1979

The Year Everything

Changed in Iran

A Trip Back in Time…

Sunni-Shia split – “struggle for the soul of Islam”

Influences on democracy/globalization Iranian foreign policy Water and oil

Oil field in eastern Iran

Demographics

Sunni population 1.3 billion people Shia number between 130 and 195

million or about 10-15% of all Muslims 80% in Persian Gulf region

Sunni-Shia split happens early in Muslim history Split happens as result of succession crisis

following death of prophet Muhammad in 632Sunnis follow succession line from Muhammad’s

father-in-law Abu BakrShia believe Abu Bakr selected to succeed

Muhammad in errorAfter a chaotic period, a group of dissenters

identify Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali as the true successor

Arab illustration showing Mohammed (on the right) preaching to the earliest converts. From a manuscript in the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Manuscrits Arabe 1489 fol. 5v). This scene was popular among medieval Islamic artists, and several nearly identical versions of this drawing were made in the Middle Ages.

Helpful Analogy Parallels to Catholic-Protestant split that informs

European politics (Shia/Catholic like icons, Sunni/Protestant not so much/Ashoura rites of Shia parallel Lenten festivals for Catholics)

Sunnis believe in consensus rule, Shia in “divine guidance” again, a parallel to low-church Protestantism and Catholic dogma

Split crystallizes in 680 at Battle of Karbala in modern Iraq, where Ali’s son Husayn is killed, his martyrdom is central to Shia belief – Ashoura is celebration of this

Husayn’s story often used to rally the troops, fighting the Shah in 1979 and fighting Saddam in 1991

Sunni’s grew to see Shia as heretics/blasphemers

Minority Status

Shia openly attacked and grew more insular, went “underground,” so to speak during the Middle Ages

Shia start to dominate Iran-Persia in the 16th century courtesy of the Safavids

Iran is distinctive in language and culture as a result, Iranians embraced Shia most fully

The Twelfth Imam

Hidden Imam – Shia believe 12th Imam hidden by God for protection in 939, believed when he returns, the ‘end times’ will come- very similar to Christianity and Armageddon

Shia ulama or religious scholars (ulema in Almond) are spiritual “descendants” of this 12th Imam – references to him used by Khomeini in Iranian revolution

20th Century and the rise of Arab Nationalism During most of its history, Shia is a religious movement,

not really a political one Shias made a bid for power in 1920’s in joining Sunni

tribes against the British – when rebellion failed the Shia were blamed

Sunni power linked to Arab nationalism in Egypt, Syria and Iraq and further ingrains the bias against all things Shia

Shia treated as outsiders, “lesser Arabs” religious wackos by rest of the Islamic Middle East

Used as a justification for dictatorship/oppression in Saudi Arabia and Iraq

Result: increased tension between Iran and rest of Arab world

Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia Syrian presidentHafez al-Assad

The Shah-nah-nah of Iran Post-WW I, Iran is a mess, in need of

strong leadership Colonel Reza Shah takes over in

1921 coup d’état and ruled as a dictator – the Shah

Forced to abdicate by UK and Russia – thought too cozy with Hitler

His son, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi took over during WWII

Mohammed Mosaddeq was elected prime minister in 1951 and nationalized the oil industry – this made the US very unhappy

Pahlavi is “reinstalled” as leader-Shah in 1953 (CIA-backed coup d’état) – Iran has been upset ever sincePresident Carter and Shah of Iran

at White House state dinner in 1977

Operation Ajax – the plot to overthrow Mohammed Mosaddeq

Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of Teddy Roosevelt. CIA operative whooversaw the coup

MohammedMosaddeq nationalized the oil industry in 1951.Overthrown byCIA-staged coup, August 19, 1953

President Eisenhoweragreed to the coup. President Truman thought it a bad idea.

Sir Winston Churchillbelieved protecting Britain’s oil and national interest was at stake.

Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran

After his overthrow in 1979, was allowed to live in exile in the United States. The Shah died of cancer in 1980.

