History of the Islamic Republic of Iran

One of the most dramatic changes in government in Iran's history was seen with the 1979 Iranian Revolution where Shah (king) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Autocratic monarchy was replaced by an Islamic Republic based on the principle of rule by Islamic jurists, (or "Velayat-e faqih"), where clerics serve as head of state and in many powerful governmental roles. A pro-Western, pro-American foreign policy was exchanged for one of "neither east nor west," said to rest on the three "pillars" of mandatory veil (hijab) for women, and opposition to the United States and Israel. A rapidly modernizing, capitalist economy was replaced by populist and Islamic economic and cultural policies.

The leader of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was Iran's supreme leader until his death in 1989. He was followed by Ali Khamenei.

General trends

During the era of the Islamic Republic Iran has grown from from 39 million (1980) to 70 million people. It continued to be a major regional power, possessing large reserves of gas and oil and the largest country in the region. Modern trends such as urbanization, growing enrollment in higher education and literacy also continued.

Islamic Republic has a strong central state government and its oil revenues have brought it "respectable" levels of income, literacy, college enrollment, infant mortality, and infrastructure. However, The success of the Islamic Republic as a system is disputed.

Foreign policy

Main article: Iran's foreign policy

Following the 1979 revolution in Iran, the Islamic revolutionary regime of Ayatollah Khomeini dramatically reversed the pro-Western foreign policy of the regime it overthrew. Since then Iran has oscillated between the two opposing tendencies of revolutionary ardour - eliminating western non-Muslim tendencies and promoting the Islamic revolution abroad - and moves towards pragmatism - promoting normalization and economic development. Iran's initial post-revolutionary idealistic and hard-line foreign policy and ambitious goals during the Iran–Iraq War were replaced by more pragmatic policies after the Imam's death in 1989. Relations improved with its non-Revolutionary-Islamic neighbours - i.e. all its neighbors - particularly Saudi Arabia. Following the 2005 election of President Ahmedinejad, Iran has returned to more Islamic revolutionary policies.

The Islamic Republic's sponsorship of Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a major success, however in other areas it has seen setbacks. Author Olivier Roy describes the Islamic Republic's as having "lost most of its allure among non-Iranian Shia's," giving as examples the 1995 house arrest in Qom of the two sons of Grand Ayatollah Shirazi, spiritual leader of the Bahraini Shia; and the close cooperation between the Afghan Shia party Wahdat and the U.S. Army after November 2001.

The Islamic Republic strongly supports the Palestinian cause. Government aid goes to everything from Palestinian hospitals to arms supplies. There is vigorous media publicity, an official "Quds (Jerusalem) Day", and squares and streets named after Palestine crisscross Iranian cities. Some, however, believe Palestine is an issue where Islamic government priorities part company from grassroots support, and that Iranians "lack emotional and cultural ties to Palestinians."

Human development

See also: Health care in Iran

Iran's Human Development Index rating (including life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living) improved significantly in the years after the revolution, climbing from 0.569 in 1980 to 0.759 in 2007/8. It now ranks 94th out of 177 countries with data. This is approximately the same rate, as neighbor Turkey which has a somewhat higher HDI rating (0.775). One factor in the HDI rise has been literacy rates among Iranian women which "rose from 28% to 80% between 1976 and 1996."

Although the Shah's regime had created a popular and successful Literacy Corps and also worked to raise literacy rates, the Islamic Republic based its educational reforms on Islamic principles. The Literacy Movement Organization (LMO), replaced the Literacy Corps following the revolution and is credited with much of Iran's continued success in reducing illiteracy from 52.5 per cent in 1976 to just 24 per cent, at the last count in 2002. The movement has established over 2,000 community learning centers across the country, employed some 55,000 instructors, distributed 300 easy-to-read books and manuals, and provided literacy classes to a million people, men as well as women. The increase in literacy "meant that for the first time in history most of the population, including Azeris, Kurds, Gilakis, and Moazanderanis, could converse and read in Persian."

In the field of health, maternal and infant mortality rates have been cut significantly. Infant mortality per 1000 dropped from 104 to 25.

In particular conditions improved in the countryside. The Reconstruction Jihad "extended roads, electricity, piped water, and most important of all, health clinics into villages. ... turning peasants into farmers. Soon most farmers had access not only to roads, schools, ... but also ... radios, refrigerators, telephones, televisions, motorbikes, even pickup trucks. ...on the eve of the revolution, life expectancy at birth had been less than 56; by the end of the century, it was near 70."

