middle eastern studies. iran a.k.a. persia shia state
TRANSCRIPT
Iran, Iraq, & TurkeyMiddle Eastern Studies
Iran
a.k.a. PERSIAShia State
636 CE
Arab invasion brought the end of the Sasanian dynasty and the start of Islamic rule
Ethinicities
50% Persian 25% Turkic Azeri 25% Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, etc. History – has been controlled by
Aryans Greeks Arabs Mongols Turkics
Turkic Safavid Dynasty
Last dynasty – ended in the mid 1700s
1795 Russia and Great Britain wanted to divide Persia Turkic Qajar tribe moved the capital to
Tehran to save it from division The Qajar Dynasty was established and
ruled for the next 130 years
Qajar Dynasty
1901: Gave Great Britain a 60 year
dispensation for their oil reserves Traded customs proceeds to Russia for a
large loan 1906:
Gave London concessions over Persian tobacco industry
Nationalists
Got worried about the funds Great Britain and Russia were getting from Iran Formed a Constitutional Government Formed a National Assembly called the
Majlis Russia and Great Britain got ticked
off so they divided Persia into two kingdoms based on economics
Majlis
Did not give up Hired an American banker named
Morgan Shuster to set things straight Gave him total control of Persian
finanances Russia forced the Majlis to fire Shuster
WWI breaks out Persia declares neutrality Not invited to the Paris Peace Conference
at the end of the war
Great Britain went behind Persia’s back and wrote/submitted the Anglo-Iranian Treaty Turned Iran into a British protectorate
Majlis got FURIOUS Great Britain backed off 1921 Reza Khan overthrew the Qajars Qajar Dynasty ended and Reza Khan is
the new Persian Shah
Reza Khan•Aryan•Worked to nationalize Persia•Changed the country’s name to Iran to associate it with his Aryan roots•Made religion an individual, private matter•By mid 1930s all citizens were encouraged to wear western clothes•Built factories, roads, railways•Developed European-style education system•Negotiated to get British and Russian troops out of Iran•Negotiated to get back the rights to the oil, tobacco, and customs rights
Reza’s downfall…
Things were rocking along well in Iran until Reza became friends with… Hitler Sided with the Germans in WWII Great Britain and Russia invaded Iran in
1941 Reza resigned and turned control of
Iran over to his son, Muhammed Reza Pahlavi who sided with the allies
Muhammed Reza Pahlavi
Got in good with the Allies by hosting the Tehran Conference in 1943 FDR, Stalin,
Churchill Promised
independence and financial aid to Iran after the war
Post WWII
U.S. pressured USSR to leave Iran Great Britain was too hard hit by the
war to care about Iranian control U.S. wanted Iran for its strategic
location and oil.
1951 – Majlis nationalized the oil production. Great Britain left Iran Oil production dropped▪ Iranians were not educated in how to operate the
wells and refineries Mid-1950s – Iranian oil production was back
in the hands of Europeans and Americans Iran was receiving ½ the profits U.S. firmly established Shah Pahlavi as the
leader of Iran
1953-67 – Iran received $600 million in U.S. aid Eisenhower Administration (most of the money) Kennedy Administration Johnson Administration
JFK saw social troubles in Iran, urged Shah to fix the problem. White Revolution▪ Rich sold their land t the gov’t▪ Gov’t gave the land to the poor as small farms▪ Improved education and women’s rights
Shah tried to modernize Iran Moved too quickly and sent the people into
culture shock! He formed the Savak (secret police) to seek
out and get rid of all opposition White Revolution and U.S. involvement
made the mullahs made. They began to speak out 1964 the Shah deported their main leader▪ Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenini▪ Inspired a revolution!
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Khomeini was exiled from Iran Fled to Iraq Developed a doctrine
known as THE RULE OF THE JURIST▪ Secular gov’ts should be
replaced by theocracies▪ Laws would be
administered by mujtahids (Islamic law experts)
1978 – Saddam Hussein kicked Ayatollah Khomeini out of Iraq so he fled to France
Due to the civil unrest in Iran, Khomeini developed a plan Video tape his sermons Smuggle tapes into Iran Copy and distribute the tapes
His plan worked! Strong national movement began Those who didn’t like him thought he’d at least
be better than the Shah
January 1979 – unrest in Iran is really bad! Shah fled the country Khomeini returned to Iran Savak are executed Islamic Revolution had begun!
