Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Political changes in Iran after the Islamic revolution
2009 revolution in Iran
Effects of sanctions
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Introduction
Iran is without a doubt, one of the richest countries in the world. With its enormous Oil, Gas and other natural resources combined with its young population and the access to free seas (through Persian gulf), one should think that the country has a significant growth and no poverty and unemployment problems.
After the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of opposition, became the country’s leader and changed Iran’s Constitution, an Islamic republic government. Under this new hierarchy, which will be explained later, the country was supposed to have independent congress, president and judiciary department, to avoid corruption and bad management of wealth.
Before 2005 with the presidency of Khatami, despite all difficulties, Iranian economy started to grow and reached 5% according to Iranian Central Bank. The most important to notice is that in those years Crude oil price had fallen to 40$ per barrel XXX, and the GDP growth, for the first time in its history, was not depended on oil and gas exportation.
In 2005 with presidency on Ahmadinejad, a close person to supreme leader, everything change for the country. Within the first 4 years of his presidency the oil price reached a historical record and the oil and gas exportation income in those 4 years were higher than Iran’s whole importation till that day XXX.
In the second round of his presidency, Iran was faced with hard western countries sanctions because of its nuclear development plans. On the other hand, the lack of knowledge and bad management in the new governor team day by day, by taking wrong decisions, economy fall down. Many decisions and wrong actions were taken during those 8 years such as, Quick productive small businesses, Economic devel...
... middle of paper ...
...rd-for-jailed-journalists.php). As a result it is not possible to rely on the reports and numbers reported by his office. Although reports are unreliable the new government reported some numbers that were totally different and shows how bad is economy, but yet after 9 months Rouhani in office, there is no reliable reporting system in place.
Now the country with a negative growth rate and high levels of liquidity (which is absorbed into real estate and currency exchanges and not production), inflation and unemployment is to be fixed by the new president Hassan Rouhani, but the real question remains un answered, even if Rouhani fixes everything and the economy and growth come back to normal, is it guaranteed that the president after him will take rational decisions, or it is time to change how politicians can affect the economy and give some freedom to it ?
America and Iran had tricked the Soviets which left them very angry, and this inevitably led to the Cold War. But less than a decade later, America had done something which caused Iran to change their opinion of them. In 1951, Iran had recently elected a prime minister by the name, Mohammed Mosaddeq, which he nationalized the countryś petroleum industry, long the domain of the British-dominated AIOC. This move, however, pitted the two governments against each other in a bitter political fight. The Truman administration had tried to work between both sides, but Dwight Eisenhower had quickly concluded that Mosaddeq represented the problem rather than the solution to the crisis. They decided that they wanted him out and later he was kicked out and Mohammad Reza Shah took his place for the next twenty-five years. Shah not only gained access to sophisticated American weaponry, but also obtained tacit White House permission to forgo any serious effort at reform. Over the years, the internal resentment against the Shahś political and economic policies was building to a peak, but the depth of the problem escaped the notice of American
Prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was ruled by the Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and furthermore, not governed by religion. The Shah’s White Revolution launched a series of reforms in 1963 that are indicative of where women’s rights for Iran were heading prior to the Islamic revolution. The reforms included, giving women the right to vote, run for office and to become lawyers and judges. This large of a reform in regards to women’s rights, was far more drastic than anything Iran had experienced in the past, and the shock of these “extreme” measures, received a large backlash from over 90% of the population1, the Shia Muslims.
At home, economic problems dominated, causing massive unemployment and inflation. Oil shortages also presented a challenge. Domestically, Carter’s policies were a failure, with no success in alleviating the economy or the oil crisis. In the Middle East, a series of conflicts between Egypt and Israel resulted in peace talks and with the Presidents’ mediation they were successful. However, Carter was not completely successful abroad.
