Transcript Iran - Marion County Public Schools

Iran
Section One
Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
Politics in Action
 Mistakenly called a totalitarian state – elections do happen
 Is flip flop between reformers (Khatami) and conservatives
(Ahmadinejad)
 At core of nation is a written constitution
 Many argue nation will collapse with struggle between theocracy and
democracy – but has lasted since 1979
Geographic Setting
 Notable for two features:
 Inhospitable land for agriculture
 Its location on a strategic crossroads
 Fast facts on Iran:
 79.47 million people
 Live on only 27% of the land
 2nd largest oil producer in Middle East; 4th in world
 82% literacy rate
 73 year life expectancy
 51% speak Farsi
 Are Persians, not Arabs
Sovereignty
 Was world’s largest empire under Cyrus
 Rival nation was Greece – Alexander the Great did leave Persian
political structure in place
 Capital was Persepolis
 King’s authority supported by strong military and state religion of
Zoroastrianism
 Set the stage for authoritarian government
Shiism (Shi’ism, Shi’a…)
 7th to 16th centuries had little unity – only held together by Islam
 Religion survived invaders who converted (like Mongols)
 Shiism became state religion in 16th century under Ismail – founder of
Safavid Empire
 Fight between Sunnis and Shiites over leadership – when Ali killed
Shiite opinion became minority
 Waiting for Hidden Imam but until then rulers of Iran stand in his place
Legitimacy in the Modern State
 Pahlavi shahs 1925-1979 tried to secularize the state
 Ayatollah Khomeini was leader of 1979 Revolution – anchored nation
in Shiism – created Constitution of 1979
 Legitimizes state today
 Complex mixture of theocracy and democracy
 Complex issues with rift between reformists and conservatives – seen in
Qom also
Political Culture
 Shiism important unifying thread
 Complex history has created multi-faceted culture by:
 Authoritarianism but not totalitarianism
 Union of political and religious authority – separated by Qajars but
reinstated in 1979 Revolution
 Shiism and sharia central: 90% are Shiite; sharia law important source of
legitimacy
 Escape from European colonialism
 Geographic limitations
 Influence from Persia
 Iranian nationalism
Section Two
Political and Economic Change
Political and Economic Change
 1st large empire in the world
 2 revolutions in 20th century: 1905 and 1979
 Impacted by Safavid, Qajar, and Pahlavi dynasties and 1979 Revolution
- created current Islamic Republic
 Lack of arable land, emphasis of trade by land, and location
marginalized Iran – oil helped
Safavids (1501 – 1722)
 Modern Iran traced to Safavid family
 Revived title Shah-in-Shah – began forcible conversion to Shiism – by
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mid-17th century converted 90%
Sunnism survives among tribal groups at periphery
Also had small groups of “People of the Book”
Transported 100,000 Armenians to become craftsman and merchants
Capital created in Isfaham, recruited Persian scribes into the courts
Financial issues prevented creation of large bureaucracy or big army –
absolute power limited by lack of central state
Survived because society below it was fragmented, ethnic differences,
Shiite clerics in opposition lived far from capital
Qajars
 Safavids collapsed 1722 when invaded by Afghan tribesmen
 ½ century of civil war followed until Qajars reconquered area
 Capital moved to Tehran
 Declared Shiism state religion
 Rule coincided with 19th century imperialism – invaded 12 times
 Russians and British won major concessions – Qajars borrowed from
European banks to fund court expenses
 Resentment culminated in 1905 constitutional revolution – began over
handover of custom collections to Europe – by 1906 British advised
compromise and Cossack Brigade threatened to join protestors
 1906 constitution created: direct elections, separation of powers, laws
made by legislature, popular sovereignty, bill of rights; questions about
whether democracy was compatible with Islam
Qajars: Continued
 Retained monarchy but created Majles which had extensive authority
 Constitution modeled after European liberal secular system of
government with concessions to Shiism
 Official religion
 Only Shiites could hold cabinet posts
 Clerican courts retained right to implement sharia law
 Guardian Council formed
 Popular sovereignty was restricted by clerical veto power
 Over next 10 years disillusionment set in: pressure from Europe,
famine afterWW1 killed over 1 million, internal conflict from warring
factions, weak central government, loss of sovereignty during WWI
 1921 is in complete disarray
Pahlavis (1925 – 1979)
 1921 General Reza Khan – commander of Cossack Brigade carried out
a coup d'état – created 1st nontribal dynasty to rule all of Iran
 Ruled with iron fist until 1941 when invaded – abdicated in favor of his
son Muhammad Reza Shah