April 1, 1979 – Islamic Constitution is adopted Council of Guardians from Khomeini became the faqih – expert jurist
Social changes Mandatory dress codes Prohibition Capital punishment for adultery and prostitution, etc. Partnerships with the West and non-Muslim gov’ts ended
November 1979 Shah entered the US for cancer treatment Khomeini followers stored the U.S. Embassy
and took 70 hostages Said they would exchange the hostages for
the Shah President Carter said “NO WAY!”
November 1979 – December 1980 Negotiations were held UN tried to help Military tried and failed Shah died
Khomeini call the U.S. “the Great Satan”
U.S. thinks Iran is full of Muslim madmen!
Hostages were released in 1981 after the 1980 Presidential Election U.S. paid Iran in cash
and weapons
USSR
U.S. is tied up with hostages in Iran USSR invades Afghanistan
US issues the Carter doctrine▪ Don’t try to control the Persian Gulf – we
won’t have it
Iran-Iraq War 1980s
Iran released the hostages and said We’re not worried about the U.S. We’re not worried about the USSR in
Afghanistan We’re worried about Iraq
50% of Iraqis were Shia Muslims who got very excited about the Islamic Revolution Hussein got a little nervous Khomeini called the Sunni Iraqis infidels
Tensions mount Iraq deports all Iranian Shias back to Iran Iranian counterrevolutionaries move to Iraq to fight
against Iran September 21, 1980
Iraq invaded Iran Secular Iraq vs. Religious Revivalist Iran The West backs Iraq
Khomeini got himself elected president of Iran War rages Oil platforms and fields are threatened Oil production is interrupted
1988 – Iran is in ruins The people
convince the leaders to make peace with Iraq
June 4, 1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over
Open to the West again?
July 1989 – Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani became Iran’s president.
He wanted to open trade with the West again because Iran’s economy needed it
Things rocked along a little on the shaky side until 1995
1995 – Clinton cut all ties with Iran when rumors began to fly about nuclear weapons in Iran
1996 – U.S. led a world trade embargo against Iran for developing Weapons of Mass Destruction
Russia refused to jump on the embargo bandwagon so they helped Iran build a nuclear power plant in southern Iran
1997 – Muhammed Khatami became the new president of Iran Wanted to improve relations with the
U.S. His moderation gave Iranian citizens
hope Khamenei began to lose followers
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
2005 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over as the Iranian President. Holds the office to the present Very controversial 2009 re-election was
highly protested Believes he is the chosen
one to prepare the way for the 12th Imam to rule the world
Still calls the U.S. ‘the Great Satan’
Iraq
Sunni State
Facts
Iraq was formed from several provinces into a nation by the British after WWI
From 1921-2003 Iraq was politically controlled by people who were Arab and Sunni. This is unusual because only 20% of Iraq’s population is both Arab and Sunni.
Kurds make up 20% of Iraq’s total population, but most are located in NE Iraq.
Ba’th Party
July of 1968 - The Ba’th Party took over the government Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr and his cousin
Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti led the coupe Bakr became the leader of the new Ba’th
Republic Saddam formed Iraq’s secret police and
brutally scared people into loyally following Bakr and the Ba’th Party
Fear became the glue that kept Iraq together.
Late 1960s-early 1970s – Ethnic Kurds, Turkomans, Assyrian Christians, Arab Shias, conservative Sunnis and communists were Arrested Tortured Deported ExecutedFor being disloyal to the Ba’th Party
Saddam Hussein
He began running the country in the late 1970s, but the aging Bakr was still the ‘leader’
July 1979, Bakr retired and transferred power to Saddam
Saddam’s first meeting with Iraq’s top leaders He accused these people of conspiring with Syria to
overthrow him He executed most of these men himself in the next
7 days He had approximately 450 more ‘conspirators’ killed
He aligned Iraq with the USSR He constantly harassed, tortured,
and executed Shia leaders and their followers
Saddam invaded Shia led Iran in 1980
Iran-Iraq War
The main fight was supposed to be over their shared control of the Shatt al-Arab River This is where the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers join together and flow into the Persian Gulf
Saddam and Khomeini hated each other
Saddam knew the U.S. would help because of the Iranian Hostage Crisis
Saddam wanted Iran’s province of Khuzestan because of it’s oil fields
This conflict became known as the 1st Gulf War because it spread into the Persian Gulf 1983-86▪ Iraq controlled the Shatt al-Arab River▪ Iran controlled parts of northern Iraq where
the Kurds joined them against Iraqi forces▪ U.S. secretly sold weapons to Iran to get the
hostages▪ Once discovered the US openly backed Iraq
1987▪ France and USSR and US supply Iraq▪ US navy went to Persian Gulf to ‘protect’ oil
supply 1988▪ War ended – both countries returned to
prewar boundaries▪ 5 days later, Saddam attacked the Kurds in
Iraq ▪ and killed 5000 with deadly gasses in Halabjah▪ 180,000 Kurds disappeared▪ 4000 Kurdish villages were totally destroyed
2nd Gulf War
1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait to get their oil
economy Operation Desert Shield▪ US moved into Saudi Arabia and the Persian
Gulf to protect Saudi oil supplies 1991
January, US launched Operation Desert Storm▪ Invaded Kuwait▪ 6 weeks later, Kuwait is free from Iraqi
soldiers
Coalition forces (US, Great Britain, France, Italy, etc.) Dropped leaflets into Iraq urging groups
to rise up against Saddam Kurds in the North did Shias in the South did Tons of Kurds were killed in this uprising▪ US, British, and French troops moved in to
establish a safe zone
1992 To get even with the Shias, Saddam began to
drain the marshes which provided their economic livelihood.
