Tehran

By red_knight_65

  • First Russo-Persian War

  • War eventually lost to Russia, with loss of territory.

  • Constitutional Revolution. Dabashi calls this event the beginning of modern Iran, when the absolute monarchy becomes a constitutional monarchy (71).

  • The rule of the first Pahlavi monarch comes about as a result of a military coup in 1921 supported by the British. Reza Shah crowned himself on April 25, 1926. Reza Shah was determined to modernize Iran, looking to imitate Ataturk’s modernization of Tur

  • Establishment of Tehran University, modern and secular.Dabashi says of the university: “Tehran University would of course also function as the secular counterpart of religious seminaries in Qom and Mashhad – thus there were now two, diametrically opposed

  • Veiling of women in public is banned by the Shah.

  • Second Pahlavi monarch, age 22, occupies the throne after his father is exiled to South Africa. Dabashi says of this transition: “The flirtation of Reza Shah with the Axis powers resulted in the Allied occupation of Iran soon after the war began, and he

  • Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran; they promise Iran national sovereignty (Dabashi 124).

  • Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddeq nationalizes the Iranian oil industry, which foments a power struggle with the Shah. Dabashi notes that this is a time when anticolonial movements are active in the region, Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Nasser in Egypt (127).

  • The US CIA engineers a coup (led by Kermit Roosevelt) that removes Prime Minister Mosaddeq, and brings the Shah back to power. Dabashi notes that Iran served as a crucial logistical base for the American military during the US involvement in the Vietnam W

  • The Shah establishes SAVAK, the secret police that act against political dissenters.

  • The White Revolution, initiated by the Shah and supported by President Kennedy, implements further secularization.

  • Ayatollah Khomeini, now Shi’ite leader, challenges the Shah, only to be arrested and exiled to Iraq.

  • Siahkal uprising, armed struggle against the Shah by socialists.

  • The Shah celebrates 2500 years of Persian monarchy.

  • Iran doesn’t participate in the Arab oil embargo, which means tremendous profits for the Shah.

  • President Jimmy Carter on a visit to Iran proclaims Iran “an island of stability in an otherwise troubled Middle East” (Dabashi 157).

  • Increasing large public demonstrations against the Shah signify opposition of urban guerrilla movements and the clerics. On “Black Friday” in September the Shah’s army opens fire on protesters, killing and wounding many. In October Khomeini flies to Fra

  • The Shah leaves the country on January 16 for Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas, Mexico, and then the US, where he undergoes treatment for cancer. He eventually settles in Egypt, where he dies on July 27, 1980.

  • The Islamic Republic

  • A million Iranians celebrate in Tehran, calling for the formation of an Islamic republic and the return of Khomeini.

  • Khomeini returns in triumph to Iran and appoints Mehdi Bazargan prime minister for a provisional government while the Islamic constitution is drafted.

  • Militant students seize the American embassy in Tehran and hold 52 American diplomats hostage there for 444 days. A US attempt to rescue the hostages on April 24, 1980, results in humiliating catastrophe when the American helicopters and planes crash in

  • In September, Saddam Hussein invades Iran, with the support of the US, Europe, and the Soviet Union. This is the beginning of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.Consider the other upheaval in the region: The Russians invade Afghanistan Military coup in Pakista

  • the first Iranian president, Abu al-Hassan Bani-Sadr, is inaugurated. He’ll be dismissed and exiled by Khomeini in June 1981.

  • Iran accepts a UN-sponsored peace treaty that ends the war with Iraq.

  • Khomeini dies and is succeeded by Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani becomes president, serving until 1997.

  • Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, First Gulf War (1990-1991), repulsed by American forces.

  • Mohammed Khatami elected president, serving until 2004.

  • President Bush designates Iran, along with Syria and North Korea, as the Axis of Evil.

  • the US invades Iraq.

  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becomes president of Iran. Dabashi calls him a populist candidate, supported by the poor and also by the militant Islamists (221).