Politics and Religion of Iran

1043 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Iran before and after revolution

Politics and Religion of Iran

After the fall of the Shah a new revolution was born with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In November 1979, the Iranian government became a large threat to the United States' national security. In one of the largest and longest lasting hostage situations of American history, the Iranian leadership proved contempt for diplomatic norms and world opinion during the hostage crisis. They appeared supremely confident that Iran would succeed on its own, regardless of the rest of the world and certain that God was on their side. Since this event, Iran has remained an isolated country from the rest of the world and still remains one of the largest threats to the United States' national security.

One of the main problems with the Iranian government is that there is a duality and question of power between the main religious leader and the political leader. The supreme religious leader, as opposed to the political leader, according to the Iranian Constitution, is specifically charged with various duties as leading the television and radio network to appointing personnel to the hugely powerful Guardian Council, which can overrule the parliament at will and dismiss the elected officials assuming power of the supreme command over the armed forces (Mackey, 149-151). This power struggle between the religious and political regimes is what caused the revolutionary war in 1979. The first strike against the American freedoms was seen through the 444-day hostage action against the United States Embassy staff in Tehran. The Islamic revolutionary party took this measure to ensure that the American military would not intervene in the Iranian power struggle. Since the hostage crisis, Iran has become synonymous with terror.

During the revolutionary struggle and the hostage crisis, groups of local toughs were formed and grew in strength. These neighborhood thugs were called hizbollahis, also known as the groups of the Party of God (Schlesinger, 97). These groups were sponsored by the religious revolution of Islam to carry out measures necessary for the revolution. In the beginning the group was given simple tasks like enforcing the policy of all women being veiled and members of party harassed those that were found unveiled. The terrorist group of Hizbollah has now grown into one of the largest state sponsored organizations of the Is...

... middle of paper ...

...amic Republic of Iran will have to one-day make the distinction between state and religious power, and until this intolerance of all other non-Muslim religions is abolished the rest of the world will be at risk of persecutions by the governments state sponsored terrorism.

Eventually, the Iranian government will have to consider separating the political and religious wings, and allow the people of Iran as well as the rest of the world to live life according to that individual?s own beliefs; but until that time the United States? national security is at grave risk to more attacks by this radical nation. Since the fall of the Shah, the Islamic Republic of Iran has isolated itself from the rest of the world, and has proven to be one of the greatest threats to American security through the use of state sponsored terrorism based on religious goals and formed by political movement.

WORKS CITED

Mackey, Sandra. THE IRANIANS: PERSIA, ISLAM AND THE SOUL

OF A NATION. New York: Penguin Group, 1996.

Schlesinger JR, Arthur M. AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI. New York:

Chelsea House, 1987.

Wright, Robin. IN THE NAME OF GOD: THE KHOMEINI DECADE.

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Taken Hostage By David Farber

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    This completely changed the perception of the United States within Iran. Many Iranians believed that “American influence and power made a mockery of their national autonomy and desecrated their religious beliefs” (Farber, 37). The real struggle came once the Shah sought asylum in the U.S. Iran believed this to be a betrayal and demanded the Shah be released to the revolutionaries. Due to the fact that the United States did not refuse the Shah, the revolutionaries took the embassy in Tehran and all of the people that worked there hostage. One of the hostages wrote back to his parents during the crisis “‘We will not be set free until shah is released and the longer we stay here like this the better is a chance for something terrible to happen’” (Farber, 156). The siege was led by Iranian students who supported the revolution and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader that the revolution had selected to take the place of the

    Read More

  • The Causes Of The Iran-Contra Affair

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East had depended on a friendly government in Iran. The newly appointed leader, the shah of Iran, began Westernizing the country and taking away power from the Ayatollah, powerful religious leaders. The United States poured millions of dollars into Iran’s economy and the shah’s armed forces, overlooking the rampant corruption in government and well-organized opposition. By early 1979, the Ayatollah had murdered the Shah and taken back power of the government. A group of students who took the American embassy hostage on November 4th, 1979, turned the embassy over to the religious leaders. Carter knew he must take action in order to regain the American embassy and the hostages, but with all of the military cutbacks, the rescue attempt was a complete failure and embarrassment. It took the United States 444 days to rescue the hostages. This was the final straw for many Americans, and enough to push them to the “right” side of the political spectrum, Republican.

