View source for Iranian Revolution

{{Short description|Revolution in Iran from 1978 to 1979}}
{{About|the 1979 revolution|the 1905–1911 revolution|Persian Constitutional Revolution|the series of reforms launched in 1963|White Revolution}}
{{redirect|1979 Revolution|the video game based on the events|1979 Revolution: Black Friday{{!}}''1979 Revolution: Black Friday''}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{very long|date=January 2025|words=15,700}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Iranian Revolution
| partof = [[Constitutionalization attempts in Iran]] and the [[Cold War]]
| image = Mass demonstration in Iran, date unknown.jpg
| caption = Mass demonstrations of people protesting against [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|the Shah]] and the [[Pahlavi Iran|Pahlavi government]] on the day of Hosseini's Ashura on 11 December 1978 at College Bridge, [[Tehran]]
| date = {{Start date|1978|01|07|df=yes}} – {{End date|1979|02|11|df=yes}}<br/>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=01|day1=07|year1=1978|month2=02|day2=11|year2=1979}})
| place = [[Pahlavi Iran|Imperial State of Iran]]
| coordinates = 
| causes = * Discontent with [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]'s rule
* [[Ruhollah Khomeini's life in exile|Exile of Ruhollah Khomeini]]
* [[Social injustice]]
* ''[[Background and causes of the Iranian Revolution|and others]]''
| goals = Overthrow of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]]
| methods = * [[Political demonstration|Demonstrations]]
* [[General strike|Strikes]]
* [[Civil resistance]]
* [[Rioting]]<ref>{{Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|author-link=Ehsan Yarshater|title=Iran ii. Iranian History (2) Islamic period (page 6)|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-6|volume=13|fascicle=3|pages=243–246|quote=Fear of the shah and his regime had disappeared, and anti-government and pro-Khomeini demonstrations escalated, with the soldiers refusing to shoot the offenders, who went on a rampage, burning cinemas and destroying banks and some government buildings.}}</ref>
* [[street fighting|Armed street fighting]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chalcraft|first1=John|title=Popular Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-00750-5|page=445|chapter=The Iranian Revolution of 1979|quote=(...) thirty-seven days by a caretaker regime, which collapsed on 11 February when guerillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the shah in armed street fighting.}}</ref>
| status = 
| result = Revolutionaries' victory
*Overthrow of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] and the monarchy
*Establishment of the [[Interim Government of Iran (1979)|Interim Government]]
*[[Constitution of Iran|Constitution of the Islamic Republic]] replaced [[Persian Constitution of 1906]] with [[1979 Iranian constitutional referendum|referendum]]
*[[Ruhollah Khomeini]] becomes the [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]]
*[[Iran hostage crisis]]
*Beginning of the [[Iran–Iraq War]] in 1980
*[[Hijab in Iran|Hijab for all women by law]]
*[[1979 oil crisis]]
*Massive exile that characterizes a large portion of today's [[Iranian diaspora]]
*[[Islamic revival]] worldwide<ref>{{cite journal|title=Islamic Revivalism and the Quest for Political Power|journal=Journal of Conflict Studies|date=November 1997|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/11753/12527|last1=Momayezi|first1=Nasser|access-date=23 August 2022|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114134428/https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/jcs/article/view/11753/12527|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[International sanctions against Iran]]
*[[Anti-Americanism|Anti-Americanist]] regime change
*[[Iran and state-sponsored terrorism|Iran designated state sponsor of terrorism]]
*[[Nojeh coup plot]]
*Start of the [[Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict]]
*The [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] cuts all ties with [[Israel]], which would later evolve into the [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict]]
| side1 = {{plainlist|
'''{{flag|Imperial State of Iran}}''' 
}}
----
{{Collapsible list
|bullets=yes
|title=Pro-Shah Groups
|[[Regency Council (Iran)|Regency Council]]{{efn|group=lower-alpha|Regency Council was practically dissolved on 22 January 1979, when its head resigned to meet [[Ruhollah Khomeini]].}}
|[[Rastakhiz Party]] (until 1 November 1978)
|[[Military history of Iran#Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)|Imperial Army]]{{efn|group=lower-alpha|Imperial Iranian Army revoked their allegiance to the throne and declared [[Neutral country|neutrality]] on 11 February 1979.}}
|[[Imperial Guard (Iran)|Imperial Guard]]
|[[SAVAK]]
|[[Shahrbani]]
|[[Iranian Gendarmerie|Gendarmerie]]}}
| side2 = {{plainlist|
{{nowrap|{{flagicon image|First_Flag_of_I.R.Iran.svg}} '''[[Council of the Islamic Revolution|Revolutionary Council]]'''}}
}}
----
{{Collapsible list
|bullets=yes
|title=Islamist Opposition
|[[Combatant Clergy Association]]
|[[Islamic Association of Students]]
|[[Islamic Association of Teachers of Iran|Islamic Association of Teachers]]
|[[Islamic Association of Engineers]]
|[[Islamic Association of Physicians of Iran|Islamic Association of Physicians]]
|[[Islamic Coalition Party|Islamic Coalition Societies]]
|[[Fada'iyan-e Islam]]
|[[Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization|Mojahedin]]}}
----
{{Collapsible list
|bullets=yes
|title=Liberal Democratic Opposition
|[[Freedom Movement of Iran]]
|[[National Front (Iran)|National Front]]
|[[JAMA (political party)|JAMA]]
|[[Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan]]
|[[Confederation of Iranian Students]]}}
----
{{Collapsible list
|bullets=yes
|title=Leftist Opposition
|[[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran|Mojahedin-e-Khalq]]
|[[Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas|Fadaiyan-e-Khalq]]
|[[Tudeh Party of Iran|Tudeh Party]]
|[[Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran)|Sarbedaran]]
|[[Organization of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class|Peykar]]
|[[Movement of Militant Muslims]]
|[[Organization of Working-class Freedom Fighters|Razmandegan]]
|[[Worker's Way]]
|[[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komalah]]
|[[Union of Communist Militants]]}}
| side3 = 
| leadfigures1 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Jamshid Amouzegar]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Jafar Sharif-Emami]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Gholam Reza Azhari]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Shapour Bakhtiar]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Nematollah Nassiri]]{{executed}}
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Nasser Moghaddam]]{{executed}}
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Abbas Gharabaghi]]
* {{flagdeco|Pahlavi Iran}} [[Gholam Ali Oveissi]]}}
| leadfigures2 = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|First_Flag_of_I.R.Iran.svg}} [[Ruhollah Khomeini]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg}} [[Mehdi Bazargan]]
* {{flagicon image|First_Flag_of_I.R.Iran.svg}} [[Morteza Motahhari]]{{assassinated}}
}}
| leadfigures3 = 
| howmany1 = 
| howmany2 = 
| howmany3 = 
| casualties1 = 
| casualties2 = 
| casualties3 = ''See [[Casualties of the Iranian Revolution]]''
| fatalities = 
| injuries = 
| arrests = 
| detentions = 
| charged = 
| fined = 
| casualties_label = 
| notes = {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
| sidebox = 
}}
{{Republicanism sidebar}}
{{History of Iran}}
The '''Iranian Revolution'''{{#tag:ref|See [[#Names]] section|group=Note}} was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the [[Imperial State of Iran]] by the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]], as the monarchical government of Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] was superseded by [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], an [[Islamist]] cleric who had headed one of the rebel factions. The ousting of Mohammad Reza, the last [[shah of Iran]], formally marked the end of [[List of monarchs of Persia|Iran's historical monarchy]].{{sfnp|Gölz|2017|p=229}}

In 1953, the CIA- and MI6-backed [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]] overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, [[Mohammad Mossadegh]], who had nationalized the country's oil industry to reclaim sovereignty from [[British Empire|British]] control.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Britain Crushed Democracy in Iran |url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/08/how-britain-crushed-democracy-in-iran |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=tribunemag.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Staff |date=2023-10-13 |title=CIA admits 1953 Iranian coup it backed was undemocratic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/13/cia-1953-iran-coup-undemocratic-argo |access-date=2025-06-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The C.I.A. in Iran: Britain Fights Oil Nationalism |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-chapter1.html |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref> The coup reinstated Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as an absolute monarch and significantly increased [[United States]] influence over Iran. Economically, American firms gained considerable control over Iranian oil production, with US companies taking around 40 percent of the profits. Politically, Iran acted as a counterweight to the [[Soviet Union]] and aligned closely with the [[Western Bloc]]. Additionally, the US provided the Shah both the funds and the training for [[SAVAK]], Iran’s infamous [[secret police]], with [[CIA activities in Iran|CIA assistance]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=2020-01-03 |title=America and Iran are teetering on the brink of war. This is why they hate each other |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-04/history-why-america-and-iran-hate-each-other/11589584 |access-date=2025-06-19 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghazvinian |first=John |date=2023-06-13 |title=The Final Emperor. In America and Iran: A history, 1720 to the present |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/irn.2023.20 |journal=Iranian Studies |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=258 |doi=10.1017/irn.2023.20 |issn=0021-0862|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CIA'S ROLE IN FORMING SAVAK {{!}} CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00552r000505290007-5 |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=www.cia.gov}}</ref>

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the US increasingly involved in the [[Vietnam War]] and unable to maintain its interests globally, it adopted the [[Nixon Doctrine]], effectively shifting the burden of regional security to allied states. Iran under the Shah, became "regional policemen" in the [[Persian Gulf]], with Iran’s defense budget increasing around 800 percent over four to five years, as it purchased advanced weaponry from the US. This rapid militarization contributed to severe economic instability, including spiraling inflation, mass migration from rural areas to cities, and widespread social disruption. At the same time, the Shah’s regime grew increasingly authoritarian; those who spoke out were often arrested or tortured by SAVAK.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Palash R. |date=2012-03-20 |title=Iran: The Long Lasting Legacy of the 1953 U.S./CIA Coup |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/iran-long-lasting-legacy-1953-uscia-coup-214329 |access-date=2025-06-19 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Much of this repression unfolded with little scrutiny or challenge from the US. By the late 1970s, popular resistance to the Shah’s rule had reached a breaking point.<ref name=":7" /><ref name="Milani Shah"/><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Sylvan, David|title=U.S. foreign policy in perspective: clients, enemies and empire|last2=Majeski, Stephen|year=2009|location=London|publisher=Routledge|page=121|doi=10.4324/9780203799451|isbn=978-0-415-70134-1|oclc=259970287}}</ref> Additionally in 1963, the Shah launched the [[White Revolution]], a top-down modernization and land reform program that alienated many sectors of society, especially the clergy. Khomeini emerged as a vocal critic and was exiled in 1964. However, as ideological tensions persisted between Pahlavi and Khomeini, anti-government demonstrations began in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included [[communism]], [[socialism]], and Islamism.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=479}}<ref name=Afkhami>{{cite book|last=Afkhami|first=Gholam-Reza|title=The Life and Times of the Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTVSPmyvtkAC|isbn=978-0-520-94216-5|date=12 January 2009|publisher=University of California Press|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152458/https://books.google.com/books?id=pTVSPmyvtkAC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Ervand Abrahamian|Abrahamian, Ervand]]. 2009. "Mass Protests in the Islamic Revolution, 1977–79." Pp. 162–78 in ''Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present'', edited by [[Adam Roberts (scholar)|A. Roberts]] and [[Timothy Garton Ash|T. G. Ash]]. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]].</ref> By 1977, mass protests were underway. A key turning point occurred in August 1978, when the [[Cinema Rex fire]] killed around 400 people. While arson by Islamist militants was later alleged, a large portion of the public believed it was a false flag operation by the Shah's secret police (SAVAK) to discredit the opposition and justify a crackdown, fueling nationwide outrage and mobilization. By the end of 1978, the revolution had become a broad-based uprising that paralyzed the country for the remainder of that year.<ref name="mottahedeh">[[Roy Mottahedeh|Mottahedeh, Roy]]. 2004. ''The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran''. p. 375.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Iranian Revolution|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html|work=fsmitha.com|url-status=live|archive-date=10 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010233759/http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html}}</ref>

On 16 January 1979, Pahlavi went into exile as the last Iranian monarch,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kabalan|first1=Marwan J.|title=Shocks and Rivalries in the Middle East and North Africa|date=2020|publisher=Georgetown University Press|editor1-last=Mansour|editor1-first=Imad|page=113|chapter=Iran-Iraq-Syria|quote=After more than a year of civil strife and street protests, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left Iran for exile in January 1979.|editor2-last=Thompson|editor2-first=William R.}}</ref> leaving his duties to Iran's [[Regency Council (Iran)|Regency Council]] and [[Shapour Bakhtiar]], the opposition-based prime minister. On 1 February 1979, [[Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran|Khomeini returned]], following an invitation by the government;<ref name="Milani Shah"/><ref name="Milani-Persians">{{cite book|last=Milani|first=Abbas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixU33FaG_dgC|title=Eminent Persians|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8156-0907-0|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152520/https://books.google.com/books?id=ixU33FaG_dgC|url-status=live}}</ref> several million greeted him as he landed in [[Tehran]].<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_2521000/2521003.stm 1979: Exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran]". ''[[BBC News Online#On This Day|BBC: On This Day]]''. 2007. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024113747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/1/newsid_2521000/2521003.stm|date=24 October 2014}}</ref> By 11 February, the monarchy was brought down and Khomeini assumed leadership while guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed Pahlavi loyalists in armed combat.{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=228}}{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=111}} Following the [[1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum|March 1979 Islamic Republic referendum]], in which 98% approved the shift to an [[Islamic republic]], the new government began drafting the present-day [[Constitution of Iran|constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran]];<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20060316040030/https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 Islamic Republic | Iran]". [[Encyclopædia Britannica|''Britannica Student Encyclopedia'']]. Archived from the [https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 original] on 16 March 2006.</ref>{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=479}}<ref name="Afkhami"/>{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}<ref name="Amuzegar">{{harvp|Amuzegar|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3KL5FvOejKkC&pg=PA253 253]}}</ref> Khomeini emerged as the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] in December 1979.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Sadjadpour|first=Karim|title=October 14th, 2019 {{!}} Vol. 194, No. 15|url=https://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/5691730/october-14th-2019-vol-194-no-15-international/|access-date=2023-03-20|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=3 October 2019|archive-date=9 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209002013/https://time.com/magazine/south-pacific/5691730/october-14th-2019-vol-194-no-15-international/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The revolution was fueled by widespread perceptions of the Shah's regime as corrupt, repressive, and overly reliant on foreign powers, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom. Many Iranians felt that the Shah's government was not acting in the best interests of the Iranian people and that it was too closely aligned with Western interests, especially at the expense of Iranian sovereignty and cultural identity.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Leigh |first=David |last2=Evans |first2=Rob |date=2007-06-08 |title=Shah of Iran |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jun/08/bae44 |access-date=2025-06-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iranian Revolution {{!}} EBSCO Research Starters |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/iranian-revolution |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=www.ebsco.com |language=en}}</ref> However others perceived the success of the revolution as being unusual,{{sfnp|Amuzegar|1991|pp=4, 9–12}} since it lacked many customary causes of revolutionary sentiment, e.g. defeat in war, financial crisis, [[peasant rebellion]], or disgruntled military.{{sfnp|Arjomand|1988|p=191}} It occurred in a country experiencing relative prosperity,<ref name="Milani Shah"/><ref name=Amuzegar/> produced profound change at great speed,{{sfnp|Amuzegar|1991|p=10}} and resulted in a massive exile that characterizes a large portion of [[Iranian diaspora]],{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=121}} and replaced a pro-Western secular{{sfn|Amanat|2017|page=897}} and authoritarian monarchy<ref name="Milani Shah"/> with an [[Anti-Western sentiment|anti-Western]] Islamic republic<ref name="Milani Shah"/>{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}<ref name=Amuzegar/><ref name="Middle East Studies 1987, p. 261">''[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]]'' 19, 1987, p. 261</ref> based on the concept of {{Transliteration|fa|Velâyat-e Faqih}} ([[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist]]), straddling between [[authoritarianism]] and [[totalitarianism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Özbudun|first1=Ergun|editor1-last=Badie|editor1-first=Bertrand|editor2-last=Berg-Schlosser|editor2-first=Dirk|editor3-last=Morlino|editor3-first=Leonardo|title=International Encyclopedia of Political Science|date=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4522-6649-7|page=109|chapter=Authoritarian Regimes|quote=Another interesting borderline case between authoritarianism and totalitarianism is Iran, where an almost totalitarian interpretation of a religious ideology is combined with elements of limited pluralism. Under the Islamist regime, Islam has been transformed into a political ideology with a totalitarian bent, and the limited pluralism is allowed only among political groups loyal to the Islamic revolution.}}</ref> In addition to declaring the destruction of [[Israel]] as a core objective,<ref>{{cite book|last1=R. Newell|first1=Waller|title=Tyrants: Power, Injustice and Terror|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-1-108-71391-7|location=New York, USA|pages=215–221}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://m.jpost.com/christianworld/article-698136|title=The religious-ideological reason Iran calls for Israel's destruction|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=21 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224041741/https://m.jpost.com/christianworld/article-698136|archive-date=24 February 2022}}</ref> post-revolutionary Iran aimed to undermine the influence of [[Sunni]] leaders in the region by supporting [[Shi'ite]] political ascendancy and exporting [[Khomeinist]] doctrines abroad.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nasr|first=Vali|title=The Shia Revival|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2006|isbn=978-0-393-32968-1|location=New York|page=241|chapter=The Battle for the Middle East}}</ref> In the [[Aftermath of the Iranian revolution|aftermath of the revolution]], Iran began to back Shia militancy across the region, to combat Sunni influence and establish Iranian dominance in the [[Arab world]], ultimately aiming to achieve an Iranian-led Shia political order.<ref>{{Cite book|last=M. Lüthi|first=Lorenz|title=Cold Wars: Asia, the Middle East, Europe|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-108-41833-1|location=New York|pages=491, 505–506|chapter=|doi=10.1017/9781108289825}}</ref>

==Names==
While the name "Iranian Revolution"{{#tag:ref|{{langx|fa|انقلاب ایران}}, {{Transliteration|fa|Enqelâb-e Irân}} {{IPA|fa|ʔeɴɢeˌlɒːbe ʔiːɾɒːn|}}|group=Note}} is widely common, it is also referred to as the '''1979 Revolution''', the '''Islamic Revolution'''{{#tag:ref|{{langx|fa|انقلاب اسلامی|label=none}}, {{Transliteration|fa|Enqelâb-e Eslâmī}}<ref>
*[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php "Islamic Revolution | History of Iran]." Iran Chamber Society. ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629064154/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php|date=29 June 2011}}).
*Brumberg, Daniel. [2004] 2009."[https://web.archive.org/web/20091028082940/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/Islamic_Revolution_of_Iran.html Islamic Revolution of Iran]." ''[[Encarta|MSN Encarta]]''. Archived on 31 October 2009.
*[[Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami|Khorrami, Mohammad Mehdi]]. 1998."[http://www.internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html The Islamic Revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227000031/http://internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html|date=27 February 2009}}." ''Vis à Vis Beyond the Veil''. [[Internews]]. [https://internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html Original]; (.
*"[https://iranian.com/revolution.html Revolution]" ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629030102/http://www.iranian.com/revolution.html |date=29 June 2010 }}). ''[[Iranian.com|The Iranian]]''. 2006.  from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
*"[https://web.archive.org/web/20060806025221/http://www.jubileecampaign.org/home/jubilee/iran_profile.pdf Iran]." ''Jubilee Campaign''. Archived from the [http://www.jubileecampaign.org/home/jubilee/iran_profile.pdf original] on 6 August 2006.
*[[Fereydoon Hoveyda|Hoveyda, Fereydoon]]. ''The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian Mythology and Islamic Revolution''. {{ISBN|0-275-97858-3}}.</ref>|group=Note}} or the '''Islamic Revolution of 1979'''.

==Background (1891–1977)==
{{Main|Background and causes of the Iranian Revolution}}
Reasons advanced for the revolution and its [[populist]], [[nationalist]], and later [[Shia Islam]]ic character include:

# A backlash against [[imperialism]];
# The [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|1953 Iranian ''coup d'état'']];
# A rise in expectations created by the [[1973 oil crisis|1973 oil revenue windfall]];
# An overly ambitious economic program;
# Anger over a short, sharp [[economic contraction]] in 1977–1978; and{{#tag:ref|According to Kurzman, scholars writing on the revolution who have mentioned this include:
* Gary Sick;<ref>Sick, ''All Fall Down'', p. 187</ref>
* Michael M. J. Fischer;<ref>Fischer, ''Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution'', Harvard University Press, 1980, p. 189</ref>
* Nikkie R. Keddie<ref>{{cite journal|author=Keddie, N. R.|title=Iranian Revolutions in Comparative Perspective|journal=American Historical Review|year=1983|volume=88|issue=3|page=589|jstor=1864588|doi=10.2307/1864588}}</ref>
* Shaul Bakhash{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=13}}|group=Note}}
# Other shortcomings of the previous regime.

The Shah's regime was seen as an oppressive, brutal,{{sfnp|Harney|1998|pp=37, 47, 67, 128, 155, 167}}{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=437}} corrupt, and lavish [[regime]] by some of the society's classes at that time.{{sfnp|Harney|1998 |pp=37, 47, 67, 128, 155, 167}}{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|pp=236, 260}} It also suffered from some basic functional failures that brought economic [[Bottleneck (production)|bottlenecks]], [[shortage]]s, and inflation.{{sfnp|Graham|1980|pp=19, 96}} The Shah was perceived by many as beholden to—if not a puppet of—a non-Muslim [[Western power]] (i.e., the United States){{sfnp|Brumberg|2001|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}{{sfnp|Shirley|1997|p=207}} whose culture was affecting that of Iran. At the same time, support for the Shah may have waned among Western politicians and media—especially under the [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|administration]] of U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]]—as a result of the Shah's support for [[1973 oil crisis|OPEC petroleum price increases]] earlier in the decade.<ref>Cooper, Andrew Scott. 2011. ''[[The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East]].'' [[Simon & Schuster]]. {{ISBN|1-4391-5517-8}}.</ref> When President Carter enacted a [[human-rights|human rights]] policy which said that countries guilty of human rights violations would be deprived of American arms or aid, this helped give some Iranians the courage to post open letters and [[petition]]s in the hope that the repression by the government might subside.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=214}}

The revolution that substituted the monarchy of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] with [[Islam]] and [[Khomeini]] is credited in part to the spread of the [[Shi'a]] version of the [[Islamic revival]]. It resisted [[westernization]] and saw [[Ayatollah]] Khomeini as following in the footsteps of the Shi'a [[Imam]] [[Husayn ibn Ali]], with the Shah playing the role of Husayn's foe, the hated tyrant [[Yazid I]].{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|p=238}} Other factors include the underestimation of Khomeini's [[Islamist]] movement by both the Shah's reign—who considered them a minor threat compared to the [[Left-wing guerrilla groups of Iran|Marxists]] and [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran|Islamic socialists]]{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=178}}<ref name = "Hoveyda 2003 22">{{Cite book|author=Hoveyda, Fereydoun|title=The Shah and the Ayatollah: Iranian mythology and Islamic revolution|year=2003|url=https://archive.org/details/shahayatollahira00hove|url-access=limited|publisher=Praeger|isbn=0-275-97858-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/shahayatollahira00hove/page/n32 22]}}</ref>{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=533–534}}—and by the [[secularist]] opponents of the government—who thought the [[Khomeinism|Khomeinists]] could be sidelined.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|pp=293–34}}

=== Tobacco Protest (1891) ===
{{Main| Tobacco Protest}}
<!-- section has mostly been copy pasted from Tobacco Protest article -->
At the end of the 19th century, the Shi'a clergy (''[[ulama]]'') had a significant influence on [[Iranian society]]. The clergy first showed itself to be a powerful political force in opposition to the monarchy with the 1891 [[Tobacco protest]]. On 20 March 1890, the long-standing Iranian monarch [[Nasir al-Din Shah]] granted a concession to [[British Empire|British]] Major G. F. Talbot for a full monopoly over the production, sale, and export of tobacco for 50 years.<ref name="k38">[[Nikki Keddie|Keddie, Nikki]]. 1966. ''Religion and Rebellion in Iran: The Tobacco Protest of 1891–92''. [[Frank Cass]]. p. 38.</ref>
At the time, the Persian tobacco industry employed over 200,000 people, so the concession represented a major blow to Persian farmers and [[bazaari]]s whose livelihoods were largely dependent on the lucrative tobacco business.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Moaddel, Mansoor|title=Shi'i Political Discourse and Class Mobilization in the Tobacco Movement of 1890–1892|journal=Sociological Forum|volume=7|issue=3|year=1992|page=459|doi=10.1007/BF01117556|jstor=684660|s2cid=145696393}}</ref> The boycotts and protests against it were widespread and extensive as result of [[Mirza Hasan Shirazi]]'s ''[[fatwa]]'' (judicial decree).<ref>Lambton, Ann (1987). ''Qajar Persia''. University of Texas Press, p. 248</ref> Within two years, Nasir al-Din Shah found himself powerless to stop the popular movement and cancelled the concession.<ref>[[Roy Mottahedeh|Mottahedeh, Roy]]. 2000. ''The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran''. [[Oneworld Publications|Oneworld]]. p. 218.</ref>

The Tobacco Protest was the first significant Iranian resistance against the Shah and foreign interests, revealing the power of the people and the ''ulama'' influence among them.<ref name="k38" />

=== Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911) ===
{{Main| Persian Constitutional Revolution }}
The growing dissatisfaction continued until the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a parliament, the [[National Consultative Assembly]] (also known as the ''[[Majlis]]''), and approval of the first constitution. Although the constitutional revolution was successful in weakening the [[autocracy]] of the [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar regime]], it failed to provide a powerful alternative government. Therefore, in the decades following the establishment of the new parliament, a number of critical events took place. Many of these events can be viewed as a continuation of the struggle between the constitutionalists and the Shahs of Persia, many of whom were backed by foreign powers against the parliament.

