Causes of the Iranian Revolution

DOCUMENT 6

From M. Reza Ghods, Iran in the Twentieth Century: A Political History, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1989, p.209. 

"We came to the practical conclusion that in the beginning of our action police repression prevented us from having a large organization. Therefore we accepted the principle of working in small cells. The aim of these groups was to strike at the enemy in order to destroy this atmosphere of repression and prove to the masses that the only way of struggle is armed uprising."

—Ashraf Revolutionary Group, 1978

DOCUMENT 8

From George Lenczowski, Iran under the Pahlavis, Hoover Institution Press, 1978, p. xxii. An immigrant to the United States from the Soviet Union, Lenczowski was a professor of political science.

 "…[T]he reforms carried out during Mohammad Reza’s time were more comprehensive and more concerned with social justice and the welfare of the masses.... The reforms were accompanied by economic planning and development that in the 1960’s and 1970’s achieved one of the highest growth rates anywhere in the world."

DOCUMENT 1

From M. Reza Ghods, Iran in the Twentieth Century: A Political History, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1989, p. 197. Ghods is Iranian and a professor of history in the United States.

"In many aspects, Iran is much more democratic than Europe… [T]he opposition is so negligible that it cannot get even one seat in Parliament."

DOCUMENT 4

From Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, Simon and Schuster, 1985, page 331. Mottahedeh is American and a professor of history.

"The experts...may know a great deal about the Sassanids, the Achaemenians, and even earlier civilizations, but our people know nothing of such things. Our people do not find their roots in these civilizations.... Our people remember nothing from this distant past and do not care to learn about the pre-Islamic civilizations.... Consequently, for us a return to our roots means not a rediscovery of pre-Islamic Iran, but a return to our Islamic, especially Shi‘i roots."

DOCUMENT 2

From James A. Bill, The Eagle and the Lion: the Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations, Yale University Press, 1988, p. 183-185. Bill is an American. He recently retired as a professor of government. 

"On October 11, 1971 the shah of Iran inaugurated a week-long social celebration and political extravaganza in commemoration of 2,500 years of Persian monarchy....  [W]hile the foreign dignitaries feasted on caviar, peacock and Maxim’s [a famous Paris restaurant] raspberries, a serious famine was in progress in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan as well as in areas of Fars Province itself …."

DOCUMENT 7

From a report by U.S. Ambassador William Sullivan to the Department of State on October 7, 1978.

"The killing of unarmed demonstrators by the shah’s troops and the subsequent rule of martial law will only provide a temporary respite for the regime.… Against this backdrop of conflict and death, the shah’s clear attempts to keep his program of liberalization going will only be viewed with cynicism and distrust by both the moderate and extreme opposition.… The Shah cannot occupy his own country forever. Nor can he continue to resort to his traditional methods of rule by calculated reform. Perhaps his only serious chance is to back off of the tiny plateau of absolute power. Nothing less than his survival and that of his dynasty are at stake."

DOCUMENT 9

From James A. Bill, The Eagle and the Lion: the Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations, Yale University Press, 1988, p. 185.

"...[F]rom Iraq,..the exiled Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini issued an appeal to the Iranian people to demonstrate against the plundering of the Pahlavi regime. Referring to demonstrating Iranian students who had been attacked and beaten by the shah’s police, Khomeini stated: ‘Their only crime was to show their opposition to these 2,500th celebrations. They said, we do not want these celebrations, do something about the famine, we do not want you to celebrate over our people’s corpses.’"

DOCUMENT 3

From James A. Bill, The Eagle and the Lion: the Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations, Yale University Press, 1988, p. 185.

"If the pageant dramatized Persia’s past and showed some of the armed strength of the present, there were reminders of some of the dangers still facing the country in the helicopters ceaselessly patrolling hills on guard against urban guerrillas who threatened a bloodbath during the celebrations."

DOCUMENT 10

The revolution needs Unity! Unity!

My army brother,

Why do you kill your brother?!

Victory is with God and triumph will be imminent

Death to this deceitful monarchy!

O treacherous Shah, may you become homeless;

You have destroyed the motherland;

You have killed the country’s youth;

God is great!

You have put thousands of people in coffins;

God is great!

No compromise, no humiliation;

Victory or martyrdom!

Image by Patrick Chauvel. © Sygma/Corbis.