From 1941 to 1979 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, commonly known as Mohammad Reza, or simply the Shah, led Iran as successor to his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi. Mohammad often went against his vows of constitutional monarchy by using the Iranian secret police, SAVAK, to suppress his political opponents. Mohammad Reza's domestic policy focused on a series of reform policies to modernize the country. His foreign policy focused on an effort to abolish sovietism, and become an ally of the western powers and the US. Shah's rule is characterized as dictatorial, a period of major domestic and constitutional reform, as well as a period in which Iran established itself as a major regional power. Mohammad Reza attempted to rid the region of foreign influence, mainly that of the Soviets and communism, in an effort to grow the countries individual power. As a means to reach this goal, Mohammad Reza instituted reforms to modernize the country. However, as stated on the official website of Farah Pahlavi, his rule did not follow the emerging ideas of democracy and brought opposition from many of the traditionalist, and nationalists with different priorities. Overall, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's domestic reforms were largely ineffective in reaching his goals, whereas his foreign goals were largely met.
The late 20th century was a very turbulent time in American history. In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected to the presidency, and he had many goals to help better America. However, on November 4th, 1979, a group of radical students seized the United States’ embassy in Tehran, Iran. This completely altered the course of American history and relations with the Middle East. This crisis had many impacts on the United States. It caused the Energy Crisis which in turn caused the Recession of 1979. The Iran Hostage Crisis also had political consequences for President Carter. It was a major factor that contributed to him losing the election of 1980 to Ronald Reagan. Additionally, this crisis led to many instances of racial discrimination toward Iranian-Americans and Iranian immigrants. Even after the Hostage Crisis was resolved, the bad blood between the two countries continued; the United States helped Iraq in the war against Iran, and the Iranians backed a second hostage situation in Lebanon. The Iran Hostage Crisis was a very important event that impacted America in many ways and destroyed our relationship with Iran. The consequences of this event are still felt today and continue to our foreign policies toward Iran.
Over the course of the last century, the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly known as Persia) has seen colonialism, the end of a dynasty, the installation of a government by a foreign power, and just over three decades ago, the popular uprising and a cleric-led revolution. These events preceded what could be considered the world’s first Islamic state, as politics and fundamentalist religion are inextricably linked in contemporary Iran. Looking at Iran from the mid 1940’s until the present day, one can trace the path that led to the rise of fundamental Islam in Iran in three distinct periods. The first is that which began with the rise of secular nationalism and the decline of Islam. In the second, the secular, western-friendly government eventually gave way to the Islamic revival in the form of a government takeover by hard-line clerics and disillusioned, fundamentalist youth; both motivated and led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Rule of Iran by these fundamentalist clerics then led to the formation of the fundamentalist Islamic theocracy that governs present-day Iran. The current government has some democratic appearances, but all real power is in the hands of the supreme leader, an Ayatollah who is chosen by the Assembly of Experts, a group of clerics chosen by the Guardian Council. With the Iranian Revolution, political Islam was born, with the fundamentalists holding the reins of power in Iran to the present day.
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come. Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people.
Western powers and Iran have had rocky relations for a long time, both holding deeply seeded resentment for the other that dates back much farther than the reign of current rulers from either side. The bad blood between a theocratic Iran and democratic West have been cause for much turmoil for regimes in Iran as they strive to industrialize while at the same time rejecting Western democratic ideals that, in the course of history, accompany long term economic growth. The political culture of Iran is a result of many years of distrust of American and European powers and thus is very much anti-Western, political and clerical leaders have for decades used this sentiment as means to maintain power and reject democratic reforms. It is the political culture of Iran and the culture of fierce Iranian and Islamic nationalism that has slowed much of the democratic development in the country.
After the deposing of the shah by revolution, the people of Iran elected a democratic l...