=== Reza Shah (1921–1941) ===
{{Main|Rezā Shāh}}
Insecurity and chaos that were created after the Constitutional Revolution led to the rise of General [[Reza Khan]], the commander of the elite [[Persian Cossack Brigade]] who seized power in a ''coup d'état'' in February 1921. He established a [[constitutional monarchy]], deposing the last Qajar [[Shah]], [[Ahmad Shah Qajar|Ahmad Shah]], in 1925 and being designated monarch by the National Assembly, to be known thenceforth as Reza Shah, founder of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]].

There were widespread social, economic, and political reforms introduced during his reign, a number of which led to public discontent that would provide the circumstances for the Iranian Revolution. Particularly controversial was the replacement of [[fiqh|Islamic laws]] with secular Western ones and the forbidding of traditional [[Islamic clothing]], [[Sex segregation and Islam|separation of the sexes]], and veiling of women's faces with the [[niqab]].{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|p=184}} Police forcibly removed and tore the [[chador]]s off women who resisted his ban on the public [[hijab]].

In 1935, dozens were killed and hundreds injured in the [[Goharshad Mosque rebellion]].{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984 |p=22}}{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|pp=94–95}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Rajaee|first=Farhang|year=1983|title=Islamic Values and World View: Khomeyni on Man, the State and International Politics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326213807/http://webstorage1.mcpa.virginia.edu/library/mc/forums/published/americanvalues13.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2009|series=American Values Projected Abroad|volume=13|place=Lanham|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|isbn=0-8191-3578-X|url=http://webstorage1.mcpa.virginia.edu/library/mc/forums/published/americanvalues13.pdf}}</ref> On the other hand, during the early rise of Reza Shah, [[Abdul-Karim Ha'eri Yazdi]] founded the [[Qom Seminary]] and created important changes in [[seminaries]]. However, he would avoid entering into political issues, as did other religious leaders who followed him. Hence, no widespread anti-government attempts were organized by the clergy during the rule of Reza Shah. However, the future Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] was a student of Sheikh Abdul Karim Ha'eri.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rajaee|first1=Farhang|title=Islamism and Modernism: The Changing Discourse in Iran|date=2010|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-77436-0}}</ref>

=== Anglo-Soviet invasion and Mohammad Reza Shah (1941–1951) ===
{{Main|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Mohammad Reza Pahlavi}}
In 1941, an [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invasion of allied British and Soviet troops]] [[deposed]] Reza Shah, who was considered friendly to [[Nazi Germany]], and installed his son, [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] as Shah.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-10-22|title=Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Reza-Shah-Pahlavi|access-date=|website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|language=en|archive-date=24 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024200102/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Reza-Shah-Pahlavi|url-status=live}}</ref> Iran remained under Soviet occupation until the [[Red Army]] withdrew in June 1946.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milani|first=Abbas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|title=The Shah|date=2012-05-22|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-34038-1|page=124|language=en|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152503/https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|url-status=live}}</ref>

The post-war years were characterized by political instability, as the Shah clashed with the pro-Soviet Prime Minister [[Ahmad Qavam]], the communist [[Tudeh Party of Iran|Tudeh Party]] grew in size and influence and the Iranian Army had to deal with Soviet-sponsored separatist movements in [[Iranian Azerbaijan]] and [[Iranian Kurdistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milani|first=Abbas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|title=The Shah|date=2012-05-22|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-34038-1|pages=115|language=en|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152503/https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Mosaddegh and The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (1951–1952) ===
{{Main|Mohammad Mosaddegh|Anglo-Persian Oil Company}}
From 1901 on, the [[Anglo-Persian Oil Company]] (renamed the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935), a British oil company, enjoyed a monopoly on sale and production of Iranian oil. It was the most profitable British business in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bp-and-iran-the-forgotten-history/|title=BP and Iran: The Forgotten History|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=30 June 2010|access-date=8 June 2019|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608004738/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bp-and-iran-the-forgotten-history/|url-status=live}}</ref> Most Iranians lived in poverty while the wealth generated from Iranian oil played a decisive role in maintaining Britain as a preeminent global power. In 1951, Iranian Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]] pledged to throw the company out of Iran, reclaim the [[petroleum reserves]] and free Iran from foreign powers.

In 1952, Mosaddegh [[nationalized]] the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and became a national hero. The British, however, were outraged and accused him of stealing. The British unsuccessfully [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. case|sought punishment]] from the [[International Court of Justice]] and the United Nations, sent warships to the [[Persian Gulf]], and finally imposed a crushing [[embargo]]. Mosaddegh was unmoved by Britain's campaign against him. One European newspaper, the ''[[Frankfurter Neue Presse]]'', reported that Mosaddegh "would rather be fried in Persian oil than make the slightest concession to the British." The British considered an armed invasion, but U.K. Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] decided on a coup after being refused American military support by U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]], who sympathized with nationalist movements like Mosaddegh's and had nothing but contempt for old-style [[imperialists]] like those who ran the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Mosaddegh, however, learned of Churchill's plans and ordered the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Tehran|British embassy]] to be closed in October 1952, forcing all British diplomats and agents to leave the country.

Although the British were initially turned down in their request for American support by President Truman, the election of [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as U.S. president in November 1952 changed the American stance toward the conflict. This, paired with [[Cold War]] paranoia and fears of communist influence, contributed to American strategic interests. On 20 January 1953, U.S. Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] and his brother, [[C.I.A.]] Director [[Allen Dulles]], told their British counterparts that they were ready to move against Mosaddegh. In their eyes, any country not decisively allied with the United States was a potential enemy. Iran had immense oil wealth, a long border with the [[Soviet Union]], and a [[Iranian nationalism|nationalist]] prime minister. The prospect of a fall into [[communism]] and a "second China" (after [[Mao Zedong]] won the [[Chinese Civil War]]) terrified the Dulles brothers. [[Operation Ajax]] was born, in which the only [[democratic government]] Iran ever had was deposed.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Kinzer|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wv4B6C-wTG8C|title=All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror|date=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-18549-0|language=en}}</ref>

===Iranian coup d'état (1953)===
{{Main| 1953 Iranian coup d'état }}
On 15 August 1953 a coup d'état was initiated to remove Mosaddegh, with the support of the United States, the United Kingdom and most of the Shia clergy.<ref name=":2" /> The Shah fled to Italy when the initial coup attempt on August 15 failed, but returned after a successful second attempt on August 19.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/cia-admits-role-1953-iranian-coup|title=CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup|work=The Guardian|access-date=18 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025072542/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/cia-admits-role-1953-iranian-coup|archive-date=25 October 2014|date=19 August 2013|last1=Dehghan|first1=Saeed Kamali|last2=Norton-Taylor|first2=Richard}}</ref> Mosaddegh was removed from power and put under house arrest, while lieutenant general [[Fazlollah Zahedi]] was appointed as new Prime Minister by the Shah. The sovereign, who was mainly seen as a figurehead at the time, eventually managed to break free from the shackles of the Iranian elites and impose himself as an autocratic reformist ruler.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ansari|first=Ali M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3koQLfiTkJkC|title=Modern Iran Since 1921: The Pahlavis and After|date=2003|publisher=Longman|isbn=978-0-582-35685-6|pages=140|language=en|access-date=22 October 2023|archive-date=21 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121100027/https://books.google.com/books?id=3koQLfiTkJkC|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pahlavi maintained a close relationship with the U.S. government, as both regimes shared opposition to the expansion of the [[Soviet Union]], Iran's powerful northern neighbor. [[Iranian Reformists|Leftist]] and [[Islamist]] groups attacked his government (often from outside Iran as they were suppressed within) for violating the Iranian constitution, political corruption, and the political oppression, torture, and killings, by the [[SAVAK]] secret police.

=== White Revolution (1963–1979) ===
{{Main|White Revolution}}
[[File:Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, 1973.jpg|thumb|Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]
The White Revolution was a far-reaching series of reforms in [[Iran]] launched in 1963 by [[Shah]] Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and lasting until 1979. Mohammad Reza Shah's reform program was built especially to weaken those classes that supported the traditional system. It consisted of several elements including [[land reform]]; sales of some [[state-owned]] factories to finance the land reform; the [[Women's suffrage|enfranchisement of women]]; [[nationalization]] of forests and pastures; formation of a literacy [[corps]]; and the institution of [[profit-sharing]] schemes for workers in industry.{{sfnp|Arjomand|1988|pp=72–73}}

The Shah pushed the White Revolution as a step toward [[westernization]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Iran: The White Revolution|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842491,00.html|work=Time Magazine|access-date=10 March 2011|date=11 February 1966|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201232009/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842491,00.html|archive-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> and it was a way for him to [[legitimize]] the [[Pahlavi dynasty]]. Part of the reason for launching the White Revolution was that the Shah hoped to eliminate the influence of landlords and to create a new base of support among the peasants and the working class.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Siavoshi, Sussan|title=Liberal Nationalism in Iran: The failure of a movement|location=Boulder, Colorado|publisher=Westview Press|year=1990|page=23|isbn=978-0-8133-7413-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Bayar, Assef|chapter=Historiography, class, and Iranian workers|editor=Lockman, Zachary|year=1994|title=Workers and Working Classes in the Middle East: Struggles, Histories, Historiographies|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, New York|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFzOVmj1iCIC&pg=PA198|page=198|isbn=978-0-7914-1665-5|access-date=26 April 2016|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152500/https://books.google.com/books?id=BFzOVmj1iCIC&pg=PA198|url-status=live}}</ref> Thus, the White Revolution in Iran was an attempt to introduce reform from above and preserve traditional power patterns. Through land reform, the essence of the White Revolution, the Shah hoped to ally himself with the [[peasant]]ry in the countryside, and hoped to sever their ties with the [[aristocracy]] in the city.

What the Shah did not expect, however, was that the White Revolution led to new [[Civil disorder|social tensions]] that helped create many of the problems that he was trying to avoid. The Shah's reforms more than quadrupled the combined size of the two classes that posed the greatest challenges to his monarchy in the past — the [[intelligentsia]], and the urban [[Iranian working class|working class]]. Their resentment of the Shah also grew, as they were now stripped of organizations that had represented them in the past, such as political parties, professional associations, trade unions, and independent newspapers. The land reform, instead of allying the peasants with the government, produced large numbers of independent farmers and landless laborers who became loose political cannons, with no loyalty to the Shah. Many of the masses resented the increasingly corrupt government; their loyalty to the clergy, who were viewed as more concerned with the fate of the populace, remained consistent or increased. As [[Ervand Abrahamian]] pointed out: "The White Revolution had been designed to preempt a [[Russian Revolution|Red Revolution]]. Instead, it paved the way for an Islamic Revolution."{{sfnp|Abrahamian|2008|page=143}} In theory, oil money funneled to the elite was supposed to be used to create jobs and factories, eventually distributing the money, but instead the wealth tended to remain concentrated in the hands of the very few at the top.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|2008|page=140}}

=== Rise and exile of Ayatollah Khomeini (1963–1979) ===
{{Main|Ruhollah Khomeini}}
{{See also|Movement of 15 Khordad|Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran#Exile}}
[[File:Ruhollah Khomeini portrait 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini]]

Post-revolutionary leader — [[Twelver Shia]] cleric [[Ayatollah]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] — first rose to political prominence in 1963 when he led opposition to the Shah and his [[White Revolution]]. Khomeini was arrested in 1963 after declaring the Shah a "wretched, miserable man" who "embarked on the [path toward] destruction of Islam in Iran."<ref>''Nehzat'' by Ruhani vol. 1, p. 195, quoted in {{harvp|Moin|2000|p=75}}</ref> Three days of major riots throughout Iran followed, with 15,000 dead from police fire as reported by opposition sources.{{sfnp|Khomeini|Algar|1981|p=17}} However, [[anti-revolutionary]] sources conjectured that just 32 were killed.<ref name="emadbaghi">{{cite web|title=Emad Baghi: English|publisher=emadbaghi.com|url=http://www.emadbaghi.com/en/archives/000592.php|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-date=4 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804172903/http://www.emadbaghi.com/en/archives/000592.php}}</ref>

Khomeini was released after eight months of house arrest and continued his agitation, condemning Iran's close cooperation with Israel and its [[Capitulation (treaty)|capitulations]], or extension of [[diplomatic immunity]], to American government personnel in Iran. In November 1964, Khomeini was re-arrested and [[Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran#Exile|sent into exile]] where he remained for 15 years (mostly in [[Najaf, Iraq]]), until the revolution.

==== Ideology of the Iranian Revolution ====
{{Main|Ideology of the Iranian Revolution}}
{{see also|Islamic fundamentalism in Iran}}
[[File:15khordad1.jpg|thumb|left|Residents of Tehran participating in the [[Movement of 15 Khordad|demonstrations of 5 June 1963]] with pictures of Ruhollah Khomeini in their hands]]

In this interim period of "disaffected calm,"{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=69}} the budding Iranian revival began to undermine the idea of [[Westernization]] as progress that was the basis of the Shah's secular reign, and to form the ideology of the 1979 revolution: [[Jalal Al-e-Ahmad]]'s idea of ''[[Gharbzadegi]]''—that Western culture was a plague or an intoxication to be eliminated;{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|pp=215, 264–265}} [[Ali Shariati]]'s vision of Islam as the one true liberator of the [[Third World]] from oppressive [[colonialism]], [[neo-colonialism]], and [[capitalism]];{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|pp=201–207}} and [[Morteza Motahhari]]'s popularized retellings of the Shia faith all spread and gained listeners, readers and supporters.{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|pp=215, 264–265}}

Most importantly, Khomeini preached that revolt, and especially [[martyrdom]], against injustice and tyranny was part of Shia Islam,<ref>Wright, Robin (2000) [https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/wright-revolution.html?_r=1 "The Last Great Revolution Turmoil and Transformation in Iran"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723174806/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/wright-revolution.html?_r=1 |date=23 July 2016 }}. ''The New York Times''.</ref> and that Muslims should reject the influence of both liberal capitalism and communism, ideas that inspired the revolutionary slogan "Neither East, nor West – Islamic Republic!"

Away from public view, Khomeini developed the ideology of ''velayat-e faqih'' ([[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist|guardianship of the jurist]]) as government, that Muslims—in fact everyone—required "guardianship," in the form of rule or supervision by the leading Islamic jurist or jurists.<ref>Dabashi, ''Theology of Discontent'' (1993), pp. 419, 443</ref> Such rule was ultimately "more necessary even than prayer and fasting" in Islam,{{#tag:ref|
See: [[Velayat-e faqih (book by Khomeini)#Importance of Islamic Government]]|group=Note}} as it would protect Islam from deviation from traditional ''[[sharia]]'' law and in so doing eliminate poverty, injustice, and the "[[plundering]]" of Muslim land by foreign non-believers.{{sfnp|Khomeini|Algar|1981|pp=52, 54, 80}}

This idea of rule by Islamic jurists was spread through his book ''[[Islamic Government]]'', mosque sermons, and smuggled cassette speeches by Khomeini{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|p=196}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Mixtape: Cassetternet {{!}} Radiolab|date=November 12, 2021|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/mixtape-cassetternet|access-date=2021-12-24|website=WNYC Studios|archive-date=12 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112152233/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/mixtape-cassetternet|url-status=live}}</ref> among his opposition network of students (''talabeh''), ex-students (able clerics such as [[Morteza Motahhari]], [[Mohammad Beheshti]], [[Mohammad-Javad Bahonar]], [[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]], and [[Mohammad Mofatteh]]), and traditional businessmen (''[[bazaari]]'') inside Iran.{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|p=196}}

==== Opposition groups and organizations ====
{{Main|Organizations of the Iranian Revolution}}
Other opposition groups included [[constitutionalist]] liberals—the democratic, reformist Islamic [[Freedom Movement of Iran]], headed by [[Mehdi Bazargan]], and the more secular [[National Front of Iran|National Front]]. They were based in the urban middle class, and wanted the Shah to adhere to the [[Iranian Constitution of 1906]] rather than to replace him with a theocracy,{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=502–503}} but lacked the cohesion and organization of Khomeini's forces.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|pp=144–145}}

[[Communist]] groups—primarily the [[Tudeh Party of Iran]] and the [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)|Fedaian guerrillas]]{{#tag:ref|
Marxist guerrillas groups were the [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas]] (OIPFG) and the breakaway [[Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas]] (IPFG), and some minor groups.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=658050|title=Ideology, Culture, and Ambiguity: The Revolutionary Process in Iran|journal=Theory and Society|volume=25|issue=3|pages=349–388|last1=Burns|first1=Gene|year=1996|doi=10.1007/BF00158262|s2cid=144151974}}</ref>|group=Note}}—had been weakened considerably by government repression. Despite this the guerrillas did help play an important part in the final February 1979 overthrow{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|pp=145–146}} delivering "the regime its [[coup de grace]]."{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=495}} The most powerful guerrilla group—the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|People's Mujahedin]]—was leftist Islamist and opposed the influence of the clergy as reactionary.

Some important clergy did not follow Khomeini's lead. Popular ayatollah [[Mahmoud Taleghani]] supported the left, while perhaps the most senior and influential ayatollah in Iran—[[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari]]—first remained aloof from politics and then came out in support of a democratic revolution.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Michael M.J.|date=2003|title=Iran: from religious dispute to revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/iranfromreligiou00fisc_325|url-access=limited|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|location=Madison|isbn=978-0-299-18474-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iranfromreligiou00fisc_325/page/n238 194]–195}}</ref>

Khomeini worked to unite this opposition behind him (except for the unwanted '[[atheistic]] [[Marxists]]'),{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=479}}{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|p=276}} focusing on the [[socio-economic]] problems of the Shah's government (corruption and unequal income and development),{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=479}}{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1993|page=30}} while avoiding specifics among the public that might divide the factions{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=478–479}}—particularly his plan for [[Hokumat-e Islami : Velayat-e faqih (book by Khomeini)|clerical rule]], which he believed most Iranians had become prejudiced against as a result of propaganda campaign by Western [[imperialist]]s.{{#tag:ref|See: [[Hokumat-e Islami : Velayat-e faqih (book by Khomeini)#Why has Islamic Government not been established?]]|group=Note}}{{sfnp|Khomeini|Algar|1981|p=34}}

In the post-Shah era, some revolutionaries who clashed with his theocracy and were suppressed by his movement complained of deception,{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1993|page=30}} but in the meantime anti-Shah unity was maintained.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=240}}

=== 1970–1977 ===
Several events in the 1970s set the stage for the 1979 revolution.

The 1971 [[2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire]] at [[Persepolis]], organized by the government, was attacked for its extravagance. "As the foreigners reveled on drink forbidden by Islam, Iranians were not only excluded from the festivities, some were starving."<ref>{{Cite book|author=Wright, Robin|title=The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil And Transformation in Iran|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|year=2000|isbn=0-375-40639-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/lastgreatrevolut00wrig/page/220 220]|url=https://archive.org/details/lastgreatrevolut00wrig/page/220}}</ref> Five years later, the Shah angered [[Piety|pious]] Iranian Muslims by [[Solar Hijri calendar#Iran|changing the first year of the Iranian solar calendar]] from the Islamic ''[[Hijri year|hijri]]'' to the ascension to the throne by [[Cyrus the Great]]. "Iran jumped overnight from the Muslim year 1355 to the royalist year 2535."{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=444}}

[[File:The Shah with Atherton, Sullivan, Vance, Carter and Brzezinski, 1977.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|The Shah of Iran (left) meeting with members of the U.S. government: [[Alfred Atherton]], [[William H. Sullivan|William Sullivan]], [[Cyrus Vance]], [[Jimmy Carter]], and [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], 1977]]

The [[1973 oil crisis|oil boom of the 1970s]] produced an "alarming" increase in inflation, waste and an "accelerating gap" between the rich and poor, the city and the country,{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=94}} along with the presence of tens of thousands of unpopular skilled foreign workers. Many Iranians were also angered by the fact that the Shah's family was the foremost beneficiary of the income generated by oil, and the line between state earnings and family earnings blurred. By 1976, the Shah had accumulated upward of $1&nbsp;billion from oil revenue; his family – including 63 princes and princesses had accumulated between $5 and $20&nbsp;billion; and the family foundation controlled approximately $3&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Gelvin, James L.|title=The Modern Middle East Second Edition|publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc|year=2008|page=285}}</ref> By mid-1977 economic austerity measures to fight inflation disproportionately affected the thousands of poor and unskilled male migrants settling in the cities working in the construction industry. Culturally and religiously conservative,{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=163}} many went on to form the core of the revolution's demonstrators and "martyrs".{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=226}}

All Iranians were required to join and pay dues to a new political party, the [[Rastakhiz Party]] —all other parties were banned.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=174}} That party's attempt to fight inflation with populist "anti-[[profiteering]]" campaigns—fining and jailing merchants for high prices – angered and politicized merchants while fueling [[black market]]s.{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=96}}

In 1977 the Shah responded to the "polite reminder" of the importance of political rights by the new American president, [[Jimmy Carter]], by granting amnesty to some prisoners and allowing the [[Red Cross]] to visit prisons. Through 1977 liberal opposition formed organizations and issued open letters denouncing the government.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=501–503}} Against this background a first crucial manifestation of public expression of social discontent and political protest against the regime took place in October 1977, when the German-Iranian Cultural Association in Tehran hosted a series of literature reading sessions, organized by the newly revived Iranian Writers Association and the German [[Goethe-Institut]]e. In these "Ten Nights" (Dah Shab) 57 of Iran's most prominent poets and writers read their works to thousands of listeners. They demanded the end of censorship and claimed the freedom of expression.<ref>Gölz, Olmo. [https://www.academia.edu/12363318 "Dah Šab – Zehn Literaturabende in Teheran 1977: Der Kampf um das Monopol literarischer Legitimität."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815025412/https://www.academia.edu/12363318 |date=15 August 2021 }} Die Welt des Islams 55, Nr. 1 (2015): 83–111.</ref>

