Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Iran

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Iran


Iran in Comparative Politics

• IRAN IS UNIQUE • Shiite theocratic republic• In a part of the world dominated by Arabs,

but it´s NOT Arab. • People are Persian and speak Farsi• Iran (Persia) has a grand history dating back

thousands of years, most of its neighbors are post-colonial constructs


Iran in its historical context

• Persian authoritarianism, the image Shiites have of themselves as a persecuted minority combined with a bit of early 20th century democratic thought are the long-term historical context of Iran.

• Iran´s experiences during the Cold War, the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq provide the short-term context– Most Iranians are too young to remember farther back

than the war with Iraq

• How do these things affect today´s regime and politics?


Shi’ism vs. Sunnism

SHI’ITES SUNNISSuccessor of the Prophet Ali (Prophet’s son-in-law and

cousin)

(people of the household / Mohammad designated Ali)

Abu Bakr and the caliphs (follows tradition of the prophet, Mohammad didn’t designate successor)

Qualifications for ruler Belong to the “family” of prophet, Twelve Imams & Hidden Imam (messianic)

Tribe of the Prophet (Quraysh); later, any qualified ruler

Demographics 10% of Muslims, Almost all Iranians, Majority in Iraq

Large minority population in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon

90% of Muslims (although there are some Sufi mystics)

Majority in almost all Muslim countries except Iran/Iraq.

Imams are considered Infallible and perfect interpreters of Quran

Human leaders

Legitimacy/Authority Charismatic / Mystical Inherited Rational Legal

holy cities Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem

Najaf, Karbala

Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem

major holidays Eid, Ashura Eid


Critical Junctures

• The development of Iran has been shaped by four periods which constitute critical junctures, each but the last was ruled by a particular dynasty– The Safavids (1501-1722)– The Qajars (1794-1925)– The Pahlavis (1925-1979) – Islamic Republic (1979-present)


The Safavids (1501-1722)

• Shiite Identity, Ismail established Iran as shiite state in 16th century, by mid 17th cent, 90% people shiites

• Tolerated the Sunnis, Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians, especially other “People of the Book”

• Isfahan capital was inland and had little access to sea based trade and little arable land

• Absolute power, but reality had weak central state, empire fragmented and rulers detached

• Afghan tribesmen invaded in 1722


The Qajars (1794-1925)

• Turkish group, Qajars, invades, moves capital to Tehran

• Remain shiite, but can’t claim Twelve Imam legitimacy...separation of mosque and state

• Height of European imperialism, lost some to Russia, sold oil-drilling rights to Britain, borrowed from European banks...

• Serious debt, frivolous lavish spending• CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION OF 1905-1909

– Merchants and local industrialists demand written constitution from shah

– British wanted stability, told shah to concede


Constitution of 1906

• Modeled after western ones including democratic features– Direct elections– Separation of powers– Laws made by an elected legislature– Popular sovereignty– Bill of Rights guaranteeing citizens equality before the

law, protections of accused, freedom of expression• MAJLES assembly created, guaranteed seats to

“People of the Book,” balanced executive power• Shiism still official religion and created Guardian

Council of Clerics that could veto Majles• WWI divided Iran...chaos...by 1920s Anglo Iranian

Oil Company enter Pahlavis


The Pahlavis (1925-1979)

• Cossack Brigade (only real army like force)• Col Reza Khan leads coup and declares

himself shah-in-shah...PAHLAVI DYNASTY• Majles lost power, authoritarian rule• 1941 Muhammad Reza Shah (son) takes

over...some democratic opposition• Tudeh Party had working class unions,

National Front (middle class Iranian nationalists) led by Muhammad Mossadeq


Mossadeq(Mossadegh) (1951-1953)

• Nationalize Anglo-Iranian oil company• Constitution, not monarch• Armed forces answer to cabinet/parliament• Elected Prime Minister in 1951 and

nationalized oil• Wanted to promote education, esp women,

modernize Iran, build roads, committed to secular liberalism

• 1953 CIA financed coup reinstated shah and absolute power


The Shah—Reza Pahlavi

• RENTIER STATE—all based on oil $, didn’t need taxes even or the people

• ISI encouraged local industry• 3 pillars: armed forces, bureaucracy, royal

patronage system• All branches of the state grew imensely

– State controlled banks, national radio-TV network, local govts, Majles was rubber stamping, etc.

