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MLS 610B-81
Spring 2003

WEEK 5: Monday, February 24.
Islam in Persia/Iran

Questions for “Shadow Land” by Joe Klein: What were the three different official stances taken by the Iranian government concerning September 11th and why is there such lack of unity in the government’s opinion?  Why are many Iranians conspiracy theorists?  According to the author, why have President Khatami’s efforts at democratic reform failed?  According to this author, is there hope for the progression of Iranian democracy?  What support does he give for this view?
Background:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Beginning in the 11th century a series of invaders from Central Asia overwhelmed Persia:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Persia/Iran was not absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, but instead became the center of another, rival Islamic Empire, the Safavid Empire founded by Ismail ~1501.  The most important legacy of Ismail’s rule:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Safavid Empire fell into a stage of decline characterized by tribal conflict for much of the 17th-18th centuries.  By the late 18th century and into the 19th century European influences were growing strongly in the region:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Three themes predominate in Iran’s modern history:
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•
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In the aftermath of the Constitutional Revolution and WWI the ruling dynasty of Persia/Iran collapsed, giving way to the rise of a new dynasty founded by an army officer, Reza Khan Pahlavi.  In 1925 he began a policy of modernization and secularization in an attempt to reduce the power of the religious clergy:
 
 
 
 
 

British and Russian influence in Iran remained strong, and those two countries became concerned when, during WWII, the Iranian Shah began to court the friendship of Hitler’s Germany.  Thus, in 1941, the British and Russians supported the overthrow of Reza Khan’s government by his son, Mohammed Reza, who would subsequently rule the country until the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Opposition to the Shah:
•    Tudeh (“the masses”) =
 

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Muhammad Mossedeq:
 
 
 
 
 

In 1953 the CIA plotted to overthrow Mossadeq in “Operation Ajax.”  At the end of a bizarre turn of events, Mossadeq wound up in prison with the Shah, who had initially fled the country, restored to full power.  US influence in the country was greatly increased, as the Shah ruled a brutal dictatorship with strong US support for the next 25 years, leading to a widespread anti-US sentiment in the country.