Also in 1977, the popular and influential modernist Islamist theorist [[Ali Shariati]] died under mysterious circumstances. This both angered his followers, who considered him a martyr at the hands of [[SAVAK]], and removed a potential revolutionary rival to Khomeini. Finally, in October Khomeini's son Mostafa died of an alleged heart attack, and his death was also blamed on SAVAK. A subsequent memorial service for Mostafa in Tehran put Khomeini back in the spotlight.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=184–185}}{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|pp=182–183}}

==== Outbreak ====
By 1977, the Shah's policy of political [[liberalization]] was underway. Secular opponents of the Shah began to meet in secret to denounce the government.<ref name=Ritter>{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|last=Ritter|first=Daniel|title=Why the Iranian Revolution Was Non-Violent|url=http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/21097|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012212427/http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/21097|archive-date=12 October 2013|date=May 2010}}</ref><ref name="Pahlavi 2004">{{cite book|last=Pahlavi|first=Farah|url=https://archive.org/details/enduringlove00fara_0|title=An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah|publisher=Hyperion Books|year=2004|isbn=1-4013-5209-X|location=New York, NY}}</ref> Led by the leftist intellectual [[Saeed Soltanpour]], the Iranian Writers Association met at the [[Goethe Institute]] in Tehran to read anti-government poetry.<ref name="Ritter" /> [[Ali Shariati]]'s death in the United Kingdom shortly after led to another public demonstration, with the opposition accusing the Shah of murdering him.<ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Ritter" />

The chain of events began with the death of [[Mostafa Khomeini]], chief aide and eldest son of [[Ruhollah Khomeini]]. He mysteriously died at midnight on 23 October 1977 in [[Najaf, Iraq]]. [[SAVAK]] and the [[Iraqi government]] declared heart attack as the cause of death, though many attributed his death to SAVAK.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Siddiqui|editor-first1=Abdar Rahman Koya with an introduction by Iqbal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMd5C4KaOgkC&pg=PA35|title=Imam Khomeini life, thought and legacy: essays from an Islamic movement perspective|date=2009|publisher=Islamic Book Trust|isbn=978-967-5062-25-4|location=Kuala Lumpur|page=41|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915021757/https://books.google.com/books?id=HMd5C4KaOgkC&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q=Mustafa%20&f=false|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Khomeini remained silent after the incident, while in Iran with the spread of the news came a wave of protest and mourning ceremonies in several cities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harmon|first1=Daniel E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzyQGwtY-C0C&pg=PA47|title=Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|date=2004|publisher=Infobase Pub.|isbn=978-1-4381-0656-4|location=New York|page=47}}</ref>{{sfnp|Brumberg|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aPT9QRtDMr8C&pg=PA92 92]}} The mourning of Mostafa was given a political cast by Khomeini's political credentials, their enduring opposition to the monarchy and their exile. This dimension of the ceremonies went beyond the religious credentials of the family.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}

== Approaching revolution (1978) ==
=== Beginning of protests (January) ===
{{main|1978 Qom protest}}
On 7 January 1978, an article titled "[[Iran and Red and Black Colonization]]" appeared in the national daily ''[[Ettela'at]]'' newspaper. Written under a pseudonym by a government agent, it denounced Khomeini as a "British agent" and a "mad Indian poet" conspiring to sell out Iran to [[neo-colonialists]] and [[communists]].<ref name="Milani Shah">{{cite book|last=Milani|first=Abbas|title=The Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|isbn=978-0-230-34038-1|date=22 May 2012|publisher=Macmillan|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152503/https://books.google.com/books?id=3e2L0Nt6NgQC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Milani-Persians"/>

The developments initiated by seminaries in the city of Qom closing on 7 January 1978 were followed by the bazaar and seminary closing, and students rallied towards the homes of the religious leaders on the next day.<ref name="Kurz">{{cite journal|last1=Kurzman|first1=Charles|title=The Qum Protests and the Coming of the Iranian Revolution, 1975 and 1978|journal=Social Science History|date=2003|volume=27|issue=3|pages=287–325|doi=10.1017/S0145553200012554|s2cid=144804416|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-science-history/article/qum-protests-and-the-coming-of-the-iranian-revolution-1975-and-1978/A1EE9BD1496A4DDBAED00C945B05B8CF|access-date=8 January 2019|language=en|issn=1527-8034|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414022139/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/social-science-history/article/qum-protests-and-the-coming-of-the-iranian-revolution-1975-and-1978/A1EE9BD1496A4DDBAED00C945B05B8CF|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> On 9 January 1978, seminary students and other people demonstrated in the city, which was cracked down by the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]]'s security forces who shot live ammunition to disperse the crowd when the peaceful demonstration turned violent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bashiriyeh|first=Hossein|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9u7lyTLF4oUC&dq=%229+january+1978%22+uprising+Qom&pg=PA113|title=The State and Revolution in Iran (RLE Iran D)|date=2012-04-27|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-82089-2|language=en}}</ref> Between 5–300 of the demonstrators were reportedly killed in the protest.<ref name="Kurz" /> 9 January 1978 (19 Dey) is regarded as a bloody day in Qom.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hovsepian-Bearce|first1=Yvette|title=The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-60582-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwkXCgAAQBAJ&dq=19+day+qom&pg=PA10|access-date=8 January 2019|language=en|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152506/https://books.google.com/books?id=WwkXCgAAQBAJ&dq=19+day+qom&pg=PA10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ali|first=Luman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMRlDwAAQBAJ&dq=%229+january+1978%22+uprising+Qom&pg=PA68|title=British Diplomacy and the Iranian Revolution, 1978–1981|date=2018-07-19|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-94406-7|language=en|access-date=9 January 2023|archive-date=9 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109064058/https://books.google.com/books?id=jMRlDwAAQBAJ&dq=%229+january+1978%22+uprising+Qom&pg=PA68|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Consolidation of the opposition (February–March) ===
{{See also|1978 Tabriz protests}}
According to [[Shia]] customs, memorial services (''chehelom'') are held 40 days after a person's death.<ref name="Axworthy">{{cite book|last=Axworthy|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Axworthy|title=Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYoeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120|isbn=978-0-19-932226-8|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152504/https://books.google.com/books?id=XYoeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120|url-status=live}}</ref> Encouraged by Khomeini (who declared that the blood of [[martyr]]s must water the "tree of Islam"),<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /> radicals pressured the mosques and moderate clergy to commemorate the deaths of the students, and used the occasion to generate protests.<ref name="Rubin">{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Michael|title=Eternal Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fX_HAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|page=90|isbn=978-1-4039-7710-6|date=27 November 2005|publisher=Springer|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152505/https://books.google.com/books?id=fX_HAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|url-status=live}}</ref> The informal network of mosques and bazaars, which for years had been used to carry out religious events, increasingly became consolidated as a coordinated protest organization.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Jervis">{{cite book|last=Jervis|first=Robert|title=Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons From the Iranian Revolution and the Iraq War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4qwreIHR_MC|isbn=978-0-8014-5761-6|date=2011|publisher=Cornell University Press|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152510/https://books.google.com/books?id=_4qwreIHR_MC|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 18 February, 40 days after the Qom protests, demonstrations broke out in various different cities.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} [[1978 Tabriz protests|The largest]] was in [[Tabriz]], which descended into a full-scale riot. "Western" and government symbols such as cinemas, bars, [[Public bank|state-owned banks]], and police stations were set ablaze.<ref name="Axworthy" /> Units of the [[Imperial Iranian Army]] were deployed to the city to restore order. The death toll, according to the government was 6,<ref name="Eisenstadt" /> while Khomeini claimed hundreds were "martyred."<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Ritter" />{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=510, 512, 513}}

Forty days later, on 29 March, demonstrations were organized in at least 55 cities, including [[Tehran]].<ref name=Axworthy /> In an increasingly predictable pattern, deadly riots broke out in major cities,<ref name=Axworthy />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} and again 40 days later, on 10 May. It led to an incident in which army [[commando]]s opened fire on [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari|Shariatmadari]]'s house, killing one of his students. Shariatmadari immediately made a public announcement declaring his support for a "constitutional government," and a return to the policies of the [[Iran Constitution of 1906|1906 Constitution]].<ref name="Afkhami"/><ref name="Pahlavi 2004"/><ref name=Axworthy />

=== Government reaction ===
[[File:RastakhizPartyDemoAgainstTerrorTabrizFarvardin2537.jpg|thumb|Pro-Shah demonstration organized by the [[Resurgence Party]] in [[Tabriz]], April 1978]]

The Shah was taken completely by surprise by the protests and,<ref name="Afkhami"/><ref name="Amuzegar"/> to make matters worse, he often became indecisive during times of crisis;<ref name="Milani Shah" /> virtually every major decision he would make backfired on his government and further inflamed the revolutionaries.<ref name="Milani Shah" />

The Shah decided to continue on his plan of [[liberalization]] and to negotiate rather than to use force against the still-nascent protest movement:<ref name=Axworthy /><ref name=Rubin />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} he promised that fully [[democratic election]]s for the [[Majlis]] would be held in 1979; censorship was relaxed; a resolution was drafted to help reduce corruption within the royal family and the government;<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker">{{cite magazine|last=Kraft|first=Joseph|date=10 December 1978|title=Letter from Iran|url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1978/12/18/1978_12_18_134_TNY_CARDS_000322991?currentPage=all|url-status=live|magazine=The New Yorker|publication-date=18 December 1978|volume=LIV|issue=44|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427145920/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1978/12/18/1978_12_18_134_TNY_CARDS_000322991?currentPage=all|archive-date=27 April 2014}}</ref> and protesters were tried in civilian courts rather than by military [[courts-martial]] and were quickly released.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

Iran's security forces had not received any [[riot control|riot-control]] training nor equipment since 1963.<ref name=Eisenstadt /> As a result, police forces were unable to control demonstrations, thus the army was frequently deployed.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} Soldiers were instructed not to use [[deadly force]], yet there were instances of inexperienced soldiers reacting excessively, inflaming the violence without [[Intimidation|cowing]] the opposition, and receiving official condemnation from the Shah.<ref name=Eisenstadt>{{cite web|last1=Eisenstadt|first1=Michael|title=Iran's Islamic Revolution: Lessons for the Arab Spring of 2011?|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Eisenstadt201104.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914044155/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Eisenstadt201104.pdf|archive-date=14 September 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Carter administration]] in the US also refused to sell [[non-lethal]] [[tear gas]] and [[rubber bullets]] to Iran.<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name=Hayward>{{cite book|last=Hayward|first=Stephen|title=The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BafgsBIlrwC&pg=PA556|isbn=978-0-307-45370-9|date=9 June 2009|publisher=Crown Publishing|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152507/https://books.google.com/books?id=0BafgsBIlrwC&pg=PA556|url-status=live}}</ref>

As early as the February riots in [[Tabriz]], the Shah fired all [[SAVAK]] officials in the city as a [[Concession (politics)|concession]] to the opposition, and soon began to dismiss civil servants and government officials whom he felt the public blamed.<ref name="Afkhami"/><ref name=Amuzegar />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} In the first national concession, he replaced the hardline SAVAK chief General [[Nematollah Nassiri]] with the more moderate General [[Nasser Moghaddam]].<ref name="Milani Shah" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} The government also negotiated with moderate religious leaders such as [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari|Shariatmadari]], apologizing to him for the raid on his house.<ref name="Milani-Persians"/>

==== Early summer (June) ====
By summer, the protests had stagnated, remaining at a steady rate for four months, with about 10,000 participants in each major city—with the exception of [[Isfahan]], where protests were larger, and [[Tehran]], where they were smaller—protesting every 40 days. This amounted to a small minority of the more than 15&nbsp;million adults in Iran.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=117}}

Against the wishes of Khomeini, Shariatmadari called for 17 June [[mourning]] protests to be carried out as a one-day stay.<ref name=Axworthy /> Although tensions remained in the [[milieu]], the Shah's policy appeared to have worked, leading Amuzegar to declare that "the crisis is over." A [[CIA]] analysis in August concluded that Iran "is not in a revolutionary or even a pre-revolutionary situation."<ref name="Carter, Jimmy 1982, p.438">[[Carter, Jimmy]]. 1982. [[iarchive:keepingfaithmemo00cart|''Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a President'']]. [[Bantam Books]]. {{ISBN|978-0-553-05023-3}}. p. 438.</ref> These and later events in Iran are frequently cited as one of the most consequential strategic surprises that the United States has experienced since the CIA was established in 1947.<ref>Jones, Milo L., and Philippe Silberzahn. 2013. ''Constructing Cassandra, Reframing Intelligence Failure at the CIA, 1947–2001''. Stanford: [[Stanford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8047-9336-0}}. pp. 80–101.</ref>

As a sign of easing of government restrictions, three prominent opposition leaders from the secular [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]]—[[Karim Sanjabi]], [[Shapour Bakhtiar]], and [[Dariush Forouhar]]—were allowed to pen an open letter to the Shah demanding that he reign according to the [[constitution of Iran]].<ref name="Afkhami"/><ref name="Pahlavi 2004"/><ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

=== Renewed protests (August–September) ===

==== Appointment of Jafar Sharif-Emami as prime minister (11 August) ====
{{main|Cabinet of Jafar Sharif-Emami (1978)}}
By August, the protests had "kick[ed]…into high gear,"{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=61}} and the number of demonstrators mushroomed to hundreds of thousands.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=117}} In an attempt to dampen inflation, the [[Jamshid Amouzegar|Amuzegar]] administration cut spending and reduced business. However, the cutbacks led to a sharp rise in layoffs—particularly among young, unskilled, male workers living in the working-class districts. By summer 1978, the working class joined the street protests in massive numbers.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=510, 512, 513}} In addition, it was the Islamic holy month of [[Ramadan]], bringing a sense of increased religiosity among many people.<ref name="Axworthy" />

A series of escalating protests broke out in major cities, and deadly riots broke out in [[Isfahan]] where protesters fought for the release of [[Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri]].{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=515}}<ref name="Axworthy" /> [[Martial law]] was declared in the city on 11 August as symbols of [[Western culture]] and government buildings were burned, and a bus full of American workers was bombed.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> Due to his failure to stop the protests, Prime Minister Amuzegar offered his resignation.

The Shah increasingly felt that he was losing control of the situation and hoped to regain it through complete [[appeasement]].<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /> He decided to appoint [[Jafar Sharif-Emami]] to the post of prime minister, himself a veteran prime minister. Emami was chosen due to his family ties to the clergy, although he had a reputation of corruption during his previous premiership.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Milani-Persians" />

Under the Shah's guidance, Sharif-Emami effectively began a policy of "appeasing the opposition's demands before they even made them."<ref name="Milani-Persians" /> The government abolished the [[Rastakhiz Party]], legalized all political parties and released political prisoners, increased freedom of expression, curtailed SAVAK's authority and dismissed 34 of its commanders,<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> closed down casinos and nightclubs, and abolished the imperial calendar. The government also began to prosecute corrupt government and royal family members. Sharif-Emami entered into negotiations with Shariatmadari and National Front leader [[Karim Sanjabi]] to help organize future elections.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> Censorship was effectively terminated, and the newspapers began reporting heavily on demonstrations, often highly critically and negatively of the Shah. The [[Majlis]] (Parliament) also began issuing resolutions against the government.<ref name="Milani Shah" />

==== Cinema Rex fire (19 August) ====
{{Main|Cinema Rex fire}}

On 19 August, in the southwestern city of [[Abadan]], four arsonists barred the door of the Cinema Rex movie theatre and set it on fire. In what would be the [[List of terrorist incidents|largest terrorist attack]] in history prior to the [[September 11 attacks]] in the US in 2001,<ref name="Byman">{{cite web|last=Byman|first=Daniel|title=The Rise of Low-Tech Terrorism|work=The Brookings Institution |url=http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2007/05/06terrorism-byman|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012044717/http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2007/05/06terrorism-byman|archive-date=12 October 2013|date=30 November 2001}}</ref> 422 people inside the theatre were [[burned to death]]. Khomeini immediately blamed the Shah and [[SAVAK]] for setting the fire, and,<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Ganji" /> due to the pervasive revolutionary atmosphere, the public also blamed the Shah for starting the fire, despite the government's insistence that they were uninvolved. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets shouting "Burn the Shah!" and "The Shah is the guilty one!"{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}

After the revolution, many claimed that [[Islamic terrorism|Islamist militants]] had started the fire.<ref name="Byman" /><ref name="Afkhami, R. Gholam 2009 page 465 & 459">Afkhami, R. Gholam. 2009. ''The life and times of the Shah''. [[University of California Press]]. {{ISBN|0-520-25328-0}}. pp. 459, 465.</ref><ref name="Ansari, M. Ali 2007 page 259">Ansari, M. Ali. 2007. ''Modern Iran: the Pahlavis and After''. [[Pearson Education]]. {{ISBN|1-4058-4084-6}}. p. 259.</ref><ref name="Federal Research Division 2004 page 78">[[Federal Research Division]]. 2004. ''Iran A Country Study''. [[Kessinger Publishing]]. {{ISBN|1-4191-2670-9}}. p. 78.</ref><ref name="Bahl, Taru 2003 page 105">Bahl, Taru, and M. H. Syed. 2003. ''Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World''. Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. {{ISBN|81-261-1419-3}}. p. 105.</ref><ref name="Glenn Eldon Curtis 2008 page 48">Curtis, Glenn Eldon, and [[Library of Congress]]. 2008. ''Iran: a Country Study''. [[Government Printing Office]]. {{ISBN|0-8444-1187-6}}. p. 48.</ref> After the [[Islamic republic]] government executed a police officer for the act, a man claiming to be the lone surviving arsonist claimed he was responsible for starting the fire.<ref name="iranrights.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranrights.org/english/memorial-case--3246.php|title=Human Rights & Democracy for Iran: Monir Taheri: One Person's Story|publisher=iranrights.org|access-date=18 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019100716/http://www.iranrights.org/english/memorial-case--3246.php|archive-date=19 October 2013}}</ref> After forcing the resignation of the presiding judges in an attempt to hamper the investigation, the new government finally executed Hossein Talakhzadeh for "setting the fire on the Shah's orders," despite his insistence that he did it on his own accord as an ultimate sacrifice for the revolutionary cause.<ref name="Afkhami, R. Gholam 2009 page 465 & 459" /><ref name="iranrights.org" />

==== Declaration of martial law and the Jaleh Square Massacre (8 September) ====
{{Main|Jaleh Square massacre}}
[[File:Islamic Government (17 Shahrivar).jpg|thumb|Demonstration of 8 September 1978. The placard reads: ''We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini''.]]
[[File:Demonstration (17 Shahrivar).jpg|thumb|Demonstration of "Black Friday" (8 September 1978)]]

The 4th of September marked [[Eid al-Fitr]], the holiday celebrating the end of the month of [[Ramadan]]. A permit for an [[Open-air preaching|open-air]] prayer was granted, in which 200,000–500,000 people attended.<ref name="Axworthy" /> Instead, the clergy directed the crowd on a large march through the center of Tehran, while the Shah reportedly watched the march from his helicopter, unnerved, and confused.<ref name="Axworthy" /> A few days later, even larger protests took place, and, for the first time, protesters called for [[Khomeini's return]] and the establishment of an [[Islamic republic]].<ref name="Axworthy" />

At midnight on 8 September, the Shah declared [[martial law]] in Tehran and 11 other major cities throughout the country. All street demonstrations were banned, and a night-time [[curfew]] was established. Tehran's martial law commander was [[Gholam Ali Oveissi|General Gholam-Ali Oveissi]], who was known for his severity against opponents.<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Ritter" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=510, 512, 513}}<ref name="Byman" /> However, the Shah made clear that once martial law was lifted, he intended to continue with the liberalization. He retained Sharif-Emami's civilian government, hoping that protesters would avoid taking the streets.<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Rubin" /><ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

However, 5,000 protesters took to the streets, either in defiance or because they had missed hearing the declaration, and faced off with soldiers at Jaleh Square.<ref name="Afkhami" />{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /> After [[warning shot]]s failed to disperse the crowd, troops fired directly into the crowd, killing 64,<ref name="Axworthy" /> while General Oveissi claimed that 30 soldiers were killed by snipers in surrounding buildings.<ref name="Afkhami"/><ref name="Milani-Persians"/><ref name="Amuzegar"/><ref name="Pahlavi 2004"/><ref name="Axworthy"/><ref name="Jervis"/><ref name="Ganji">{{cite book|last=Ganji|first=Manouchehr|title=Defying the Iranian Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NboVl-CeYs0C|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-97187-8|year=2002}}</ref> Additional clashes throughout the day, which would be called '''Black Friday''' by the opposition, brought the opposition death toll to 89.<ref name="Milani Shah" />{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|pp=510, 512, 513}}

===== Reactions to Black Friday =====
[[File:Dead Revolutionaries (17 Shahrivar).jpg|thumb|Victims of [[Black Friday (1978)|Black Friday]]]]

The deaths shocked the country and damaged any attempt at reconciliation between the Shah and the opposition. Khomeini immediately declared that "4,000 innocent protesters were massacred by [[Zionists]]," which gave him a pretext to reject any further compromise with the government.

The Shah himself was horrified by the events of [[Black Friday (1978)|Black Friday]], and harshly criticized the events, though this did little to sway public perception of him as being responsible for the shooting.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Eisenstadt" /> While martial law officially remained in effect, the government decided not to break up any more demonstrations or strikes (in effect, "martial law without there exactly being martial law," according to Sharif-Emami), instead continuing to negotiate with protest leaders.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> Consequently, protest gatherings often took place without any serious intervention by soldiers.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

=== Nationwide strikes (September–November) ===
Oil strikes started in fall of 1978 and led to a 4.8 million drop of crude oil production every day, which was about seven percent of the world's supply. Prices rose from 13 dollars per barrel in 1979 to 34 dollars in 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Iran's 1979 revolution meant for US and global oil markets|url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-irans-1979-revolution-meant-for-us-and-global-oil-markets/|access-date=2024-05-10|website=Brookings|language=en-US}}</ref> While increased production from other countries, like Saudi Arabia, offset the decline in supply slightly there was still a 10 percent drop in available oil.

