The Iranian Revolution
Category: Other
Updated: 20 Aug 2022
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Created byClaire the Bread Fascist
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Events
A 10-night poetry festival organised by the
Iranian writers’ association at the Goethe
Institute in Tehran attracts thousands of
participants for lectures criticising the
government.Mostafa Khomeini, the eldest son of exiled
cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, dies of
unknown causes at age 47 in Najaf, Iraq.On a brief visit to Iran, President Jimmy Carter
toasts the Shah, describing Iran as “an island of
stability in one of the most troubled areas of
the world.”Iranian newspaper Ettela’at publishes a front-
page editorial disparaging Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, reportedly written by the royal court
at the directive of the Shah.The main bazaar in Qom, where Iran’s largest
seminaries are based, closes to protest the
defamation of Khomeini.Consistent with Shia tradition, mourning
ceremonies are held in cities across Iran on the
fortieth day following the death of the Qom
protestors.The Shah replaces General Nematollah Nassiri,
the head of SAVAK; one of his successor’s first
moves is to order the release of 300 detained
clerics.Protests erupt in Mashhad after the death of a cleric in a road accident; a number of people are killed in the upheaval there and elsewhere.477 Iranians die in a deliberately set fire at Cinema Rex in Abadan.Prime Minister Jamshid Amouzegar resigns; his successor, Jafar Sharif-Emami, undertakes reforms intended to assuage.On the morning after the Shah declares martial law, security forces fire on a large protest in Tehran’s Jaleh Square.At the Shah’s behest, the Iraqi government deports Khomeini.Days after protests swell in Tehran on a religious holiday, efforts to broker a national unity government with the opposition collapse, thanks to Khomeini’s defiance.Only a week after he publicly reaffirmed U.S. support for and “confidence in” the Shah, President Jimmy Carter publicly hedges in press statements, noting that “We personally prefer that the Shah maintain a major role, but that is a decision for the Iranian people to make.”The Shah appoints Shapour Bakhtiar as prime minister.In Paris, Ayatollah Khomeini forms the Revolutionary Council to coordinate the transition.Shah and his family leave Iran for Egypt, ostensibly for “vacation.”Khomeini returns to Iran and is greeted by millions of people in the streets of Tehran.Khomeini appoints Mehdi Bazargan as the prime minister of an interim government.Bakhtiar announces country-wide curfew and martial law.The armed forces declare neutrality, and any remnants of the Shah’s government collapse.The U.S. Embassy in Tehran is attacked by crowds; embassy staff initially surrender, but the protestors are ousted on the order of Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yazdi.Tens of thousands of Iranian women protest in Tehran on International Women’s Day to oppose mandatory veiling.Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is established by a decree issued by Khomeini.Iranians vote in nation-wide elections for the Assembly of Experts, a clerical-dominated body empowered to finalize the draft constitution.Assembly of Experts approves draft new constitution, enshrining Khomeini’s innovative doctrine of velayat-e faqih, which accords ultimate authority to a religious leader.Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi is allowed to enter the U.S. for medical treatment.Student protestors overrun the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seizing its personnel as hostages.The leaders of Iran’s provisional government resign in protest, ceding uncontested authority of the new state to Khomeini and the Revolutionary Council.U.S. President Jimmy Carter sends emissaries with a personal note to Iran to negotiate the release of the hostages, but they are refused entry.U.S. freezes all the property and interests of the government of Iran and the Central Bank of Iran.The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution calling for Iran to release the hostages.The Shah leaves the United States for Panama.Abolhassan Bani Sadr is elected as the Islamic Republic’s first president; within 18 months, he will be impeached and flee the country.Iranians vote in parliamentary elections, with a second round held in May.U.S. formally severs diplomatic relations with Iran.Operation Eagle ClawSecretary of State Cyrus Vance announces his resignation, submitted to President Carter four days before the rescue operation was launched.Iranian authorities discover a coup plot and launch a new purge of the military.Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi dies in Cairo, Egypt.In a speech, Ayatollah Khomeini outlines the preconditions for an agreement.Iraq invades Iran, setting off an eight-year conflict that will result in hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides.All remaining U.S. hostages are released after 444 days, after Tehran and Washington conclude the Algiers Accords.Periods
Journalists, intellectuals, lawyers, and political
activists publish a series of open letters
criticizing the accumulation of power at the
hands of the Shah.During a visit to Washington, the Shah’s
welcome at the White House is disrupted by
protests by Iranian students (as well as the tear
gas used by police to quash the protests.)The cycle of protests, repression, violence, and
mourning continues in three dozen Iranian cities.The arrest of a cleric provokes riots in Isfahan, which quickly spread to Shiraz, Qazvin, Tabriz, Abadan, and Ahwaz.Millions of Iranians protest all over the country demanding the removal of the Shah and return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.Iranians participate in a national referendum on whether Iran should become an “Islamic Republic;” the motion (which offers no alternatives) receives near-unanimous support.13 female and African-American hostages are released in a unilateral Iranian gesture.Iran’s new constitution overwhelmingly approved in a popular referendum that drew participation from 75% of the electorate.
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