Modern Iran & the Birth of Islamism

Sharif don't like it.

S. in Oakland wants to know about: “modern Iran, its worldview and its role in the Middle East”

Unlike many other Middle Eastern states which didn’t exist until the British and French drew arbitrary lines on the map in 1918, Iran has a rich history as a distinct nation dating back thousands of years. Since the Tiktok age has withered our attention spans, I won’t get into it all, but keep in mind that at various times and in different iterations Iran was one of the most powerful empires in the region. Instead of starting back in time immemorial, let’s begin in the 1950s. Iran was never colonized by the European powers, but it was an early oil exporter, which attracted some lustful stares from the infidels. In 1953, Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddegh wanted to nationalize the oil industry (dominated by British Petroleum, aka BP), and in response MI6 and the CIA teamed up to oust him. So already, we’re off to a good start vis-a-vis Iranian-Western relations.

Iran at the time was a monarchy, and the King (or “Shah” as he was called in Persian) lived a luxe lifestyle and became increasingly authoritarian after Mosaddegh’s downfall, using the secret police to crack down on any dissent. In 1971 he threw a celebration for himself linking his rule to ancient Persian dynasties, this shindig cost $700M in modern terms and alienated him from the population. Unlike today’s mega-rich Gulf sheikhs, the Shah didn’t give everyone a busywork government job and a check every month to keep them on his side, the oil riches were not widely shared. Protests against his rule began in 1978, led by a religious scholar named Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini who was living in exile at the time (a small aside: Muslim religious leaders are often called “clerics” in Western media, which makes them sound exotic and mystical. Journalists never call a Christian leader a “cleric”, it’s always “beloved televangelist” or “noted theologian”</end rant/>). The Shah was dying of cancer and was increasingly unable to control events, he fled the country in January 1979 and a (secular) opposition politician took over as Prime Minister. However, Khomeini’s Islamist movement wasn’t interested in sharing power with old-regime politicians. The Islamists quickly gained support from the army and overthrew the secular government in February of that year. Khomeini moved to institute a theocracy: the legal system was overhauled to align with Islamic law, and any opposition to Khomeini’s interpretation of Islam was silenced. Iran was officially transformed into an Islamic Republic with Khomeini as the Supreme Leader.

Iranians carrying Khomeini’s image, 1979. I’m just saying, did we ever seen him and Sean Connery in the same room at the same time?

An interesting thing to note here is that Islamism basically didn’t exist as a serious political force before 1978. No one back then would have predicted that Communism was heading for the ash heap of history and that Islamism would become one of the major ideologies of the world. Prior to this, most Muslim countries were run by secular (often socialist) strongmen who considered religion to be a bit quaint and old-fashioned, suitable for rednecks out in the provinces perhaps but not really relevant to the life of the European-educated ruling elite who wore Armani suits, guzzled whiskey, married Western fashion models, and went skiing in Chamonix. In the various post-colonial revolutions, wars, and coups in the Middle East, religion usually wasn't a key factor (the first three wars against Israel should be seen as regular inter-state wars rather than jihad), and militant or terrorist groups like the PLO usually had a non-religious socialist ideology. Political Islam didn’t have a major following anywhere, and advocating for it could land you in prison. How Islamism suddenly came out of nowhere to became a major factor in global politics is a question for another article, but keep in mind that all of this was very new and different in 1978. A visual comparison of Khomeini and the Arab strongmen of the day is instructive: they were usually either clean-shaven or had prim & proper mustaches inspired by the British officer corps. I’ll admit I talk about mustaches a lot on this blog, but don’t read too much homoerotic subtext into it. Anyway, these dudes wore military uniforms or Western-style business suits. Khomeini wore the traditional clothing of an religious scholar and had a long beard in the style of conservative Muslims. At a glance, this man was obviously different than what the Muslim world was used to:

One of these things is not like the other. From left: Khomeini, Saddam Hussein (Iraq), Hafiz Al-Assad (Syria), Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), & the Shah.

Though Khomeini was a Shia, limiting his appeal in the majority-Sunni Arab world, he wanted to spread the word and export revolution to other countries, making Iran an analog to what Bolshevik Russia had been in its early days: a source of inspiration to some, a source of fear to others.

The US allowed the Shah to travel to New York for cancer treatment, which caused a huge outcry in Iran. A mob attacked the US embassy in Tehran, taking 52 people hostage and holding them prisoner for more than a year. This established Iran’s reputation as a radical state that would take extreme, unpredictable actions: diplomatic staff are normally considered sacrosanct even during wartime. The crisis led to Jimmy Carter losing the 1980 election by a wide margin, in a show of spite towards Carter the Iranians waited until the precise moment Ronald Reagan was sworn in to release the prisoners. Since then Iran and the US have not re-established formal diplomatic relations. Khomeini deemed America the “Great Satan” and the chant "Death to America" is often repeated at Friday prayers in Iran. Even today, Iran has a habit of arresting Western tourists as spies and holding them hostage until they get paid a hefty ransom. And it’s not just Americans, inoffensive folk such as Swedes and Spaniards have been taken hostage in recent years.

