Okay, on to part 2, the yo-yo history of Iran in the 20th century.
Let’s begin at 1953 with the ousting of
Mohammed Mosaddeq. Despite being
a corrupt and ineffectual leader, Mosaddeq got the ire of the British government by turning
private oil fields into state run oil fields. (and in the long term, create
BP Gas.) now
Iran would control the oil output instead of the free market. Since the UK got the majority of its gas from Iran, Churchill and pals were up in arms.
They got the US involved stating that Mosaddeq was in bed with the reds. Commie smasher Eisenhower gladly signed on and told the CIA to get
involved. The result was
Operation Ajax Thusly, Mossadegh was tossed out
and Dr. Ali Amini was appointed Prime Minister.
So yes, the CIA was part of the overthrow of Iran’s Prime Minister. But we must remember that Operation Ajax was largely a British operation and
had involved the US under false pretenses. BTW, The US
apologized for
Operation Ajax in 2000.
Switch now to the 60’s and the White Revolution. Since Operation Ajax, Iran was ruled by the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Let’s take a moment and
look at the Shah and his policies. Coroneted on September 16, 1941, The Shah oversaw Mossadegh’s run and fall as Prime Minister. After Operation
Ajax, he was given back the reigns as absolute ruler. While the thought of a monarchy usually brings thoughts of Mad King George to us in the US, it
was not to be for the Shah’s reign. Under the recommendations of Ali Amini, Dr. Sayyid Hasan Arsanjani, and Us President, John F. Kennedy, the Shah
made sweeping reforms to Iran called
The White Revolution
The White Revolution brought modernization of land reforms, anti-feudalism, national parks, unions, anti-corruption, literacy, and women’s suffrage
to Iran. The Shah was hesitant to bring such big upheaval to the country. The reforms would anger the rich land owners as it divvied up their land.
The Islamic clergy were also upset with the
reforms as it disabled their powerbase in rural Iran and gave women the right to vote with financial support. Last, the White Revolution undermined
the Shah’s own rule with radical democratic changes. But the revolution went on anyways and for the most part, life was good in Iran.
Now we get to the Iranian Revolution. The land owner elites and the shi’a clergy, upset by their influence being destroyed by the Shah, they
conspired against him. At the center of this coup was Ayatollah Khomeini. At the time of the revolution, the ayatollah was exiled for
a speech against the Shah, the US and capitalism in general.
After the death of the radical Islamic philosopher, Dr. Ali Shariati, young educated Iranians looked for a new mentor for their growing interest in an
Islamic revival. They found it in Khomeini’s book, “Hokumat-e Islami: Velayat-e Faqih” which translated means Islamic Government. The book
argues that government should be run in accordance with traditional Islamic laws and for this to happen an Islamic jurist must provide political
"guardianship" over the people. (AKA, a dictator.) The book was not widely published, but spread hand to hand by supporters of the exiled Khomeini.
The reason for this was that many moderate and secular Muslims would be up in arms against the idea of
a theological dictatorship.