• Secularized courts and extended voting to women, restricted poligamy, allowed women to work

• SAVAK *secret police* supported armed forces, ruthless


The Shah (continued)

• White Revolution—shah’s attempt at land reform to counter communism. – Used coercion, confiscations, irrigation to take land and

make hiself one of the largest landowners in the Middle East

– Patronage system provided jobs to build up his lavish lifestyle which became increasingly opulent and offensive

• Pahlavi Foundation—tax exempt and controlled over 200 companies, corruption galore!

• Resurgence Party (1975) one party state with links to population, especially bazaaris

• Replaces Muslim Calendar with royalist one and sends groups to teach “true islam” in countryside



REVOLUTION! 1979 Islamic Revolution

• Iranian exiles publish anti-shah indictiments of treason (dictatorship, collaborating with CIA and being a US puppet, SAVAK,fascist one party state, taking over clerics, disseminating Western culture and weakening Iran’s culture, widening gap between rich and poor, etc.

• Ayatollah Khomeini in exile, also anti-Shah, starts espousing Shi’i populism (Islamic fundamentalism, more about politics than religious conservatism).


Revolution of Rising Expectations

• $$ had been increasing through the 70s, but in the late 1970s oil prices decreased by about 10% while consumer prices increased 20% (things were better than they were, but then a setback)

• US and Pres Carter, who believed in human rights, put pressure on shah to loosen restraints on opposition (kind of like glasnost... Accelerated revolution)

• Political parties, labor organizations, professional associations, bazaaris, college students, and oil workers all united against Shah, 2 M protestors!!!!

• This + Khomeini and religious fervor



Society and Economy (continued)


The Revolution

• Pro-Khomeini clerics + National Front, Lawyers, doctors, women’s associations, Tudeh Party (communist), Fedayin (Marxist guerrilla group), Mojahedin(Muslim guerrilla group of noncleric intellectuals) + students + bazaaris.

• “This is the voice of Iran, the voice of true Iran, the voice of the Islamis Revolution”– Feb 11, 1979– Referendum replaced monarchy with Islamic

republic, of 21 M eligible voters—20 M supported this change!!!!


Islamic Republic

• Constitution of 1979, very theocratic, most power to Supreme Leader and clergy

• Prime Minister Bazargan was opposition, but discredited with pic of him shaking hands with US govt officials. Anti-American sentiment and paranoia exploited.

• Hostage Crisis (some say engineered to undercut Bazargan)

• Constitution voted on...and won with 99% of vote, but voter participation down 75%


The Leader



1980s Islamic Republic

• Consolidation of Power...– Ayatollah Khomeini’s charisma and popularity– Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988) rallied people to defend homeland– Prices of oil increased!

• Cultural Revolution (mao style) purify country from secular, western behaviors. Universities cleared of liberal, suppressed opposition (most civil society), many executions revolutionary justice

• 1989 Khomeini dies, successor Khamenei not as charismatic, nor does he have folliowing or is he considered highly by most grand ayatollahs. Iran Iraq war bankrupted country and demoralized, oil prices decreasing, people wanted more participation, less cleric power, clerics seen as more corrupt.


Who’s Who in Islamic Iran?

• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini• 1902, landed clerical family• 1920s, studies in Qom, taught at seminary 30s-50s,

apolitical even during Mossadegh• 1962—politicized denouncing shah’s White

Revolution, forced into exile, went to Najaf• Shi’i Populism, socioeconomic grievances,

denounced shah and ruling class for oppressing and exploiting masses,

• New interpretation of jurist guardianship giving himself major authority

• Imam and leader


Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

•Studied theology under Khomeini in Qom, briefly imprisoned in 1962.•Anti-shah opposition movement 1978, had several influential positions after the revolution, but only middle level clerical rank.•Friday prayer leader of Tehran & head of Revolutionary Guards•Wasn’t a grand ayatollah or recognized sharia expert, surprising Appointment as Supreme Leader.•Built a conservative constituency with regime’s diehard elements.•Pre-1989, uses a pipe (intellectual), gave up when he became the Leader.


Hojjat Al-Islam Ali Akbar Hashemi RAFSANJANI

Born into fairly prosperous business and farming family.Studied in Qom under Khomeini.In prison 4 times during 1960s.Set up several commercial companies, including pistachioExports.Wrote a book about 19th century Prime minister who had triedto industrialize Iran.Remained just active enough in clerical circles to be considered hojjat al-Islam.Close confidant of Khomeini and cabinet posts, president in 1989. Chair of the Expediency Council and Assembly of Religious Experts, very powerful.Ran for president in 2005 as a reformer, portrayed by AhmadinejadAs being elitist, cronyism, corrupt mullah guilty of luxury living, etc.


Sayyid Muhammad Khatami• Elected president in 1997 and reelected in 2000• Born in 1944, priminent clerical family• Father was an ayatollah and friend of Khomeini, mom was

from a rich landed family• Studied at Qom and philosophy at Isfahan U• 1979-Shi’i mosque in Germany• Headed state publishing house, member of Majles, minister of

culture and Islamic guidance• 1992—conservatives angry, resigned and taught philosophy

at Tehran Univ• Title: sayyid and wears black turban• But really more like a university prof interested in liberal

political philosophy• TEHRAN SPRING!


Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• Populist, son of a blacksmith (like the Iranian Robin Hood)

• Working class, non-cleric, successful because he passed university exams and volunteered to fight in Iraq-Iran war

• Asserts theocratic values, appeals to Iranian nationalism (anti-US & Israel speech)

• Mayor of tehran before President, revolutionary guard


Mir Hossein Moussavi

•Iranian reformist politician, painter, architect, and presidential candidate in 2009.•Leader of the Green Revolution.•Prime Minister of Iran 1981-1989, until reforms eliminated position. Also Minister of Foreign Affairs.•In early years of Revolution, he was editor of the Islamic newspaper.•As PM, played a role in Iran-Contra affair...•When Rafsanjani won as President in 1989, Moussavi exited politics, not invited to join new administration.•Ran for President as a “Principled Reformist” as he shares many conservative values.


Policymaking Factions

• Conservative vs. Reformist– Conservatives: uphold regime as set up in 1979

with strict sharia law and minimum of modern modifications, worry about western influence and modernization. Support theocracy and clerics running politics.

– Reformists: political system needs reform, elss wary of western influence, want some international involvement. Support Shiism, but support the idea that political leaders don’t have to be clerics.


Policymaking Factions (cont)

• Statists vs. Free-marketers– This cleavage cuts across conservatives and

reformers and changed meaning over years.– Statists: govt should take an active role in

economy (land/weath redistribution, eliminating unemployment, price ceilings on consumer goods...populism..think Cardenas in 1930s and Russia & China, but not necessarily communists, esp in Iran.

– Free marketers: remove price controls, lower business taxes, private enterprise, balance budget...free market capitalism within a theocratic/democratic state.


Policy-making Factions (cont)

• Majmu’ eh: Statist reformers or populists• Jam’eh: Laissez-faire (freemarket) conservatives.

• Radicals get lower class support by using state power to redistribute wealth, welfare state...like Ahmadinejad– In recent years talk about democratic over theocratic

features, rule of law, individual rights, and government accountability—even Ahmadinejad.

• Conservative free marketers want to get middle class support, in bazaars by removing price controls, etc. Even at the cost of sacrificing subsidies and social programs


Political Parties in Iran

• Constitution gives right to organize and allows Interior Ministry to license parties

• Most real party opposition is in EXILE.

