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The Iranian Revolution

Islam has long been one of the world’s great religions but, in 1979, it became a major political force when a wave of anti-western demonstrations led to a big shift in power in the Middle East.

Since the second World War Iran had been ruled by it’s emperor Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, a notorious dictator. The Shah became increasingly despised at home for being a corrupt, godless ruler and a puppet of US imperialism. After a wave of violent demonstrations against his regime he fled to Egypt on Jan 16 1979 

Two weeks later he was replaced by a man who could not be more different. The former religious leader of Iran, the austere Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Ayatollah Khomeini returned home after 14 years of exile to be greeted by 5 million ecstatic people. This was a pivotal moment in a revolution that would shape the world.

Khomeini would set up the world’s first Islamic republic, a theocracy,  a government based on the sole authority of God and the laws of the Koran. He purged the army and installed his own revolutionary guard made up of religious zealots. They were prepared to wage holy war against all-comers including both the Soviet and American super-powers.

The revolution quickly escalated into a violent confrontation with the enemies of the Ayatollah. On November 4th 1979 fanatical anti-western students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held 55 hostages prisoner for 444 days. America severed diplomatic relations with Iran but was powerless to release it’s people.

This was when the world realised that the Islamic Republic would answer to no-one.

The regime had no time for democracy and political dissent was not tolerated. The revolution has inspired Islamic Fundamentalism from Hezbollah in the Lebanon to the Taleban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Khomeini died in 1989 but the revolution he started continues to shape the world today.

Iran has now been single-out by President George W. Bush as one of the biggest threats to US National security.

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