13- The Middle East

US and Iran relationship

  • There is tension between the US and Iran since Iran and developing nuclear weapons and Iran refuses to have a talk with the US about the weapons. The US targets their military and places sanctions on them for not following the rules.

Conflicntg with the West over Iran’s Uranium enrichment program

  • Iran is currently enriching uranium with Russian technological assistance. The Iranian government has repeatedly stated that they are doing this for peaceful nuclear energy purposes but the US government believes that it is to build nuclear weapons. the IAEA views the Iranian government as a hostile enemy. Iran has refused to sign the NPT(Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty).

Theocracy

  • government run by religious leaders

  • after the Iranian revolution of 1979, the government changed from a monarchy to a theocracy

  • the ayatollah is the title of the list of Shiite religious leaders in Iran

  • government’s laws have been based on Islamic law called Sharia

Hardliners

  • Political leaders who hold strongly to a set of ideas or policies

Reformers

  • political leaders devoted to bringing about changes in government and society

The Islamic Republic of Iran

  • supreme leader (currently Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei)

    • the highest authority

    • edicts based on Islamic law

  • President (currently - Masoud Pezeshkian)

    • second highest authority

  • Parliament

    • legislature has two houses, the Majilisa, and the Guardian Council. All legislation must the approved by them and signed into law by the president

History of Iran

  • in the 1800s’s western imperialism came to Iran and Britian and Russia battled for influence in its area. Their oilfield made them interesting and each country sent in troops to defend their interests.

Nationalism and Reform in Iran

  • Ataturk’s reforms in Turkey inspired the nationalists in Iran. They resented British and Russian spheres of influence

  • in 1925, Reza Kahn overthrew the Shah and set up the Pahlavi Dynasty with himself as the Shah. He modernized Iran and made it independent. He replaced Islamic law with more secular law including ones that made women more included in society. Muslim leaders were appalled by Reza Khan’s efforts to modernize and westernize.

Iran’s ongoing revolution

  • in 1945, Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi gained Western backing but opposition in Iran since Iranian nationalists wanted to cut ties with the British and limit the Shah’s dictatorial powers.

  • Prime Minister Muhammad Mossaddiq questioned Pahlavi’s intentions for ruling. He believed that the prime minister should be the one to rule Iran. Iran took control of the oil industry to get rid of the private companies that owned them. This set off a crisis between Iran and the British/US. Teh idea of government regulation and control of the economy was seen as a communist idea. In 1953, the CIA aided Pahlavi in rusting Mossadiq which outraged Iranians. The US wanted an anti-communist Shah as an ally against the Soviets. The Shah’s enemies rallied behind Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who accused the Sha of violating Islamic law and being a puppet of the West.

  • On Jan 19th, 1979, Tehran, Iran’s capital was in a state of revolt and Iran’s ruler the Shah fled the country. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was still in exile in Paris, but he got to return and form an Islamic government. Within two weeks, he returned and set up a theocracy with religious leaders called mullahs.

The Iranian Hostage Crisis

  • from 11/4/1979 to 1/21/1981 more than sixty people were held hostage for 444 days. President Jimmy Carter’s main priority was getting them released. Carter allowed the Shah into the US for cancer treatment. This move inflamed the Iranians even more. A day later, young Islamic revolutionaries seized teh US embassy in Tehran. Carter launched a risky rescue mission to free the hostages whichrailedld. Constant media coverage. Carter’s inability to resolve the problem made him look weak and ineffective. Reagan was successful in freeing the hostages after being elected.