Iran 1945–1989

Iran 1945–1989 is one of eight National Studies options in Section II. You answer one 25-mark extended response (one of two alternatives), about 1,000 words in roughly 45 minutes. The syllabus key features are: nationalism; internationalism; democracy; social change; imperialism; Cold War rivalry; tradition versus modernisation; and relations with the West/USA and Iraq.

• Survey: Iran from 1945 to the 1953 coup — the impact of World War II, Soviet influence and the Cold War, Mosaddeq's rise and oil nationalisation, and the British- and US-backed overthrow of his government.
• Focus of study: the Shah's rule 1953–1979 (the government of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, repression of the Tudeh Party, oil revenue and the economy, the White Revolution); the 1979 Revolution (the overthrow of the Shah, Khomeini's role, causes and ideology, opposition groups and the military, the collapse of the monarchy); Iran under Khomeini 1979–1989 (consolidating the Islamic Republic, relations with the USA including the hostage crisis, the causes of tension with Iraq, and social and cultural reforms).

Names: Mosaddeq is also spelled Mossadegh. Most Iranians are Shi'a Muslims; ‘ayatollah’ is a title for a senior Shi'a cleric. Use religious terms precisely and respectfully.

• World War II: Britain and the USSR invaded in 1941 to secure supply routes and oil; Reza Shah abdicated in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Shah. The communist Tudeh Party was founded (1941).
• The 1946 crisis: Soviet troops stayed and backed autonomous governments in Azerbaijan and at Mahabad (Kurdish). After a UN complaint, US pressure and Prime Minister Qavam's offer of an oil company, they withdrew (May 1946). One of the first Cold War crises.
• Oil: the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) took most of the profits from Iran's oil.
• Nationalisation: in March 1951 the Majlis voted to nationalise the AIOC; Mohammad Mosaddeq (National Front) became Prime Minister. Britain imposed an embargo; revenue collapsed.
• July 1952: the Shah dismissed Mosaddeq; mass protests restored him.
• The coup (August 1953): the CIA and MI6 (Operation Ajax/Boot) with royalist officers and organised crowds. After a failed attempt on 15–16 August the Shah fled; on 19 August Mosaddeq was overthrown and General Zahedi became Prime Minister. The US government formally acknowledged the CIA's role in documents released in 2013.

Opposition before 1978

• Khomeini denounced the White Revolution; his arrest sparked the June 1963 protests (15 Khordad), crushed by the army. He condemned the capitulations law (immunity for US personnel) and was exiled in 1964 (Turkey, then Najaf in Iraq from 1965, Paris from October 1978). In Najaf (1970) he set out velayat-e faqih — government by the guardianship of the Islamic jurist.
• Intellectuals: Jalal Al-e Ahmad's critique of ‘Westoxification’; Ali Shariati's revolutionary Shi'ism.
• Guerrillas: the leftist Fedaian and the Islamic-leftist Mojahedin-e Khalq.
• The bazaar: angered by the anti-profiteering campaign (1975–76).

1. January 1978: a government-inspired newspaper article insulted Khomeini; protests in Qom; deaths.
2. The 40-day cycle: mourning ceremonies 40 days after each death produced new protests.
3. August: the Cinema Rex fire in Abadan (about 400 dead), widely blamed on SAVAK.
4. 8 September — ‘Black Friday’: troops fired on protesters in Jaleh Square.
5. October–November: strikes, especially by oil workers, cut government revenue.
6. December: millions marched in the Tasua and Ashura processions.
7. 16 January 1979: the Shah left Iran; Bakhtiar was Prime Minister.
8. 1 February: Khomeini returned. 11 February: the army declared neutrality; the monarchy collapsed.
9. March 1979: a referendum approved an Islamic Republic.

Why it succeeded: broad grievances (repression, inequality, inflation, dependence on the USA, the memory of 1953); Khomeini's uncompromising leadership and the mosque network; a coalition of clergy, bazaar, students, workers, nationalists and leftists; the Shah's illness and indecision, mixed US signals and the army's collapse. Interpretations: Ervand Abrahamian; Nikki Keddie; Charles Kurzman's ‘unthinkable revolution’.