1994 Marshes were totally drained▪ Iraqi soldiers marched in and killed the Shias in
Southern Iraq 2001
Ten years of UN sanctions had hurt Iraq UN began a ‘food for oil’ program
2002 The UN embargo had been reduced to
only military related items 2003▪ March – US and Great Britain launched
Operation Iraqi Freedom▪ Bombed Baghdad
▪ April – US got control of Baghdad and Tikrit▪ May – Major fighting was over, rebuilding
began▪ July – first Governing Council met
2004 Saddam was captured
2005 Saddam was executed
The Present US troops are beginning to withdraw
after establishing a ‘democratic’ style of government in Iraq.
Iraqi faces to recognize
Saddam HusseinAfter his capture
Jallal TalibaniIraqi President
Nuri al-MalikiIraqi Prime Minister
Iraq’s Grand AyatollahAli Sistani
Turkey
Very westernized.
Turkey in the 20th Century
San Remo Conference of 1920 Treaty of Sevres – divided Turkey Mustafa led a revolt▪ Treaty of Lausanne 1923 – formed modern-
day Turkey Mustafa became a political leader
and began many reforms
Mustafa’s reforms Freedoms for
women Moved capital
from Istanbul to Ankara
Set up a republic Was
unanimously elected president!
More reforms… Separated church and state Had the fez outlawed Got rid of the veil Businessmen had to wear suits Introduced the Christian calendar Introduced the 24-hour day Divorces were not easily granted Polygamy was outlawed Women could inherit an equal share with their brothers Women could get an education and even educate men!!! Muslim women could marry non-Muslim men Freedom of religion was granted Changed the alphabet Changed the day of rest from Friday to Sunday All Turks had to have a last name by 1935
Mustafa Kemel Ataturk
Mustafa chose Ataturk for his last name Means ‘Father Turk’
1935 Hitler invaded parts of Europe Ataturk’s health began to decline
1938 – Ataturk died Ismet Inonu became president
Ismet Inonu
Believed in a strong government Got education going in
rural Turkey Began a state ballet Formed Opera companies
Was an excellent diplomat Allied Turkey with Britain 7
France Signed a non-aggression
treaty with Germany Toward the end of WWII,
ended Turkish neutrality and sided with the Allies
Post WWII Turkey
Turkish businesses profited from the war
Turkey joined the United Nations Turkey allowed another political
party to form Only forbid Communist and religious
parties New democratic party won
Celal Bayar became the new president
Celal Bayar
Bayar reinstated religious education and rebuilt Mosques
By 1958, Democrats were trying to control more and squash the opposition
General Cemal Gursel
By 1960, General Cemal Gursel and the military overthrew the Democrats
Military became the National Unity Party
Senate, with a new Constitution was set up
1961 – Military stepped down to let civilians control again
General Gursel was elected president
Justice Party formed and won votes to get the Prime Minister spot
Military Intervention
The military continued to intervene when they thought the country was straying from Ataturk’s dream for Turkey 1971 1980 1998
More, smaller parties formed Difficult to get majority to get stuff done
Civil War – 1980s to the Present
Kurds want independence Civil war rages off
and on
1993 – Turkey got it’s first female Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller
Turkish Leaders 2012
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
PresidentAbdullah Gul