    Read More

  • How Did The Cold War Affect Iran

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • GOODWIN AND BATTLE OF ALGIERS: CATEGORICAL TERRORISM

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.

    Read More

  • Censorship In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Iranian government is fighting a losing battle against a rapidly growing Western force. Although Iran is not physically waging war against the United States, the government is fighting to eradicate its increasing cultural influence in Iran. The young, Iranian population is currently speaking out against the Islamic Republic’s attempts to rid the country of Western culture, demanding more freedom and less censorship, similar to how Marjane Satrapi acts out against the regime in Persepolis.

    Read More

  • John Wayne's Impact On Native American Society

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    America: land of the free and home of the brave. Stretching from coast to coast, it’s a nation that claims liberty and justice for all – but what really makes America so great? Is it the astonishing skyline of New York City, a skyline that exemplifies all that we’ve accomplished? Is it the abundance of popular culture and fame produced in the shiny, dream-making city of Hollywood? Maybe it’s the way our ancestors victoriously conquered the fertile, prosperous land that once belonged to the now seemingly forgotten indigenous people.

    Read More

  • The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in Iran

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Prostitution, Premature Ejaculation, and Abortion: Sexuality in America

    2739 Words  | 6 Pages

    The reason I am writing this paper is to share the information I attained about human sexuality by learning about sexuality in a college setting and by exploring my sexuality through personal experiences. I do not consider myself to have experienced much exposure to sexual behavior but I do have a cultural bias to what I consider a heavy amount of exposure because the North American culture is considered more promiscuous and sexually active than other cultures.

    Read More

  • The Iranian Revolution and the Russian Revolution

    1667 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lafraie, Najibullah (2009). Revolutionary Ideology and Islamic Militancy : The Iranian Revolution and Interpretations of the Quran. Tauris Academic Studies. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from Ebook Library.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Nationalism

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maghen, Z. (2009, January). Eradicating the "Little Satan": Why Iran Should Be Taken at Its

    Read More

  • Sexuality Is Gendered Essay

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sexuality is a fundamental part of our self-discovery, involving much more than just being genetically or anatomically male and female and it is not defined solely by one 's sexual acts (Ministry of Education 1989, p.79 cited in Gourlay, P 1995). The notion that sexuality is fixed and innate disregards the social aspects that impact ones’ sexualities. Gagnon and Simon (1973) further commented that sexuality is a feature of social

    Read More

  • The Causes and Effects of the Iranian Revolution Religiously and Politically

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    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. Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in the “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic values, law and tradition from the government to boost the country’s economy (White Revolution, 2010).... ...

    Read More

  • Language Acquisition in Children

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    Garton, A., & Pratt, C. (1998). Learning to be literate: The development of spoken and written language (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

    Read More

  • Gender And Sexuality Essay

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of the most controversial issues in society have historically revolved around matters relating to gender and sexuality. As gender plays an integral part in how we function in society, we quickly learn what is expected of us through our gender roles at a young age and our sexual scripts as we get older. We are expected to conform to our respective gender roles of femininity or masculinity depending on the sex we were assigned at birth. We learn that certain characteristics and expressions are attributed to each gender but are never taught that gender is fluid but instead it is binary. We also become subjected to assumptions of our sexual desires and attraction based on our sex and our gender and are expected not to deviate from it. We become

    Read More

  • Asexuality Essay

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the earliest proposed definitions of asexuality came from the famed Alfred Kinsey in 1948, who called it “a lack of sexual behavior associated with a lack of sexual response to erotic stimuli” (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1). Later re-definitions include “a lack of sexual behavior associated with a lack of sexual desire” in 1977, “a lack of sexual orientation” in 1980, “a lack of sexual behavior” in 1993, and “a lack of sexual desire or excitement” in 2007 (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1; Yule 1). It was not until 2016 that researchers recommending using the definition that asexuals had been using to define themselves (which had also undergone some modifications), describing asexuality as “a lack of sexual attraction” (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1). It is interesting to note that all of these definitions define asexuality as “a lack of ______”, as it implies that there is something that asexuals are missing and that they are not complete, but the currently used definition at least describes the phenomenon in a way that is satisfactory to almost all who discuss asexuality.

    Read More

More about Politics and Religion of Iran

Open Document