There were a variety of factors influencing the workers' decision to strike. The Shah's regime had relaxed oppression in 1977, giving people more access to protest and organizing. At the same time, the economy had faltered after doing better in the early 70s. The strikes began when the workers at a refinery in Tehran, calling for higher wages and housing allowances, were ignored by the government. The Shah's government responded by killing dozens of strikers in an event known as Black Friday.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Painter|first=David S.|date=2023|title=The Oil Crises of the 1970s and the Global Cold War|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350416093.ch-001|journal=Oil Crises of the 1970s and the Transformation of International Order|pages=17–56|doi=10.5040/9781350416093.ch-001|isbn=978-1-350-41609-3|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The following day, strikes emerged in Tehran, Abadan, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Kermanshah.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Karim|first=Matin|date=2020-08-15|title=The importance of the oil workers' strike in Iran {{!}}|url=https://english.mojahedin.org/news/iran-news/the-importance-of-the-oil-workers-strike-in-iran/|access-date=2024-05-10|website=People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran|language=en-US}}</ref> This first wave of strikes was reported by SAVAK to involve 11,000 workers. The oil strikes of 1978 were imperative to the Iranian Revolution's success, as they put extreme economic pressure on the Shah's regime.<ref name=":6" /> Oil revenues are a significant part of the government's income and regardless of the motivation behind those who strike, oil strikes will always threaten to destabilize Iranian regimes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ahmed|first=Ismael|date=January 1975|title=Organizing an Arab Workers Caucus|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3011472|journal=MERIP Reports|issue=34|pages=17–22|doi=10.2307/3011472|jstor=3011472|issn=0047-7265|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

By late October, a nationwide [[general strike]] was declared, with workers in virtually all major industries walking off their jobs, most damagingly in the oil industry and the print media.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}<ref name="Ritter" /> Special "strike committees" were set up throughout major industries to organize and coordinate the activities.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=515}}

The Shah did not attempt to crack down on strikers,<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> instead granting them generous wage increases and allowing strikers who lived in government housing to remain in their homes.<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> By early November, many government officials demanded the Shah use forceful measures to bring the strikers back to work.<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Ritter" />

=== Khomeini moves to France (November) ===
Hoping to break Khomeini's contacts with the opposition, the Shah pressured the [[Iraqi government]] to expel him from [[Najaf]]. Khomeini left [[Iraq]], instead moving to a house bought by Iranian exiles in [[Neauphle-le-Château]], a village near [[Paris]], France. The Shah hoped that Khomeini would be cut off from the mosques of Najaf and the protest movement. Instead, the plan backfired badly. French telephone and postal connections, superior to those of Iraq, let Khomenini's supporters flood Iran with tapes and recordings of his sermons.<ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

[[File:Imam in Paris.jpg|thumb|Ayatollah Khomeini in Neauphle-le-Château surrounded by journalists]]

Worse for the Shah was that the [[Western media]], especially the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] (BBC), immediately put Khomeini into the spotlight.<ref name="Milani-Persians"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/10123267/how_the_bbc_helped_bring_the_ayatollah_to_power/|title=How the BBC helped bring the Ayatollah to power|website=Telegraph Blogs|access-date=18 October 2014|location=London|date=22 June 2009|archive-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024134410/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/10123267/how_the_bbc_helped_bring_the_ayatollah_to_power/}}</ref> Khomeini rapidly became a household name in the West, portraying himself as an "Eastern mystic" who did not seek power, but instead sought to "free" his people from "[[oppression]]." Many Western media outlets, usually critical of such claims, became one of Khomeini's most powerful tools.<ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />

In addition, the media coverage eroded the influence of other, more moderate clergy such as [[Ayatollah Shariatmadari]] and [[Ayatollah Taleghani]].<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} The BBC itself later issued a statement admitting to having a "critical" disposition to the Shah, saying that its broadcasts helped to "change the collective perception of the population."<ref name="Milani Shah" />

In November, secular [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]] leader [[Karim Sanjabi]] flew to Paris to meet Khomeini. There the two signed an agreement for a draft constitution that would be "Islamic and democratic". It signaled the now official alliance between the clergy and the secular opposition.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Axworthy" /> To help create a democratic façade, Khomeini placed [[Westernized]] figures (such as [[Sadegh Ghotbzadeh]] and [[Ebrahim Yazdi]]) as the public spokesmen of the opposition, and never spoke to the media of his intentions to create a [[theocracy]].<ref name="Milani Shah" />

=== University of Tehran protest (5 November) ===
Street demonstrations continued at full force with little response from the military; by late October, government officials effectively ceded the [[University of Tehran]] to student protesters.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} Worse, the opposition was increasingly becoming armed, firing at soldiers and attacking banks and government buildings in an attempt to destabilize the country.<ref name="Amuzegar" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />

On 5 November, demonstrations at University of Tehran became deadly after a fight broke out with armed soldiers.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=515}}{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} Within hours, [[Tehran]] broke out into a full-scale riot. Block after block of Western symbols such as movie theaters and department stores, as well as government and police buildings, were seized, looted, and burned. The [[British embassy in Tehran]] was partially burned and vandalized as well, and the [[Embassy of the United States, Tehran|American embassy]] nearly suffered the same fate. The event became known to foreign observers as "The Day Tehran Burned."<ref name="Afkhami" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Brotons" />

Many of the rioters were young teenage boys, often organized by the mosques in southern Tehran, and encouraged by their [[mullah]]s to attack and destroy western and secular symbols.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=}}{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Brotons">{{cite book|last=Brotons|first=Jean-Charles|title=US Officials and the Fall of the Shah: Some Safe Contraction Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkUaOrKL3DgC&pg=PA64|isbn=978-0-7391-3340-8|year=2010|publisher=Lexington Books|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152507/https://books.google.com/books?id=XkUaOrKL3DgC&pg=PA64|url-status=live}}</ref> The army and police, confused about their orders and under pressure from the Shah not to risk initiating violence, effectively gave up and did not intervene.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Brotons" /><ref name="Zabir" />

=== Appointment of a military government (6 November) ===
{{main|Military government of Gholam-Reza Azhari}}
As the situation on the streets spiraled out of control, many well known and reputable figures within the country began to approach the Shah, begging him to stop the chaos.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Amuzegar" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

On 6 November, the Shah dismissed Sharif-Emami from the post of prime minister, and chose to appoint a military government in its place.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Brotons" /> The Shah chose General [[Gholam-Reza Azhari]] to be prime minister because of his mild-mannered approach to the situation.<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Brotons" /> The cabinet he would choose was a military cabinet in name only and consisted primarily of civilian leaders.<ref name="Brotons" />

The same day, the Shah made a speech on Iranian television.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Zabir">{{cite book|last=Zabir|first=Sepehr|title=The Iranian Military in Revolution and War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcjmD51dFFMC&pg=PT47|isbn=978-1-136-81270-5|date=27 April 2012|publisher=Taylor & Francis|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152508/https://books.google.com/books?id=TcjmD51dFFMC&pg=PT47|url-status=live}}</ref> He referred to himself as [[Padishah|''Padeshah'']] ('master king'), instead of the more grandiose [[Shahanshah]] (king of kings), which he insisted on being called previously.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /> In his speech he stated "I have heard the voice of your revolution...this revolution cannot but be supported by me, the king of Iran".<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" /><ref name="Majd">{{cite book|last=Majd|first=Hooman|title=The Ayatollah's Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Y3LUwwAVQUC&q=I+have+heard+the+voice+of+your+revolution+shah&pg=PA262|isbn=978-0-393-08039-1|date=12 September 2011|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152509/https://books.google.com/books?id=6Y3LUwwAVQUC&q=I+have+heard+the+voice+of+your+revolution+shah&pg=PA262|url-status=live}}</ref> He apologized for mistakes that were committed during his reign, and promised to ensure that corruption would no longer exist.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Zabir" /> He stated he would begin to work with the opposition to bring democracy, and would form a coalition government.<ref name="Afkhami" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Zabir" /> In effect, the Shah intended to restrain the military government (which he described as a temporary caretaker government) from carrying out a full crackdown.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

The speech backfired when the revolutionaries sensed weakness from the Shah and "smelled blood".{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Majd" /> Khomeini announced that there would be no reconciliation with the Shah and called on all Iranians to overthrow him.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Majd" />

Military authorities declared martial law in [[Khuzestan]] province (Iran's main oil producing province) and deployed troops to its oil facilities. Navy personnel were also used as [[strikebreakers]] in the oil industry.<ref name="Afkhami" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Brotons" /> Street marches declined, and oil production began increasing once again, nearly reaching pre-revolutionary levels.<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Brotons" /> In a symbolic blow to the opposition, [[Karim Sanjabi]], who had visited Khomeini in Paris, was arrested upon his return to Iran.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

However, the government still continued the policy of [[appeasement]] and negotiation.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Milani-Persians" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}<ref name="Zabir" /> The Shah ordered the arrest of 100 officials from his own government for charges of corruption, including former prime minister [[Amir Abbas Hoveida|Amir Abbas-Hoveyda]] and former SAVAK head [[Nematollah Nassiri]].<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Milani-Persians" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

=== Muharram protests (early December) ===
[[File:Tehran Ashura Demonstration, 11 December 1978 (04).jpg|thumb|[[Mohammad Beheshti]] in the Tehran Ashura demonstration, 11 December 1978]]
[[File:Part of the marching of the people during the Iranian Revolution 1979.webm|thumb|People marching during the Iranian Revolution, 1979]]

Khomeini condemned the military government and called for continued protests.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="news.google.com">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19781205&id=r0dNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6325,1888082|title=Lakeland Ledger – Google News Archive Search|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813044336/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19781205&id=r0dNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6325,1888082|url-status=live}}</ref> He and the protest organizers planned a series of escalating protests during the holy Islamic month of [[Muharram]], to culminate with massive protests on the days of [[Tasu'a]] and [[Ashura]], the latter commemorating the [[Battle of Karbala|martyrdom]] of [[Imam Husayn ibn Ali]], the third Shia Muslim [[imam]].<ref name="Axworthy" />

While the military authorities banned street demonstrations and extended the curfew, the Shah faced deep misgivings about the potential violence.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

On 2 December 1978, the Muharram protests began. Named for the Islamic month they began in, the Muharram protests were impressively huge and pivotal. Over two million protesters<ref name="Muharram Protests in Iran, 1978">{{cite news|last1=Rosenfeld|first1=Everett|title=Muharram Protests in Iran, 1978|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2080036_2080037_2080043,00.html|magazine=Time|access-date=7 May 2015|date=28 June 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516150250/http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2080036_2080037_2080043,00.html|archive-date=16 May 2015}}</ref> (many teenagers proselytized by [[mullah]]s from the mosques of southern Tehran) took to the streets, crowding [[Azadi Square|Shahyad Square]]. Protesters frequently went out at night, violating the curfew, often taking to rooftops and shouting "[[Allahu akbar|''Allahu-akbar'']]" ('God is great'). According to one witness, many of the clashes on the street had an air of playfulness, with security forces using "kid gloves" against the opposition.{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}} Nevertheless, the government reported at least 12 opposition deaths.<ref name="news.google.com" />

The protesters demanded that Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] step down from power and that [[Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini]] be returned from exile. The protests grew incredibly fast, reaching between six million and nine million in strength in the first week. About 5% of the population had taken to the streets in the Muharram protests. Both beginning and ending in the month of Muharram, the protests succeeded, and the Shah stepped down from power later that month.<ref name="Muharram Protests in Iran, 1978" />

After the success of what would become known as a revolution, Ayatollah [[Khomeini returned to Iran]] as its religious and political leader for life. Khomeini had been an opposition leader to Shah for many years, rising to prominence after the death of his mentor, renowned scholar [[Yazdi Ha'iri]], in the 1930s.<ref name="Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini">{{cite web|title=Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|url=http://www.biography.com/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini-13680544#political-and-religious-leader|website=Biography.com|access-date=7 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502210702/http://www.biography.com/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini-13680544#political-and-religious-leader|archive-date=2 May 2015}}</ref> Even in his years in exile, Khomeini remained relevant in Iran. Supporting the protests from beyond Iran's borders, he proclaimed that "freedom and liberation from the bonds of imperialism" was imminent.<ref name="Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini" />

==== Tasu'a and Ashura marches (10–11 December) ====
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As the days of [[Tasu'a]] and [[Ashura]] (10 and 11 December) approached, to prevent a deadly showdown, the Shah began to draw back. In negotiations with [[Ayatollah Shariatmadari]], the Shah ordered the release of 120 political prisoners and [[Karim Sanjabi]], and on 8 December revoked the ban on street demonstrations. Permits were issued for the marchers, and troops were removed from the procession's path. In turn, Shariatmadari pledged that to make sure that there would be no violence during the demonstrations.<ref name="Kraft-New Yorker" />

On 10 and 11 December 1978, the days of Tasu'a and Ashura, between 6 and 9 million anti-Shah demonstrators marched throughout Iran. According to one historian, "even discounting for exaggeration, these figures may represent the largest protest event in history."{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=122}} The marches were led by Ayatollah [[Taleghani]] and National Front leader Karim Sanjabi, thus symbolizing the "unity" of the secular and religious opposition. The [[mullah]]s and [[bazaari]]s effectively policed the gathering, and protesters who attempted to initiate violence were restrained.<ref name="Axworthy"/>

More than 10% of the country marched in anti-Shah demonstrations on the two days, possibly a higher percentage than any previous revolution. It is rare for a revolution to involve as much as 1 percent of a country's population; the French, Russian, and Romanian revolutions may have passed the 1 percent mark.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2004|p=121}}

== Revolution (late 1978–1979) ==
Much of Iranian society was in [[euphoria]] about the coming revolution. Secular and leftist politicians piled onto the movement hoping to gain power in the aftermath, ignoring the fact that Khomeini was the very antithesis to all of the positions they supported.<ref name="Milani Shah" /> While it was increasingly clear to more secular Iranians that Khomeini was not a liberal, he was widely perceived as a figurehead, and that power would eventually be handed to the secular groups.<ref name="Milani Shah" />{{sfnp|Harney|1998|p=}}

=== Demoralization of the army (December, 1978) ===
[[File:1979 Islamic Revolution.jpg|thumb|A protester giving flowers to an army officer]]

The military leadership was increasingly paralyzed by indecision, and rank-and-file soldiers were demoralized, having been forced to confront demonstrators while prohibited from using their own weapons (and being condemned by the Shah if they did).<ref name="Eisenstadt" /> Increasingly, Khomeini called on the soldiers of the armed forces to defect to the opposition.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /> Revolutionaries gave flowers and civilian clothes to deserters, while threatening retribution to those who stayed.

On 11 December, a dozen officers were shot dead by their own troops at Tehran's [[Lavizan]] barracks. Fearing further [[mutinies]], many soldiers were returned to their barracks.<ref name="Eisenstadt" /> [[Mashhad]] (the second largest city in Iran) was abandoned to the protesters, and in many provincial towns demonstrators were effectively in control.<ref name="Axworthy" />

=== American and internal negotiations with the opposition (late December, 1978) ===
{{main|Jimmy Carter's engagement with Ruhollah Khomeini}}
The [[Carter administration]] increasingly became locked in a debate about continued support for the monarchy.<ref name="Little" /> As early as November, ambassador William Sullivan sent a telegram to Carter (the "[[Thinking the Unthinkable]]" telegram<ref name="Little" />). The telegram effectively declared his belief that the Shah would not survive the protests and that the US should consider withdrawing its support for his government and persuading the monarch to abdicate. The United States would then help assemble a coalition of pro-Western military officers, middle class professionals, and moderate clergy, with Khomeini installed as a [[Gandhi]]-like spiritual leader.<ref name="Little">{{cite book|last=Little|first=Douglas|title=American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jb3ai8l6jWMC&pg=PA225|isbn=978-0-8078-7761-6|date=15 September 2009|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152516/https://books.google.com/books?id=jb3ai8l6jWMC&pg=PA225|url-status=live}}</ref>

The telegram touched off a vigorous debate in the American cabinet, with some, such as National Security Advisor [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]],<ref name="Little" /> rejecting it outright. Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] rejected a military crackdown;<ref name="Axworthy" /> he and his supporters believed in the "moderate and progressive" intentions of Khomeini and his circle.<ref name="Hayward" /><ref name="Little" />

Increasing contact was established with the pro-Khomeini camp. Based on the revolutionaries' responses, some American officials (especially Ambassador Sullivan) felt Khomeini genuinely intended to create a democracy.<ref name="Milani Shah" /> According to historian [[Abbas Milani]], this led to the United States facilitating Khomeini's rise to power.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref>{{cite web|author=Kambiz Fattahi|date=3 June 2016|title=Two Weeks in January: America's secret engagement with Khomeini|website=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36431160|access-date=27 July 2019|archive-date=27 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827040313/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36431160|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Saeed Kamali Dehghan|author2=David Smith|title=US had extensive contact with Ayatollah Khomeini before Iran revolution|work=The Guardian|date=10 June 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/10/ayatollah-khomeini-jimmy-carter-administration-iran-revolution|access-date=27 July 2019|archive-date=13 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713043737/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/10/ayatollah-khomeini-jimmy-carter-administration-iran-revolution|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Shah began to search for a new prime minister, one who was a civilian and a member of the opposition. On 28 December, he secured an agreement with another major National Front figure, [[Shapour Bakhtiar]]. Bakhtiar would be appointed prime minister (a return to civilian rule), while the Shah and his family would leave the country. His royal duties would be carried out by a Regency Council, and three months after his departure a referendum would be submitted to the people deciding on whether Iran would remain a monarchy or become a republic. A former opponent of the Shah, Bakhtiar became motivated to join the government because he was increasingly aware of Khomeini's intentions to implement hard-line religious rule rather than a democracy.<ref name="Milani-Persians" /> Karim Sanjabi immediately expelled Bakhtiar from the National Front, and Bakhtiar was denounced by Khomeini (who declared that acceptance of his government was the equivalent of "obedience to false gods").<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Geist">{{cite web|last=Geist|first=Dan|title='A Darker Horizon': The Assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar|website=[[PBS]]|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/08/a-darker-horizon-the-assassination-of-shapour-bakhtiar.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609050914/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/08/a-darker-horizon-the-assassination-of-shapour-bakhtiar.html|archive-date=9 June 2016}}</ref>

=== The Shah leaves (16 January 1979) ===
[[File:Shah's exit from Iran 01.jpg|thumb|Shah and his wife, [[Shahbanu]] [[Farah Pahlavi|Farah]], leaving Iran on 16 January 1979]]
[[File:Ruhollah Khomeini press conference of 17 January 1979, Neauphle-le-Château.jpg|thumb|left|Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] giving a speech after arranging a press-conference at [[Neauphle-le-Château]], France, the day after the departure of the Shah]]
[[File:Ettelaat13571026.pdf|thumb|Front cover of ''[[Ettela'at]]'', 16 January 1979, featuring the now-famous headline "[[The Shah Is Gone]]". The front cover of the same day's edition of ''[[Kayhan]]'' featured the same headline]]
The Shah, hoping to see Bakhtiar established, kept delaying his departure. Consequently, to the Iranian public, Bakhtiar was seen as the Shah's last prime minister, undermining his support.<ref name="Axworthy" />

American General [[Robert Huyser]], the Deputy Commander of [[U.S. European Command]], entered Iran.<ref name="Milani Shah" /> While the option of a pro-Shah military coup still was a possibility, Huyser met with military leaders (but not the Shah) and established meetings between them and Khomeini allies for the purpose of agreeing on Bakhtiar's transitional government.<ref name="Milani Shah" /><ref name="Pahlavi 2004" /><ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Huyser" /> Ambassador Sullivan disagreed, and attempted to pressure Huyser to ignore the military and work directly with Khomeini's opposition.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Huyser">{{cite book|last=Huyser|first=Robert|title=Mission to Tehran|publisher=Andre Deutsch|url=https://archive.org/details/missiontotehran00huys|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0-06-039053-2|year=1986}}</ref> Nevertheless, Huyser won out and continued to work with both the military and opposition. He left Iran on 3 February.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Huyser" /> The Shah was privately embittered by Huyser's mission and felt that the United States no longer wanted him in power.<ref name="Pahlavi 2004" />

On the morning of 16 January 1979, Bakhtiar was officially appointed prime minister. The same day, a tearful Shah and his family left Iran for exile in [[Egypt]], never to return.<ref name="Milani Shah" />

=== Bakhtiar's premiership and Ayatollah Khomeini's return (January–February, 1979) ===
{{Main|Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran}}
[[File:Bakhtiar and mosaddegh cartoon.jpg|thumb|Cartoon depicting [[Shapour Bakhtiar]] and [[Mosaddegh]] on 22 January 1978 issue of ''[[Ettela'at]]'', during the revolution]]
When the news of the Shah's departure was announced from newspapers and news at 2 pm on Iran's National Radio, there were spontaneous scenes of joy throughout the country. Millions poured onto the streets, and virtually every remaining sign of the monarchy was torn down by the crowds.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="google">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=886&dat=19790114&id=u7hjAAAAIBAJ&pg=5359,30751405|title=The Prescott Courier – Google News Archive Search|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120181447/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=886&dat=19790114&id=u7hjAAAAIBAJ&pg=5359,30751405|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakhtiar dissolved SAVAK and freed all remaining political prisoners. He ordered the army to allow mass demonstrations, promised free elections and invited the revolutionaries into a government of "national unity".<ref name="Geist" /><ref>[http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=56102 "Demonstrations allowed"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510085608/http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=56102 |date=10 May 2011 }}, ABC Evening News for Monday, 15 January 1979.</ref>

[[File:People on The path of welcoming Imam Khomeini .webm|thumb|left|Video of people welcoming Ayatollah Khomeini in the streets of Tehran after his return from exile]]
Bakhtiar invited Khomeini back to Iran, with the intention of creating a [[Vatican City|Vatican]]-like state in the holy city of [[Qom]], declaring that "We will soon have the honor of welcoming home the Ayatollah Khomeini".<ref name="Geist" /> On 1 February 1979 Khomeini returned to Tehran in a chartered Air France [[Boeing 747]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Khomeini Era: Iran Becomes a Theocracy|date=12 February 1979|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920102-2,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604063049/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920102-2,00.html|archive-date=4 June 2011}}</ref> The welcoming crowd of several million Iranians was so large he was forced to take a helicopter after the car taking him from the airport was overwhelmed by enthusiastic supporters.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|2008|page=161}}

Khomeini was now not only the undisputed leader of the revolution,{{sfnp|Gölz|2017|p=229}}{{sfnp|Taheri|1985|p=146}} he had become a semi-divine figure, greeted as he descended from his airplane with cries of 'Khomeini, O Imam, we salute you, peace be upon you.'{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=200}} Crowds were now known to chant "Islam, Islam, Khomeini, We Will Follow You", and even "Khomeini for King".<ref name="Foucault Dreaming">[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/007863.html What Are the Iranians Dreaming About?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706121111/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/007863.html |date=6 July 2010 }} by Michel Foucault, Chicago: University Press.</ref> When asked by a reporter how he felt returning to his home country after a long exile, Khomeini replied "Nothing".

On the day of his arrival Khomeini made clear his rejection of Bakhtiar's government in a speech promising, "I shall kick their teeth in. I appoint the government, I appoint the government in support of this nation".<ref name="Geist" /> On 5 February at his headquarters in the [[Refah School]] in southern Tehran, he declared a provisional revolutionary government, appointed opposition leader [[Mehdi Bazargan]] (from the religious-nationalist [[Freedom Movement of Iran|Freedom Movement]], affiliated with the National Front) as his own prime minister, and commanded Iranians to obey Bazargan as a religious duty:{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=515}}<ref name="Milani-Persians" /><ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Geist" />

[[File:BazarganMehdi.jpg|thumb|upright|Iranian prime minister [[Mehdi Bazargan]] was an advocate of democracy and civil rights. He also opposed the [[Iran's cultural revolution|cultural revolution]] and US embassy takeover.]]

{{blockquote|[T]hrough the guardianship [''Velayat''] that I have from the holy lawgiver [the Prophet], I hereby pronounce Bazargan as the Ruler, and since I have appointed him, he must be obeyed. The nation must obey him. This is not an ordinary government. It is a government based on the ''sharia''. Opposing this government means opposing the ''sharia'' of Islam ... Revolt against God's government is a revolt against God. Revolt against God is blasphemy.<ref>Khomeini, ''Sahifeh-ye Nur'', vol. 5, p. 31, translated in {{harvp|Moin|2000|p=204}}</ref><ref name="Khomeini">[http://www.irdc.ir/article.asp?id=822 چرا و چگونه بازرگان به نخست وزیری رسید؟] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413172900/http://www.irdc.ir/article.asp?id=822 |date=13 April 2008 }} The commandment of Ayatollah Khomeini for Bazargan and his sermon on 5 February.</ref>}}

Angered, Bakhtiar made a speech of his own. Reaffirming himself as the legitimate leader, he declared that:

{{blockquote|Iran has one government. More than this is intolerable, either for me or for you or for any other Iranian. As a Muslim, I had not heard that jihad refers to one Muslim against other Muslims.... I will not give permission to Ayatollah Khomeini to form an interim government. In life there comes a time when one must stand firm and say no.... I have never seen a book about an Islamic republic; neither has anyone else for that matter.... Some of the people surrounding the Ayatollah are like violent vultures.... The clergy should go to Qom and build a wall around themselves and create their own Vatican.<ref name=Geist /> }}

=== Armed battles and collapse of the monarchy (February, 1979) ===
Tensions between the two rival governments increased rapidly. To demonstrate his support, Khomeini called for demonstrators to occupy the streets throughout the country. He also sent a letter to American officials warning them to withdraw support for Bakhtiar.<ref name="Milani Shah" /> Bakhtiar became increasingly isolated, with members of the government (including the entire [[Regency Council (Iran)|Regency Council]]) defecting to Khomeini. The military was crumbling, with its leadership completely paralyzed, unsure of whether to support Bakhtiar or act on their own, and rank-and-file soldiers either demoralized or deserting.<ref name="Axworthy" /><ref name="Eisenstadt" />

On 9 February, a rebellion of pro-Khomeini air force technicians broke out at the [[Doshan Tappeh Air Base]]. A unit of the pro-Shah [[Imperial Guard (Iran)|Immortal Guards]] attempted to apprehend the rebels, and an armed battle broke out. Soon large crowds took to the streets, building barricades and supporting the rebels, while Islamic-Marxist guerillas with their weapons joined in support.<ref name="Axworthy" />

[[File:مردم مسلح انقلابی.JPG|thumb|Iranian armed rebels during the revolution]]

The armed rebels attacked a weapons factory, capturing nearly 50,000 machine guns and distributing them to civilians who joined in the fighting. The rebels began storming police stations and military bases throughout Tehran. The city's martial law commander General [[Mehdi Rahimi]] decided not to use his 30,000 loyal Immortal Guards to crush the rebellion for fear of producing civilian casualties.<ref name="Zabir" />

The final collapse of the provisional non-Islamist government came at 2&nbsp;pm on 11 February when the Supreme Military Council declared itself "neutral in the current political disputes... in order to prevent further disorder and bloodshed."{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=206}}{{sfnp|Abrahamian|1982|p=529}} All military personnel were ordered back to their bases, effectively yielding control of the entire country to Khomeini.<ref name="Eisenstadt" /> Revolutionaries took over government buildings, TV and radio stations, and palaces of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]], marking the end of the monarchy in Iran. Bakhtiar escaped the palace under a hail of bullets, fleeing Iran in disguise. He was later assassinated by an agent of the [[Islamic republic]] in 1991 in Paris.

