Iran [SLIDE BASED]

PART 1 SLIDES:

Large young population:

  • 24% of the population is under 15

  • Median age is 27

Cultural/Lingual Demographics:

  • 89% are Shia Muslim

  • 58% speak Farsi

  • 51% are ethnically Persian

History:

1905 - 1909 Constitutional Revolution

  • Direct elections

  • Separation of powers

  • Laws made by the elected legislature

  • Popular sovereignty

  • Bill of Rights

  • Established Shiism as the official religion

  • Created the Guardian Council

1925 - 1979 Pahlavi Dynasty

  • 1921→ Reza Shah carries out the coup d’etat

    • Shah-in-shah

    • Ruled with an iron fist, resulting in the Majlis losing its power

    • Allied with the Nazis and changed the country from Persia to Iran

  • 1941→ Muhammad Reza Shah (his son) took power

    • He formed SAVAK

    • Authoritarian regime

  • Rise of the National Front

    • Led by Muhammad Mossadegh

    • Support from middle class

    • Emphasis on nationalism

1953 Coup D’etat

  • 1951→ Iran democratically elected Mohammad Mossadegh as their prime minister.

    • He nationalized Iran’s oil industry, which had previously been under the control of the British.

    • This move threatened British economic interests, so their government reached out to the US and sought their help to overthrow Mossadegh and regain control of the Iranian oil industry.

  • Mossadegh was also a great endorser of nationalist policies, and the US saw this as a threat to their interests in the Middle East, and were also fearful of the spread of communism and the consequential spread of the Soviets’ influence in the Middle East.

  • 1953→ The CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup to overthrow Mossadegh.

    • They had the support of the Shah of Iran and some Iranian military officials.

  • The Shah was reinstated as Iran’s monarch following Mossadegh’s arrest during the coup.

    • The coup set the stage for the Shah’s authoritarian rule, with political repression and human rights abuses.

1979 Revolution

  • What triggered the revolution?

    • Oil prices were decreased by 10% and consumer prices increased by 20%

    • The US put pressure on the Shah to loosen restraints on the opposition

  • Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was in exile in Paris, but his speeches were influential

  • Shah fled the country in February 1979

1979 Founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran

  • National referendum was held and the monarchy was abolished

  • New constitution

  • Ayatollah Khomeini becomes Supreme Leader

  • Islamic fundamentalism

  • Velayat-e-faqih

1979 - 1981 Hostage Crisis

  • Hostages from the American embassy in _____ were held for 444 days

1980 Cultural Revolution

  • Launched by Shia leaders

  • Aim was to purify the country from the Shah’s regime, secular values, and western influences

  • Purged liberal universities

  • Suppression of opposition

1980 - 1988 Iran-Iraq War

  • Started when Iraq invaded Iran by land and air

  • Anti-government rallies

  • Ended in 1988

    • Due to UN organized ceasefire

1989 (to present) Post-Khomeini

  • Khomeini died in 1989

  • Ayatollah Ali Khameini takes over (1989 - present)

  • President Hashemi Rafsanjani (1989 - 1997)

    • Very few reforms

  • President Mohammad Khatami (1997 - 2005)

    • Reformist

    • Less censorship of press

    • Tried to improve relations with the US and other Western countries

President Ahmadinejad (2005 - 2013)

  • Ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran

  • First non-cleric president in 24 years

  • Several major reformist newspapers were closed down

  • Journalists and civil society activists were arrested

  • Jailed internet users who spread information and engaged in content that “aimed at disturbing the public mind”

  • Morality police enforced Islamic dress code and prevent public mingling of men and women

  • Increased arrests, torture, and executions

  • Sharia more strictly enforced

  • Destruction of Israel

  • Questioned reality of Holocaust

  • Increased fuel research

PART 2 SLIDES:

Executive

Supreme Leader:

  • Head of state

  • Chief interpreter of Sharia law

Powers: limits presidential candidates, authority to overrule/dismiss president, command of armed forces, declaration of war and peace, issue national referenda, appoint head of judiciary, and appoint half of the members of the Guardian Council.

President:

  • Head of government

  • 4 year term - 8 year consecutive term limit

  • Directly elected by the people

  • Candidates are approved by the Guardian Council

  • Qualifications: 25 - 75 years old, Shia Muslim

    • A clause in the constitution allows the Guardian Council to bar women from participating

Powers: selecting the vice president and cabinet members, organizing budgets, signing treaties, laws, and agreements, appointing provincial governors and ambassadors.

