The Islamic Revolution: A Revolution Undone?

At the time of writing (6 March), Iran is undergoing significant bombing raids by the United States and Israel, with President Trump calling on Iranians to “take over your government. It will be yours to take.” It is a remarkable irony that Washington has called for Iranians to seize their own destiny, an identical call made in 1979 which initiated the Islamic Revolution in Iran. To understand the trajectory which Iranian politics may take in the long term, it is crucial to understand the causes of the Islamic Revolution 47 years ago. 

In 1941, Britain and the Soviet Union jointly occupied Iran to secure oil supply to the Allied war effort, deposing the Iranian Shah in the process. To replace Reza Shah, his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was installed as the new Shah, assuming his place in the 2,500-year-long line of the Persian monarchy. Mohammad Reza acted unlike any prior Shah, pushing a far more progressive agenda than the country had ever seen. For a nation with strong Shi’a Muslim beliefs and values, such progressions would prove to be catastrophic for the monarch, with the later White Revolution proving incompatible with the public will. 

The role of Mohammad Mosaddegh is critical to understanding the Islamic Revolution later in the Shah's rule. Mosaddegh acted as prime minister between 1952 and 1953, a tenure cut short by the interference of MI6, and the CIA. Mosaddegh proposed the nationalisation of Iran’s oil fields, taking back control from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which had exploited Iran’s resources since 1901. Mosaddegh’s proposal instantly attracted the attention of Western leaders, with the imminent threat of oil being in lesser supply. Mosaddegh was thus promptly overthrown in the 1953 coup d’état, enabling the Shah as an absolute monarch once more, with total control over his parliament. With his strong Western ties and undemocratic rule, the Shah proved unpopular among his subjects, being seen as easily manipulated by foreign influence. 

Launched in 1963, the White Revolution was the Shah’s attempt to rapidly modernise the nation. The plan (lasting until 1979) brought land reform, infrastructural development, and healthcare programmes, while reducing the power of the Islamic clergy and increasing women’s liberties. These reforms alienated the public en masse, with many protesting the forced modernisation away from popular traditions and the erosion of Islamic authority. With discontent at critically high levels, Ayatollah Khomeini came into the picture. A popular religious figure living in exile since 1964, Khomeini maintained his authority by sending messages back to Iran, offering a more appealing alternative to the Shah – a return to traditional Islamic society. By 1978, demonstrations had reached a peak, with millions taking to the streets in Tehran, striking from work and threatening to paralyse the country. Thus, on January 16, 1979, the Shah abdicated, and the Ayatollah took control of the nation. 

The consequences of the Islamic Revolution have been drastic, reaching far beyond Iranian borders. Khomeini’s appointment as supreme leader for life had disastrous consequences for Iran, replacing one autocrat with another, with his successor Khamenei ruling the nation with similar brutal oppression. Political Islam also saw an intense rise across the Middle East, prompting Saudi Arabia to export Wahhabism as a counter to Khomeini's Shi’a vision. The regional order completely changed because of Iran’s revolution, a change from which the violence has never truly stopped — as the current bombing of Iran makes plain. 

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