Essay --

The Islamic revolution in 1979 resulted in the collapse of the secular regime of the Pahlavi dynasty ruled by Muhammad Reza Shah in favour of an Islamic republic under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. The revolution came about due to multiple internal and external social and political factors that mobilised the Iranian people. This essay will discuss the ways in which the people of Iran were discontented by the oppressive regime of the Shah and its various economic failures, the government’s programme of secularization and Westernisation and its close relationship with the United States, and how the views of Arabs internationally and in the Middle East affected the revival of Islamism in Iran. Mohammed Reza Shah’s oppressive regime motivated many people to protest against the social injustices carried out by the state. The government was wasteful, elitist and corrupt, and the people of Iran recognised it as such. The role of the secret police (the SAVAK) was heavily criticised by leftist, nationalist and Islamist movements for its political oppression and violent methods, which were seen by many factions of society as being violations of the Iranian Constitution of 1906. In 1975 the government abolished the existing two-party system and introduced a single political organization, the Resurgence Party, which all Iranians were required to join, thereby establishing their control over the people. The highly personalised system prevented competition, which led to dramatic divisions within the army and the political elite . The authoritarian system was subsequently undermined by the Shah’s indecisiveness and apparent weakness in the face of protest, which add ed momentum to the Islamists’ revolution. Because the regime was n... ... Middle East. The state of affairs in the Arab world is therefore linked to the need of many Muslims to return to a traditionally Islamic way of governance, and can thereby explain the vehement Islamic-oriented revolution in Iran. In conclusion, the corrupt regime and poor leadership of Muhammad Reza Shah created social injustice which the population protested, and the economic failures of the government alienated members of the Iranian population and incited revolutionaries to action. The attempted secularization and Westernization of Iran furthered the people’s discontent, and Khomeini’s movement heavily criticised Iran’s close relationship with the West. In Iran as well as in the Middle East as a whole there was a desire for a return to Islam provoked by events such as the June War. All these social and political factors contributed to emergence of a revolution.