– LIBERATION MOVEMENT (Mehdi Bazargan), moderate Islamic party, secular and favors separation of Mosque and state

– NATIONAL FRONT, remains committed to nationalism and secularism like Mossadeq

– MOJAHEDIN, 1971 guerrilla org to fight shah, synthesis of Marxism and Islam (Shi’i islam can be a radical religion favoring social justice), after revolution opposed clerical regime and mass executions, moved to Iraq

– Fedayin, 1971 Marxist guerrilla movemtn like Che, lost more than any other org in fight against shah, lots of urban support and mystique, repressed by clerics

– Tudeh (Party of the Masses), est in 1941, mainstream Communist political party, originally supported Islamic Republic as a popular anti-imperialist state, later banned and many executed.


Political Parties (cont)

• Most are unstable, organized around personalities, only allowed since 1997

• Iranian Militant Clerics Society (KHATAMI, left wing, pro-reform, candidate came in 3rd in 2005)

• Islamic Iran Participation Front (Khatami’s brother, reformist, Guard Council banned most of its candidates

• Executives of Construction Party (Rafsanjani and former cabnet members)

• Islamic Society of Engineers, conservative alliance, Ahmadinejad

• Khordad Front (2000) reformist alliance


Linkage Institutions

• Political parties• Elections• Interest Groups: Islamic Association of

Women, Green Coalition, Worker’s House & Islamic Labor Party—May Day things, etc.

• Mass Media: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), lots of medial also privately owned, compared to many ME countries, significant freedom of press, but still censorship.


Iranian Economic Development

• Iran’s early economic history is characterized by dependence on developed countries. – In the 19th century imported products displaced many

traditionally manufactured goods– Shift toward commercial cash crops rather than food

crops undermined food self-sufficiency– With the development of the oil economy in the early 20th

century, Iran became tied to the world economic system and dependent on oil for the vast majority of its revenues.

• Oil contributed to fast-paced growth and the development of a social infrastructure under the rule of the Shah, though it failed to reach the majority of the population.

• Iran remains dependent on oil, and Iranian wealth and economic stability are tied to world oil prices.


Iran: a theocratic republic?

• Iran is unique among case studies in our text given its status as a theocracy with elements of democracy.

• While the president of Iran is directly elected, theologians control the most powerful political positions. – The Leader, who is the most influential religious figure in

the country, possesses wide-ranging constitutionally mandated authority, including the power of appointment and removal for most high level political positions and responsibility for mediating between the three branches of government.

– The Leader also determines who can run for public office, including the office of the president.

– The president possesses some powers, most of which are related to budgetary administration and the conduct of diplomatic affairs.


Iran: Theocratic Republic

• Most public ministries are dominated by the clergy. – Factionalism among the clergy, and particularly the

division between conservatives (the Jam’eh) and those with a more statist orientation (the Majmu’eh), dominates the policy process.

– While predominantly a theocracy, some representatives in addition to the president are elected.

• The Assembly of Experts, which chooses the Leader, is directly elected

• The elected legislature or the Majles has some limited powers. – It has altered budgets, had a limited effect on

policy, and has forced the president to change ministers upon occasion.


Iran´s democracy?

• Three major parties exist in the country, although all are deemed acceptable by the regime.

• Most of the real political opposition in the country has been forced into exile.

• Elections are held, but their openness and fairness has varied depending on the particular officials in power.

• Access to the media is restricted and controlled by the government, and the government retains a tight hold on dissent.


Iran’s Democracy?

• 1997—Khatami• 2000 Khordad Front (thermidor)• 2004 Majles election banned reformists,

2005 Ahmadinejad wins presidency, conservative populist resurgence

• 2009 elections—Green revolution• Political parties exist, but revolve around

personalities, lots of factionalism and coalescing around election time, also have dissident exile parties with some influence.


Iran´s future challenges

• Tension between theocracy and democracy• Reconciling relations between different

streams of Islam• Managing the economy in a context of

fluctuating oil prices• Handling relations with the United States,

which has increased pressure on Iran in a variety of ways to force regime change.


