The 1979 Revolution and the Islamic Republic
A mass uprising of almost every class and creed topples the Shah; Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers turn it into an Islamic Republic ruled by a senior cleric.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Iran Between Two Revolutions — Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press (1982)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
- An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
- Islam: The Straight Path — John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press
- Mahsa Amini protests — Encyclopaedia Britannica
By the mid-1970s Mohammad Reza Shah seemed unshakeable. Oil prices had quadrupled, Tehran was booming and the United States treated him as its policeman in the Gulf. But the boom brought inflation, shantytowns and conspicuous wealth; the one-party state and SAVAK left no room for opposition; and the Shah’s Westernising style offended the devout and the bazaar alike.
- Iran Between Two Revolutions — Ervand Abrahamian, Princeton University Press (1982)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
A revolution of the forty days
Protest began in 1977 among intellectuals and students. In January 1978 a government newspaper attacked the exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and seminary students in Qom who protested were shot. Shia custom marks a death with a memorial forty days later; each memorial became a new protest, bringing new deaths and new memorials, so that the revolution moved in a forty-day rhythm through 1978, and the language of Karbala, the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, gave it its force.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
The movement was astonishingly broad: clerics and Marxists, bazaar merchants and oil workers, students, professionals, and women both veiled and unveiled marched together. Khomeini, in exile in Iraq and then outside Paris, became its symbol, his speeches spread on cassette tapes.
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
February 1979
The Shah left Iran on 16 January 1979, never to return; he died in Egypt in 1980. On 1 February Khomeini landed in Tehran to welcoming crowds counted in the millions. On 11 February the army declared itself neutral and the old regime collapsed. In a referendum at the end of March, with a simple “yes or no” choice, an official 98% voted for an Islamic Republic, which Khomeini proclaimed on 1 April.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
Who won
The new constitution, approved in December 1979, was built on Khomeini’s doctrine of velayat-e faqih, “guardianship of the jurist”, giving a senior cleric supreme authority above elected institutions. Many senior Shia scholars rejected it as an innovation.
- An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
On 4 November 1979 students seized the US embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis destroyed relations with the United States, toppled the moderate provisional government and helped Khomeini’s followers consolidate power.
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
What it means now
The revolution made Iran the first modern state ruled by clergy, and it gave Iran’s foreign policy its defiant, anti-American tone. Followed within a year by the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), it gave Islamist politics worldwide a new confidence.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Islam: The Straight Path — John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
- Mahsa Amini protests — Encyclopaedia Britannica
A divinely blessed popular revolution that freed Iran from a corrupt, US-backed tyranny, restored its independence ("neither East nor West") and its Islamic identity, and gave power to the oppressed.
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
A broad revolution for freedom and social justice, made by students, workers, women, leftists, liberals and nationalists as well as the devout, that was hijacked by Khomeini's clerical faction, which then imprisoned, executed or exiled its former allies, imposed compulsory veiling and built a theocracy. Many Shia scholars also reject the idea that clerics should rule the state.
- A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
- Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, Oxford University Press (2013)
- Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution — Nikki R. Keddie, Yale University Press (2006)
- An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
A catastrophe, encouraged by naive Western governments and media, that destroyed decades of progress and handed the country to fanatics.
- Modern Iran since 1797: Reform and Revolution — Ali M. Ansari, Routledge (2019)
Why it matters today
Every Iranian alive lives in the shadow of 1979. Older Iranians remember a revolution many of them joined, hoping for freedom and justice, and argue about how it was taken over. Younger Iranians, most born long after, increasingly reject the system it created. The revolution split families, sent millions abroad and defines Iran's relations with the world.
The revolution showed that religion could drive a modern mass revolution, and it inspired Islamist movements far beyond Iran. It also sharpened rivalry between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, which plays out across the region. Many Iranians, at home and abroad, now reject the system it created.