The Islamic Republic of Iran The Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) rests in the volatile Middle East and borders Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan. World History recognizes Iran as Persia until 1935. The Persian Empire lasted from 549 B.C. to 1935 and was one of the longest spanning and greatest empires in history (Ansari). Today, Iran is a major player on the world stage and affects the economies of its neighbors and the world. An analysis of Iranian culture with respect to the United States Army includes political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, physical environment, time aspects, and civil considerations and is important in the planning of company level operations.
Political
Iranian politics and religion are one in the same. Iran’s political landscape is
…show more content…
The Caspian Sea borders Iran to the north. Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan also border the Caspian Sea. Since the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest lake, it is one of the most important land features of Iran. Iran’s capital is Tehran, which is co-located with a volcanic cone named Mount Damavand. The Zagros mountain range runs along the eastern edge of the Persian Gulf. This mountain range continues into Pakistan. Iran’s plateau is a desert environment. In the desert portions of the country, the weather is mostly dry and arid. The days are hot and the nights are cool. The Zagros Mountains are quite different though. High altitude causes lower temperatures in the summer but causes harsh conditions in the winter months. Iran also has high winds in both regions (The climate of Iran). This makes the weather conditions very dangerous. High winds stir up dust and cause dust storms. If a dust storm catches someone by surprise and he or she cannot get to shelter in time, they may not be able to live through it. This is mainly due to the winds being hurricane
From 1941 to 1979 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, commonly known as Mohammad Reza, or simply the Shah, led Iran as successor to his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi. Mohammad often went against his vows of constitutional monarchy by using the Iranian secret police, SAVAK, to suppress his political opponents. Mohammad Reza's domestic policy focused on a series of reform policies to modernize the country. His foreign policy focused on an effort to abolish sovietism, and become an ally of the western powers and the US. Shah's rule is characterized as dictatorial, a period of major domestic and constitutional reform, as well as a period in which Iran established itself as a major regional power. Mohammad Reza attempted to rid the region of foreign influence, mainly that of the Soviets and communism, in an effort to grow the countries individual power. As a means to reach this goal, Mohammad Reza instituted reforms to modernize the country. However, as stated on the official website of Farah Pahlavi, his rule did not follow the emerging ideas of democracy and brought opposition from many of the traditionalist, and nationalists with different priorities. Overall, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's domestic reforms were largely ineffective in reaching his goals, whereas his foreign goals were largely met.
...ries and the 1979 revolution. The author presents Iran through the leadership of mullahs and shah tradition. The book has rich information covering the history of Iran. Mottahedeh managed to develop an impressive book that satisfies the curiosity of a reader wanting to understand the history, culture and political atmosphere of Iran through the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. Roy Parviz Mottahedeh and Ali Hashemi represent two views of Islamic learning and Iranian history and culture. While Ali Hashemi represents a religious view of Islamic learning and history of Iran, Parviz represents a secular view of Islamic learning and ambiguity of culture in Iran. The two views help to bring out the ways in which Islamic religion and culture influenced political atmosphere, in Iran especially at a time when politics in Iran was shaped by religion.
Iran was a country ruled by the Shah (King), who began his rule in the beginning of the 1950’s. He would help Iran greatly improve conditions. He began to improve relations with the United States securing oil deposits throughout Iran with American companies. However, the shah slowly became more and more dependent on the United States. He began asking the United States for advice on almost every decision he made. Although no such reports were printed in the United States (to my knowledge) there are sources, which lived in Iran and experienced a...
