why did some iranians support the shah?
Bandits dominated the land; literacy was one percent; and women, under archaic Islamic dictates, had no rights. The Islamist group that ultimately prevailed contained the core supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini. Du Berrier noted: Air Force General Robert Huyser, deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe, was sent to pressure Irans generals into giving in without a fight. Huyser directly threatened the military with a break in diplomatic relations and a cutoff of arms if they moved to support their monarch., It was therefore necessary, the Shah wrote, to neutralize the Iranian army. At the exact moment, when courtesies were being exchanged on the White House lawn, these people produced sticks and bicycle chains and set upon the others. Two Weeks in January: America's secret engagement with Khomeini U.S. I knew that Ball was no friend.. Rockefeller sent a trendy Park Avenue MD to examine the Shah, who agreed against his better judgment to abandon his personal physicians and fly to New York for treatment. with the support of key Iranian military and government leaders, the mufti advocated implementing . The Shah's Son Paradox: Why Iran Needs Its Exiled Crown Prince To Achieve Democracy. Did the US support the Shah of Iran? Hiro, Dilip. Energy is critical to world domination, and major oil companies, such as Exxon and British Petroleum, have long exerted behind-the-scenes influence on national policies. Joining the smear was U.S. Concise answer: Presumably, since those some individuals were/are profited or were supported by the dictator (the Shah)! Some Iranian students were caught up in it. [111] As early as the late 1950s, the US was fed up with the widespread corruption in Iranian government and began reducing its financial assistance to Iran. British intelligence sources, working with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), came to the conclusion that Mossadeq had communist leanings and would move Iran into the Soviet orbit if allowed to stay in power. The National Front party, which had earlier opposed Western domination of the oil industry, was revived in late 1977 by Dr. Karim Sanjabi and called on the Shah to hold free and fair elections, restore the constitution of 1905, respect freedom of speech, free political prisoners, and allow for an independent Iran in foreign affairs. A short, sharp period of economic contraction and decline in 197778 following a considerable period of economic growth, that according to scholar of revolutions Crane Brinton creates disappointment much greater "than if people had been left in poverty all along"; Bottlenecks, shortages and inflation that were followed by austerity measures, attacks on alleged price gougers and black-markets, that angered both the, His antagonization of formerly apolitical Iranians, especially merchants of the bazaars, with the creation of a, Underestimation of the strength of the opposition particularly religious opposition and the failure to offer either enough, Failure to prepare and train security forces for dealing with protest and demonstration, failure to employ non-lethal crowd control tactics. Ruhollah Khomeini | Biography, Exile, Revolution, & Facts CIA-assisted coup overthrows government of Iran, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cia-assisted-coup-overthrows-government-of-iran. Why did Iranians support the Iranian Revolution? seized the U.S. embassy and held the American staff hostage. On February 18, 1978, peaceful demonstrations occurred in twelve cities on the fortieth-day anniversary of the death of the Qum students. Rather, a knowledgeable observer would probably have noted that this mourning cycle had been put to protest purposes only once in Iranian history, in 1963, and that movement had come to naught.[117]. Amongst them were some minor armed Islamist groups which joined together after the revolution in the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization. He was selected by the Shah as Prime Minister and introduced to Parliament for approval following Iran's Constitutional procedure. (Persian: ). When Carter visited Iran at the end of 1977, the press reported that his departure to Teheran International Airport had been through empty streets, because the city was all locked up and emptied of people, by order of the SAVAK. What the media didnt mention: Carter chose to depart at 6 a.m., when the streets were naturally empty. Iran refugee statistics for 2020 was 800,025.00, a 18.32% decline from 2019. My greatest mistake, the Shah recalled, was in listening to the Americans on matters concerning the internal affairs of my kingdom., Irans last hope: its well-trained military could still restore order. [citation needed] Despite the negative impact of the Shahs hectic modernization on traditional urban life, it caused more people, displaced villagers and farmers especially, to come into contact with members of traditional urban communities such as bazaaris and artisans, who were also disgruntled with the Shahs reign. This proved a mistake. In 1962, Amini resigned and Asadollah Alam, a faithful friend of the shah who had no intention of reform but to consolidate the power of the monarchy, became the new prime minister and laid the ground for the Shah to reestablish his dictatorship in early 1963.[113]. This tandem was "odd" because. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Inflation morphed into a black market and business activity declined. economist Jahangir Amuzegar quoted Tocqueville in his book. In a departure from historical precedents, the regimes large, modern army and the police were defeated by an internal revolution without the occurrence of a military defeat in foreign war and without external pressures aimed at causing fracture between the state and the dominant social classes. What is the solution to modern Iran? Overconfidence of the secularists and modernist Muslims, of liberals and leftists, in their power and ability to control the revolution. Thoughts on the patriotism of the last three Iranian democratic Before listening to war drums, let us remember: It was the CFR clique the same establishment entrenched in the Bush and Obama administrations that ousted the Shah, resulting in todays Iran. The antithesis of this idea, that Western culture was Gharbzadegi-- As Shah aimed to marginalize the Shia clergy and eliminate their influence by its modernization policies, clerics in Qom and their followers developed a populist, anti-Imperialist interpretation of Shia theology to delegitimize Shah for his injustice and his reliance on the anti-Islamic foreign imperialists. [13] Khomeini was detained and kept under house arrest for 8 months. Four decades have now passed since a mass political movement espousing the triumph of sacral authority over secular toppled Iran's absolute monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi . At least 1,200 Imperial Army officers, who had been instructed by General Huyser not to resist the revolution, were put to death. In 1953 he fled the country after a power-struggle with his Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Waning support for the shah among Western politicians and mediaespecially under the administration of U.S. President, Alleged treachery of the Americans and other foreigners. A turning point came on January 7, 1978. Some Iranians will be grateful; many, however, are True Believers and support the Mullah-imposed Shari'a state. The Shah's Son Paradox: Why Iran Needs Its Exiled - kayhanlife.com Although the media depicted demonstrations as spontaneous uprisings, professional revolutionaries organized them. The Shah supported his Prime Minister who defended Iran's right in the Court of Hague to nationalize British-controlled oil fields. Britain and the Iranian revolution: Expediency, arms and secret deals December 31 On a brief visit to Iran, President Jimmy Carter toasts the Shah, describing Iran as "an island of stability in one of the most troubled areas of the world." President Jimmy. The CIA had even rented the house next door. It necessitated an army of 250,000 men. The Shahs air force ranked among the worlds five best. By the end of 1977, professionals and students had created organizations, written manifestos, and sent letters to the Imperial Palace, but had not mobilized the support of the nation. This rote answer had been given me since early September [1978] and I would continue to hear it until the day I left the country. (John Moore/Getty Images) "El pasaporte," demanded a very large Iranian, wearing a white turban like every other teacher in the Al-Mustafa University of Qom, in the heart of theocratic Iran. In 1935 a rebellion by pious Shi'a at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad was crushed on his orders with dozens killed and hundreds injured,[6] rupturing relations between the Shah and pious Shia in Iran. Nahavandi notes: Around the small villa occupied by Khomeini, the agents of many of the worlds secret services were gathered as thickly as the autumn leaves. Why Iranians are lapping up Shah memorabilia In Tehran, memories of the Shah's brutality are fading and selling imperial wares is becoming less dangerous. In addition, he used nepotism during his reign with benefactors being his family and relatives. The national currency was stable for 15 years, inspiring French economist Andr Piettre to call Iran a country of growth without inflation. Although Iran was the worlds second largest oil exporter, the Shah planned construction of 18 nuclear power plants. The United States used its influence in the army and courts while the Soviet Union had the total support of the Tudeh Party and the CCFTU. The eldest son of the last shah of Iran has urged Western governments to support popular efforts to topple the regime in Tehran. D. dissertation, U.S. International University, [interviews with the families of Iran-Iraq War Casualties, according to a sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, December 20, 2002, translated by BBC Worldwide Monitoring. why did some iranians support the shah? However, a direct trade might humiliate the United States. Why did some Iranians support the Shah? - Quora [31] They subsequently failed to pose much of a threat to the regime once it had assumed power, although the People's Mujahedin of Iran, an organization that opposed the influence of the clergy, fought against Khomeini's Islamic government. Finally, the Shah was a nationalist who brought his country to the brink of greatness and encouraged Middle East peace. He constructed dams to irrigate Irans arid land, making the country 90-percent self-sufficient in food production. Every presidential administration since Franklin D. Roosevelts has been dominated by members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the most visible manifestation of the establishment that dictates U.S. foreign policy along internationalist lines. Does this explain the sudden attitude change toward Iran expressed by Henry Kissinger, beginning in the mid-seventies? He believed a propaganda campaign by Western imperialists had prejudiced most Iranians against theocratic rule.[23][24]. Many Iranians remember the Shah's secret police, Savak, and . Reza Pahlavi, who is in Europe to drum up support for young activists in his country, told the Guardian that the West should proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and help Iranians circumvent the regime's restrictions on the . The Shahs personal tragedy wasnt over. Was the Iranian Revolution good or bad for Iran? : r/iran - reddit The revolution does seem to have been solely caused by excessively rapid modernization by the state that led to social disruption. Though the cause appeared to be a heart attack, anti-Shah groups blamed SAVAK poisoning and proclaimed him a 'martyr.' His book, published in 1970, was widely distributed in religious circles, especially among Khomeini's students (talabeh), ex-students (clerics), and traditional business leaders (bazaari). Amini's government was very distrusted by the people because of his infamous backing of the Consortium Agreement (re-privatizing Iranian oil in 1954) and was widely criticized by the Tudeh Party as spreading anti-communist propaganda; as a result he was widely perceived as being an American puppet. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Iranians today are much poorer compared to 40 years ago, in fact when comparing people's wages, we earn nearly 6 times less than we used to do during Shah's time. The Shah recalled: Whenever I met Sullivan and asked him to confirm these official statements [of American support], he promised he would.