Consolidation

• Constitution (December 1979): velayat-e faqih; Khomeini as Supreme Leader; the Guardian Council; an elected president and Majlis.
• Revolutionary institutions: the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), revolutionary courts and committees, the Basij.
• Removing rivals: Bazargan resigned (November 1979); President Banisadr was impeached (June 1981); conflict with the Mojahedin — the 1981 bombings, then mass arrests and executions; the Tudeh crushed (1983); Kurdish autonomy movements fought; mass executions of political prisoners (1988).

The hostage crisis, 1979–1981

Students loyal to Khomeini seized the US embassy on 4 November 1979 after the Shah entered the USA for treatment. Fifty-two Americans were held for 444 days (until 20 January 1981). A US rescue mission failed (April 1980). The crisis strengthened the radicals and made anti-Americanism central to the revolution.

The Iran–Iraq War, 1980–1988

• Causes: Saddam Hussein's fear of revolutionary Shi'ism spreading to Iraq; Khomeini's calls to overthrow him; the Shatt al-Arab dispute and the 1975 Algiers Agreement; Khuzestan; Iran's apparent weakness.
• Course: Iraq invaded (22 September 1980); Iran retook Khorramshahr (May 1982) and carried the war into Iraq; Iraqi chemical weapons; the ‘war of the cities’ and the Tanker War; the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 (July 1988).
• End: Iran accepted UN Resolution 598 (July 1988); Khomeini likened it to ‘drinking poison’. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed or wounded.
• Impact: national mobilisation, a stronger IRGC and justification for repression.

Social and cultural change

The Cultural Revolution closed universities (1980–83); the hijab became compulsory; the Family Protection Law was suspended; laws and education were Islamised. Foundations and the Construction Jihad brought welfare, roads, electricity and clinics to the poor and to villages. Women remained in education and many jobs. Khomeini died on 3 June 1989; Ali Khamenei became Supreme Leader.

Worked example (not a bank question). _‘Assess the impact of the Cold War on Iran between 1945 and 1979.’_

1. Thesis: the Cold War made Iran a prize for the superpowers, enabling the 1953 coup and the Shah's dependence on the USA, which shaped the nationalist and anti-Western character of opposition.
2. Paragraph 1: the 1946 crisis and Soviet pressure.
3. Paragraph 2: oil, Mosaddeq and the coup — the role of Cold War fears.
4. Paragraph 3: the Shah as a US ally — aid, arms, the twin pillars.
5. Paragraph 4: limits — internal causes of change, such as the White Revolution and oil wealth.
6. Conclusion: a clear judgement on the extent of impact.

• Calling Mosaddeq a communist — he was a liberal nationalist.
• Treating the revolution as purely religious, or as caused only by the Shah's mistakes.
• Forgetting the secular and leftist groups in the 1978 coalition and what happened to them after 1979.
• Describing the hostage crisis or the war without linking them to the consolidation of power.
• Using generalisations about Islam or Iranians; distinguish the regime, the clergy and the population, and describe beliefs accurately.

• Section II is marked on a sustained, logical and cohesive response, detailed, accurate and relevant historical knowledge, historical terms and concepts and, where relevant, historical interpretations. Naming historians can strengthen an argument but is not required.
• Key terms: Majlis, nationalisation, National Front, Tudeh, SAVAK, White Revolution, capitulations, velayat-e faqih, Westoxification, Revolutionary Guards, Basij, Supreme Leader.
• Prepare flexible paragraphs on 1945–53, the Shah's rule, the causes of 1979, consolidation, the hostage crisis and the war with Iraq.

• The Cold War 1945–1991 gives the wider context for 1946, 1953 and US policy in the Gulf.
• Indonesia 1945–2005 and India 1942–1984 offer comparisons of nationalism and nation-building after 1945.
• The core helps you compare different forms of authoritarian rule.