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
Iran had suffered and prospered through many different rises of power in the 20th century; these changes caused anger in the Iranian people. The time leading up to the revolution was characterized a fight for power between the Western influences and the Islamic people. In 1979 the people of the Iran led by Ruhollah Khomeini considered to be an enemy of the state. He was born in about 1900 in the town of Khomein. He was raised in the tradition of Shiite Islam; because of the death of his father he became more spiritual and faithful. On March 31, 1961, Ayatollah Boroujerdi died and Khomeini was in a position to take up the mantle left by the late religious leader. After publishing his writings on Islamic science and doctrines, many Shi'ite Iranians began to see Khomeini as Marja-e Taqlid (Biography channel website ). He wanted to start the first “government of God” (Berlatsky 26). He was thought to be a threat to the Shah decided that they had enough of his attempts to overthrow the government; he had been exiled for 14 years. With him as the leader of the Islamic uprising people flocked to his side to support. The placement of he Shah by America in the 1960’s was their final straw. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been described as one of the most notable events of the twentieth century; it began a period of time in which the Islamic culture was fighting against the modernization in many nations where Islam was the main religion. There is a huge difference between an unsuccessful revolution in which the beginners of the revolution are diminished and their demands not met. But when it is look at, the Iranian Revolution is seen as successful revolution in which all the needs of fight...
The Iranian Revolution, “was the 1979 overthrow of Iran 's monarchy and the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was replaced by the cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The revolution established religious leaders as the ruling class and integrated fundamentalist Islamic law into all aspects of the government, military, and public and private enterprise” (Definition of Islamic Revolution). The symbolism that is associated within the novel shows her rebellious stages such as, smoking a cigarette due to the amount of deaths that occurred in the revolution. Satrapi became curious about her surroundings and she seeks for knowledge and information about the Iranian Revolution in different ways such as reading.
Many of the reforms put in place by the White Revolution had a direct impact on the ulama and went against the ideology of the Islam. One of the “major grievance” the ulama had against Pahlavi’s regime was the continuous attempts to mitigate the “power and influence” of the ulama, as well as the “growing power of Western Infidels and their ways”. One policy that the ulama felt was an attempt to mitigate their influence was the land reform policy. The land reform policy allowed landowners to have “one village, or a total of six dongs (each dong is one sixth of a property)”. The government purchased the excess land, and then would redistribute the land to peasant farms. However, this policy directly affected the ulama economically. The ulama relied heavily on waqf lands, and used the revenues in order to maintain mosques and seminaries. Another policy that affected the ulama financial and contributed to their discontent with the Shah was in 1977, when Iran was in the middle of an economic crisis. The Shah appointed a new Prime minister, Jamshid Amuzegar, who imposed the austerity program. In the austerity program, Amuzegar decided to “substantially lower the allocation of a secret fund from which the ulama received lucrative stipends”. This act shut off an important source of capital that the ulama used to carry out their day-to-day operation. Further
The Islamic Republic of Iran, formerly known as Iran or Persia, was crowded with a young generation looking for full freedom against the Shah. Persia, once as a powerful country with vast oil resources, soon became a vulnerable nation, ready to accept a new leader to guide them. The people were ready for change, but were the changes they got the changes they were looking for. The people wanted freedom against the shah, (For generations Iran was ruled by Kings) who allowed some freedoms, but it was somewhat limited. The people wanted freedom of speech, so that the press could freely publish their own opinions. They wanted to get rid of a law that made all eighteen-year-old males attend two years of military service unless they are accepted to a university, which would allow them attend the army later as a service worker. The shah was anti-religious, which was not ideal for many of the civilians in Iran. Savak (Secret organization of Iran) was accused of many anti – human rights actions, such as killing students who protested and immediately jailing press members for inappropriate conduct. A major problem was that the shah was a “puppet” of the United States many say, because the Shah would constantly confer with the U.S. of all of his decisions as ruler. The after affects of the revolution resulted in similar conditions, however. Human rights are horrible, the government limits all freedoms, the economy has suffered greatly, average salaries are hard to live with, most of the educated people in Iran fled to foreign countries, the quality of public schools is horrible, and the government still controls all television broadcasts and keeps a watchful eye on the newspapers. From bad to worse is what many people feel has become of Iran, but the people are ready for a real change.