 Reza Shah ruled for 12 years with control of army but free press,
independent judiciary, competitive elections, and had to deal with
 Communist Tudeh Party
 National Front led by Dr. Muhammad Mosaddeq
 Middle class support
 Nationalization of Iranian oil
 Sever shah’s links with armed forces
 1951 elected Prime Minister – 1953 overthrown by CIA/
British operation – creates deep distrust of USA
 Reza Shah rules with iron fist until 1979
Pahlavis - Continued
 Built state rested on military, bureaucracy, royal patronage system
 Had secret police called SAVAK
 Was transformed into rentier state – state no longer relied on taxes and
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became one product economy based on oil
Adopted import substitution industrialization
Bureaucracy expanded to 21 ministries
Passed Family Protection Law that contradicted sharia
law and White Revolution (land reform)
State control of banks, TV, radio, oil, mining
Reza Khan used coercion, confiscation, diversion of water to make
himself largest landowner – then Reza Shah created Pahlavi Foundation
Push for secularization, centralization, industrialization, and social
development appealed to urban class only
Pahlavis - Continued
 1953 coup, disregard for constitutional liberties, stifling of the press
and political parties, and lack of civil society produced widespread
resentment by clergy, intelligentsia, urban working class
 1975 Shah announced formation of Resurgence Party – declared Iran
one party state and threatened those who would not join
 Replaced Islamic calendar, gave himself new titles, prepared to create
Religious Corps
Islamic Revolution
 Iranian exiles denounced Pahlavis in “Fifty Indictments of Treason
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during Fifty Years of Treason”
Led by anti-shah cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who created
Islamic fundamentalism
Denounced monarchies, courtiers, large landowners, senior military
officers, foreign connected capitalists, palace dwellers
Called for overthrow of Pahlavi monarchy
Argued jurist’s guardianship gave him authority
over community as the whole – only senior
clerics could interpret sharia and were true
representatives of the people
Pressure from various sources forced shah to loosen up on human
rights at same time prices were rising and oil revenues were dropping
Islamic Revolution - Continued
 Civil society regrouped
 Students took to the street to protest
 September 8, 1978 Blood Friday
 In urban areas began to replace policy with pasdaran and judicial system
with sharia
 2 million protesters came out demanding return of Khomeini, creation
of republic
 Due to opposition and loss of soldiers Shah fled nation
 February 11, 1979 Pahlavi dynasty fell
Islamic Republic
 April 1979 referendum replaced monarchy with Islamic Republic –
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liberals like PM Mehdi Bazargan wanted democratic Islamic Republic but Khomeini said Islam itself was democratic
New constitution drawn up by Assembly of Religious Experts
Most secular organizations boycotted elections on grounds state media
was controlled, voters intimidated – most of those elected were clergy
Bazargan threatened to submit his own secular constitution, state TV
showed him shaking hands with US policy makers
Khomeini declared US embassy den of spies, embassy invaded,
Bazargan resigned
Launched Cultural Revolution –
purge of secular values and institutions
Islamic Republic - Continued
 1st decade clerics consolidated power because
 Khomeini’s charisma
 Iraqi invasion of Iran
 Oil prices rose
 Second decade brought challenges
 Khomeini died
 Cease fire with Iraq-Iran War
 Fall of world oil prices
 Division between conservatives and liberals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUeo36Vzkb8
ABC News Special: Iran Hostage Crisis
Iran after September 11
 At first two nations brought close due to mutual hatred of Sadam and
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Taliban
Iran helped US displace Taliban in Afghanistan, helped install proAmerican government in Baghdad
2003 Iran proposed to negotiate all major issues: nuclear, recognition
of Israel, role in Persian Gulf, their support for Hamas and Hezbollah
Ended in 2003 when Bush gave “Axis of Evil speech”
Undermined moderate Khatami and led way for Ahmadinejad
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US put pressure on Iran through embargoes
US persuaded Europe to not invest large sums of money into Iran
US military has upper hand in firepower
Iran too large to be occupied, still major exporter of oil
Iran could prompt Hezbollah to attack Israel, undermine US positions in
Baghdad and Kabul
State and Economy: 19th Century
 Integration of Iran into world system began due to various factors
 Iran’s foreign trade increased 10x – 83% with Russia and Britain
 Exports: carpets, silk, raw cotton, opium, dried fruit, rice, tobacco