The Return of the Shia

Iran serves a buffer-state in Cold War politics but a cleric is waiting in the wings, spending part of his time as a guest of Saddam Hussein

Later Saddam says one of his biggest mistakes was allowing Khomeini to leave Iraq alive in 1978 – Khomeini lived in exile in Paris

Ulama in Iran grow more frustrated with the Shah during the 1970’s

Ruhollah Khomeini (1900-1989) a religious scholar and philosopher leads 1979 Iranian revolution

The Man with the Plan

Khomeini seen as spiritual/political leader of Iranian revolution that gets underway in 1978

Uses imagery of Husayn the martyr, and the 12th Imam to legitimize his role

Refers to the Shah as a ‘false god’ and Iranian government as “corruptors of earth”

Even starts to refer to himself a Imam Khomeini to set himself apart from the other clerics, equating himself with the saints

Thus a fundamentalist revolution is born – kick out the infidels and restore true Islam to Iran

Ayatollah Khomeini

Shah leaves Iran 1979

February 11, 1979, people cheer in the streets near Tehran University

1979

Khomeini establishes himself as political and spiritual leader of Iran on Oct. 22nd, 1979

College students and demonstrators take over the U.S. embassy, Nov. 4th, 1979

A nightly news report on ABC tracks the “hostage crisis’ that becomes the show we now know as NightLine.

64 hostages were originally taken, later 13 women and children released. 52 remained.

The hostages are kept for 444 days until their release on the day of President Reagan’s inauguration, Jan. 20, 1981, just minutes after his speech

Iranian students with U.S. hostage 1979

"Nightline" evolved from the ABC News special broadcasts, "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage," which began November 8, 1979, four days after the American hostages were seized at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.

Back in the USA

Bay of Pigs redux – April 24, 1980 attempt at rescue fails miserably – many see the hostage crisis as the real undoing of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, consigning him to one term

Legend still surrounds the so-called “October surprise” – Reagan’s foreign policy advisors talking to the revolutionary gov’t about a deal to release the hostages. Congressional investigation found no evidence of this, but the rumor persists. This would be a big time no-no, violation of the International Commerce Act of 1798 – US citizens are not to try their hand at amateur foreign policy ventures

Yellow ribbon flown in 1979 by Penne Laingen when her husband, US diplomat Bruce Laingen, was held captive during the Iran hostage crisis; among the first of the modern "yellow ribbons.“ Picture courtesy Library of Congress

The wreckage of a Sea Stallion helicopter at the Desert One base in Iran – Operation Eagle Claw, April 24-25, 1980.

Reagan inaugural – January 20, 1981

1980’s Iran-Iraq War

Saddam amassed troops on the Iran-Iraq border in 1980, planted land mines, used chemical weapons (courtesy of USA)

Very young Iranian soldiers mobilized, innocent and ill-equipped, each given plastic keys to “paradise” - see white-shrouded figures on horse back (actors hired to stir up morale)

Literally throw themselves at the invading Iraqis in martyrdom

War fought to a stalemate until 1988

The End of Khomeini

Attempted to spread his brand of Iranian-Shia revolution throughout the rest of the Middle East, tried to sell it as “Islamic revolution”

But Sunni’s didn’t buy into Khomeini’s brand of revolution Too much baggage, centuries of sectarian strife for

unified revolution Iran also spreads revolution around with money and

power through groups like Hezbollah Khomeini dies in 1989 – theocracy still in place, clerics

still run the show, Ayatollah Khamenei now in charge

Current Issues in Iran

NukesOil IraqLebanonSaudi ArabiaAhmadinejad – election unrest US relations President of Iran and leading Holocaust

denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

No, they don’t like the US – according to author Hooman Madj, the actual translation is “death to the USA.”

“The Islamic Revolution today is a spent force in Iran, and the Islamic Republic is a tired dictatorship facing pressures to change. The victory of hard-line candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election cannot conceal the reality that grassroots concerns about democracy and economic reform are the key defining factors in Iranian politics as a whole today.”

Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival, 2007

Modernity or theocracy:Which will win out in the end?