This period, from 1 to 11 February, is celebrated every year in Iran as the "[[Decade of Fajr]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9901/31/iran.20th/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606225011/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9901/31/iran.20th/|archive-date=6 June 2007|title=Iran marks 20th anniversary of Islamic revolution|date=1999-01-31|website=CNN.com}}</ref> 11 February is "Islamic Revolution's Victory Day", a national holiday with state sponsored demonstrations in every city.<ref name="RFERL">{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2004/02/ad344479-c0e6-40f7-8276-f687f4475187.html|author=Golnaz Esfandiari|date=February 11, 2004|title=Iran: 25th Anniversary Of Islamic Revolution Commemorated Amid Serious Political Crisis|work=Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213231343/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2004/02/ad344479-c0e6-40f7-8276-f687f4475187.html|archive-date=13 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Iran marks 25th anniversary of Islamic revolution|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-marks-25th-anniversary-of-islamic-revolution-1.508052|access-date=26 January 2020|work=CBC News|date=11 February 2004|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012055125/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iran-marks-25th-anniversary-of-islamic-revolution-1.508052|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Casualties ===
{{Further|Casualties of the Iranian Revolution}}
Some sources (such as [[Emadeddin Baghi]], a researcher at the [[Bonyad#Islamic Republic|Martyrs Foundation]]) claim 2,781 protesters and revolutionaries were killed in 1978–79 during the revolution.<ref name="Baghi">[http://www.emadbaghi.com/en/archives/000592.php#more "A Question of Numbers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804172903/http://www.emadbaghi.com/en/archives/000592.php|date=4 August 2014}} IranianVoice.org, 8 August 2003 Rouzegar-Now Cyrus Kadivar</ref>{{#tag:ref|Researcher Emad al-Din Baghi at the Martyrs Foundation (Bonyad Shahid) counted 2,781 protesters killed in 1978–79, a total of 3,164 killed between 1963 and 1979.|group=Note}} Khomeini reported a much larger number, saying "60,000 men, women and children were martyred by the Shah's regime".<ref name="ReferenceA">E. Baqi, 'Figures for the Dead in the Revolution', ''Emruz'', 30 July 2003.</ref><ref name="Baghi"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Iran Chamber Society: The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218140202/http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution.php|archive-date=18 February 2010|work=iranchamber.com}}</ref> In reference to this 60,000 figure, the military historian [[Spencer C. Tucker]] notes that "Khomeini's regime grossly overstated the revolution's death toll for propaganda purposes".<ref name="Tucker">{{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=Spencer C.|author1-link=Spencer C. Tucker|title=The Roots and Consequences of Civil Wars and Revolutions: Conflicts that Changed World History|date=2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=439}}</ref> Tucker explains that the consensus of historians regarding estimated deaths during the Iranian Revolution (from January 1978 to February 1979), numbers between 532 and 2,781.<ref name="Tucker"/> According to the historian [[Ervand Abrahamian]], the number executed by revolutionary courts as the revolution was consolidated (8,000 opponents between June 1981 and June 1985)<ref>[[Mojahedin-e Khalq]], but also "Fedayins and Kurds as well as Tudeh, National Front, and Shariatmadari supporters"</ref> exceeded those killed by the royalist government trying to stop the revolution.{{sfnp|Abrahamian|2008|page=181}} According to Tucker's estimations, in the period of 1980 to 1985, between 25,000 and 40,000 Iranians were arrested, 15,000 Iranians were tried, and between 8,000 and 9,500 Iranians were executed.<ref name="Tucker"/>

=== Songs of Iranian Revolution ===
The songs most closely associated with the revolution are epic ballads, composed during and in support of the Islamic Revolution and in opposition to the Pahlavi dynasty.<ref name="Torab2007">{{cite book|last=Torab|first=Azam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsWorLT4p3UC|title=Performing Islam: Gender and Ritual in Islam|publisher=BRILL|year=2007|isbn=978-90-04-15295-3|pages=142–43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805073753/https://books.google.com/books?id=XsWorLT4p3UC|archive-date=5 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Before the revolution was consolidated, these chants were made by various political supporters, and were often recorded on cassette tapes in underground and home studios. In schools, these songs were sung by students as part of the celebrations of Fajr Decades.<ref>{{cite web|title=Text of ten Iranian revolution songs|url=http://www.asrarnameh.com/news.php?id=3907|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130183109/http://www.asrarnameh.com/news.php?id=3907|archive-date=30 January 2016|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref> "Iran Iran" or "Allah Allah" chants are famous revolutionary songs.<ref>{{cite web|date=9 February 2013|title=Iran Iran song|url=http://www.doostiha.ir/1391/11/21/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84-%D9%87%D8%A7.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201225942/http://www.doostiha.ir/1391/11/21/%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%DA%AF%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84-%D9%87%D8%A7.html|archive-date=1 February 2016|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref>

== Women's role ==

The Iranian Revolution was a gendered revolution; much of the new regime's rhetoric was centered on the position of women in society.{{sfnp|Azari|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenofiranconfl0000unse/page/150 150]}} Beyond rhetoric, thousands of women were also heavily mobilized in the revolution itself,{{sfnp|Azari|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenofiranconfl0000unse/page/151 151]}} and different groups of women actively participated alongside their male counterparts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ferdows|first=Adele K.|date=1 January 1983|title=Women and the Islamic Revolution|jstor=162994|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=15|issue=2|pages=283–298|doi=10.1017/S0020743800052326|doi-access=free}}</ref> Not only participating through voting, women also contributed to the revolution through marches, demonstrations and chanting slogans.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=5}} Women were involved in caring for the wounded, including doctors who responded to calls for help and opened their homes for those who needed assistance. While women themselves were often killed, tortured, arrested or injured and some were involved in guerilla activities, most contributed in non-violent ways.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} Many women were instrumental not only in being involved in the revolution themselves but in mobilizing men and other non-political women. Many women protested while carrying children and their presence was one of the main reasons for disarming soldiers (who were there on behalf of the regime) who were ordered to shoot if necessary.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}

=== Ayatollah Khomeini's rhetoric on women's participation ===
[[Ayatollah Khomeini]] asserted that "You ladies here have proved that you are at the forefront of this movement. You have a great share in our Islamic movement. The future of our country depends on your support."<ref name="al-islam.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.al-islam.org/position-women-viewpoint-imam-khomeini-ra/role-women-victory-islamic-revolution|title=The role of women in the victory of the Islamic revolution|website=Al-Islam.org|access-date=10 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911204437/https://www.al-islam.org/position-women-viewpoint-imam-khomeini-ra/role-women-victory-islamic-revolution|archive-date=11 September 2017|date=12 December 2012}}</ref> He invoked the image of the [[hijab]] as a symbol of the revolution, saying that "a nation whose respected women demonstrate in modest garb [''hejab''] to express their disgust with the Shah's regime—such a nation will be victorious."{{sfnp|Kurzman|2005|p=151}} He also said that "women from all levels of society took part in the recent demonstrations, which we are calling the 'referendum of the streets'... women fought side by side with men in the struggle for their independence and their liberty."{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse/page/116 116]}} Khomeini pleaded for women to participate in anti-Shah demonstrations in various cities. Furthermore, women later responded to Khomeini's urgings to vote in favor of the Islamic Republic and the new constitution.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=5}} Women were so pivotal to the revolution that in response to a suggestion from a top aide to ban women from coming to group audience, Khomeini said "I threw the Shah out with these women, there's no problem in their coming."{{sfnp|Kurzman|2005|p=151}}

After the revolution, Khomeini credited much of the success of the movement to women, even commending the women for mobilizing men, "you ladies have proved that you are in the vanguard of the movement, you have proved that you lead the men, men get their inspiration from you, the men of Iran have learnt lessons from the honourable ladies of Iran ... You are in the vanguard of the movement."<ref name="al-islam.org" />

It has been argued that Khomeini and his fellow leaders danced around the issue of women's rights and rather focused their rhetoric on mobilizing women through encouraging them to participate in protests and fueling their anti-Shah sentiments.<ref name=":3">{{cite thesis|last1=Brooks|first1=Caroline M.|date=January 2008|series=Honors Theses|title=Moments of Strength: Iranian Women's Rights and the 1979 Revolution|id=Paper 292|url=http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/292|access-date=10 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-date=4 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504040857/http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/292/}}</ref>

=== Variation within women's participation ===
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The motivations of women for being part of the revolutions were complex and varied among a plethora of religious, political and economic reasons{{sfnp|Kurzman|2005|p=152}} and women participating were from various classes and backgrounds.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}} Many Western educated upper-middle-class women from secular, urban and professional families were involved as well as many women from working-class and rural backgrounds.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} There were groups as varied as the [[Fida'iyan-i Khalq]], and the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|Mujahedin]] were functioning as guerrilla units during the revolutions in opposition to the Shah's regime.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} There were also other groups of women with various agendas that sometimes converged and sometimes diverged from the Islamic Republic's political positions. For example, organized feminism, which was around since the Pahlavi dynasty, joined the revolutionary movement after the Shah dropped the cabinet position on Women's Affairs to appease the Islamists.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2005|p=151}} Members of the [[Women's Organization of Iran]] marched in support for the revolution and it was important that women very much linked to the government also turned against the Shah's regime.<ref name=":3"/> Yet, there was some tension later between feminists' dress and the revolution's stance on women's clothing and they began to feel uncomfortable at opposition events.{{sfnp|Kurzman|2005|p=152}}

Some argue that this politicization and mobilization of women made it difficult for the new regime to push them out of the public and political spheres. The revolution resulted in an unprecedented opening for Iranian women into politics (mostly through demonstrations and voting),<ref>{{Cite book|title=In the shadow of Islam|author1=Azar Tabari|author2=Nahid Yeganeh|year=1982|publisher=Zed|isbn=978-0-86232-022-5|oclc=251722861|url=https://archive.org/details/inshadowofislamw0000unse}}</ref> and some authors argue that this had a lasting impact on Iranian women's political participation and role in the public sphere.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=5}} Some women were also part of the inner circle of the leaders of the new regime such as [[Marzieh Hadidchi]]. Other than the politicization of women, there were particular circumstances during the revolution which pushed women into being involved with politics. For example, "the combination of martial law with its curfew hours and the closing down of shops and workplaces, together with the cold of the fall and winter months resulted in the centers of political discussion often being within the home."{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse/page/121 121]}} Women engaged with news and media as well as political discussions alongside their male counterparts as "the revolution was the only topic of interest to anyone, regardless of age or sex."{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse/page/121 121]}} During 1978 and 1979 there were many gatherings in women's homes where they exchanged interpersonal news and anecdotes. These personal accounts were valuable in a time where the official coverage of news was not trusted by many people.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}

Women who were activists, religious women and women dissatisfied with the regime were able to unite under the anti-Shah umbrella. However, "women were not united in their opinions of the revolution and its outcome as much as they were not united in their reasons for joining the revolution".{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse/page/77 77]}} Despite this mobilization and high participation rate of women, they were still kept out of leadership positions which were exclusive to men; women are thought to be part of the rank and file rather than the elite strata of the revolution.<ref name=":3" />

=== Academic literature on women's participation ===
While there has been some academic literature exploring individual narratives of women on the revolution,{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=5}} most of the academic work produced focuses on the effect of the revolution on women rather than the role of Iranian women during the revolution. Scholar [[Guity Nashat]] highlights this neglected aspect of the revolution, "Although women's participation in the events leading to the 11 February revolution was instrumental in its success, most studies have not addressed the reasons for their involvement or their contribution."{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p=[https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse/page/1 1]}} Janet Baur argues the necessity of examining the daily lives of women, their living conditions and their relationship to other groups to understand their participation in the socio-political events of the revolution. She further explains that the cultural, ideological, social and material factors shaping the social life and class differences in the period just prior to the revolution need to be studied to understand how the Iranian women's social consciousness developed and how it led them to take part in public protests.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} Caroline M. Brooks argues that women were left to express their concerns through the protest rather than in the [[Majlis of Iran|Majlis]]. Thus, this created a "dangerous bargaining position for activist women" since rather than arguing their position through intellect they were only able to "argue by numbers in the streets and be repelled by force".<ref name=":3"/>

There are some contesting understandings in academic literature regarding the reasons behind the mobilization of women. While some argue that the micro-level actions of women can be understood through religious and political ideologies, others argue that it is in fact the effect of manipulations of information, symbols and context which should be studied.{{sfnp|Nashat|1983|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}}

== Aftermath ==
{{Main|Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution}}

From early 1979 to either 1982 or 1983 [[Iran]] was in a "revolutionary crisis mode."<ref name="Martín2004">{{cite book|editor=Richard C. Martín|title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|year=2004|publisher=Thomson Gale|isbn=978-0-02-865603-8|page=357|contribution=article by Stockdale, Nancy, L.}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2022}}</ref> After the system of [[despotic monarchy]] had been overthrown,<ref name="Moaddel2013">{{cite book|last=Moaddel|first=Mansoor|title=Class, Politics, and Ideology in the Iranian Revolution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cgt2XSOuVgoC&pg=PA206|year=2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-51607-5|page=206|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108013900/http://books.google.com/books?id=cgt2XSOuVgoC&pg=PA206|archive-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> the economy and the apparatus of government had collapsed, and military and security forces were in disarray. Yet, by 1982 Khomeini and his supporters had crushed the rival factions, defeated local rebellions and consolidated power.

At the same time, events that made up both the crisis and its resolution were the [[Iran hostage crisis]], the [[Iran–Iraq War|invasion of Iran]] by [[Saddam Hussein]]'s Iraq, and the presidency of [[Abolhassan Banisadr]].<ref name="Martín2004"/>{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=241}}

=== Ayatollah Khomeini's consolidation of power ===

==== Conflicts among revolutionaries ====
[[File:Banisadr Fallaci Khomeini.jpg|thumb|Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] interviewed by Italian journalist [[Oriana Fallaci]]. Khomeini told questioners that "the religious dignitaries do not want to rule".<ref name="Matini">[http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2003/August/Khomeini/ Democracy? I meant theocracy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825193302/http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2003/August/Khomeini/ |date=25 August 2010 }}, by Dr. Jalal Matini, translation & introduction by Farhad Mafie, 5 August 2003, ''The Iranian''.</ref>]]

Some observers believe "what began as an authentic and anti-dictatorial popular revolution based on a broad coalition of all anti-Shah forces was soon transformed into an [[Islamic fundamentalist]] power-grab,"<ref>{{Cite book|author=Zabih, Sepehr|title=Iran Since the Revolution|publisher=Johns Hopkins Press|year=1982|isbn=0-8018-2888-0|page=2}}</ref> and that except for his core supporters, the members of the coalition thought Khomeini intended to be more of a spiritual guide than a ruler.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=93–94}} Khomeini was in his mid-70s, never held public office, had been out of Iran for more than a decade, and told questioners "the religious dignitaries do not want to rule."<ref name="Matini" /> However, nobody could deny the unanimous central role of the [[Imam]], and the other factions were too small to have any real impact.

Another view is Khomeini had "overwhelming ideological, political and organizational hegemony,"<ref>{{cite book|author=Azar Tabari|chapter=Mystifications of the Past and Illusions of the Future|title=The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic: Proceedings of a Conference|editor1=Nikki R. Keddie|editor2=Eric Hooglund|place=Washington DC|publisher=Middle East Institute|year=1982|pages=101–124}}</ref> and non-theocratic groups never seriously challenged Khomeini's movement in popular support.{{#tag:ref|
For example, Islamic Republic Party and allied forces controlled approximately 80% of the seats on the Assembly of Experts of Constitution.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=78–82}} An impressive margin even allowing for electoral manipulation|group=Note}} Supporters of the new rule themselves have claimed that Iranians who opposed Khomeini were "[[fifth column]]ists" led by foreign countries attempting to overthrow the Iranian government.<ref name="Awakening">Ansari, Hamid, ''Narrative of Awakening : A Look at Imam Khomeini's Ideal, Scientific and Political Biography from Birth to Ascension'' by Hamid Ansari, Institute for Compilation and Publication of the Works of Imam Khomeini, International Affairs Division, [no publication date, preface dated 1994] translated by Seyed Manoochehr Moosavi, pp. 165–76</ref>

Khomeini and his loyalists in the [[Organizations of the Iranian Revolution|revolutionary organizations]] implemented Khomeini's [[Hokumat-e Islami : Velayat-e faqih (book by Khomeini)|velayat-e faqih]] design for an Islamic republic led by himself as [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]]{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|pp=24–32}} by exploiting temporary allies{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=224}} such as Mehdi Bazargan's [[Provisional Government of Iran]], whom they later eliminated from Iran's political stage one by one.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=203}}

==== Organizations of the revolution ====
{{Main|Organizations of the Iranian Revolution}}
{{Islamism sidebar|Movements}}
{{Republicanism sidebar}}
The most important bodies of the revolution were the [[Council of the Islamic Revolution|Revolutionary Council]], the [[Revolutionary Guards]], [[Islamic Revolutionary Court|Revolutionary Tribunals]], [[Islamic Republican Party]], and [[Islamic Revolution Committees|Revolutionary Committees]] (''komitehs'').{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|pp=241–242}}

While the moderate Bazargan and his government (temporarily) reassured the middle class, it became apparent they did not have power over the "Khomeinist" revolutionary bodies, particularly the Revolutionary Council (the "real power" in the revolutionary state),<ref>{{Cite book|author=Kepel, Gilles|title=The Trail of Political Islam|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2002|isbn=0-674-00877-4|url=https://archive.org/details/jihad00gill_0}}</ref>{{sfnp|Arjomand|1988|p=135}} and later the Islamic Republican Party. Inevitably, the overlapping authority of the Revolutionary Council (which had the power to pass laws) and Bazargan's government was a source of conflict{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=245}} despite the fact that both had been approved by or put in place by Khomeini.

This conflict lasted only a few months however. The provisional government fell shortly after American Embassy officials were taken [[Iran hostage crisis|hostage]] on 4 November 1979. Bazargan's resignation was received by Khomeini without complaint, saying "Mr. Bazargan ... was a little tired and preferred to stay on the sidelines for a while." Khomeini later described his appointment of Bazargan as a "mistake."{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=222}}

The Revolutionary Guard, or ''Pasdaran-e Enqelab'', was established by Khomeini on 5 May 1979, as a counterweight both to the armed groups of the left, and to the Shah's military. The guard eventually grew into "a full-scale" military force,{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|p=371}} becoming "the strongest institution of the revolution."{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=151}}

Serving under the Pasdaran are the ''[[Basij|Baseej-e Mostaz'afin]]'', volunteers in everything from earthquake emergency management to attacking opposition demonstrators and newspaper offices.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=275}} The Islamic Republican Party{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=210–211}} then fought to establish a theocratic government by ''[[velayat-e faqih]]''.

Thousands of ''komiteh'' or [[Islamic Revolution Committees|Revolutionary Committees]]{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=56}} served as "the eyes and ears" of the new rule and are credited by critics with "many arbitrary arrests, executions and confiscations of property".{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=211}}

Also enforcing the will of the government were the [[Hezbollahi]] (the Party of God), "strong-arm thugs" who attacked demonstrators and offices of newspapers critical of Khomeini.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=153}}

Two major political groups that formed after the fall of the Shah that clashed with and were eventually suppressed by pro-Khomeini groups, were the moderate religious [[Muslim People's Republican Party]] (MPRP) which was associated with Grand [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari]], and the secular leftist [[National Democratic Front (Iran)|National Democratic Front]] (NDF).

==== 1979 ethnic uprisings ====
{{further|1979 Khuzestan insurgency|1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran}}
Following the events of the revolution, Marxist guerrillas and federalist parties revolted in some regions comprising [[1979 Khuzestan uprising|Khuzistan]], [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|Kurdistan]] and [[Gonbad-e Qabus]], which resulted in fighting between them and revolutionary forces. These revolts began in April 1979 and lasted between several months to over a year, depending on the region.

=== Establishment of Islamic republic government ===
==== Referendum of 12 Farvardin ====
{{main|1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum}}

On 30 and 31 March (Farvardin 10, 11) [[1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum|a referendum was held]] over whether to replace the monarchy with an "Islamic republic". Khomeini called for a massive turnout{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=73}} and only the [[National Democratic Front of Iran|National Democratic Front]], [[Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority)|Fadayan]], and several Kurdish parties opposed the vote.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=73}} The results showed that 98.2% had voted in favor of the Islamic Republic.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=73}}

==== Writing of the constitution ====
{{Main|Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution|1979 Iranian Constitutional Assembly election |1979 Iranian constitutional referendum}}
In June 1979 the [[Freedom Movement of Iran|Freedom Movement]] released its draft constitution for the Islamic Republic that it had been working on since Khomeini was in exile. It included a [[Guardian Council]] to veto un-Islamic legislation, but had no guardian jurist ruler.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=217}} Leftists found the draft too conservative and in need of major changes but Khomeini declared it 'correct'.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|pp=22–23}} To approve the new constitution and prevent leftist alterations, a relatively small seventy-three-member [[1st Assembly of Experts|Assembly of Experts]] for Constitution was elected that summer. Critics complained that "vote-rigging, violence against undesirable candidates and the dissemination of false information" was used to "produce an assembly overwhelmingly dominated by clergy, all took active roles during the revolution and loyal to Khomeini."{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=218}}

Khomeini (and the assembly) now rejected the constitution – its correctness notwithstanding – and Khomeini declared that the new government should be based "100% on Islam."{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=74–82}}

In addition to the president, the new constitution included a more powerful post of guardian jurist ruler intended for Khomeini,<ref name="iranonline">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html|title=Iranian Government Constitution, English Text|author=Manou & Associates Inc.|publisher=iranonline.com|access-date=18 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123063337/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html|archive-date=23 November 2010}}</ref> with control of the military and security services, and power to appoint several top government and judicial officials. It increased the power and number of clerics on the [[Council of Guardians]] and gave it control over elections<ref>Articles 99 and 108 of the constitution</ref> as well as laws passed by the legislature.