 Imports: tea, sugar, kerosene, industrial products, foreign investment
 Produced economic dependency – when prices rose for manufactured
goods and prices fell for raw materials created desire for tariff
protection, self-sufficiency, industry development, economic
diversification
 Traditional handicrafts devastated, cash crops limited land for edible
grains – led to famines
 Foreign competition brought many local merchants, shopkeepers,
workshop owners in bazaar together – created national propertied
middle class
State and Economy: The Oil Economy
 Greater integration began 20th century due to oil – Britain bought
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controlling shares of Anglo-Persian Oil Company – by 1951 largest in
the world
1951 nationalized oil – by 1978 oil income near $100 billion
Financed 90% of imports and 80% of annual budget
Created in Iran a rentier state
But little taxation means little representation and too reliant on single
commodity
Reza Shah tried to lessen dependency on oil by encouraging other
exports and attracting foreign investment
Society and Economy
 Reza Shah squandered oil revenue
 1960 to 1977 GNP grew 9.6% a year
 Land reform created 644,000 moderately prosperous farms, new
factories, schools, Trans-Iranian Railway, health services
 Led to population explosion – doubled 18 to 36 million
 Improvements didn’t make shah popular – he felt wealth would trickle
down but it did not
 Land reform left many with only 24.7 acres – subsistence farmers
 New factories only assembly plants
 One of worst doctor/patient ratios
 Limited enrollment in school
 Income disparity 2nd worst only to Brazil
 Horrendous pollution
Society and Economy: Continued
 Inequalities created dual society in Iran: modern sector and traditional
sector
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Upper class Pahlavi family - .01%
Modern middle class – 10%
Modern lower class – 32%
Traditional middle class – 13%
Traditional lower class – 45%
 Jalal Al-e-Ahmad published “Plague from the West” - said ruling class
was destroying Iran and they could only survive by returning to their
cultural roots
 Ideas developed further by Ali Shariati – said 3rd world people needed
to use violence to liberate themselves from colonialism – had new
interpretation of Shiism echoed in Khomeini’s writings – seen as true
theorist of Islamic Revolution
Iran in the Global Economy: Under Shah
 Oil boom 1970s gave shah opportunity to play huge role in regional
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politics
2nd most important member of OPEC
Curried favor with west – spent over $20 billion on US arms
Intervened in Strait of Hormuz, Afghanistan, Kurds in Iraq
Military expenditures tied Iran to industrial countries of the West and
Japan – majority of imports came from the USA
Oil revenues paved the way for the Revolution – programs under Shah
widened class and regional divisions, raised public expectations without
meeting them, made state independent of society, made it dependent
on oil and imported products
Revolution promised to end
Under the Islamic Republic
 Began with hopes of rapid development of the economy and
independence from the West
 Main problem is instability in oil market – it provides Iran with 75% of
its total revenues – problem compounded by:
 Population explosion
 Iran-Iraq War
 Emigration
 Resulted in 20 year crisis – GDP fell 50%, unemployment 20%, $30
billion in debt – but rising oil prices ended this
 Did have some success:
 Reconstruction Ministry: libraries, schools, electricity and running water
all brought to rural areas
 Agricultural Ministry: dam and irrigation, land distribution
 Adult literacy grew, infant mortality fell, life expectancy grew, family
planning began
Section Three
Citizens, Society, and the State
 Have had little direct experience with democracy but do understand
importance of civil society, until Pahlavi Shahs had very little reach into
people’s everyday lives
 Local government more of a presence
 Sharia set rules
Cleavages
 Religion – almost 90% are Shia Muslims but almost 10% Sunni, 1%
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Jews, Christians, Zorastrians, Baha’i; religious minorities have left since
the Revolution
Ethnicity – Persian, Azeri, Gilaki, Kurds, Arabi
Social Class – peasantry and lower middle class source of support for
regime; middle and upper middle class are secularized and critical of
the clerics; middle class have not fared well economically
Reformers vs. Conservatives – fundamental cleavage is debate over
theocracy v. democracy
Pragmatic conservatives v. radical clerics – division among clerics;
pragmatic clergy favor liberal economic policies and encourage foreign
trade, free markets, foreign direct investment but radicals are younger
and more militant– call for social justice, care for the poor, state
sponsored wealth distribution, price controls
