Iran Unit

Shah

King

Reza Shah

Leader of Persia who sought to modernize the country by making public schools, building roads and railroads, extending women's rights, and promoting industrial growth. He held all of the power of the country that he later called Iran in 1935.

Morals Police

Morals Police kept a watchful eye making sure that men and women who were not of the same family did not touch and that women were properly veiled.

White Revolution

The White Revolution was not a revolution at al. It was a name that was given to the reforms the Shah adopted to reduce growing unrest and dissatisfaction. Important reforms included: Redistributing land to peasant farmers and sharecroppers, giving women the right to vote, and creating Literacy Corps (increasing education).

National Front

Political party in Iran following World War II, which opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources. Outlawed after Operation Ajax.

Neda Agha Soltan

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Qajar Dynasty

After Nadir Shah died, chief of Qajar tribe took power: Agha Mohammad Khan. Hierarchical and corrupt dynasty and most money went to the shah for patronage

Sunni Islam

Believed election of Abu Bakr as Mohammed's rightful leader of Islam

Basiji

Child soldiers Iran used as a desperate measure during the 1980-89 war against Iraq

Guardianship of the Jurist

Developed by Ayatollah Khomeini, supports the notion that senior clerics have the best capacity to rule in a Muslim society.

Council of Islamic Republic

Formal name for the clerics of Iran

U.S Hostage Crisis

In November 1979, revolutionaries stormed the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the hostages release. On January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office, Iran released the Americans, ending their 444 days in captivity.

Majlis

Iran's parliament

Revolutionary Guard

a faction of Iran's military that is only controlled by the Leader and the clergy. The Guard is supposed to "protect Iran from internal enemies" and works at the whim of religious leaders

Supreme Islamic Jurist

appointed by Assembly of Experts. appoints and controls military; appoints 6/12 members of Council of Guardians; has final say on foreign policy.

Shah Abbas

most famous Safavid ruler. Encouraged construction of Roman-Catholic churches. Supported (American) trade. Existed peacefully with Jesus

Ayatollah Khamenei

next Ayatollah; lacked enthusiasm facto; strict moral code; 2/3 population under 25 yrs old (don't have memory of horrible before)

Mohammad Reza Shah

the emperor of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. Various controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party and a general suppression of political dissent by Iran's intelligence agency, SAVAK. Amnesty International reported that Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978. By 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 16 January, forced the Shah to leave Iran. Soon thereafter, the revolutionary forces transformed the government into an Islamic republic.

Shirin Ebadi

the first woman to become a judge under the Shah, who received a Nobel prize for her fight for Women's rights

Council of Guardians

the upper chamber within the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Twelve individuals who serve six-year terms: six lawyers, nominated by the chief justice and approved by the Majlis, and six clerics appointed by the supreme leader. The Council can review all Majlis legislation.

Iran Iraq War

The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on September 22 1980 following a long history of border disputes and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long suppressed Shia majority influenced by Iran's Islamic revolution.

Constitutional Revolution of 1906

1906-1911; oil concession made Iranians mad--> secret societies formed--> 1905 protests against shah became public--> protestors demanded new constitution and a parlaiment--> new parlaiment elected in 1905 and wrote constitution-->constitution introduced new legal and political practies and changed authority and defined the rights of Iranians who became citizens

Mir Hossein Moussavi

2009, Ahmadinejad's adversary, reform candidate, Ahmadinejad claimed to have won but many were outraged b/c they thought it had been stolen, protests ensue

Zoroastrianism

A religion originating in ancient Iran that became the official religion of the Achaemenids. It centered on a single benevolent deity, Ahuramazda, who engaged in a struggle with demonic forces before prevailing and restoring a pristine world. It emphasized truth-telling, purity, and reverence for nature. Created by Prophet Zoroaster, traveled the Iranian plateau spreading his teachings, first system of theology. Emphasized order, social justice, the idea that men and women were on earth to improve the world, and ultimate accountability before a single God.

Arab Israeli War

A series of wars between 1848 and 1973 that were fought between Israel and the Arab counrties of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon

Ayatollah Khomeini

A supreme religious leader of the Shiite group, and leader of Iran from 1979 to his death in 1989. The last decade of his life was filled with turmoil, notable the hostage crisis at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the Iran-Iraq War.

Amnesty International

An influential non-governmental organization that operates globally to monitor and try to rectify glaring abuses of political (not economic or social) human rights.

AIOC

Anglo-Iranian Oil company owned by the British. Owned the monopoly of oil in Iran and became a focus of resentment and represented to Iranians the exploitation and weakness of Iran.