The new constitution was also approved overwhelmingly by the December 1979 constitutional referendum, but with more opposition{{#tag:ref|opposition included some clerics, including Ayatollah [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari]], and by secularists such as the [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]] who urged a boycott|group=Note}} and smaller turnout.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/revolution_and_iran_after1979_2.php|title=History of Iran: Iran after the victory of 1979's Revolution|work=iranchamber.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521034823/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/revolution_and_iran_after1979_2.php|archive-date=21 May 2010}}</ref>

=== Hostage crisis ===
{{Main|Iran hostage crisis}}

In late October 1979, the exiled and dying Shah was admitted into the United States for cancer treatment. In Iran there was an immediate outcry, and both Khomeini and leftist groups demanded the Shah's return to Iran for trial and execution. On 4 November 1979 youthful Islamists, calling themselves [[Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line]], invaded the US embassy compound in Tehran and [[Iran hostage crisis|seized its staff]]. Revolutionaries were angry because of how the Shah had left Iran which spawned rumors of another U.S.–backed coup in Iran that would re-install him. The occupation was also intended as leverage to demand the return of the Shah to stand trial in exchange for the hostages, and depose Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, who they believed was plotting to normalize relations with the U.S. The students held 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days, which played a role in helping to pass the constitution, suppressing moderates, and otherwise radicalising the revolution.<ref>[[Bowden, Mark]] (2006). ''[[Guests of the Ayatollah]]: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam''. p. 10, New York: Grove Press. {{ISBN|0-87113-925-1}}</ref>

Holding the hostages was very popular and continued even after the death of the Shah. As Khomeini explained to his future President [[Banisadr]], "This action has many benefits. ... This has united our people. Our opponents do not dare act against us. We can put the constitution to the people's vote without difficulty ..."{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=228}}

With great publicity the students released documents from the American embassy, which they labeled a "den of spies",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/12/into-the-den-of-spies/303639/|title=Into the Den of Spies|first=Terrence|last=Henry|date=9 November 2004|website=The Atlantic|access-date=11 July 2022|archive-date=11 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711175927/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/12/into-the-den-of-spies/303639/|url-status=live}}</ref> showing that moderate Iranian leaders had met with U.S. officials (and did not release similar evidence of high-ranking Islamists having done the same).{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=248–249}} Among the casualties of the hostage crisis was Prime Minister Bazargan and his government, who resigned in November unable to enforce the government's order to release the hostages.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=249}}

The prestige of Khomeini and the hostage taking was further enhanced with the failure of a hostage rescue attempt, widely credited to divine intervention.<ref>Bowden, Mark, ''Guests of the Ayatollah'', Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, p. 487</ref>

The hostage crisis ended with the signing of the [[Algiers Accords]] in Algeria on 19 January 1981. The hostages were formally released to United States custody the following day, just minutes after [[Ronald Reagan]] was sworn in as the new American president.

=== Suppression of opposition ===
{{see also|Nojeh coup plot}}
[[File:Firing Squad in Iran.jpg|thumb|A revolutionary firing squad in 1979]]

Khomeini and his followers claimed sole credit for the revolution, sidelining other revolutionary groups. This was possible due to the regime’s control over public opinion and historical narrative.<ref>{{citation|last=Cohen|first=Ronen A.|title=Revolution Under Attack: The Forqan Group of Iran|year=2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|place=New York|isbn=9781137502506|doi=10.1057/9781137502506|page=xii}}</ref> In early March 1979, Khomeini announced, "do not use this term, 'democratic.' That is the Western style," giving pro-democracy liberals (and later leftists) a taste of disappointments to come.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=73}} In succession the [[National Democratic Front (Iran)|National Democratic Front]] was banned in August 1979, the provisional government was disempowered in November, the [[Muslim People's Republican Party]] was banned in January 1980, the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] guerrillas came under attack in February 1980, a purge of universities started in March 1980, and the liberal Islamist President [[Abolhassan Banisadr]] was [[impeached]] in June 1981.<ref name=pay13>{{cite web|last=Sahimi|first=Mohammad|title=Iran's Bloody Decade of 1980s|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/13/aug/1138.html|work=Payvand|access-date=27 August 2013|date=20 August 2013|archive-date=28 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928185229/http://www.payvand.com/news/13/aug/1138.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:ExecutionGenerals150279.jpg|thumb|left|Executed generals of the Imperial Iranian Army: [[Reza Naji (Iranian general)|Reza Naji]], [[Mehdi Rahimi]], and [[Manouchehr Khosrodad]]]]

After the revolution, human rights groups estimated the number of casualties suffered by protesters and prisoners of the new system to be several thousand. The first to be executed were members of the old system – senior generals, followed by over 200 senior civilian officials{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=208}} – as punishment and to eliminate the danger of a coup d'état. Brief trials lacking defense attorneys, juries, transparency or the opportunity for the accused to defend themselves{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=61}} were held by revolutionary judges such as [[Sadegh Khalkhali]], the ''[[Sharia]]'' judge. By January 1980 "at least 582 persons had been executed."{{sfnp|Mackey|1996|p=291}} Among those executed was [[Amir Abbas Hoveida]], former Prime Minister of Iran.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Axworthy|first1=Michael|author-link1=Michael Axworthy|title=Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-046896-5|page=148}}</ref> Between January 1980 and June 1981, when Bani-Sadr was impeached, at least 900 executions took place,<ref>Source: Letter from Amnesty International to the Shaul Bakhash, 6 July 1982. Quoted in {{harvp|Bakhash|1984|p=111}}</ref> for everything from drug and sexual offenses to "corruption on earth", from plotting counter-revolution and spying for Israel to membership in opposition groups.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=111}}

==== The 1981-1982 massacre ====
{{see also|1981-1982 Iran Massacres}}
Between June 1981 and March 1982, the theocratic regime carried out the largest political massacre in Iranian history, targeting communists, socialists, social democrats, liberals, monarchists, moderate Islamists, and members of the Baha'i faith as part of the Iranian Cultural Revolution decreed by Khomeini on 14 June 1980 with the intent of "purifying" Iranian society of non-Islamic elements.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last1=Nasiri|first1=Shahin|last2=Faghfouri Azar|first2=Leila|date=28 July 2022|title=Investigating the 1981 Massacre in Iran: On the Law-Constituting Force of Violence|journal=Journal of Genocide Research|volume=26|issue=2|pages=164–187|doi=10.1080/14623528.2022.2105027|s2cid=251185903|doi-access=free}}</ref> Between June 1981 and June 1982, Amnesty International documented 2,946 executions, with several thousand more killed in the next two years according to the anti-government guerilla [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]].{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=221–222}} More recently, Rastyad Collective has verified the identities of more than 3,400 political dissidents who were executed between June 1981 and March 1982.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Rastyad Collective|title=Rastyad: online database concerning the 1981 Massacre in Iran|url=https://rastyad.com/en/home_en/|access-date=2022-08-25|website=Rastyad.com|language=en-US|archive-date=12 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812190357/https://rastyad.com/en/home_en/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Amsterdam|first=Universiteit van|date=2022-06-21|title=Onderzoekers lanceren online database over de grootste massamoord uit de Iraanse geschiedenis|url=https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/faculteiten/nl/faculteit-der-geesteswetenschappen/nieuws/2022/06/onderzoekers-lanceren-online-database-over-de-grootste-massamoord-uit-de-iraanse-geschiedenis.html|access-date=2022-08-25|website=Universiteit van Amsterdam|language=nl|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925121545/https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/faculteiten/nl/faculteit-der-geesteswetenschappen/nieuws/2022/06/onderzoekers-lanceren-online-database-over-de-grootste-massamoord-uit-de-iraanse-geschiedenis.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These dissidents were sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Courts during show trials in more than eighty-five cities across the country on charges of spreading "corruption on Earth" (''ifsad-fi-alarz''), "espionage", "terrorism", or "enmity against Allah" (''Moharebeh'').<ref name=":0" /> Most victims of the 1981 massacre were young activists aged eleven to twenty-four. These activists were either high school students or had recently graduated from universities in Iran and abroad. During the massacre, hundreds of minors were also subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, and summary executions on ideologically motivated charges of ''ifsad-fi-alarz'' and ''moharebeh'' by the revolutionary courts.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|title=Op zoek naar de verdwenen slachtoffers van de Iraanse revolutie|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2022/06/19/op-zoek-naar-de-verdwenen-slachtoffers-van-de-iraanse-revolutie-a4133950|access-date=2022-08-25|website=NRC|date=19 June 2022|language=nl|archive-date=23 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623185437/https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2022/06/19/op-zoek-naar-de-verdwenen-slachtoffers-van-de-iraanse-revolutie-a4133950|url-status=live|last1=Straaten|first1=Floris van}}</ref> In July 2024, The Special Rapporteur published a landmark UN Report on the 1981 massacre and categorised the atrocity crimes committed in 1981 and 1982 as genocide and crimes against humanity. In this report, the Rapporteur called for the establishment of an independent and international accountability mechanism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rehman |first=Javaid |date= |title=Atrocity Crimes and grave violations of human rights committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran (1981–1982 and 1988). |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/iran/20240717-SR-Iran-Findings.pdf}}</ref>

==== Closing of non-Islamist newspapers ====
In mid-August 1979, shortly after the election of the constitution-writing assembly, several dozen newspapers and magazines opposing Khomeini's idea of theocratic rule by jurists were shut down.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=51}}{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=219–220}}<ref>''Kayhan'', 20.8.78–21.8.78, quoted in {{harvp|Schirazi|1997|p=51}}, also ''New York Times'', 8 August 1979</ref> When protests were organized by the [[National Democratic Front (Iran)|National Democratic Front]] (NDF), Khomeini angrily denounced them saying, "we thought we were dealing with human beings. It is evident we are not."{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=219}}

{{blockquote|... After each revolution several thousand of these corrupt elements are executed in public and burnt and the story is over. They are not allowed to publish newspapers.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=219}}}}

Hundreds were injured by "rocks, clubs, chains and iron bars" when [[Hezbollahi]] attacked the protesters,{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=219–220}} and shortly after, a warrant was issued for the arrest of the NDF's leader.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=89}}

==== Muslim People's Republican Party ====
[[File:Shariatmadari and Khomeini.jpg|thumb|[[Kazem Shariatmadari]] and Ayatollah Khomeini]]

In December the moderate Islamic party [[Muslim People's Republican Party]] (MPRP) and its spiritual leader [[Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari]] had become a rallying point for Iranians who wanted democracy not theocracy.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=232}} Riots broke out in Shariatmadari's Azeri home region with members of the MPRP and Shariatmadari's followers seizing the [[Tabriz]] television station and using it to "broadcast demands and grievances." The regime reacted quickly, sending Revolutionary Guards to retake the TV station, mediators to defuse complaints and activists to stage a massive pro-Khomeini counter-demonstration.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=89–90}} The party was suppressed,{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=232}} and in 1982 Shariatmadari was "demoted" from the rank of Grand Ayatollah and many of his clerical followers were purged.{{sfnp|Arjomand|1988|p=156}}

==== Islamist left ====
{{Main|Socialism in Iran}}

In January 1980, [[Abolhassan Banisadr]] was elected president of Iran. Though an adviser to Khomeini, he was a leftist who clashed with another ally of Khomeini, the theocratic [[Islamic Republic Party]] (IRP) – the controlling power in the new parliament.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=234–235}}

[[File:Abolhassan Banisadr sign.jpg|thumb|left|[[Banisadr]] in 1980]]

At the same time, erstwhile revolutionary allies of Khomeini – the Islamist modernist guerrilla group [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] (the MEK) – were being suppressed by Khomeini's forces. Khomeini attacked the MEK, referring to them as ''[[Munafiq|monafeqin]] ''(hypocrites) and ''[[kafir|kafer]]'' (unbelievers).{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=234, 239}} ''Hezbollahi'' people attacked meeting places, bookstores, and newsstands of Mujahideen and other leftists,{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=123}} driving them underground. Universities were closed to purge them of opponents of theocratic rule as a part of the "[[Iranian Cultural Revolution|Cultural Revolution]]", and 20,000 teachers and nearly 8,000 military officers deemed too westernized were dismissed.{{sfnp|Arjomand|1988|p=144}}

By mid-1981 matters came to a head. An attempt by Khomeini to forge a reconciliation between Banisadr and IRP leaders had failed,{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|p=153}} and now it was Banisadr who was the rallying point "for all doubters and dissidents" of the theocracy, including the MEK.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|p=238}}

When leaders of the [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]] called for a demonstration in June 1981 in favor of Banisadr, Khomeini threatened its leaders with the death penalty for [[Apostasy in Islam|apostasy]] "if they did not repent".{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=127}} Leaders of the [[Freedom Movement of Iran]] were compelled to make and publicly broadcast apologies for supporting the Front's appeal.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=127}} Those attending the rally were menaced by Hezbollahi and Revolutionary Guards and intimidated into silence.{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=158–159}}

On 28 June 1981, a bombing of the office of the IRP killed around 70 high-ranking officials, cabinet members and members of parliament, including [[Mohammad Beheshti]], the secretary-general of the party and head of the Islamic Republic's judicial system. The government arrested thousands, and there were hundreds of executions against the MEK and its followers.{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=241–242}} Despite these and other assassinations{{sfnp|Moin|2000|pp=210–211}} the hoped-for mass uprising and armed struggle against the Khomeiniists was crushed.

In May 1979, the [[Furqan Group]] (''Guruh-i Furqan'') assassinated an important lieutenant of Khomeini, [[Morteza Motahhari]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QTrs9Nk4DEC&pg=PA74|title=The Political Thought of Ayatollah Murtaza Mutahhari|last=Davari|first=Mahmood|date=October 2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-33523-9|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919063919/https://books.google.com/books?id=1QTrs9Nk4DEC&pg=PA74&dq=Furqan+mutahhari&lr=&ei=YUnuSdeKFYjCMqTLkJQB|archive-date=19 September 2015}}</ref>

==Impacts==
=== International impact ===
{{Further|1979 oil crisis}}

Internationally, the initial impact of the revolution was immense. In the non-Muslim world, it changed the image of Islam, generating much interest in Islam—both sympathetic<ref>Shawcross, William, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988), p. 110.</ref> and hostile<ref name=nasr>Nasr, Vali, ''The Shia Revival'', Norton, (2006), p. 138</ref>—and even speculation that the revolution might change "the world balance of power more than any political event since Hitler's conquest of Europe."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923854,00.html|title=Man of the Year: The Mystic Who Lit The Fires of Hatred|date=7 January 1980|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920060544/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923854,00.html|archive-date=20 September 2010}}</ref>

The Islamic Republic positioned itself as a revolutionary beacon under the slogan "neither East nor West, only Islamic Republic" ("Na Sharq, Na Gharb, Faqat Jumhuri-e Islami," i.e., neither Soviet nor American / West European models) and called for the overthrow of [[capitalism]], American influence, and social injustice in the Middle East and the rest of the world. Revolutionary leaders in Iran gave and sought support from non-Muslim activists such as the [[Sandinistas]] in Nicaragua, the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) in Ireland and the anti-[[apartheid]] struggle in South Africa, even favoring far-left revolutionaries over Islamist (but ideologically different and strategically harmful) causes such as the neighboring [[Soviet–Afghan War|Afghan Mujahideen]].{{sfnp|Roy|1994|p=175}} The revolution itself was supported by the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/278896/arafat-and-the-ayatollahs|title=Iranian Revolution: Arafat and the Ayatollahs|date=17 January 2019|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114060846/https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/278896/arafat-and-the-ayatollahs|url-status=live}}</ref> In terms of future relevance, the conflicts that originated from the Iranian Revolution continued to define geo-politics for the following decades.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ozalp|first=Mehmet|date=17 August 2021|title=The Iranian Revolution|url=https://historyguild.org/world-politics-explainer-the-iranian-revolution/|website=History Guild|access-date=9 November 2021|archive-date=9 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109110951/https://historyguild.org/world-politics-explainer-the-iranian-revolution/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 1981, the Iranian Republic supported [[1981 Irish hunger strike|Hunger strikes in the H-Block of the HM Prison Maze]] by Irish Republicans including [[Bobby Sands]]. Following the death of Sands in May 1981, the street in Tehran the British Embassy is on was renamed from "Winston Churchill Street" to "Bobby Sands Street".<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Bonakdarian|first=Mansour|date=2018|title=Iranian consecration of Irish nationalist 'martyrs': the Islamic Republic of Iran and the 1981 republican prisoners' hunger strike in Northern Ireland|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071022.2018.1472884|journal=Social History|volume=43|issue=3|pages=293–331|doi=10.1080/03071022.2018.1472884|via=Taylor & Francis Online|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The IRA saw the Iranian Revolution as aspirational, an example of mass action as a way to meet goals. Both the Iranian government and their opposition supported the hunger strikes, creating a competition for the favor of the IRA. The support by the government came after the UK sided with Iraq and Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq war. Oppositional groups like [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran|Mojahedin-e-Khalq]] claimed solidarity with the hunger strike and connected their Marxist influences. The Iranian government, Iranian leftist groups, and the IRA saw Britain as a colonizing force in both regions. For a time, Mojahedin-e-Khalq and the [[Provisional Sinn Féin]] (the political arm of the [[Provisional IRA]]) had consistent contact.<ref name=":4" /> Contact ended in June 1981 after fear of offending the Iranian Government.<ref name=":4" />

The Islamic Republic changed the foreign policy of the Pahlavi dynasty by supporting [[Third-worldism|third worldist]] movements like the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. The Pahlavis and South Africa had relations dating back to when Reza Shah went there in exile. After the first Shah's ousting by the Soviets and British during World War II, he spent the remainder of his life in Johannesburg.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2024-04-04|title=Reza Shah Pahlavi {{!}} Biography {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reza-Shah-Pahlavi|access-date=2024-04-22|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> Pre-revolution Iran provided 90% of South Africa's oil.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Chehabi|first=H.E.|date=2016-07-03|title=South Africa and Iran in the Apartheid Era|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070.2016.1201330|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies|language=en|volume=42|issue=4|pages=687–709|doi=10.1080/03057070.2016.1201330|issn=0305-7070|url-access=subscription}}</ref> After the revolution, Iran cut South Africa off from its oil supply and financially supported the African National Congress.<ref name=":5" /> This was part of the larger want by Khomeini to support the "downtrodden" of the world, including, non-aligned countries. In 1980, the ANC attended the "Gather of World Liberation" hosted in Tehran for the third worldist movement.<ref>Middle Eastern Posters Collection, Box 2, Poster 49, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library</ref> In 2015, the International Relations and Cooperation minister of South Africa said of Iran, "The Islamic Republic stood by us during our darkest days, cutting ties with the apartheid regime. Your revolution was our revolution. You showed us that emancipation was possible, whatever the odds".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-05-12|title=SA condemns sanctions against Iran {{!}} SAnews|url=https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/sa-condemns-sanctions-against-iran|access-date=2024-04-22|website=www.sanews.gov.za|language=en}}</ref> A connection with the ANC continued even when tested during the apartheid era and the Iran–Iraq war. In 1985, Iran and South Africa traded weapons for oil.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Onderco|first=Michal|date=2016-04-02|title=A battle of principles: South Africa's relations with Iran|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2016.1151168|journal=Commonwealth & Comparative Politics|language=en|volume=54|issue=2|pages=252–267|doi=10.1080/14662043.2016.1151168|issn=1466-2043|hdl=1765/87684|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The belief in third-worldism seemed to have superseded the change in behavior by Iran.

=== Persian Gulf and the Iran–Iraq War ===
{{Main|Iran–Iraq War}}
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Supporters of the revolution both within and outside of Iran began calling for the overthrow of monarchies in the region and for them to be replaced by Islamic republics. This alarmed many of Iran's neighbours, particularly Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia as well as Western nations dependent on Middle Eastern oil for their energy needs.

In September 1980, Iraq took advantage of the febrile situation and [[Iraqi invasion of Iran|invaded Iran]]. At the centre of Iraq's objectives was the annexation of the East Bank of the Shaat Al-Arab waterway that makes up part of the border between the two nations and which had been the site of numerous border skirmishes between the two countries going back to the late 1960s. The president of Iraq, [[Saddam Hussein]], also wanted to annex the Iranian province of [[Khuzestan]], substantially populated by Iranian Arabs. There was also concern that a Shia-centric revolution in Iran may stimulate a similar uprising in Iraq, where the country's Sunni minority ruled over the Shia majority.

Hussein was confident that with Iraq's armed forces being well-equipped with new technology and with high morale would enjoy a decisive strategic advantage against an Iranian military that had recently had much of its command officers purged following the revolution. Iran was also struggling to find replacement parts for much of its US- and British-supplied equipment. Hussein believed that victory would therefore come swiftly.

However, Iran was "galvanized"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etS4WrHQ3okC&pg=PA72|page=72|title=The Iran-Iraq War|isbn=978-1-4358-7499-2|last1=Karsh|first1=Efraim|year=2009|publisher=Rosen Pub.|access-date=21 November 2019|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152513/https://books.google.com/books?id=etS4WrHQ3okC&pg=PA72|url-status=live}}</ref> by the invasion and the populace of Iran rallied behind their new government in an effort to repel the invaders. After some early successes, the Iraqi invasion stalled and was then repelled and by 1982, Iran had recaptured almost all of its territories. In June 1982, with Iraqi forces all but expelled from Iranian territory, the Iraqi government offered a ceasefire. This was rejected by Khomeini, who declared that the only condition for peace was that "the regime in [[Baghdad]] must fall and must be replaced by an Islamic republic".<ref>Wright, Robin (1989) ''In the Name of God''. Simon & Schuster. p. 126. {{ISBN|0-671-67235-5}}.</ref>

The war would continue for another six years during which time countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states provided financial assistance to Iraq in an effort to prevent an Iranian victory, even though their relations with Iraq were often hostile – Kuwait itself was [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait|invaded by Iraq]] two years after the peace agreement between Iraq and Iran was signed.