Civil Society
 Source of unhappiness with Pahlavi was government incursion into
private lives of citizens – the civil society
 Has not been restored under the current regime and that creates
discontent especially among middle class
 Under Khatami Iranians had “Tehran Spring” but reforms were limited
by conservative elements in government
 Under Ahmadinejad closed down newspapers, banned and censored
books, didn’t tolerate peaceful protest, prominent scholars, lawyers,
directors were arrested
 Haleh Esfandiari – director of Woodrow Wilson Center in DC
 Nasrin Sutoodeh – human rights lawyer
 Jafar Panahi – dissident Iranian director
 Indication that civil society is alive is growing number of young people
who are attracted to western popular culture
Political Participation
 Despite guarantees in 1979 Constitution, began closing down newspapers,
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labor unions, private organizations, political parties; due process ignored,
imprisoned without trials, political reformers executed, demonstrations
banned
Actions against demonstrations didn’t curtail them; especially on college
campuses
2002 protests over court ruling on death sentence for reformist academic
2003 protests over privatization of university system
2009 protests over 2009 presidential election – Ahmadinejad 63%, Mousavi
34%
 Government sent tens of thousands of Revolutionary Guards and Basij
 Called themselves the “Green Movement” - rallied around Neda Agha Soltan
 2011 Mousavi and Medhi Karroubi encouraged supporters to march in honor of
freedom seeking protesters in Egypt and Tunisia
Women and the Political System
 The veil has become symbol of oppression but more for westerners
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than for women themselves; veil predates birth of Islam
Traditionally women have stayed home, with little education or
opportunity to work outside the home – 20th century Iran is exception
because woman have better access to education
Judges often interpret sharia narrowly
Calls its policy “equality with difference”
Women must wear scarves and long coats in
public, can’t leave the country without the
consent of male relatives; occasional stoning
But women are allowed educations, make up 33% of labor force
Not well represented in the Majles
Section Four
Political Institutions
Linkage Institutions: Political Parties
 Political parties constitutional but not allowed until Khatami’s election
 Since then multiple parties have formed
 Usually operate in loose alignments within two coalitions: conservative and
reformist
 2013 parties were
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Islamic Society of Engineers
Front of Islamic Revolution Stability
Moderation and Development Party
Combatant Clergy Association –Hassan Rouhani
Islamic Coalition Party
 Many political parties of former dissidents are now in exile
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Liberation Movement
National Front
Mojahedin
Fedayin
Tudeh
 Party system reflects factionalism
Elections
 Constitution promises free elections - since revolution have had 7 presidential
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elections
Elections have varied from free to controlled - today voting is free of intimidation
but choice is highly constrained, citizens over age of 18 may vote
Interior Ministry can ban organizations on the grounds they don’t subscribe to
valayat-e faqeh
Majles Elections of 2004 and 2008
 Main obstacle to fair elections has been the Guardian Council – excludes
numerous people from running
 2004 they excluded 3,500 candidates–reformers withdrew from politics and
conservatives won– received a clear majority but voter turnout at only 51%
 2008 elections was repeat of 2004
Presidential Election of 2005
 Khatami stepped down in 2005
 Guardian Council disqualified 1000 candidates, only 7 ran
 1st round was sent Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad to second round of voting –
Ahmadinejad won
Elections - Continued
 Presidential Election of 2009
 Reformers attempted to rally behind one candidate – Mousavi
 Opinion polls showed close race so when Ahmadinejad got 63% calls of fraud
launched
 Mousavi urged supporters to fight and appealed to Guardian Council
 Khamenei agreed to investigation - votes recounted - Ahmadinejad won –
endorsed by Khamenei – protests were held at his inauguration
 Arrests followed, Mousavi portrayed as tool of secular foreigners
 Elections of 2012 and 2013
 2012 contest between Supreme Leader and president; Khamenei’s supporters
won large majority of seats, 5,000 candidate registered but 1/3 were disqualified
by Guardian Council – came down to two camps
 United Front of Principalists – Khamenei’s supporters – won 101 seats
 Resistance Front – Ahmadinejad’s supports – won 50 seats
 Most reformists were disqualified by Guardian Council but won 43 seats