Saddam Hussein

As president of Iraq, Saddam maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991). During these conflicts, Saddam repressed movements he deemed threatening to the stability of Iraq, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, respectively. While he remained a popular hero among many disaffected Arabs everywhere for standing up to the West and for his support for the Palestinians, U.S. leaders continued to view Saddam with deep suspicion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Saddam was deposed by the U.S. and its allies during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Treaty of Turkomanchai

Because of wars between USSR and Iran. USSR forced them to sign a treaty which placed Iranian government in great financial debt to USSR. USSR traders merchants special privileges and good tariff rates in Iran

Shi'a Islam

Believed that only Mohammed's direct decedent (son-in-law) Ali should be the new leader

Iran-Contra Affair

During the second term of the Reagan administration, government officials sold missiles to Iran (hoping that this would help free American hostages held in Lebanon); money from this sale was used to aid anti-communist Contra forces in Nicaragua. Iran was a country that was supposed to be on the American "no trade" list because of their taking of American hostages, and congressional legislation had been enacted making it illegal to give money to the Contras. A major scandal for the Reagan administration.

Safavid Dynasty

Founded by a Turkic nomad family with Shi'a Islamic beliefs; established a kingdom in Iran and ruled until 1722. Convinced tribes that he was the direct decedent of Imam Ali and claimed himself shah. Safavid Dynasty lead to flourishment in Iran through financial and political support.

Black Friday

In the summer of 1978 the shah's government imposed a new economic policy. Intended to help the Iranian economy, its only added to the shah's unpopularity. The new policy froze wages and led to sharp increase in unemployment. As a consequence, more and more working-class Iranians joined the protests, which were still interspersed with forty-day cycles of mourning. The protests had moved beyond demanding the restoration of the constitution to demanding the death of the shah. In response, the shah banned demonstrations and imposed martial law. Nevertheless, protests continued. On September 8th, 1978 soldiers put down a massive protest in Tehran with tanks and helicopters. Hundreds of Iranians died on a day that would be later known as Black Friday.

D'Arcy oil concession

Mozzar al-Din granted oil concession --> 16% of profits to Shah, awarded Englishman, William D'Arcy the right to most of Iran's oil --> British government became largest shareholder in the company

Tobacco Protest

Shah gave British company the right to produce, sell and export Tobacco which lead foreign intervention and major protest because Tobacco was a huge part of Iranian culture. 1890

Ulama

Sponsored local/Arab theologian the body of mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community

SAVAK

The secret police, domestic security and intelligence service established by Iran's Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi by recommendation of the UK government and with the help of the US' Central Intelligence Agency and Israel's Mossad. It was one of the main reasons that the government after the fall of the Shah so greatly opposed the US and held the embassy hostage for over a year

Islamization

Throughout the 1980's a process of "Islamization" of Iranian Society occurred. In 1982, Khomeini decreed that all of Iran's courts and judges had to implement Islamic laws based on the Shar'ia .

Tudeh

is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mohsen Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddeq's campaign to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and his term as prime minister. Its influence waned in the crackdown that followed the 1953 coup against Mosaddeq The party still exists, but is much weaker as a result of the banning of the party and mass arrests by the Islamic Republic in 1982 and the executions of political prisoners in 1988.

Mossadegh

prime minister of Iran in 1953; nationalized Britain's Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; CIA led movement forced him out of office and replaced him with Pahlavi

Nationalize

put under state control or ownership

Mohammad Khatami

served as the President of Iran from 1997-2005; Khatami ran as a reformist advocating more personal freedoms for Iranians as well as advocating for better foreign relations with the West, including the US; failed to capitalize on the reformist gains in parliament and any reforms that he tried to pass were blocked by the conservatives and the Guardian Council

OPEC

"Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries." -this oil cartel doubled their petroleum charges in 1979, helping American inflation rise well above 13%.

Hassan Rouhani

Name of the recently elected prime minister 14th June 2013

CIA coup

(1953) threw shah out of power; worked directly with royalist Iranian military officers, handpicked the prime minister's replacement, sent a stream of envoys to bolster the shah's courage, directed a campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist Party, and planted articles and editorial cartoons in newspapers

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

- is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He became president on 6 August 2005 after winning the 2005 presidential election by popular vote.[3] Before becoming president, he was the Mayor of Tehran. He is the highest directly elected official in the country, but, according to Article 113 of Constitution of Iran, he has less total power than the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Iran and has the final word in all aspects of foreign and domestic policies.[4][5]