The protests of 1979 which led to return of religious cleric
Ruhollah Khomeini to Iran and end to the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
still mesmerize the United States. Over the last four decades the United States
imposed economic sanctions, but failed in forcing Iran to accept its hegemony. Over
the years United States has sponsored and orchastered movements similar to 1979
protects to bring the change the prevailing administrative structure of Iran,
but all in vain. In this article I have used details mostly published in the western
media, some of the numbers may look exaggerated.
Islamic
Revolution (1979)
Major protests against the rule of Shah Reza
Pahlavi began in January 1978 after an Iranian newspaper, Ettelaat,
published a front-page editorial insulting Ruhollah Khomeini, a well-respected
cleric, at the direction of the Shah. In reaction to the publication, several
thousand protesters attacked symbols of the monarchy and clashed with security
forces in the conservative city of Qom.
The opposition movement attracted millions of Iranians
from all social strata. The monarchy was brutal, repressive and did not have
popular support. Leftists wanted a more democratic system of government.
Conservatives opposed the monarchy’s rapid westernization and secular outlook.
High unemployment and inflation after 1977 economic collapse exacerbated
tensions.
Between March and May 1978, the unrest spread to more
than three dozen Iranian cities. On September 8, 1978, a day known as “Black
Friday,” the regime imposed martial law and security forces opened fire on
demonstrators in Tehran’s Jaleh Square, killing more than 100. By December
1978, protests had spread to nearly all of Iran’s major cities and
dozens of smaller towns.
The Shah and his family fled the country for Egypt on
January 16, 1979. Khomeini returned from exile and was welcomed by millions of
people in the streets of Tehran. Khomeini officially took control of the
government after a referendum establishing the Islamic Republic on April 1,
1979.
Price
Hike Protests (2019)
In a surprise announcement on November 15, 2019, Iran
hiked gas prices—by up to 300 percent—and introduced a new rationing system.
The prime objective of the seemed raising funds to help the poor, but it
backfired. The protests swept 100 cities over four days. They first
broke out in oil-rich Khuzestan province, in Iran’s southwest but quickly
spread to other regions, including Mashhad, a conservative stronghold and
Iran’s second largest city, in the northwest. Demonstrators reportedly chanted
anti-government slogans, including, "Have shame Rouhani, Leave the country
alone!"
The regime used tear gas, water cannons and live
ammunition to disperse the protesters. The government also nearly completely
shut down the internet for five days to prevent images of the protests and
crackdown from spreading over social media.
According to an Amnesty International report by
December 2, at least 208 protesters had been killed. The Center for Human
Rights in Iran estimated that 4,000 people were arrested. Iran rejected the
reports by outside groups. The US State Department estimated that the regime
killed more than 1,000 people, including at least a dozen children, but
acknowledged that verification was difficult. Special Representative for Iran,
Brian Hook, said US officials “know for certain” that the death toll was in the
“many, many hundreds.”
Economic
Protests (2017)
On December 28, 2017, demonstrators in Mashhad, Iran’s
second largest city took to the streets to protest the government’s economic
policies and the high prices of basic goods and commodities. The demonstrations
quickly spread across the country to over 140 cities in every
province, organized largely through social media messaging apps. The scope of
the protests also expanded from economic woes to Iranian involvement in the
Middle East and calls for regime change. Slogans included “not Gaza,
not Lebanon, my life for Iran,” “leave Syria, think about us,” “Khamenei, shame
on you, leave the country alone!" and "death to the dictator.” The
protests were the largest and most intense since the 2009 Green Movement. But
unlike the Green Movement, the 2017-18 protests were largely leaderless and
disorganized. After two weeks of protests, at least 22 protesters were killed and
more than 3,700 were detained.
Green
Scarf Movement (2009)
The Green Scarf Movement took its name from a
green sash given to Mir Hossein Mousavi by Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s two-term
president and the reform movement’s first standard-bearer. It reached its
height when up to 3 million peaceful demonstrators turned out on Tehran streets
to protest official claims that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the 2009
presidential election in a landslide. Their simple slogan was: “Where is my
vote?” The movement soon embodied the frustrated aspirations of Iran’s
century-old quest for democracy and desire for peaceful change.
Over the next six months, the Green Movement evolved from
a mass group of angry voters to a nation-wide force demanding the democratic
rights originally sought in the 1979 revolution, rights that were hijacked by
radical clerics. Every few weeks, protesters took to the streets to challenge the
regime and its leadership. But by early 2010, the regime had quashed public
displays of opposition. The Green Movement retreated into a period of
soul-searching and regrouping.
Riot police and Basij paramilitary forces violently suppressed the
demonstrations immediately following the election, which attracted more than
40,000 Iranians. Between June 2009 and February 2010, more than 30 protesters
were killed and 4,000 were arrested.
Student
Protests (1999)
On July 8, 1999, students at Tehran University gathered
to protest the government’s closure of a popular reformist newspaper, Salaam. The
student groups supported then President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and his
reformist political faction, the Association of Combatant Clerics, which
operated Salaam. The demonstrations were initially peaceful. But later
that evening, security forces attacked a Tehran University dormitory where the
student protesters were holed up. Riot police beat the students with clubs and
set several rooms on fire. At least one student was killed and
hundreds more were wounded. Police arrested more than 1,500 of the protesters.
The attack on the student dormitory sparked widespread anger and protests that
spread across the country. More than 10,000 demonstrators chanted slogans
against government hardliners and clashed with police in the streets.
Protests continued for six days. By the end of the unrest,
at least four protesters were killed and an estimated 1,200
to 1,400 were detained. Khatami seemed helpless to protect his base of
supporters. His silence when security forces and thugs beat up protesting
students at Tehran University were indicators that he had lost the initiative.
Control had passed to the hardliners. The government finally quelled the
protests on July 13 after a ban was announced on rallies. But the student
protests laid the foundation for the Green Movement a decade later.