the south and the east by Britain. By the end of WW I, Iran was plunged into a
With his charismatic nature that allowed him to connect with all the groups of the opposition, Khomeini led the revolution and overthrew the Shah. For the religious and traditional masses of Iranians, he represented authentic Shi’a Iranian culture. For the idealistic students who were the leaders of the revolution, he represented unconventional defiance against the Shah’s regime. Khomeini understood the pain and alienation of all of his followers, who felt separated from their own Islamic culture as a result of the Shah’s westernization, and his charisma allowed him to unify the opposition against the Shah. With mass demonstrations all throughout Iran that immobilized the country, the Shah had no choice but to abdicate his position as monarch
We are going to Iran to see places that are related to Safavid Empire. Safavid Empire was one of the important empires in Iran’s history. During that time, religious of Iran change ,and the capital change to three different places
In 1952 during the Cold War, Iran was under the rule of their prime minister, Muhammad Mossadegh, who wanted to nationalize the country's oil industry. Iran had been a large producer of oil and its industry, controlled by Britain and America, was thriving. Britain and American corporations were not in favor of Mohammad Mossadegh’s newly developed oil policies, so they made a secret plan to overthrow him. They were successfully able to overthrow Muhammad Mossadegh, and in 1953 a new government was developed and controlled by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iran's new leader. The US has supported the Shah For twenty-six years and he became a central alley between the US and Iran. The Shah received military and political support from the US, and
Not to state the obvious, but there is a lot that goes into creating a government. The central focus of this paper are the differences and similarities between two very different nations’ constitutions: The United States of America and The Islamic Republic of Iran. A constitution is a document that entails the fundamental rules that govern a land and establish its structure, values, and limitations. On the surface, the American constitution (1787) and the Iranian constitution (1979) are similar in that they both ensure a president who is elected from majority rule, a legislature, and a powerful judiciary. However, there are far more differences in the organization of their governments than similarities, and this can be accredited to their different
Thomas Schelling, in his book Arms and Influence, describes the way the threat of war can be used in negotiation, to coerce another country to abide by the demands of another. In this case, the United States and the European Union, among others, have been trying to negotiate, even coerce, Iran into giving up its nuclear arms program. For the most part, Iran has not been willing to negotiate much. In fact, Iran is often described as being defiant against the world. Will this defiance cause a war to be started with Iran? The chances are good that a war could take place, but the chances are just as good that political leaders will find another way to deal with Iran’s relations with the world, especially after the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran’s beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran...
Iran had suffered and prospered through many different rises of power in the 20th century; these changes caused anger in the Iranian people. The time leading up to the revolution was characterized a fight for power between the Western influences and the Islamic people. In 1979 the people of the Iran led by Ruhollah Khomeini considered to be an enemy of the state. He was born in about 1900 in the town of Khomein. He was raised in the tradition of Shiite Islam; because of the death of his father he became more spiritual and faithful. On March 31, 1961, Ayatollah Boroujerdi died and Khomeini was in a position to take up the mantle left by the late religious leader. After publishing his writings on Islamic science and doctrines, many Shi'ite Iranians began to see Khomeini as Marja-e Taqlid (Biography channel website ). He wanted to start the first “government of God” (Berlatsky 26). He was thought to be a threat to the Shah decided that they had enough of his attempts to overthrow the government; he had been exiled for 14 years. With him as the leader of the Islamic uprising people flocked to his side to support. The placement of he Shah by America in the 1960’s was their final straw. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been described as one of the most notable events of the twentieth century; it began a period of time in which the Islamic culture was fighting against the modernization in many nations where Islam was the main religion. There is a huge difference between an unsuccessful revolution in which the beginners of the revolution are diminished and their demands not met. But when it is look at, the Iranian Revolution is seen as successful revolution in which all the needs of fight...
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
Although the Iranian Revolution was caused by combination of political and religious motivations and ideas, the desires of the people supporting the movement were more dominantly religious ideas that were wished to be imposed in society and in a new government. The Shah, or king, of Iran at the time was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, who had developed relations with nations in “western” world, specifically with the United States. The United States supported the White Revolution, which was a series of social reformations the Shah made to remove Islamic v...
“The Iranian Revolution” by Veronica Majerol is about the relationship between the U.S and Iran. Although Iran and America were strong allies, they still went into a battle, which began with an Iran revolution and 66 Americans being taken hostage. The king of Iran in 1941 made a lot of changes to Iran’s economics, and gave peasants land and gave some rights to women which in America’s eyes took a good toll on Iran. However to the Middle-class in Iran didn’t think the same, they were getting tired of “regime’s repressiveness” and wanted more freedom in politics. To top the middle class anger, the role America played in the westernization created even more frustration. Some Iranians thought that America was being a threat to their culture.A group of Iranian students protested on the streets about the
In the sixth century B.C, the land that we now call Iran was the center of the largest empire in the world. The kings of Ancient Persia( such as Cyrus the Great) were the leaders of a great civilization that made amazing advances in laws, goverment and communication. Founded in 550 B.C by King Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east. Unlike most empires at that time, the Persian kings were benovelent rulers, and allowed a diverse variety of diffrent people with diffrent ethnic backgrounds. The Persian empire was split into three diffrent empires with three diffrent time periods but the first empire was called the Achaemenid Empire. It began with King Cyrus the Great and ended with King Darius III.