1979 Islamic Revolution
The 1979 Iranian Revolution saw the violent overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), and the replacement of his pro-Western government by a radical Islamic regime, known as the Islamic Republic of Iran, profoundly reactionary and anti-Western in nature, and led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989). The success of the Iranian Revolution had profound ramifications for the world. The threat of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which at the time 42% of the world's crude oil supplies flowed throw, created energy shocks throughout the planet. It has encouraged and supported the violent expression of Islamic radicalism through terrorism across the globe, and has brutalized and oppressed its own people.
History
The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was granted temporary refugee status in France after being expelled from Iraq, called for riots against the Shah. He promised press freedom and the equality of women after the government would be overthrown. Islamist students in Iran used violence against the military and the Shah's secret police, the SAVAK. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi escaped on January 16, 1979, hopping from Egypt, Morocco, and the Bahamas seeking asylum and finally settling in Mexico City. Khomeini returned to Iran from Paris and employed Mehdi Bazargan as his prime minister. In March 1979 the Iranians voted on a "referendum" for an Islamic republic. The people could only decide between monarchy and Islamic republic. Khomeini called democracy "western" and banned opposition parties. Female government workers were required wear a hijab.[1] Some women who were not covered were beaten in the streets.
The Shah, who was accused of looting the country, sought medical treatment for terminal cancer in America. Members of the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line demanded his extradition to stand trial for theft of state assets estimated at about $2 Billion and crimes of torture committed by the SAVAK in the regime's prisons. When the Carter administration refused, they occupied the American embassy. This event is called the Iran Hostage Crisis which lasted for more than a full year right up to the defeat of President Jimmy Carter when the hostages were finally released the day after the 1980 presidential election.
See: Salah el-Dine Tarazi