State and Economy

• The Oil Economy– Rentier state: A country that obtains much of its

revenue from the export of oil or other natural resources.

• Society and Economy– Dual society: A society and economy that are

sharply divided into a traditional, usually poorer, and a modern, usually richer, sectors.


Iran in the Global Economy

– OPEC: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Founded in 1960 by Iran, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, it now includes most oil-exporting states with the notable exceptions of Mexico and former members of the Soviet Union. It tries to regulate prices by regulating production.


Historical Junctures and Political Themes

– Laissez-faire: The doctrine that government should not interfere with commerce. Relative to other advanced democracies, the United States has traditionally taken a more laissez-faire attitude toward economic regulation, though regulation increased in the twentieth century.

• Implications for Comparative Politics– Jihad: Literally “struggle.” Although often used to

mean armed struggle against unbelievers, it can also mean spiritual struggle for more self-improvement.


Organization of the State

– Expediency Council: A committee set up in Iran to resolve differences between the Majles and the Guardian Council.

– Imam Jum’ehs: Prayer leaders in Iran’s main urban mosques. Appointed by the Supreme Leader, they have considerable authority in the provinces.

– Foundation of the Oppressed: A clerically controlled foundation in Iran set up after the revolution there.


Subnational Government

– Assembly of Experts: Nominates the Supreme Leader and can replace him. The assembly is elected by the general electorate but almost all its members are clerics.

• The Policy-Making Process– Maslahat: Arabic term for “expediency,” “prudence,”

or “advisability.” It is now used in Iran to refer to reasons of state or what is best for the Islamic Republic.


Critical Junctures

– Ayatollah: Literally, “sign of God.” High-ranking clerics in Iran. The most senior ones—often no more than half a dozen—are known as grand ayatollahs.

– Mosque: Muslim place of worship, equivalent to a church, temple, or synagogue.

– Fatwa: A pronouncement issued by a high-ranking Islamic cleric.

– Theocracy: A state dominated by the clergy, who rule on the grounds that they are the only interpreters of God’s will and law.


Critical Junctures (continued)

– Majles: Arabic term for “assembly”; used in Iran to describe the parliament.

– Guardian Council: A committee created in the Iranian constitution to oversee the Majles (the parliament).

– Farsi: Persian word for the Persian language. Fars is a province in Central Iran.

– Shi’ism: A branch of Islam. It literally means the followers or partisans of Ali. The other branch is known as Sunni, or the followers of tradition.


Critical junctures vocab (cont)

• The Safavids (1501–1722)– People of the Book: The Muslim term for recognized

religious minorities, such as Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians.

– Qur’an: The Muslim Bible.

• The Qajars (1794–1925)– Shari’a: Islamic law derived mostly from the Qur’an and the

examples set by the Prophet Muhammad.

• The Pahlavis (1925–1979)– Coup d’état: A forceful, extra-constitutional action resulting in

the removal of an existing government.– Bazaar: An urban marketplace where shops, workshops,

small businesses, and export-importers are located.


The Islamic Revolution (1979)

– Fundamentalism: A term recently popularized to describe radical religious movements throughout the world.

– Jurist’s guardianship: Khomeini’s concept that the Iranian clergy should rule on the grounds that they are the divinely appointed guardians of both the law and the people. He developed this concept in the 1970s.

– Pasdaran: Persian term for guards, used to refer to the army of Revolutionary Guards formed during Iran’s Islamic Revolution.


The Islamic Republic (1979–2001)

– Hezbollahis: Literally “partisans of God.” In Iran, the term is used to describe religious vigilantes. In Lebanon, it is used to describe the Shi’i militia.

– Hojjat al-Islam: Literally, “the proof of Islam.” In Iran, it means a medium-ranking cleric.

Chapter 12

Documents

oildrilling rights

shiite state

prophet quraysh

family of prophet

shiite identity

tehranremain shiite

islamic revolution

cold war