Anti-US propaganda, Tehran

It’s a recurring pattern throughout history that revolutionary states are seen as fragile and are prone to being invaded by their neighbours: this happened after the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution, and it happened to Iran, too. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 to try to seize the oil-producing regions, sparking a war that would last until 1988. The Iran-Iraq war is often compared to the First World War for its high-casualty trench warfare and use of chemical weapons by the Iraqis. The US knew Saddam was using chemical warfare, but they gave him weapons and money anyway since Iran was the new baddy of the moment. Not to be outdone in the atrocity department, the Iranians cleared minefields by sending out waves of their own child soldiers to walk across them. Plenty more where they came from, and if you step on a mine you go straight to heaven. Martyrdom is a big thing in Shia Islam, and the Iranian regime wallows in the rhetoric of it constantly. Neither side was able to completely defeat the other, and the war ground to a stalemate. Before it ended a US Navy ship shot down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290 people, that plus funding Saddam didn't really improve US-Iran relations.

Donald Rumsfeld meeting Saddam Hussein in 1983. As Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush, Rumsfeld would become one of the main architects of the 2003 Iraq War. 

The homefront stabilized after the war ended, but Iran has sought to spread revolution abroad by funding Shia (and some Sunni) militant groups. Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, the Houthis in Yemen, many groups in Iraq, and others elsewhere receive Iranian money and training. None of these people have ever succeeded in overthrowing a government and establishing another Islamic Republic, but they are used as an instrument of Iranian foreign policy: if an opponent does something Iran doesn’t like, they can use these proxies to stir up trouble and keep the Great Satan busy elsewhere. The 2003 Iraq War was a gift to Iran: the Americans overthrew Saddam, Iran’s worst enemy, and ended his Sunni-dominated government. The majority of Iraqis are Shia, so once democracy was introduced they took control and turned their gaze towards the Islamic Republic for inspo. Now Iran has a huge influence over Iraqi culture & politics, and various militant groups there are under direct Iranian control. By the 2010s a regional rivalry had developed: Saudi Arabia and allied Gulf Arab states sought to suppress political Islam, and Iran supports Islamist movements seeking to replace monarchies and crusty dictators with bushy-bearded theocrats. It’s very similar to the Cold War with Saudi & Iran taking the place of the US & USSR, and just like the original, in this Cold War both sides are funding various proxies and nasty death squads in regional conflicts. Despite some nice rhetoric during the Arab Spring, America learned the lesson from Iraq that democratic elections could produce victory for Iranian-aligned movements. The US doesn’t talk much about promoting democracy in the Middle East anymore, they are now quite keen on those monarchs and crusty dictators. 

Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons since the 2000s. Some Westerners think that since Twelver Shia Islam keenly anticipates the coming of Judgement Day, this is inherently dangerous, but that’s a bit hypocritical considering how much influence fundamentalist Christianity has in the American military and government. This pursuit of the bomb led to increased tension with America, but no US President has made the first move since a war would trigger the Shia martyrdom complex across the Middle East, and the country is too big for the US to occupy (in American units, it’s 2.4 Texases). Iran has been digging deep bunkers for nuclear facilities in the mountains that the US probably can’t destroy with airstrikes, they’re now beyond the point where anyone could stop them. I won’t trace the whole history of the nuclear negotiations, but as of 2023 the intelligence agencies estimate that Iran could finish making a bomb in about 12 days. It’s doubtful now whether the US or Israel would ever launch a preemptive strike, since Iran would retaliate by nuking Tel Aviv. Another fun thing they could do even without nukes is launch a massive barrage of missiles across the Persian Gulf and wreck all the Saudi & UAE oil infrastructure, which would cause a major world economic crisis. So as things stand now, Iran has strong deterrent options that would make any opponent hesitant to strike them.

What is life like in Iran? Not great, really. There’s been massive inflation in recent years, and much of the economy is crippled by sanctions. The average person makes a few hundred USD per month. Booze is illegal, and the government’s interpretation of Islamic law means you can have your hand cut off for stealing, be lashed for other crimes, or be executed for being gay. The death penalty is quite popular, the usual method is to hang you from a construction crane. Women are required to wear a head covering in public, and riding a bicycle is verboten for ladies. To analogize it a bit better for you, Margaret Atwood’s depiction of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale was heavily influenced by the sudden imposition of religious law in Iran: some of the things from the Handmaid’s Tale TV adaption like amputations and crane-hanging actually happen in Iran. Praise Be. 

Iran has an elected Parliament and President, but real power lies with the unelected Supreme Leader and his Guardian Council of religious scholars. The Guardian Council has to pre-approve all candidates for office, and control over the armed forces and nuclear program lies with the Supreme Leader rather than the elected President or Parliament. Not everyone is keen on this theocratic government, to quote the immortal Wodehouse: if not actually disgruntled they are far from being gruntled. In 2009 there were widespread protests against the results of the presidential election that year, the regime responding by cracking skulls and firing on protestors. Subsequently there have been frequent, almost yearly mass protests against the regime, most recently starting in 2022 against the mandatory hijab law. Iran has been subject to various American sanctions since 1979, but the most recent ones against the nuclear program are quite expansive and have caused a lot of economic damage. As a result, the standard of living in the country has declined a lot: being a poor international outcast run by religious scolds can get tiring. If given a free choice today the people in Iran would probably choose a different kind of government, but just like plenty of other countries, they don’t have that choice. 

So I hope that’s a useful summary. Iran is a bit rogue and has done many nasty things, but it's not like the US has a sterling reputation either when it comes to the Middle East. Until something changes, Iran will be on one side of a Cold War against their fellow Muslims in the Arab states, if we’re lucky it will end peacefully just as the original Cold War did. Perestroika and Starbucks in Tehran? It could happen, especially considering that Iranians are just as disillusioned with their regime now as Soviet people were in the 80s. Stay tuned.

If you have a question or topic you want me to write about next, email distilledhistory@substack.com