Reza Shah

Operation Barbarossa: Hitler’s Biggest Mistake

The “Big Three” Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin

The Ideological Struggle Soviet & Eastern Bloc Nations [“Iron Curtain”] US & the Western Democracies GOAL  spread world-wide Communism GOAL  “Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world. [George Kennan] METHODOLOGIES:  Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]  Arms Race [nuclear escalation]  Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy]  “proxy wars”  Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]

The Geography of Iran

Iranian Oil Resources

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, Prime Minister of Iran  Became Prime Minister in  Nationalized the foreign oil companies.  Got rid of corrupt military officials.  Was toppled in a coup aided by the America CIA in  The Shah of Iran returns to power. Q4

The Korean War: A “Police Action” ( ) Syngman Rhee Kim Il-Sung “Domino Theory”

Shah Reza Pahlavi (r – 1977)  Institutes Western reforms & ties with the West.  But, the majority of his people live in poverty.  Brutal suppression of dissidents  SAVAK Q5

The Shah & His Wife, Farah Iranian elite/upper- and intellectual classes: very pro-Western.

“The White Revolution” The Shah’s Reform Program (1963)  Land reform – 90% of Iran’s peasants became land owners.  Massive government-financed heavy industry projects.  Granted women more political power – the right to vote.  Poured government money into education – especially in rural areas where illiteracy was very high.  Profit-sharing for industrial workers.  Nationalization of forests and pasture lands.

The Shah at George Washington’s Home, 1950s

The Shah with Several American Presidents

The Shah with President Jimmy Carter

Reasons for the Fall of the Shah  The Shah spent the oil profits for top of the line American military hardware.  Little money to reinvest back into the Iranian economy.  Religious leaders angry with the Shah for too much “Westernization.”  Government corruption.  The Shah’s constitutional violations of the basic human rights of his citizens.

Anti-Shah Protests

The Shah’s Chief Opponents?  Oil field workers.  Students and other intellectuals.  Middle class businessmen.  Iranian nationalists.  Muslim clerics. Q6

Anti-American Pin (1960s)

Iranian Students Protest in Beverley Hills

Anarchy & Revolution The Shah leaves Iran on 1/16/79.

Ayatollah Khomeini Leads the Revolution Khomeini returns to Iran on February 11, Q7

Ayatollah Khomeini (r )  1902 –  Became an Islamic scholar (studied in Qom).  Began to speak out against the Shah in the 1960s.  Arrested and imprisoned several times by the Shah.  Deported in 1978 & went to France.

Triumphant Muslim Clerics & Iranian Soldiers Q8 A theocracy is created!

SAVAK Suspects Taken

Iran Revolutionary Poster When the devil leaves, the angel returns!

American Embassy in Tehran Taken Over Q9

52 Americans Held Hostage for 444 Days!

President Carter Becomes a Hostage, Too

Hostage Rescue Disaster

52 American Hostages Released in Jan., 1981

The Khomeini Revolution

Women in Iran A woman’s hijab represents her Islamic and moral values.

Political Cartoon Commentary The dictatorship is gone! Bring on the dictatorship!

Support for the Palestinian Cause The Ayatollah with Yasir Arafat. Funds Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Iran-Iraq War ( ) Q10

The Iran-Iraq War: Taking Sides

Secretary Rumsfeld & Saddam Hussein: 1983

Iraqi Soldiers At the Front  375,000 Iraqi casualties & 60,000 POWs!

Iranian Soldiers Q11  Over 1,000,000 Iranian casualties!

Khomeini’s Death (June, 1989)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei The Ayatollah represents the fundamentalist Mullahs.

Ayatollah Khatami The Ayatollah is considered a political moderate. Q12

Support for the Shi’ites in Iraq Today Moqtada al-Sadr, radical Shi’ite leader in Fallujah, Iraq

Another Nuclear Power? US satellite photo of Iranian nuclear facility near Arak.

An American view of Iranian nuclear power PINOCCHIAYATOLLAH Scott Stantis (Birmingham News) 1/28/05

A view of Iran’s nuclear power from Al- Jazeerah Nobody else (particularly Iran and Arab countries) should have nuclear weapons except Israel, says Bush. -- Hassan Bleybel 10/23/03

Another Future Revolution?

A “Shah” in the Waiting? Reza Pahlavi (III?), 43 year-old son of the deposed Shah.

BibliographyBibliography  “23 Year Pictorial History of Iran.”  “Iranian.com.”  “Iran Hostage Anniversary.” CBS News. iran/main shtml.