 2013 presidential election
 Guardian Council disqualified Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad’s choice Mashaei
 Of 8 allowed to run only Rouhani had slightly different stance than traditionalists – won
50.7% of votes
Interest Groups
 Difficult to draw line between parties and interest groups
 Important interest group for factory workers is called Workers’ House
 Few interest groups have formed for business because private
businesses have been crowded out
 Government still controls 65% to 80% of the economy
Mass Media
 Over 20 newspapers were shut down shortly after the Revolution
 1981 7 more were closed
 1981 Majles passed law making it illegal to use “pen and speech” against
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the government
Recently some restrictions have been lifted
Freedom of the press is a major issue
After 2000 Majles elections outgoing Majles approved press control law
which Council of Guardians ruled could not be overturned by new
legislature
60 pro-reform newspapers were shut down
Radio and TV are run by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
Many newspapers and magazines are privately owned
Iran’s elite is well educated and magazines cater to them but most are
nonpolitical
Government Institutions
 Iranian state rest on the Islamic Constitution drawn up by Assembly of
Religious Experts after 1979 Revolution – amended in 1989
 Final document 175 clauses and 40 amendments - complex mixture of
theocracy and democracy
 Affirms full belief in God, Divine Justice, the Qur’an, Day of
Judgment, Prophet Muhammad, the Twelve Imams, return of the
Hidden Imam, faith in Khomeini’s doctrine of Guardianship of Islamic
Jurists, declares all laws have to conform to these divine principles
 The supreme leader, the Guardian Council, the Assembly of Religious
Experts, and the Expediency Council do not fit into a three branch
arrangement – all three have broad executive, legislative, and judicial
powers – have a dual executive
The Supreme Leader
 Constitution named Khomeini Leader for Life
 Said that if no leader emerged after his death authority would pass to
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leadership council of senior clerics – but followers distrusted senior clerics
who rejected velayat-e faqeh so they elected Ali Khamenei – got all titles
except Imam
Constitution gives powers to leader but most importantly he is the faqih –
leading Islamic jurist to interpret the meaning of religious documents and
sharia
Can also eliminate presidential candidates, dismiss the president, grant
amnesty, commander in chief, declare war and peace, convene Supreme
Military Council, appoint and dismiss members of military and those of
Revolutionary Guards, nominate and remove judges, nominate 6 clerics to 12
man Guardian Council
Appoints Expediency Council
Authorized to fill important posts outside the state structure
 Friday Mosque Preachers in the main cities
 Director of nation radio-TV network
 heads of the main religious endowments
The Guardian Council
 Represents theocratic principles
 12 male clerics
 6 appointed by supreme leader
 6 nominated by the chief judge and approved by the Majles
 Bills passed by Majles are reviewed by Guardian Council to ensure they
conform to sharia
 Have power to decide who competes in elections
 With supreme leader exercises jurist’s guardianship
The Assembly of Religious Experts
 1989 amendments elevated 86 Assembly of Religious Experts into what
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has become the senate of the legislature comprised only of clerics
Have power to dismiss the Leader if he is found to be “mentally and
physically incapable of fulfilling his arduous duties”
First action was to elect Ali Khamenei
Were required to have seminary degree equal to a masters - in 1998
revised to allow non-clerics to serve – candidates still subject to
approval by Guardian Council
2007 Rafsanjani picked as chairman – was a moderate
 2011 pressured to step down from position (is still on Expediency
Council)
Expediency Council
 Guardian Council can overturn decisions and laws made by Majles so
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two bodies often argue
Khomeini created this body to referee their disputes
Began as council for 13 clerics
Was institutionalized by 1989 constitutional amendments – today 32
members
Can originate its own legislation
Appointed by Supreme Leader
Collectively are most powerful men in Iran
The Executive
 Is chief executive and highest official after the Leader; chosen every 4 years by
electorate; must win a majority; can’t serve more than 2 terms; must be a pious
Shiite of Iranian origin between 15 and 75; disagreement whether language restricts
positon to only males
 Has power to conduct country’s internal and external policies
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Signing international treaties, laws, and agreements
