imports

Mostazafen Foundation

The successor to the Pahlavi Foundation confiscated the property of at least 50 millionaires; by the late 1980s its assets totalled more than $20 billion

Censorship

Censored newspapers, books, movies and textbooks; teachers were required to adhere to state ideology; ideological commitment to the revolution became a requirement for university admission

Seizure of NIT

The seizure of the National Iranian Radio and Television Service headquarters on 11 February 1979 - and with it command over all Tehran-based broadcasting - ended Bakhtiar's civilian caretaker government, beginning the rule of Khomeini

Pasdaran

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, set up in 1979

Sadeq Khalkhali

The notorious "hanging judge" who killed hundreds, including ex-Prime Minister Hoveida Abbas

NYT on Khomeini's terror (1984)

Khomeini used a "reign of terror" and "summary executions" to "systematically eliminate one opposition group after another"

Revolutionary court executions

Executed 497 political opponents from February 1979 to June 1981, labelling them "counter-revolutionaries" and "sewers of corruption on earth", and 8,000 political opponents from 1981 to 1985

Banning the Tudeh

Khomeini removed the threat of Communism by banning the Tudeh Party in May 1983 and arresting 70 leaders

1988 prison massacres

Shortly after accepting the ceasefire with Iraq, the government executed 2,800 "enemies of Islam", particularly political prisoners affiliated with the MEK, from July 1988 to February 1989

Military expansion

Khomeini expanded the military from 370,000 men to over half a million with the establishment of the Revolutionary Guards

Supreme Leader powers

Declared Supreme Leader for life in the Constitution and commander-in-chief (able to declare war and mobilise the army)

Islamisation of the state

Secular-trained jurists were replaced with seminary-educated ones, and 270 chaplains were placed in the army to ensure its support for the Islamic Republic

Removal of Bani-Sadr

The Hostage Crisis led to the impeachment and dismissal of Bani-Sadr after he criticised the IRP's handling of it in March 1981 - consolidating Khomeini's power by removing internal criticism

The clerical illusion

Khomeini created the illusion that the clergy wouldn't be directly involved in government by banning them from running for President in 1980, and shielded himself from criticism by mostly divorcing himself from direct administration

Crushing the Mojahedin

Denounced the Mojahedin as "Monafeqin" (hypocrites); a June 1981 bomb killed more than 70 men

The 1979 Constitution

The original draft was more democratic; the final version had 175 clauses with a preamble affirming Velayat-e Faqih; Article 4 of the 1980 Constitution required all "laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria"