Questions about Iranian Revolution
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What caused the Iranian Revolution of 1979?
The Iranian Revolution grew from a combination of factors including the 1953 CIA- and MI6-backed coup that overthrew Prime Minister Mosaddegh and reinstated the Shah as an absolute monarch, the Shah's White Revolution reforms that doubled the size of discontented urban classes while stripping them of political representation, perceptions of the regime as corrupt and subservient to the United States, and the 1977-1978 economic contraction that hit poor urban workers hardest. It was unusual among revolutions in that it occurred in a country experiencing relative prosperity rather than war or financial collapse.
Who was Ayatollah Khomeini and what role did he play in the Iranian Revolution?
Ruhollah Khomeini was a Twelver Shia cleric who first rose to political prominence in 1963 by leading opposition to the Shah's White Revolution. He was arrested and exiled in November 1964, spending 15 years mostly in Najaf, Iraq, before moving to Neauphle-le-Chateau near Paris in late 1978. From exile he developed the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the Islamic jurist, and distributed his ideas through smuggled cassette tapes and sermons. He returned to Tehran on the 1st of February 1979, declared a provisional revolutionary government, and became supreme leader in December 1979 under the new constitution.
What was the Cinema Rex fire and how did it affect the Iranian Revolution?
On the 19th of August 1978, four arsonists barred the doors of the Cinema Rex theatre in Abadan and set it on fire, killing 422 people inside. It stood as the largest terrorist attack in history prior to the September 11 attacks. Khomeini immediately blamed SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, and the public accepted that account, triggering massive street protests. After the revolution, evidence emerged that Islamist militants had actually started the fire, but the political damage to the Shah's government was irreversible.
What were the Tasu'a and Ashura marches during the Iranian Revolution?
On the 10th and the 11th of December 1978, the days of Tasu'a and Ashura, between 6 and 9 million anti-Shah demonstrators marched throughout Iran. One historian described these as possibly representing the largest protest event in history, noting that more than 10 percent of the entire country marched. The processions were led by Ayatollah Taleghani and National Front leader Karim Sanjabi, symbolizing the unity of religious and secular opposition. The marches were largely peaceful, with mullahs and bazaar merchants policing the crowds themselves.
What role did women play in the 1979 Iranian Revolution?
Women participated across the full range of revolutionary activity, from mass street demonstrations and caring for the wounded to guerrilla fighting in groups like the Fida'iyan-i Khalq and the Mujahedin. Women from Western-educated professional families marched alongside those from working-class and rural backgrounds. Khomeini credited women with leading the revolution, stating that "men get their inspiration from you." Even members of the Women's Organization of Iran, closely tied to the Pahlavi government, joined the movement after the Shah eliminated the cabinet position on Women's Affairs.
How many people died in the Iranian Revolution?
Casualty estimates vary widely. A researcher at the Martyrs Foundation placed deaths among protesters and revolutionaries at 2,781 for the 1978-79 period. Military historian Spencer C. Tucker described Khomeini's claim of 60,000 martyrs as grossly overstated for propaganda purposes, and placed the historians' consensus at between 532 and 2,781 deaths for the January 1978-February 1979 period. Historian Ervand Abrahamian recorded that 8,000 opponents were executed by revolutionary courts between June 1981 and June 1985, exceeding deaths from the revolution itself.