Assembly of Experts:

  • 86 members

    • No females

  • Directly elected

  • 8 year terms

  • Elect the Supreme Leader (and have the power to dismiss him)

  • Subject to approval by the Guardian Council

Expediency Council:

  • 32 members

  • Appointed by the Supreme Leader

  • Includes the president, chief judge, speaker of the Majlis, and jurists from the Guardian Council

  • 5 year terms

  • Role is to settle disputes between the Majlis and Guardian Council

Guardian Council:

  • Qualifications: “belief in and commitment to Islam and the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran”

  • 6 of the members are Islamic jurists

  • Other 6 are (approved Muslim) lawyers

Powers: change laws, investigate cabinet ministers, approve budgets, treaties and loans.

Legislative

Majlis:

  • 290 members

  • 4 year terms

  • Five seats are reserved for government-recognized religious minorities: Christians, Jews, and Zororastrians.

  • Direct elections

  • Qualifications: name must be submitted to a subcommittee of the Guardian Council, 30 - 75 years old, university degree

  • Two round voting

Judiciary

Judiciary:

  • Based on Sharia law

  • Not independent

  • The Supreme Leader appoints the head of judiciary

  • Penal code is very harsh

    • Stoning, death penalty (for adultery, homosexuality, drinking)

    • High execution rates

MOHAMMAD MOSSADEGH

In office: 1951 - 1953 (Prime Minister)

  • Vocal critic of foreign intervention in Iranian affairs, and specifically the role of the British in their oil industry

  • The nationalization of their oil in 1951 led to a confrontation with the British

  • His efforts to nationalize their oil and keep their internal affairs internal, made him very popular with Iranians; which is why he was democratically elected.

  • The CIA and MI6 arrested and imprisoned him following the events of the coup, and he spent the remainder of his life under house arrest in Iran until his death.

Remains a controversial figure in Iranian politics and is widely revered as a nationalist hero for his efforts to stand up to foreign powers and defend Iranian sovereignty.

AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMEINI

Present Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran

In office:

  • Chosen by the cleric who make up the Assembly of Experts

  • Appointed for life

AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI

MUHAMMAD REZA PAHLAVI (SHAH)

  • Westernization/secularization of Iranian culture

  • White Revolution: gave land to peasants, extended women’s rights, increased secularism

  • Rentier state

  • Industrialization

  • Centralization

  • Overstepped bounds of political culture

    • Perceived as being totalitarian, offended nationalists

PART 3 SLIDES:

Civil society:

  • Civil society was suppressed under the Pahlavi dynasty

    • Most civic organizations were either absorbed into the state or outlawed

  • Under Khatami (1997 - 2005): loosening of freedom of speech and press

  • Under Ahmadinejad (2005 - 2013): newspapers shut down, books and websites were banned, peaceful protests were not tolerated

Protests & Demonstrations:

1999→ protests erupted in universities across the country because the government shut down a reformist newspaper

2002→ protests by students when the courts ruled a death sentence for a reformist academic Hashem Aghajari

2003→ student mass protests over privatization of university system

2006→ security forces attacked striking bus drivers in Tehran and arrested hundreds

→ police beat hundreds of citizens who assembled to commemorate International Women’s Day

2009 - 2010→ the Iranian Election Protests

  • People protested against the victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the elections

  • Known as the Green Movement

  • In response, the government sent thousands of Revolutionary Guards to disperse crowds = violence

  • Society has been “vaccinated” against these “germs” - Ayatollah Khameini

  • Shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan

    • A philosophy student taking part in the 2009 election protests with her teacher was fatally shot in the chest.

    • Reportedly shot by a militiaman from the paramilitary organization

    • Her death was recorded and broadcast to the internet

    • Became a rallying point for the protesters

2022→ Mahsa Amini, a woman who opposed the mandatory hijab law, was killed in police custody which sparked a wave of protests nationwide.

Women & the Political System:

  • First allowed to be admitted into universities in 1937

  • Women were granted the right to vote in 1963

  • Iranian women have higher levels of education today than under the Shah

  • Women are able to run for seats in the Majlis (about 3%) but are constitutionally barred from running for presidency

  • Well represented in some areas in society (doctors and government employees)

    • Difficult for women to get hired - represent 33% of the labor force

  • Women must dress conservatively and cannot leave the country without the consent of male relatives

  • Occasional stoning of women for adultery, however the government recently issued a ban