Iranian Revolution

The power of the religious establishment wasn't a sudden 1970s phenomenon; it was forged in the 1891 Tobacco Protest. When the Shah granted a British monopoly on tobacco, the clergy (ulama) organized a nationwide boycott that forced the crown to retreat. This established the clergy as the only social force capable of checking royal power and resisting foreign economic encroachment.

By the time Ayatollah Khomeini emerged in the 1960s, he was following a well-worn path of religious resistance against secular authority. While the 1905 Constitutional Revolution briefly attempted to create a parliamentary system, the subsequent Pahlavi dynasty reverted to absolute rule, setting the stage for a final showdown between the "Westoxified" crown and the traditionalist pulpit.

The pivotal moment in modern Iranian history was the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, a nationalist who dared to nationalize Iran's oil industry. To protect British and American oil interests, the CIA and MI6 orchestrated a coup that dismantled Iran's only democratic experiment and reinstated Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with absolute power.

This intervention significantly increased U.S. influence, providing the Shah with the funds and training to create SAVAK, a brutal secret police force. For many Iranians, the Shah was no longer a legitimate sovereign but an "agent" of Western imperialism. This perception turned the 1979 revolution into a nationalist crusade to reclaim Iranian sovereignty as much as a religious movement.

In 1963, the Shah launched an ambitious program of land reform, women’s enfranchisement, and secularization known as the White Revolution. While these reforms were intended to modernize Iran and weaken traditional elites, they backfired. Land reforms broke the power of the clergy and rural landlords without successfully creating a stable new middle class, while rapid westernization felt like an assault on Iranian cultural identity.

As the economy fluctuated in the late 1970s, the Shah found himself without a base. The secular left hated his autocracy; the religious right hated his secularism; and the urban poor were squeezed by inflation and housing shortages. When President Jimmy Carter began pressuring the Shah on human rights, the regime’s hesitation to use its full repressive force gave the opposition the opening it needed to take to the streets.

The 1979 revolution didn't just replace one dictator with another; it established Velâyat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist). This system placed a supreme cleric at the top of a modern state structure, straddling the line between a republic and a totalitarian theocracy. It was a radical departure from traditional Shi'ism, which had historically avoided direct political rule.

Post-revolutionary Iran immediately shifted its foreign policy from a Western ally to a revolutionary provocateur. The new regime sought to undermine Sunni influence and export its brand of Islamic governance, supporting Shi'ite militancy across the Arab world. This shift fundamentally reordered Middle Eastern geopolitics, turning the region into a theater for the ongoing cold war between Iran and the West (and its regional allies).