Chair the National Security Council
Draw up annual budget, supervise economic matters
Propose legislation to the Majles
Execute policies
Select vice presidents, cabinet ministers/other senior officials
Appoint provincial governors, town mayors, ambassadors
 Can have up to 12 vice presidents
 Khomeini promised technocrats would run executive but clerics have filled position
4 times
 Cabinet conducts the real day to day work of governance
 2011 Khamenei and Ahmadinejad openly competitive
 Ahmadinejad fired minister of intelligence but Khamenei reinstated him
 President refused to attend cabinet meetings but resumed when 300 MPs urged him to respect
Khamenei
The Bureaucracy
 President heads bureaucracy – even though shah criticized for this it
still continues
 Largest ones include
 Ministries of Culture and Islamic Guidance
 Intelligence
 Heavy Industries
 Rural Reconstruction
 Clergy dominate the bureaucracy, allocate ministries to their relatives
and protégés
 Ministers seem to be highly trained technocrats with advanced Western
degrees but are powerless
Semipublic Institution
 Theoretically autonomous but directed by clerics appointed personally by the
Supreme Leader and are called Foundations - are para-statals - over 100
 Foundation of the Oppressed
 Martyrs Foundation
 Alavi Foundation
 Pilgrimage Foundation
 Housing Foundation
 Foundation for the publication of Imam Khomeini’s Works
 Huge budgets, exempt from paying state taxes
The Majles
 Elected legislature exercises considerable power – considered
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centerpiece of Islamic Constitution in 1906
Unicameral; are directly elected by the people
Was weakened in 1989 constitutional amendments
Various powers: enact or change laws (with approval of Guardian
Council), interpret legislation as long as it doesn’t contradict judicial
authorities, appoint 6 of 12 members of Guardian Council chosen from
list drawn up by chief judge, investigate and supervise all affairs of the
state, approve or oust cabinet ministers, approve the budget
Constitution uses term qanun rather than sharia to gloss over question
if law comes from God or the people
Majles is 290 members, elected by citizens – male and female – 18 or
older
The Judiciary
 Headed by chief justice who must have an understanding of sharia and be a cleric, appointed by
the supreme leader for a five year term - beneath chief justice is Supreme Court
 Distinction between two types of law: sharia and qanun
 Sharia
 Muslims all subscribe to same moral values
 Supersedes all other types of laws
 Much of legitimacy of the supreme leader is based on his authority as interpreter of this sacred law
 Qanum:
 No sacred basis – is a body of statues passed by the Majles
 Can not contradict sharia
 Jurist guardianship means Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council have final say in law
 Islamized judiciary by interpreting sharia very strictly and enacting penal code –Retribution
Law –prompted many modern-educated lawyers to resign
 Permits blood money
 Mandates death penalty for “moral transgression” and sanctions stoning, live burials, finger
amputation
 Divided population into male and female and Muslims and non-Muslims treating them
unequally
 Ban on usury
 But modern judicial system was not dismantled –Khomeini said local sharia judges would
pronounce final verdicts but saw need to retain ultimate control so still have appeals system
The Military
 Supreme leader is commander in chief
 After 1979 Khomeini created Revolutionary Guards – commanders
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appointed by supreme leader –protects the republic, has a great deal to
say in Iran’s nuclear program, large number of former Guards sit in
Majles
Shah created regular army, navy, air force – they defend the borders
the Basij gained international attention in 2009 - Mousavi accused them
of brutally containing the demonstrators – are civilian volunteers
Has placed Muslim chaplains handpicked by Leader’s office in regular
divisions to keep theological and political eye on professional officers
540,000 active troops – 8th largest in the world
Subnational Government
 Highly centralized but is divided into provinces, districts, sub-districts,
townships, and villages
 Provinces headed by governors-general
 Districted headed by governors
 Sub-districts headed by lieutenant governors
 Towns headed by mayors
 Villages headed by headmen
 Management of local affairs under the supervision of councils elected
directly by the local population
Section Five
Public Policy
The Policy-Making Process
 Complex due to constitution and factions within ruling clergy
 Laws can originate in many places and can be modified or blocked by many
directions
 Clerics once constitution in place drifted into two loose blocs
 The Society of the Militant Clergy –statist reformers or populists; want to