The war served in part as an opportunity for the government to strengthen revolutionary ardour and revolutionary groups; the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|Revolutionary Guard]] and committees at the expense of its remaining allies-turned-opponents, such as the MEK.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|pp=241, 251}}{{sfnp|Bakhash|1984|pp=128–129}} While enormously costly and destructive, the war "rejuvenate[d] the drive for national unity and Islamic revolution" and "inhibited fractious debate and dispute" in Iran.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hiro|first1=Dilip|year=1991|url=https://archive.org/details/longestwariranir00hiro|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/longestwariranir00hiro/page/255 255]|title=The Longest War: The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-90407-0}}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===
{{Main|Iran–United Kingdom relations|Iran–Israel relations|Iran–Russia relations|China–Iran relations}}
{{see also|Foreign relations of Iran}}

The Islamic Republic of Iran experienced difficult relations with some Western countries, especially the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Eastern Bloc nations led by the Soviet Union. Iran was under constant [[Sanctions against Iran|US unilateral sanctions]], which were tightened under the presidency of [[Bill Clinton]]. Most European countries, despite their significant investments within Iran, stood in solidarity with the United States and also imposed economic sanctions on the theocratic regime.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Emery|first1=Christian|date=10 September 2010|title=The transatlantic and Cold War dynamics of Iran sanctions, 1979–80|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682740903218854|journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]]|volume=10|issue=3|pages=371–393|doi=10.1080/14682740903218854|s2cid=154102471|access-date=15 February 2023|archive-date=16 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216003525/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14682740903218854|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Britain suspended all diplomatic relations with Iran and did not re-open their embassy in Tehran until 1988.<ref name="Neville">{{cite book|last1=Neville|first1=Peter|title=Historical dictionary of British foreign policy|date=2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Incorporated|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7173-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbeN7dBFtGwC&pg=PA157|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152513/https://books.google.com/books?id=FbeN7dBFtGwC&pg=PA157|url-status=live}}</ref> The European country that maintained the closest relations with the new Iranian government was Switzerland, which was neither a part of the [[European Economic Community]] nor the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Halliday|first1=Fred|date=Spring 1994|title=An Elusive Normalization: Western Europe and the Iranian Revolution|journal=[[The Middle East Journal]]|volume=48|issue=2|pages=309–326|doi=|jstor=4328693}}</ref> Relations with the USSR became strained as well after the Soviet government condemned Khomeini's repression of certain minorities after the revolution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Klose|first=Kevin|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/09/09/khomeini-denounced-by-soviets/49a50695-4fa1-45e1-a915-49721bb80889/|title=Khomeini Denounced By Soviets|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=1979-09-09|access-date=2022-03-21|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114231657/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/09/09/khomeini-denounced-by-soviets/49a50695-4fa1-45e1-a915-49721bb80889/|url-status=live}}</ref> Diplomatic relations between Iran and the [[apartheid]] government of South Africa were completely severed following Khomeini's rise to power.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bishku|first1=Michael B.|date=21 September 2010|title=South Africa and the Middle East|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/ea2991dcc5628e1173c8fbe8b288ae33/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=31168|journal=[[Middle East Policy]]|volume=17|issue=3|pages=153–174|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.2010.00457.x|access-date=20 February 2023|archive-date=21 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221061921/https://www.proquest.com/openview/ea2991dcc5628e1173c8fbe8b288ae33/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=31168|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Israel had relations with Iran under the Shah, but relations were cut on 18 February 1979 when Iran adopted an [[anti-Zionist]] stance. The former Israeli embassy in Tehran was handed over to the PLO, and Iran has allied and funded   several [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict|anti-Israeli Islamist militant groups]] since.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191115-khamenei-says-iran-wants-removal-of-israel-state-not-people|title=Khamenei says Iran wants removal of Israel state not people|date=2019-11-15|website=France 24|access-date=29 February 2020|archive-date=13 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213161317/https://www.france24.com/en/20191115-khamenei-says-iran-wants-removal-of-israel-state-not-people|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the U.S. sanctions were tightened and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China became the main principal allies for Iran.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tarock|first1=Adam|title=Iran and Russia in 'strategic alliance'|url=https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/11220675.pdf|publisher=Third World Quarterly|date=1997|access-date=10 February 2022|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224223139/https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/11220675.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Relations between the two countries improved [[Russia under Vladimir Putin|after Vladimir Putin took office in 2000]] and increasingly warmer in recent years following an international backlash over the annexation of Crimea in 2014 which led to sanctions by the Western powers. Russia had sought Iran on expanding arms trade over the past three decades especially with the cooperation with the Assad government during the [[Syrian civil war]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/world/europe/russia-iran-unity-us.html|title=Russia and Iran Put on a Show of Unity — Against the U.S.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 January 2022|last1=Troianovski|first1=Anton|access-date=10 February 2022|archive-date=10 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210211818/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/world/europe/russia-iran-unity-us.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecfr.eu/publication/iran_and_russia_middle_east_power_couple_7113/|title=The new power couple: Russia and Iran in the Middle East – European Council on Foreign Relations|date=13 September 2016|access-date=10 February 2022|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126000658/https://ecfr.eu/publication/iran_and_russia_middle_east_power_couple_7113/|url-status=live}}</ref> Iran also began its [[Iran–China 25-year Cooperation Program|economic cooperation]] with China that includes "political, strategic and economic" components between the two nations.<ref>{{cite web|date=2020-06-23|title=ربیعی: برنامه ۲۵ ساله همکاری با چین، شکست انزوای ایران را ثابت کرد|url=https://www.imna.ir/news/430222/ربیعی-برنامه-۲۵-ساله-همکاری-با-چین-شکست-انزوای-ایران-را-ثابت|access-date=2020-06-29|website=ایمنا|language=fa|archive-date=2020-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629205351/https://www.imna.ir/news/430222/%D8%B1%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B9%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%DB%B2%DB%B5-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%85%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%DA%86%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%B4%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%AA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2020-06-24|title=Iran stresses deepening of the 25-year bilateral cooperation program with China|url=https://iranpress.com/iran-i148869|access-date=2020-06-29|website=Iran Press|language=fa|archive-date=2020-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011135318/https://iranpress.com/content/23352|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2020-06-22|title=Gov't Approves 25-Year Roadmap for Iran-China Cooperation|url=https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/103946/gov-t-approves-25-year-roadmap-for-iran-china-cooperation|access-date=2020-06-29|website=Financial Tribune|language=En|archive-date=2020-07-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714013923/https://financialtribune.com/articles/national/103946/gov-t-approves-25-year-roadmap-for-iran-china-cooperation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=2020-06-21|title=برنامه ۲۵ ساله همکاری‌های جامع ایران و چین تصویب شد|url=https://www.mehrnews.com/news/4954940/برنامه-۲۵-ساله-همکاری-های-جامع-ایران-و-چین-تصویب-شد|access-date=2020-06-29|website=خبرگزاری مهر {{!}} اخبار ایران و جهان {{!}} Mehr News Agency|language=fa|archive-date=2020-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702233824/https://www.mehrnews.com/news/4954940/%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%DB%B2%DB%B5-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%85%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%88-%DA%86%DB%8C%D9%86-%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%A8-%D8%B4%D8%AF|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== In the Muslim world ===
{{See also|The policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution|Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict}}
In the Muslim world, particularly in its early years, the revolution inspired enormous enthusiasm and redoubled opposition to western imperialism, intervention and influence. Islamist insurgents rose in [[Grand Mosque Seizure|Saudi Arabia (1979)]], [[Anwar Al Sadat#Assassination|Egypt (1981)]], [[1982 Hama massacre|Syria (1982)]], and [[April 1983 United States Embassy bombing|Lebanon (1983)]].<ref name = "Kramer">[https://web.archive.org/web/20101226222601/http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/reader/archives/fundamentalist-islam-the-drive-for-power/ Fundamentalist Power], Martin Kramer.</ref>

In [[Pakistan]], it has been noted that the "press was largely favorable towards the new government"; the [[Islamist]] parties were even more enthusiastic; while the ruler, [[General Zia-ul-Haq]], himself on an [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization|Islamization]] drive since he took power in 1977, talked of "simultaneous triumph of Islamic ideology in both our countries" and that "Khomeini is a symbol of Islamic insurgence." Some American analysts noted that, at this point, Khomeini's influence and prestige in Pakistan was greater than Zia-ul-Haq's himself.<ref>[[Alex Vatanka]], ''Iran and Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy and American Influence'', I.B.Tauris (2015), pp. 148 & 155</ref> After Khomeini claimed that Americans were behind the 1979 [[Grand Mosque seizure]], student protesters from the [[Quaid-e-Azam University]] in [[Islamabad]] [[1979 U.S. embassy burning in Islamabad|attacked the US embassy]], setting it on fire and taking hostages. While the crisis was quickly defused by the Pakistan military, the next day, before some 120 Pakistani army officers stationed in Iran on the road to [[hajj]], Khomeini said, "it is a cause of joy that… all Pakistan has risen against the United States" and the struggle is not that of the US and Iran but "the entire world of disbelief and the world of Islam". According to journalist [[Yaroslav Trofimov]], "the Pakistani officers, many of whom had graduated from Western military academies, seemed swayed by the ayatollah's intoxicating words."<ref>Yaroslav Trofimov, ''The Siege of Mecca: The 1979 Uprising at Islam's Holiest Shrine'', Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (2008), p. 140</ref>

Ultimately only the Lebanese Islamists succeeded. The Islamic revolutionary government itself is credited with helping establish [[Hezbollah]] in Lebanon<ref>Harik, Judith Palmer, ''Hezbollah, the Changing Face of Terrorism'' (2004), p. 40</ref> and the [[Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq]].

On the other side of the ledger, at least one observer argues that despite great effort and expense the only countries outside Iran the revolution had a "measure of lasting influence" on are Lebanon and Iraq.<ref>Nasr, Vali, ''The Shia Revival'' Norton, (2006), p. 141</ref> Others claim the devastating [[Iran–Iraq War]] "mortally wounded ... the ideal of spreading the Islamic revolution,"{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=241}} or that the Islamic Republic's pursuit of an ideological rather than a "nationalist, pragmatic" foreign policy has weakened Iran's "place as a great regional power".{{sfnp|Roy|1994|p=193}}

=== Domestic impact ===
{{Further|History of the Islamic Republic of Iran|Politics of Iran}}
Views differ on the impact of the revolution.{{#tag:ref| example: "Secular Iranian writers of the early 1980s, most of whom supported the revolution, lamented the course it eventually took."<ref>[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Soul_of_Iran_A_Nation_s_Struggle_for/Za59PAytkFwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%27%27The+Soul+of+Iran,%27%27+%22revolution+lamented+the+course+it+eventually+took%22&pg=PA225&printsec=frontcover The soul of Iran: a nation's journey to freedom] By Afshin Molavi p. 225</ref>|group=Note}} For some it was "the most significant, hopeful and profound event in the entirety of contemporary Islamic history",<ref>Hamid Algar quoted in imamreza.net [http://www.imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=7094 Professor Hamid Algar, the Distinguished Shia Muslim Scholar in USA] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612174856/http://imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=7094|date=12 June 2010}}, imamreza.net 1998, (assessed 1 June 2010)</ref> while other Iranians believe that the revolution was a time when "for a few years we all lost our minds",{{sfnp|Shirley|1997|pp=98, 104, 195}} and which "promised us heaven, but... created a hell on earth."<ref>Akhbar Ganji talking to [[Afshin Molavi]]. Molavi, Afshin (2005), ''The Soul of Iran'', Norton paperback, p. 156.</ref>
[[File:Feb 2 2014 - Martyrs Sq - Mashhad (1).jpg|thumb|People celebrating anniversary of the revolution in [[Mashhad]] in 2014]]
Internally, Iran has had some success with the [[Cultural Revolution in Iran|governmental promotion of Islam]], and the elimination of [[secularism]] and [[Culture of the United States|American]] [[Americanization (foreign culture and media)|influence]] in government. Criticisms have been raised with regards to [[political freedom]], governmental [[Political corruption|honesty]] and [[Good governance|efficiency]], [[Economic egalitarianism|economic equality]] and [[self-sufficiency]], or even popular religious devotion.{{sfnp|Roy|1994|p=199}}<ref>{{cite web|date=1 October 2008|website=BBC Radio World Service|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/09/080925_children_of_revolution_one.shtml|title=Children of the Revolution|access-date=3 October 2008|archive-date=4 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004061752/http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2008/09/080925_children_of_revolution_one.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Opinion polls and observers report widespread dissatisfaction, including a "rift" between the revolutionary generation and younger Iranians who find it "impossible to understand what their parents were so passionate about."<ref>{{cite web|title=Dialogue with the Islamic World|url=http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-1103/i.html|website=Qantara.de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005011629/http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-1103/i.html|archive-date=5 October 2010|access-date=21 March 2009}}</ref> To honor the 40th anniversary of revolution around 50,000 prisoners were forgiven by order [[Ali Khamenei]] to receive "Islamic [[clemency]]".<ref>{{cite news|title=Large Number of Iranian Prisoners to Be Pardoned for Revolution Anniversary: Khamenei|url=https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/02/07/world/middleeast/07reuters-iran-revolution-anniversary-prisoners.html|website=The New York Times|agency=Reuters|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-date=12 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011238/https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/02/07/world/middleeast/07reuters-iran-revolution-anniversary-prisoners.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Llorente|first1=Elizabeth|title=Iran may release huge number of prisoners|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-may-release-huge-number-of-prisoners|website=Fox News|access-date=8 February 2019|date=7 February 2019|archive-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207222046/https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-may-release-huge-number-of-prisoners|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Large number of Iranian prisoners to be pardoned for revolution anniversary – Khamenei|url=https://www.msn.com/en-xl/middleeast/top-stories/large-number-of-iranian-prisoners-to-be-pardoned-for-revolution-anniversary-khamenei/ar-BBThFUY|publisher=MSN|agency=Reuters|access-date=8 February 2019|archive-date=10 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210012353/http://www.msn.com/en-xl/middleeast/top-stories/large-number-of-iranian-prisoners-to-be-pardoned-for-revolution-anniversary-khamenei/ar-BBThFUY|url-status=live}}</ref> Many religious minorities such as Christians, [[Baháʼís]], Jews and [[Zoroastrians]] have had to flee Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity|first=Christoph|last=Baumer|year=2016|isbn=978-1-83860-934-4|page=276|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Iranian Jews in Israel: Between Persian Cultural Identity and Israeli Nationalism|first=Alessandra|last=Cecolin|year=2015|isbn=978-0-85772-788-6|page=138|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref>

Literacy has continued to increase under the Islamic Republic.<ref>[http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/iran/rapport_1.html Iran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060616114459/http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/iran/rapport_1.html |date=16 June 2006 }}, the [[UNESCO]] EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports.</ref><ref>''Iran, the Essential Guide to a Country on the Brink'', Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006, p. 212</ref> By 2002, illiteracy rates dropped by more than half.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accu.or.jp/litdbase/policy/irn/index.htm|title=National Literacy Policies/Islamic Republic of Iran|work=accu.or.jp|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511190836/http://www.accu.or.jp/litdbase/policy/irn/index.htm|archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="UNGEI">[http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/iran_550.html Adult education offers new opportunities and options to Iranian women] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928003906/http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/iran_550.html |date=28 September 2013 }}, UNGEI.</ref> Maternal and infant mortality rates have also been cut significantly.<ref>Howard, Jane. ''Inside Iran: Women's Lives'', Mage publishers, 2002, p. 89</ref> Population growth was first encouraged but discouraged after 1988.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|pp=287–288}} Overall, Iran's Human development Index rating has climbed significantly from 0.569 in 1980 to 0.732 in 2002, on a par with neighbouring Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?country=IR&indicatorid=15|title=Iran: Human Development Index|archive-date=13 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713231109/http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?IndicatorID=15&Country=IR}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?country=TR&indicatorid=15|title=Turkey: Human Development Index|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813115438/http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?IndicatorID=15&Country=TR|archive-date=13 August 2007}}</ref> In the latest HDI, however, Iran has since fallen 8 ranks below Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/data|title=Data|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708072558/http://hdr.undp.org/en/data|archive-date=8 July 2017}}</ref>

=== Politics and government ===
{{Main|Politics of Iran}}
Iran has elected governmental bodies at the national, provincial, and local levels. Although these bodies are subordinate to theocracy – which has veto power over who can run for parliament (or [[Islamic Consultative Assembly]]) and whether its bills can become law – they have more power than equivalent organs in the Shah's government.

Iran's Sunni minority (about 8%) has seen some unrest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL17Ak03.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021222181139/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL17Ak03.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=2002-12-22|title=Iran's unsung rebellion By Syed Saleem Shahzad|work=atimes.com}}</ref> Five of the 290 parliamentary seats are allocated to their communities.<ref>{{cite web|last1=article 64|title=Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution|url=http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/government/constitution-6-1.html|access-date=26 September 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123063303/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-6-1.html|archive-date=23 November 2010}}</ref>

The members of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] have been declared [[Persecution of Baháʼís|heretical and subversive]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Iran Human Rights Documentation Center|publisher=Iran Human Rights Documentation Center|title=A Faith Denied: The Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran|year=2007|access-date=4 December 2012|url=http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/reports/3149-a-faith-denied-the-persecution-of-the-baha-is-of-iran.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202145141/http://www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/reports/3149-a-faith-denied-the-persecution-of-the-baha-is-of-iran.html|archive-date=2 December 2012}}</ref> While persecution occurred before the revolution since then more than 200 Baháʼís have been executed or presumed killed, and many more have been imprisoned, deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses, and educational opportunities. Baháʼí holy places have been confiscated, vandalized, or destroyed. More recently, Baháʼís in Iran have been deprived of education and work. Several thousand young Baháʼís between the ages of 17 and 24 have been expelled from universities.

Whether the Islamic Republic has brought more or less severe political repression is disputed. Grumbling once done about the tyranny and corruption of the Shah and his court is now directed against "the Mullahs."{{sfnp|Shirley|1997|p={{page needed|date=January 2022}}}} Fear of [[SAVAK]] has been replaced by fear of [[Revolutionary Guards]], and other religious revolutionary enforcers.{{sfnp|Schirazi|1997|p=153}} Violations of human rights by the theocratic government is said to be worse than during the monarchy,<ref>Taheri, Amir (25 July 2005) "[http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/17253 Ganji: Iran's Boris YELTSIN] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013161602/http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/17253 |date=13 October 2006 }}," ''Arab News''</ref> and in any case extremely grave.<ref name="hrw.o">{{cite web|title=Ministers of Murder: Iran's New Security Cabinet|url=https://hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/index.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929064930/http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran1205/index.htm|archive-date=29 September 2006}}</ref> Reports of [[torture]], imprisonment of dissidents, and the murder of prominent critics have been made by human rights groups.
[[Censorship in Iran|Censorship]] is handled by the [[Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance]], without whose official permission, "no books or magazines are published, no audiotapes are distributed, no movies are shown and no cultural organization is established. Men and women are not allowed to dance or swim with each other."<ref>{{Cite book|editor=Zanganeh, Lila Azam|title=My Sister, Guard Your Veil, My Brother, Guard Your Eyes: Uncensored Iranian Voices|publisher=Beacon Press|year=2006|isbn=0-8070-0463-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/mysisterguardyou00lila/page/63 63]|url=https://archive.org/details/mysisterguardyou00lila/page/63}}</ref>

=== Women ===
{{See also|Women's rights in Iran|Women's rights movement in Iran|1979 International Women's Day protests in Tehran}}

Throughout the beginning of the 20th century and prior to the revolution, many women leaders emerged and demanded basic social rights for women.<ref name="Mahnaz">{{Cite book|title=In the eye of the storm: women in post-revolutionary Iran|last1=Mahnaz.|first1=Afkhami|last2=Erika.|first2=Friedl|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-2634-3|oclc=925271105}}</ref> During the reign of [[Reza Shah]], the government [[Kashf-e hijab|mandated the removal of the veil]] and promoted the education of young girls.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> However, the push-back of the [[Shia clerics]] made progress difficult, and the government had to contain its promotion of basic women's rights to the norms of the patriarchal social hierarchy to accommodate the clerics.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> After the abdication of [[Reza Shah]] in 1941, the discipline of the government decreased, and women were able to further exercise their rights, including the ability to wear the veil if they wanted.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> More organization of women's groups occurred in the 1960s and 70s, and they used the government's modernization to define and advocate for women's issues.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> During these decades, women became active in formerly male domains such as the parliament, the cabinet, armed forces, legal professions, and fields of science and technology.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> Additionally, women achieved the right to vote in 1963.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> Many of these achievements and rights that Iranian women had gained in the decades leading up to the revolution were reversed by the Islamic Revolution.<ref name="Mahnaz"/>

The revolutionary government rewrote laws in an attempt to force women to leave the workforce by promoting the early retirement of female government employees, the closing of childcare centers, enforcing full Islamic cover in offices and public places, as well as preventing women from studying in 140 fields in higher education.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> Women [[1979 International Women's Day protests in Tehran|fought back]] against these changes, and as activist and writer [[Mahnaz Afkhami]] writes, "The regime succeeded in putting women back in the veil in public places, but not in resocializing them into fundamentalist norms."<ref name="Mahnaz"/> After the revolution, women often had to work hard to support their families as the post-revolutionary economy suffered.<ref name="Mahnaz"/> Women also asserted themselves in the arts, literature, education, and politics.<ref name="Mahnaz"/>

Women – especially those from traditional backgrounds – participated on a large scale in demonstrations leading up to the revolution.{{sfnp|Graham|1980|p=227}} They were encouraged by [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] to join him in overthrowing the [[Pahlavi dynasty]].{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}} However, most of these women expected the revolution to lead to an increase in their rights and opportunities rather than the restrictions that actually occurred.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}} The policy enacted by the revolutionary government and its attempts to limit the rights of women were challenged by the mobilization and politicization of women that occurred during and after the revolution.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}} Women's resistance included remaining in the work force in large numbers and challenging Islamic dress by showing hair under their head scarves.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}} The Iranian government has had to reconsider and change aspects of its policies towards women because of their resistance to laws that restrict their rights.{{sfnp|Isfandiyārī|1997|p=}}

Since the revolution, university enrollment and the number of women in the civil service and higher education has risen.{{#tag:ref|It reached 66% in 2003.{{sfnp|Keddie|2003|p=286}}|group=Note}} and several women have been elected to the [[Iranian parliament]].

=== Homosexuality ===
{{See also|LGBT history in Iran|LGBT rights in Iran}}
When Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, he called for homosexuals to be "exterminated",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parsi |first1=Arsham |title=Iranian Queers and Laws: Fighting for Freedom of Expression |journal=Harvard International Review |date=2014 |volume=36 |issue=2 |page=53 |jstor=43649271}}</ref> and one of his first political actions was to institute [[imprisonment]], [[corporal punishment]], and the death penalty for any sexual acts outside traditional Islamic heterosexual marriage. In a 1979 interview with [[The New York Times]], a journalist asked Khomeini to justify the state-sanctioned shootings of homosexuals. In reply Khomeini compared them as well as other adulterers to gangrene, thieves, and murderers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fallaci|first1=Oriana|title=An Interview With KHOMEINI|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/07/archives/an-interview-with-khomeini.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=5 January 2021|date=7 October 1979|archive-date=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903162254/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/07/archives/an-interview-with-khomeini.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Iran is currently one of the world's only jurisdictions to actively execute gay men.<ref>{{cite book|title=Iran: Islamic Penal Code|date=20 November 1991|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/518a19404.html|access-date=5 January 2021|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201022626/https://www.refworld.org/docid/518a19404.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ILGA 2015">{{cite web|author1=Aengus Carroll|author2=Lucas Paoli Itaborahy|title=State-Sponsored Homophobia: A World Survey of Laws: criminalisation, protection and recognition of same-sex love|url=https://ilga.org/downloads/2017/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2017_WEB.pdf|website=International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex association|access-date=April 5, 2019|date=May 2015|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423183404/https://ilga.org/downloads/2017/ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2017_WEB.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Iran|date=13 February 2019|url=https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/iran/|publisher=Human Dignity Trust|access-date=5 January 2021|archive-date=5 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105010038/https://www.humandignitytrust.org/country-profile/iran/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] reports that approximately 5,000 homosexuals have been executed in Iran since the revolution.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Encarnacion|first1=Omar|title=Trump and Gay Rights The Future of the Global Movement|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-02-13/trump-and-gay-rights?cid=nlc-fatoday-20170213&sp_mid=53412954&sp_rid=dmljdG9yLnN0ZXBpZW5AZ21haWwuY29tS0|access-date=5 January 2021|publisher=Foreign Affairs|date=13 February 2017|archive-date=27 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927053657/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-02-13/trump-and-gay-rights?cid=nlc-fatoday-20170213&sp_mid=53412954&sp_rid=dmljdG9yLnN0ZXBpZW5AZ21haWwuY29tS0|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Economic impact ===
{{See also|Economy of Iran}}
[[Economy of Iran|Iran's post-revolutionary economy]] has a significant state-owned or [[parastatal]] sector, including businesses owned by the [[Revolutionary Guards]] and [[Bonyad]] foundations.<ref name=econ-7-3-15/><ref name=yeg-11-13>{{cite journal|last1=Yeganehshakib|first1=Reza|title=Political Risk to Investment in Iran: Sanctions, Inflation, Protectionism, War, Bonyads, and the IRGC|journal=Journal of Political Risk|date=November 2013|volume=1|issue=7|url=http://www.jpolrisk.com/political-risk-to-investment-in-iran-sanctions-inflation-protectionism-war-bonyads-and-the-irgc/|access-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091405/http://www.jpolrisk.com/political-risk-to-investment-in-iran-sanctions-inflation-protectionism-war-bonyads-and-the-irgc/|archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>

Since the revolution Iran's GDP (PPP) has grown from [[Geary–Khamis dollar|$]]114&nbsp;billion in 1980 to $858&nbsp;billion in 2010.<ref name="IMFIran2010">{{cite web|author=IMF|title=Iran: 5. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=81&pr.y=11&sy=1980&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=429&s=NGDP_R%2CNGDP_RPCH%2CNGDP%2CNGDPD%2CNGDP_D%2CNGDPRPC%2CNGDPPC%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CPPPSH%2CPPPEX%2CPCPI%2CPCPIPCH%2CPCPIE%2CPCPIEPCH%2CLP%2CBCA%2CBCA_NGDPD&grp=0&a=#cs3|publisher=International Monetary Fund|location=Washington D.C.|date=March 2010|access-date=18 February 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020024132/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=81&pr.y=11&sy=1980&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=429&s=NGDP_R,NGDP_RPCH,NGDP,NGDPD,NGDP_D,NGDPRPC,NGDPPC,NGDPDPC,PPPGDP,PPPPC,PPPSH,PPPEX,PCPI,PCPIPCH,PCPIE,PCPIEPCH,LP,BCA,BCA_NGDPD&grp=0&a=#cs3|archive-date=20 October 2012}}</ref> GDP per capita (PPP) has grown from [[Geary–Khamis dollar|$]]4,295 in 1980 to $11,396 in 2010.<ref name="IMFIran2010"/>

