Iran Revolution 1979
Islam was the basic of political system in Iran. Iran
became an Islamic republic state after
the Iranian Revolution which is also known as Islamic Revolution on 1979. By
this, it changed Iran form of political system from monarchy to republic system. Before the outbreak of the Iranian
Revolution, Iran was ruled by Pahlavi
Dynasty since year 1925 until 1979. In this essay I will explain how
political system was conducted in Iran during pre-revolution, on the time of
revolution and post-revolution.
Pre-Revolution (Pahlavi
Dynasty):
Iran’s political system during pre-revolution was conducted in
constitutional monarchy which known as Pahlavi Dynasty founded by Reza Khan in
1925. Reza Khan later changed his name to Reza Shah Pahlavi in which “Shah” is
derived from Persian (modern Iran) word meaning the king. The Pahlavi’s come to
power after overthrow the Qajar Dynasty when they were proved unable to stop
British and Soviet encroachment on Iranian sovereignty. During his time, many great reforms was
introduced such as reorganizing the army, government administration and
financial system. He abolished all special rights granted for foreigners, thus
gaining real independence for Iran.
Further, lot of modernization was done throughout sixteen
year the throne of Reza Shah Pahlavi. Amongst them, roads and railways were
built, modern education was introduced, the establishment of University of
Tehran and for the first time systematically dispatch of Iranian students to
Europe was started. At the same time, industrialization of the country was
stepped up and reached great achievements.
However, by the mid 1930’s Reza Shah’s dictatorial style of rule caused
dissatisfaction in Iran due to the harsh and arbitrary treats to his opponents
and restrictions on the press.
Throughout his reign, Reza Shah tried to avoid
involvement with the allies of Britain and Soviet Union although many of his
development projects required foreign technical expertise. In other to fulfill
the requirements, he preferred to obtains assistance from Germany and other
European countries. This created problems to Iran after 1939, when Germany and Britain
became enemies in World War II and in 1941, because of refusing to expel to
Germany, Britain and Soviets invaded Iran. This was forced Reza Shah to
abdicate in favor of his son Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi, and he died in exile in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1944.
During the era of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1941-1979),
he wanted to continue the reform policies of his father, but there were a
crisis between the Shah and Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and also among the
cabinets and parliament. In his reign, he also relied more on manipulation than
on leadership. This had caused an assassination attempt on the Shah by communist
Tudeh Party then resulted the banning of that party and expansion of the Shah’s
constitutional powers with the United States aids.
With advocated to the reform policies, he announced a
six-point program of reform called White Revolution 1963, an American-inspired
package of measures designed to give his regime a liberal and progressive growth.
New industries were created and Iran became one of the most stable countries in
the middle east. In 1970, Iran became more powerful countries in Middle East
and in 1976, he replaced the Islamic calendar with an imperial calendar which
viewed as anti-Islamic and religious opposition. This is led to decreasing of
Shah’s unlimited authority especially among Muslims who were follower of
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Later, Ayatollah led a revolution in 1979, forcing
the Shah and his family into exile. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi died in Cairo, Egypt
in 1980.
The Revolution (Iranian
Revolution 1979):
The Iranian Revolution in 1979 was the major causes why
the Shah (monarchy system) was overthrown and the establishment of Iran as an
Islamic republic state founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite economic
growth, there were much opposition against Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and how
he used the secret police, the Savak, to control the country. Strong Shi’i
opposition against the Shah which got supported by the U.S makes the country
came close to a situation of civil war. The opposition led by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini who lived in the exile for about sixteen years.
In early 1979, the opposition forced the Shah to leave
the country. Hundreds of the Shah’s supporters were tried and executed, others
fled the country and the westernization of Iran was reversed. Khomeini who
returned to Iran in triumph on February 1979, preside Iran as an Islamic
republic. While receive medical care in U.S on November 1979, militant Iranians
seized U.S embassy in Teheran and taking 66 American hostages in demanded the
returned of Shah from the U.S. After the death of Shah in 1980, an agreement
was negotiated that freed the hostages on 1981. Later, Khomeini became absolute
ruler of Iran.
Post-Revolution:
In the post of revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared
Iran as an Islamic republic with a new constitution reflecting his ideals of
Islamic government. He became supreme spiritual leader (Wilayat al faqih) and
appointed Ir. Bazarkan as first Prime Minister of Iran. Khomeini then created
new administration of Iran based on the Islamic rule in which Islam as the
basic policy, rule and law in Republic of Iran.
In his application of politic toward Iran’s republic,
Khomeini also applied democracy and paternalistic leadership style while Syiah
as the fundamental of government political system model. In democracy term, the
political system based on constitution in which referred to al-Quran and Hadith
as the law in government constitutional of Islamic Republic of Iran. There were
also lots of changed took place after revolution. For instance, the special
influence of new system for Iran women, increasing capability in economic
aspect and science and nuclear technology and Iran’s priority in term of state
defence. By this, Iran become new target of western country especially U.S.