consolidate lower-class support by creating a welfare state; emphasize democratic
over theocratic features of the constitution; want to reform capitalist system
through state regulation; labeled progressives
 The Association of the Militant Clergy – laissez-faire conservatives; wanted to
retain middle-class support by removing price controls, lowering business taxes,
cutting red tape; were middle of the roaders and traditionalists
 Polarization between two groups created major constitutional gridlock
 To break gridlock Khomeini resorted to Sunni concept of maslahat – “public
interest” and “reasons of state” – Khomeini claimed truly Islamic state could
safeguard public interest by suspending important religious rulings –pubic
interest was to be primary meaning the state could overrule the views of the
clerics and in the name of public interest could destroy mosques, confiscate
private property, cancel religious obligations
Policymaking Factions
 Conservatives vs. reformists
 Created by theocracy vs. democracy
 Conservatives uphold principles of the regime in 1979 – wary of west and
modernization
 Reformists less wary of west, advocate involvement with west, do not
believe political leaders must be clerics
 Statists vs. free-marketers
 Cuts across conservatives and reformers
 Statist thing government should take an active role in controlling the
economy
 Free-marketers want to remove price controls, lower business taxes,
encourage private enterprise, balance the budget
 Factions often brought gridlock and instability
 Have led many of Iran’s best and brightest to leave the country
Importance of Qom
 Legitimacy of modern Iranian theocracy has roots in Qom where Khomeini began to
denounce the shah and where he set up his government after returning from exile –
is a city of seminaries
 But scholars there are not entirely comfortable with a theocratic state
 Some feel only rightful union of religion and politics will happen with Twelfth
Imam’s return and until then men of religion should be careful not to get involved in
politics
Economic Issues
 Conservatives cautious about the influence of secular prosperity on devout Shiism
 Oil has created vertical divide in the society
 Almost no one denies the benefits that oil has brought to Iran
 Factions don’t agree on whether or not secularists should be allowed to make policy
 Management of the economy has been criticized, especially under Ahmadinejad who was
elected based on promise to provide government subsidies to consumers
 2011 gas priced so low domestic refiners refused to raise production to meet demand –
encouraged oil smuggling and corruption among companies that deal with oil
 When tried to end subsides in 2010 price of gas up 75% and diesel by 2000%, electricity and
water bills increased as did price of bread – gave monthly cash transfers to families and
claimed would only harm those who were rich as they had to pay more – did work to reduce
waste and encouraged conservation
 Economic sanctions have really hurt them
Population Policy
 Brought down overall birth rate in Iran since 1979 Revolution when
encouraged to have large families
 Greater educational and professional opportunities to women also
helped birth rate drop
Foreign Affairs
 Ahmadinejad most polarizing head of government
 Declared the Holocaust a “myth”
 Argued Israel should be “wiped away”
 Threatened to retaliate against American interests everywhere in the
world
 Rouhani long record of international relations; sees US as permanently
in conflict with Iran, but has expressed concern over Iran’s brain drain
and has supported membership in the WTO
 Iran’s most important international membership is OPEC
Nuclear Energy
 Bush’s Axis of Evil speech created controversy regarding Iran’s international
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relations
Iran’s nuclear program goes back for decades but has been under scrutiny by
west since Sept. 11
Says purpose is for power, not weapons but 2002 revealed two secret nuclear
sites
2005 International Atomic Energy Agency announced Iran broke seals on one
of its nuclear sites placed there in 2004 by UN
2006 Britain, France, Germany offered Iran trade, civil-nuclear assistance,
promise of talks with USA if stopped enriching uranium – Iran refused – led
to sanctions by UN Security Council – has caused economy to suffer greatly
Deal to lift sanctions was created June 2015
Political Challenges and Changing Agendas
 Contemporary Iran faces two major challenges
 Internally – how to synthesize theocracy with democracy and clerical
authority with mass participation
 External – major challenge comes from the United States – Axis of Evil
speech increased pressure – economic sanctions, lack of diplomatic
relations, barring from WTO, accusation that Iran sabotages the ArabIsraeli peace process, help terrorist organizations, and violate democratic
and human rights of its own citizens