The 1979 Iraran Revolution And The 1979 Iranian Revolution

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Middle Eastern history is far too often miss-documented and poorly narrated, specifically in Iran. It is no secret that Western governments take special interest in countries with large oil deposits, however as a finite resource the increasing demand for oil mixed with fundamentally different political climates and religious followings creates a tension that many would state remains the motive for many wars today. The 1979 Iranian Revolution and its aftermath is often simplified by detractors to be the first steps in the creation of an isolated and fundamentalist state that supports terrorism; and that is not completely wrong however lessons learned from the Iranian revolution vary hugely dependant on which part of it you’re looking at. …show more content…

The party implemented arrests and censorship and political prisoners were tortured however before this decline Iran saw huge economic and social improvements; within the many revolutions of Iran was the Shah’s “White Revolution” a top down socio-economic revolution that introduced the building of infrastructure, industry and education. Oil revenues rose from $554,000,000 in 1964 to $20,000,000,000 in 1976 and the Shah invested a lot of that money into Iran’s future; the population grew, infant mortality fell and a new professional middle class arose. The “White Revolution” wasn’t universally popular however and was opposed by Shiite Cleric; Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini spoke out against the White Revolution from a very fundamentalist Islam, complaining that the revolution would grant more rights to women (including the right to vote) but also attacked the government for “The rigging of elections, and other constitutional abuses, the neglect of the poor and the selling of oil to Israel”. Khomeini also felt that a king’s power was inherently un-Islamic and that Shi’a tradition was to fight that power, despite this the Iranian revolution of 1979 did not start out to create an Islamic State – it was the rise in power among dissatisfied Iranians to overthrow a power they perceived to be corrupt and unresponsive to the needs of its citizens. Despite of, or arguably because of, the oil industry many Iranians were not enjoying economic growth; the universities turned out more graduates than there were jobs and the agricultural change had the predictable result of replacing workers with

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