Since the revolution Iran's GDP (Nominal) has grown from $90.392&nbsp;billion in 1979 to $385.874 in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iran GDP|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=IR|website=worldbank|access-date=16 February 2018|archive-date=11 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311152602/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=IR|url-status=live}}</ref> GDP per capita (nominal) has grown from $2290 in 1979 to $5470 in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Iran per capita|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?locations=IR|website=worldbank|access-date=16 February 2018|archive-date=17 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217082644/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD?locations=IR|url-status=live}}</ref> Real GNI per capita in 2011 constant international dollars decreased after the revolution and during the Iran-Iraq war from $7762 in 1979 to $3699 at the end of the war in 1989. After three decades of reconstruction and growth since then, it has not yet reached its 1979 level and has only recovered to $6751 in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.KD?locations=IR|title=GNI per capita (constant 2010 US$) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=1 July 2018|archive-date=1 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701223827/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.KD?locations=IR|url-status=live}}</ref> Data on GNI per capita in PPP terms is only available since 1990 globally. In PPP terms, GNI per capita has increased from Int. $11,425 in 1990 to Int. $18,544 in 2016. But most of this increase can be attributed to the rise in oil prices in the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.PP.KD?locations=IR|title=GNI per capita, PPP (constant 2011 international $) {{!}} Data|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=1 July 2018|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702012516/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.PP.KD?locations=IR|url-status=live}}</ref>

The value of Iran's currency declined precipitously after the revolution. Whereas on 15 March 1978, 71.46 rials equaled one U.S. dollar, in January 2018, 44,650 rials amounted to one dollar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.farsinet.com/toman/exchange.html|title=Iran Currency Exchange Rate History: 1975 – 2018|website=www.farsinet.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629143851/http://www.farsinet.com/toman/exchange.html|archive-date=29 June 2017|url-status=live|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref>

The economy has become slightly more diversified since the revolution, with 80% of Iranian GDP dependent on oil and gas as of 2010.<ref>{{cite web|author=IMF|title=Regional Economic Outlook – Middle East and Central Asia|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2010/mcd/eng/10/mreo1024.pdf|work=World Economic and Financial Survey|publisher=International Monetary Fund|location=Washington D.C.|page=15|date=October 2010|access-date=18 February 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017202136/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2010/mcd/eng/10/mreo1024.pdf|archive-date=17 October 2012}}</ref> The Islamic Republic lags some countries in transparency and ease of doing business according to international surveys. [[Transparency International]] ranked Iran 136th out of 175 countries in transparency (i.e., lack of corruption) for its 2014 index;<ref name=econ-7-3-15>{{cite news|title=Fading hope|newspaper=The Economist|date=7 March 2015|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21645738-foreign-businesses-are-looking-beyond-falling-oil-prices-and-limping|access-date=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513030001/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21645738-foreign-businesses-are-looking-beyond-falling-oil-prices-and-limping|archive-date=13 May 2015}}</ref> and the IRI was ranked 130th out of the 189 countries surveyed in the [[World Bank]] 2015 Doing Business Report.<ref name=DB2015>{{cite web|title=Doing Business 2015|url=http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/GIAWB/Doing%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB15-Chapters/DB15-Report-Overview.pdf|access-date=8 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518155742/http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/GIAWB/Doing%20Business/Documents/Annual-Reports/English/DB15-Chapters/DB15-Report-Overview.pdf|archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>

===Islamic political culture===
It is said{{By whom|date=November 2023}} that there were attempts to incorporate modern political and social concepts into Islamic canon since 1950. The attempt was a reaction to the secular political discourse namely [[Marxism]], liberalism and nationalism. Following the death of Ayatollah Boroujerdi, some of the scholars like [[Murtaza Mutahhari]], [[Muhammad Beheshti]] and [[Mahmoud Taleghani]] found new opportunity to change conditions. Before them, Boroujerdi was considered a conservative Marja. They tried to reform conditions after the death of the ayatollah. They presented their arguments by rendering lectures in 1960 and 1963 in Tehran. The result of the lectures was the book "[[An inquiry into principles of Mar'jaiyat]]". Some of the major issues highlighted were the government in Islam, the need for the clergy's independent financial organization, Islam as a way of life, advising and guiding youth and necessity of being community. Allameh Tabatabei refers to velayat as a political philosophy for Shia and velayat faqih for Shia community. There are also other attempts to formulate a new attitude of Islam such as the publication of three volumes of Maktab Tashayyo. Also some believe that it is indispensable to revive the religious gathered in Hoseyniyeh-e-Ershad.<ref>{{cite book|author=Samih K. Farsoun|author2=Mehrdad Mashayekhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S1RsZrwm2p4C|title=Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic|isbn=978-0-203-99351-4|date=7 January 1993|publisher=Taylor & Francis|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152514/https://books.google.com/books?id=S1RsZrwm2p4C|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:زخمی انقلابی.JPG|An injured revolutionary during protests against Pahlavi regime
File:اعتراض مردم انقلابی.JPG|Protests in summer 1978
File:شهیدان انقلابی.JPG|Revolutionary victims of [[Black Friday (1978)|Black Friday]]
File:Ali Khamenei in Iranian Revolution protests.jpg|Current Iranian leader, Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]], in a Revolutionary protest in [[Mashhad]]
File:Shapour Bakhtiar Cabinet.jpg|Shah visiting Bakhtiar cabinet before his exit from Iran
File:Shah's exit from Iran 04.jpg|People celebrating Shah's exit from the country
File:Statue of Shah Revolution.jpg|Removal of Shah's statue by the people in [[University of Tehran]]
File:خمینی در مهرآباد.JPG|Ayatollah Khomeini at [[Mehrabad Airport]]
File:خمینی میان مردم.JPG|People accompanying Ayatollah Khomeini from Mehrabad to [[Behesht Zahra]]
File:خمینی در بهشت زهرا.JPG|Ayatollah Khomeini in Behesht Zahra
File:Imam Khomeini and Taleghani (2).jpg|Ayatollah Khomeini before a speech at Alavi school
</gallery>

== Depictions in Western media ==

* ''[[Argo (2012 film)|Argo]]'', starring [[Ben Affleck]], dramatizes the execution of the [[Canadian Caper]] during the [[Iranian hostage crisis]].
* ''[[House of Sand and Fog (film)|House of Sand and Fog]]'', starring [[Jennifer Connelly]], is a fictional portrayal of an exiled Iranian military officer and his family.
*  ''[[Persepolis (comic)|Persepolis]]'' is an autobiographical series of comics by [[Marjane Satrapi]] first published in 2000 that depicts the author's childhood in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution. The 2007 animated film ''[[Persepolis (film)|Persepolis]]'' is based upon on it.
* ''[[Septembers of Shiraz]]'' is a movie about an Iranian Jewish family. After creating a prosperous life in Iran, they may be forced to abandon everything as a revolution looms on the horizon. It is based on the 2007 novel ''[[The Septembers of Shiraz]]'' by [[Dalia Sofer]].
* ''[[1979 Revolution: Black Friday]]'', a 2016 video game set in the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution.
* ''[[Iran and the West]]'', a three-part British documentary series shown in February 2009 on the [[BBC]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Iran|History|Politics|Islam}}
; Revolution-related topics
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[1979 oil crisis]]
* [[Background and causes of the Iranian Revolution]]
* [[Civil resistance]]
* [[Conspiracy theories about the Iranian Revolution]]
* [[Fajr decade]]
* [[Guadeloupe Conference]]
* [[History of Iran]]
* [[History of the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
* [[Iran hostage crisis]]
* [[Islamic fundamentalism in Iran]]
* [[Jimmy Carter's engagement with Ruhollah Khomeini]]
* [[Non-cooperation movement (2024)]]
* [[Organizations of the Iranian Revolution]]
* [[Preference falsification]]
* [[Russian Revolution]]
* [[Timeline of the Iranian Revolution]]
* [[White Revolution]]
{{Div col end}}

; Related conflicts
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]]
* [[Iran–Iraq War]]
* [[1983–1986 Kurdish rebellions in Iraq]]
* [[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]
* [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]]
{{Div col end}}

; General
{{Div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran]]
* [[International rankings of Iran]]
* [[Island of Stability (speech)]]
* [[Left-wing guerrilla groups of Iran]]
* [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]]
* [[Persecution of Baháʼís]]
* [[Women's rights in Iran]]
{{Div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|40em|group=Note}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|title=[[Iran Between Two Revolutions]]|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1982|isbn=0-691-00790-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|year=1993|title=Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic|place=Berkeley|publisher=University of California Press}}
* {{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|year=2008|title=History of Modern Iran|publisher=Columbia University Press}}
* {{cite book|last1=Amanat|first1=Abbas|author1-link=Abbas Amanat|title=Iran: A Modern History|date=2017|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-11254-2}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KL5FvOejKkC&pg=RA1-PR13|title=Dynamics of the Iranian Revolution: The Pahlavis' Triumph and Tragedy|isbn=978-0-7914-0731-8|last1=Amuzegar|first1=Jahangir|date=1991|publisher=SUNY Press|access-date=21 November 2019|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152516/https://books.google.com/books?id=3KL5FvOejKkC&pg=RA1-PR13|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Arjomand|first=Said Amir|title=Turban for the Crown: The Islamic Revolution in Iran|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1988|isbn=0-19-504257-3|url=https://archive.org/details/turbanforcrownis00arjo|url-access=limited}}
* {{Cite book|last=Azari|first=Farah|year=1983|title=Women of Iran: the conflict with fundamentalist Islam|publisher=Ithaca Press|isbn=0-903729-95-4|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofiranconfl0000unse}}
* {{Cite book|last=Bakhash|first=Shaul|title=Reign of the Ayatollahs|publisher=Basic Books|year=1984|isbn=0-465-06888-X|url=https://archive.org/details/reignofayatolla00bakh}}
* {{cite book|last1=Brumberg|first1=Daniel|title=Reinventing Khomeini: the struggle for reform in Iran|date=2001|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-07758-1|location=Chicago|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPT9QRtDMr8C|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119152517/https://books.google.com/books?id=aPT9QRtDMr8C|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Gölz|first=Olmo|year=2017|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/34634793|chapter=Khomeini's Face is in the Moon: Limitations of Sacredness and the Origins of Sovereignty|pages=229–244|title=Sakralität und Heldentum|editor1=F. Heinzer|editor2=[[Jörn Leonhard|J. Leonhard]]|editor3=R. von den Hoff|series=Vol. 6: Helden – Heroisierungen – Heroismen|place=Würzburg|publisher=Ergon|doi=10.5771/9783956503085|isbn=978-3-95650-308-5|url=https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/58803 |access-date=16 May 2018|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813112343/https://www.academia.edu/34634793|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book|last=Graham|first=Robert|title=Iran, the Illusion of Power|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1980|isbn=0-312-43588-6|url=https://archive.org/details/iranillusionofpo0000grah}}
* {{Cite book|last=Harney|first=Desmond|title=The priest and the king: an eyewitness account of the Islamic revolution|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=1998}}
* {{Cite book|last=Isfandiyārī|first=Hālāh|year=1997|title=Reconstructed lives: women and Iran's Islamic revolution|publisher=Woodrow Wilson Center Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5618-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/reconstructedliv0000isfa}}
* {{Cite book|last=Keddie|first=Nikki|title=Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-300-09856-1|url=https://archive.org/details/moderniranrootsr0000kedd}}
* {{cite book|last1=Khomeini|last2=Algar|title=Islam and Revolution|year=1981}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2022}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kurzman|first=Charles|title=The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-674-01328-X}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kurzman|first=Charles|title=The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-674-01843-3}}
* {{Cite book|last=Mackey|first=Sandra|title=The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation|publisher=Dutton|year=1996|isbn=0-452-27563-6|url=https://archive.org/details/iranianspersiais00mack}}
* {{Cite book|last=Moin|first=Baqer|title=Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|year=2000|isbn=0-312-26490-9|url=https://archive.org/details/khomeinilifeofay00moin}}
* {{cite book|last=Nashat|first=Guity|year=1983|title=Women and revolution in Iran|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=0-86531-931-6|url=https://archive.org/details/womenrevolutioni0000unse}}
* {{Cite book|last=Roy|first=Olivier|title=The Failure of Political Islam|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1994|isbn=0-674-29140-9|translator=Carol Volk|url=https://archive.org/details/failureofpolitic00royo}}
* {{Cite book|last=Schirazi|first=Asghar|title=The Constitution of Iran|publisher=Tauris|year=1997|isbn=1-86064-253-5}}
* {{Cite book|last=Shirley|first=Edward|title=Know Thine Enemy|publisher=Farra|year=1997|isbn=0-8133-3588-4}}
* {{Cite book|last=Taheri|first=Amir|title=The Spirit of Allah|publisher=Adler & Adler|year=1985|isbn=0-09-160320-X}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/iranrevolutionin0000unse_t0b1|title=Iran: a revolution in turmoil|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]]|year=1985|isbn=978-0-333-36946-3|editor-last=Afshar|editor-first=Haleh|location=Basingstoke|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book|last=Barthel|first=Günter|title=Iran: From Monarchy to Republic|publisher=[[Akademie Verlag]]|year=1983|location=Berlin, Germany|oclc=15627074}}
* {{Cite book|last=Buchan|first=James|author-link=James Buchan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XY9FAQAAQBAJ|title=Days of God: the revolution in Iran and its consequences|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4165-9777-3|location=New York, NY}}
* {{Cite book|last=Daniel|first=Elton L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOnEEAAAQBAJ|title=The history of Iran|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-313-37509-5|edition=2nd|series=The Greenwood histories of the modern nations|location=Santa Barbara, Calif|oclc=752955486}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0813009987|title=The Iranian revolution: its global impact|publisher=Florida International University Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-8130-0998-8|editor-last=Esposito|editor-first=John L.|location=Miami|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hiro|first=Dilip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0cv9AQAAQBAJ|title=Holy wars: the rise of Islamic fundamentalism|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-82444-6|edition=Reprint|series=Routledge revivals|location=Abingdon|pages=142–226|chapter=Iran: Revolutionary Fundamentalism in Power|orig-date=1989}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kapuściński|first=Ryszard|author-link=Ryszard Kapuściński|title=Shah of shahs|title-link=Shah of Shahs (book)|date=1992|publisher=[[Vintage International]]|isbn=978-0-679-73801-5|location=New York|translator-last=Brand|translator-first=William R.|translator-last2=Mroczkowska-Brand|translator-first2=Katarzyna}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kahlili|first=Reza|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YfL9zcW1-qAC|title=A time to betray: the astonishing double life of a CIA agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran|publisher=[[Threshold Editions]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4391-8903-0|location=New York|oclc=462904694}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Bakhtiar|first1=Chapour|script-title=fa: خاطرات شاپور بختيار : نخست وزير ايران (١٣٥٧)|trans-title=Memoirs of Shapour Bakhtiar: Prime minister of iran (1979)|last2=Ladjevardi|first2=Habib|date=1996|publisher=Center for Middle Eastern Studies, [[Harvard University]]|isbn=978-0-932885-14-2|series=Iranian oral history series|location=Cambridge, Mass.|language=fa}}
* {{Cite magazine|last=Kraft|first=Joseph|date=10 December 1978|title=Letter from Iran|url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1978/12/18/1978_12_18_134_TNY_CARDS_000322991|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427145920/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1978/12/18/1978_12_18_134_TNY_CARDS_000322991|archive-date=27 April 2014|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|publication-date=18 December 1978|volume=LIV|issue=44}}
* {{Cite book|title=Middle East Contemporary Survey|date=1980|publisher=Holmes & Meier|isbn=978-0-8419-0514-6|editor-last=Legum|editor-first=Colin|volume=3, 1978-79|display-authors=etal}}
* {{Cite book|last=Milani|first=Abbas|author-link=Abbas Milani|title=The Persian sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the riddle of the Iranian Revolution: a biography|date=2000|publisher=Mage Publishers|isbn=978-0-934211-61-1|location=Washington, D.C}}
* {{Cite book|last=Munson|first=Henry Jr.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jlgZGcPmpNcC|title=Islam and revolution in the Middle East|date=1988|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|isbn=978-0-300-04604-5|location=New Haven London}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nafisi|first=Azar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BAPYyCrqReUC|title=Reading Lolita in Tehran: a Memoir in Books|date=2004|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=978-0-8129-7106-4|series=A Random House trade paperback|location=New York}}
* {{Cite book|title=Iran Erupts: Independence, News and Analysis of the Iranian National Movement|publisher=Iran-American Documentation Group|year=1978|editor-last=Nobari|editor-first=Ali-Reza|editor-link=Alireza Nobari|location=Stanford, Calif.|oclc=4767949}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Nuʻmānī|first1=Farhād|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gUX3YEM9h4C|title=Class and labor in Iran: did the revolution matter?|last2=Behdad|first2=Sohrab|date=2006|publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8156-3070-8|series=Modern intellectual and political history of the Middle East|location=Syracuse, N.Y|oclc=ocm62430880}}
* {{Cite book|last=Pahlavi|first=Mohammad Reza|author-link=Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|url=https://archive.org/details/answer-to-history-by-shah-mohammad-reza-pahlavi|title=Answer to history|date=1980|publisher=[[Stein and Day]]|isbn=978-0-8128-2755-2|location=New York|language=en, fr}}
* {{Cite book|title=Iran after the revolution: crisis of an Islamic state|date=1996|publisher=[[I. B. Tauris]]|isbn=978-1-85043-905-9|editor-last=Rahnema|editor-first=Saeed|location=London|editor-last2=Behdad|editor-first2=Sohrab}}
* {{Cite book|last=Sick|first=Gary|title=All fall down: America's tragic encounter with Iran|date=1986|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|isbn=978-0-14-008837-3|location=New York, N.Y., U.S.A}}
* {{Cite book|last=Shawcross|first=William|author-link=William Shawcross|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bKHEMDQ16wC|title=The Shah's last ride: the fate of an ally|date=1988|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=978-0-671-55231-2|location=New York}}
* {{Cite web|last=Smitha|first=Frank E.|date=1998|title=The Iranian Revolution|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010233759/http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html|archive-date=10 October 2016|website=Macrohistory: World History}}
* {{Cite journal|date=1980|title=Iranian Revolution in Perspective|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iranian-studies/issue/FBFFF8D5F03D958D7E00DCDB16A9C397|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=13|issue=1–4}}
* {{Cite magazine|date=2006-12-16|title=Person of the Year: A Photo History|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2019712_2019694_2019594,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|page=6}}
* {{Cite news|date=31 December 1979|title=Time Names Khomeini Man of Year for 1979|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/31/archives/time-names-khomeini-man-of-year-for-1979.html|work=[[The New York Times]]}}
* {{Cite book|title=American foreign policy basic documents, 1977–1980|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|year=1983|location=Washington, D.C.|lccn=83602704|oclc=10008096|hdl=2027/uc1.l0072855414|id=JX 1417 A56 1977–80 REF}}
* {{Cite book|last=Yapp|first=Malcolm|author-link=Malcolm Yapp|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpHZBAAAQBAJ|title=The Near East since the First World War: a history to 1995|date=2014|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-582-25651-4|edition=3rd|series=A history of the Near East|location=London; New York|chapter=13. Iran, 1960-89|doi=10.4324/9781315842998|orig-date=1991}}
* {{Cite book|last=Taheri|first=Amir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xm7LOtgu-B8C|title=The Persian night: Iran under the Khomeinist revolution|date=2009|publisher=[[Encounter Books]]|isbn=978-1-59403-240-0|location=New York}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote|Islamic Revolution}}
* [[Islam and Revolution|Islamic Revolution]] Portal ''[http://revolution.ir/portal/ The Iran Revolution.]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}''
* [http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/revolution_and_iran_after1979_1.php "Iran after the victory of 1979's Revolution"] on ''Iran Chamber Society''
* [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/Islamic_Revolution_of_Iran.html Islamic Revolution of Iran, Encarta] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028082940/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/Islamic_Revolution_of_Iran.html |date=28 October 2009 }} 2009-10-31)
* [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32981/international-relations The Islamic revolution, Britannica]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/audioslideshow/2009/feb/03/iran-iranian-revolution The Islamic revolution: 30 years on, its legacy still looms large] – audio slideshow by ''[[The Guardian]]''

===Historical articles===
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/revolution/ The Story of the Revolution] – a detailed web resource from the [[BBC World Service]] Persian Branch
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/reunion/reunion4.shtml The Reunion – The Shah of Iran's Court] – [[BBC Radio 4]] an audio program featuring the pre-Revolutionary elite
* [http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html The Islamic Revolution].
* [http://www.cyberessays.com/History/120.htm The Islamic revolution].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227000031/http://internews.org/visavis/BTVPagesTXT/Theislamicrevolution.html The Islamic revolution], Internews.

===Analytical articles===
* [[Bernard Lewis]], [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/4557 "Islamic Revolution,"], ''The New York Review of Books'' (21 January 1988).
* [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/4444 Islamic Revolution: An Exchange] by [[Abbas Milani]], with reply by Bernard Lewis
* [http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/007863.html What Are the Iranians Dreaming About?] by [[Michel Foucault]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040926063841/http://www.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue37/Afary37.htm The Seductions of Islamism, Revisiting Foucault and the Islamic Revolution] by Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson, ''New Politics'', vol. 10, no. 1, whole no. 37 (Summer 2004).
* Moojan Momen, [https://web.archive.org/web/19970126220214/http://www.northill.demon.co.uk/relstud/shia.htm "The Religious Background of the 1979 Revolution in Iran"]
* [http://www.marxist.com/iranian-revolution-grant090279.htm The Islamic Revolution] by Ted Grant, "In Defence of Marxism" website, International Marxist Tendency (Friday, 9 February 1979).
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/iran.htm Class Analysis of the Islamic Revolution of 1979] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502062641/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/iran.htm |date=2 May 2014 }} by Satya J. Gabriel
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060930053541/http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/MidEast/02/curme/curme.htm The Cause of The Islamic Revolution] by Jon Curme
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/hekmat-mansoor/1995/undefeated.htm History of Undefeated, A few words in commemoration of the 1979 Revolution] By Mansoor Hekmat, Communist Thinker and Revolutionary
* [http://www.marxist.com/revolution-counterrevolution-iran120903.htm Revolution and Counter-revolution in Iran] by HKS, Iranian Socialist Workers Party

===In pictures and videos===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090619171514/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/28202/iran-revolution-and-beyond Iran: Revolution and Beyond] – slideshow by ''[[Life magazine]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080112205438/http://www.iranrevolution.com/index_05.html iranrevolution.com] by Akbar Nazemi
* [https://iranianrial.blogspot.com/p/islamic-revolution-photos-by-kaveh.html Islamic Revolution, Photos] by [[Kaveh Golestan]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181006204231/http://www.kavehkazemi.com/english/gallery/detail.php?act=pics&caid=47&coid=ir Photos from Kave Kazemi]
* [http://iranianrial.globalcurrencyreset.net/iranian-revolution/ The Islamic Revolution in Pictures]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04/middle_east_the_iranian_revolution/html/1.stm Islamic revolution in pictures], BBC World
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/audioslideshow/2009/feb/03/iran-iranian-revolution Slideshow with audio commentary of the legacy of Islamic revolution after 30 years]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/template/2.0-0/element/pictureGalleryPopup.jsp?id=5694301&offset=0&sectionName=TimesArchive Pictures of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the revolution, Shah and wife in Morocco ]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDifaCVanaM Documentary: Anatomy of a Revolution]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot0GSG6LMOA Night After the Revolution – English Version ]

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