Iranian People Vote for an Islamic Republic

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Iranian People Vote for an Islamic Republic

Magazine article

By: Anonymous

Date: April 7, 1979

Source: "Iranian People Vote for an Islamic Republic." The Economist. April 7, 1979.

About the Author: The Economist is a British-based magazine covering business and global issues.

INTRODUCTION

On February 1, 1979, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran after fourteen years in exile. By the end of March, Khomeini had successfully led the movement to replace the constitutional monarchy with an Islamic state. The modern monarchy had been in place since 1925, when the parliament of Persia voted to vest the crown of Iran in Reza Shah Pahlavi. In 1935, Persia adopted the new name of Iran. During World War II (1938–1945), the shah allied with the Axis powers leading to post-war occupation by Britain and Russia, as the two nations divided Iran into spheres of influence. In 1951, a power struggle between the shah and the prime minister followed the parliament voting to nationalize the oil industry which, at the time, had been dominated by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. With the assistance of the United States and Britain, a coup in Iran installed a new prime minister into power and the shah, who had fled during the power struggle, returned. By 1963, the shah began the "White Revolution," a campaign to modernize the country by implementing land reform and policies of social and economic reform. The shah utilized the state secret police to control opposition to his reform.

The shah's movement to modernize Iran was funded by the vast oil revenues; however, inflation, official corruption, and a growing income gap began to lead to unrest by 1976. In addition, the modernization policies began to alienate the Muslim clergy in the country. By 1978, approximately 60,000 foreigners resided in Iran. Their influence in the form of dress, culture, and entertainment along with the shah's modernization policies created the perception that Iran was sacrificing its Islamic values and cultural identity. Externally, the creation of a one-party state in 1975 and the heavy-handed tactics used to implement the shah's reforms created international concern that basic freedoms were being suppressed under the shah's rule. Secular leadership from the middle class led by intellectuals, lawyers, and secular politicians began a campaign of protest against the shah in the form of letters, declarations, and resolutions calling for the restoration of constitutional rule.

In 1978, religious protests signaled the beginning of the end of the shah's rule in Iran. The religiously based protests began after an article appearing in the newspaper, Ettelaat, questioned the piety of Khomeini and suggested that he was working as a British agent. Khomeini, although in exile, was considered the spiritual leader to many Shiite Muslims in Iran. This accusation was not received well and resulted in orchestrated demonstrations and strikes. From exile, Khomeini issued proclamations calling for the overthrow of the shah and continued protests. His supporters declared their goal of creating an Islamic state with Khomeini as its leader. One such protest came on September 4, 1978, at the public prayers to commemorate the end to Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. The assembly of approximately 100,000 quickly turned into an anti-shah protest. The protests continued for several days until martial law was declared in Tehran and eleven other cities. September 9th became known as "Black Friday" to those protesters when troops fired into the crowds at Tehran's Jaleh Square and killed at least eighty-seven people, by Iranian government accounts. This move escalated the violence of the protests as the opposition became radicalized and began to target symbols of the shah's modernization program. Nightclubs and movie theaters, viewed as symbols of moral corruption, were bombed. Banks, signs of economic corruption, were also hit by the opposition. In addition, police stations, representing political repression, were also targeted.

Khomeini, by October 1978, had been expelled from Iraq and reestablished his headquarters in France outside of Paris. This new location afforded Khomeini better exposure in the world press, as well as better communication with his followers in Iran. In November, leaders of the National Front, an opposition political party, met with Khomeini and issued a statement which called for the removal of the shah and the creation of a new government in Iran. At this same time, the shah began to negotiate with moderate oppositions, some of whom were also members of the National Front. After meeting with the shah, National Front leader, Shapour Bakhtair arranged to form a government as long as the shah left Iran.

On January 16, 1979, the shah departed Iran. Bakhtair began to initiate polices that would appease the opposition. However, Bakhtair could not gain the support of Khomeini who was committed to the creation of a new political structure in Iran and an end to the monarchy. The National Front expelled Bakhtair as a traitor and on February 1, 1979 Khomeini returned to Iran from exile. Shortly thereafter, Khomeini would declare a new state, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as determined through a referendum throughout Iran.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Under the gaze of their spiritual advisers, Iranians voted overwhelmingly if not exactly secretly in favour of an Islamic republic on March 30th and 31st. Ayatollah Khomeini has got the rubber-stamp he wanted for the new regime he intends to put in place of the Shah's.

It could hardly have been otherwise. The ballot papers had a green section (the colour of Islam) for Yes, and a red section—guess whose colour that is—for those intrepid enough to vote No. The choice had to be made in full view of the mullahs and other guardians of the revolution who manned the polling stations. Few voters exercised the "right" of dissent.

Away from the polling stations, there was muffled opposition. The new political party of the middle class, the National Democratic Front, called for a boycott. Ayatollah Shariatmadari, who used to be Iran's foremost religious leader, expressed reservations about the absence of a real choice. And several of the country's minorities are manifestly uneasy. The Turkomans, in particular, are putting up a tough fight for autonomy. For the minorities, non-Persians and in many cases Sunni Moslems, not Shiates like most Persians, the way the referendum was run hints at the emergence of a new tyranny.

SIGNIFICANCE

Khomeini and his followers asserted that the 1979 referendum represented the popular will to create a new Islamic state, in which the economy and society would be managed by the tenets of Islam. The ultimate authority in the new structure was to be held by the supreme leader. The supreme leader is a member of the ulama, or Muslim scholars whose role is the interpretation of Islamic law. The new government also provided for a president, and assembly of experts, from which the supreme leader is chosen. The guardian council serves as a constitutional court and the Majlis serves as the parliament of Iran.