Economy

Main article: Economy of Iran

See also: 1979 energy crisis

This improvement in Iran's human development figures is particularly impressive given that Iran's economy has stagnated since the revolution - gross national income per capita was $2,160 in 1981 and had only grown to $2,770 in 2005 (for comparison the UK's GNI quadrupled in the same time period) .

Graph of Top Oil Producing Counties, showing drop in Iran's Production .

This is credited in part to the shattering of the Iranian oil sector and consequent loss of output from the revolution and Iran–Iraq War and Iran's soaring population over the same period, and to the inefficiency of the state sector, which makes up approximately 60-80% of the economy. Iran's sustained economic loss because of the war is estimated at $500 billion.

The constitution of the Islamic Republic calls for the state sector "to include all large-scale and mother industries, foreign trade", natural resources and communication; with the private sector to consist of agriculture, and of industry, trade and services "that supplement the ... state and cooperative sectors."

Complaining about the economy is said to have become "a national pastime" in Iran. According to international economic consultant Jahangir Amuzegar, as of 2003:

Despite a 100 percent rise in average annual oil income since the revolution, most indicators of economic welfare have steadily deteriorated. … Average inflation in the years after the revolution has been at least twice as high as during the 1970s, unemployment has been three times higher, and economic growth is two-thirds lower. As a result, Iran's per capita income has declined by at least 30 percent since 1979. By official admission, more than 15 percent of the population now lives below the absolute poverty line, and private estimates run as high as 40 percent.

Another economist estimates that Iranians earn one-forth of what they did before the revolution in real terms. Accumulated assets of the Iranian middle class - carpets, gold, apartments - that were acquired in the four-year boom after the 1973 oil price rise and served to cushion the fall in standards of living, have now reportedly "largely been sold off."

The poor have also exhibited dissatisfaction. Absolute poverty rose by nearly 45% during the first 6 years of the Islamic revolution and on several occasions the mustazafin have rioted, protesting the demolition of their shantytowns and rising food prices. Disabled war veterans have demonstrated against mismanagement of the Foundation of the Disinherited. Hardship has compelled some children to take odd jobs rather than go to school.

A 2002 study leaked from Iran's Interior Ministry, reported nearly 90% of respondents dissatisfied with the present government according to Amuzegar. Of this total, 28% wanted "fundamental" changes, 66% "gradual reforms." 10% expressed satisfaction with the status quo.

According British-Iranian scholar, Ali M. Ansari, "Iranians joke" that with the world's second or third largest reserves of oil and natural gas, extensive deposits of copper, gold, uranium, as well as an educated and cohesive workforce, "they are blessed with all the facilities to be the industrial engine of the region, except good governance."

Corruption

See also: Bonyad

According to some observers, corruption in Iran compares unfavorably with pre-revolutionary days. Foreign journalist Robin Wright quotes a bazaari as saying "The clergy tries to keep itself clean. But you can't do anything anymore without paying off this mullah's son or that mullah's brother-in-law - and these days usually both."

Bribery "in Iran... was increasingly becoming the biggest part of a business deal - and a lot of other transactions too. Iranians called it bribery, or "oiling the mustache," was commonly practiced before the revolution, but payoffs then "were usually a one-time thing of a known amount. Two decades after the revolution, even the smallest service called for bribes to several different parties.

Emigration

See also: Iran's brain drain

Journalists report complaints that, "these days, if a student is lucky enough to study in the West, he will rarely come home. There are so few good jobs that everyone, from students to middle-aged engineers, is looking for a way out." An estimated "two to four million entrepreneurs, professionals, technicians, and skilled craftspeople (and their capital)" emigrated to other countries following the revolution, and continue to do so at a rate of more than 150,000 a year. This flight of intellectual capital is estimated to come to almost $6 billion a year in growth opportunities, based on the average Iranian professional contributiong $40,000 per year to gross capital formation.

Emigration from Iran, starting with young males fleeing from the Iran–Iraq War draft, is thought be some to be the feature of the Islamic Republic most resented by Iranians. According to Shirin Ebadi, "If you ask most Iranians what keeneh, what grievance, they nurture most bitterly against the Islamic Republic, it is the tearing apart of their families ... had the revolutionaries tempered their wild radicalism, had they not replaced then shah with a regime that prompted mass flight, their families would still be whole."

Society

While the revolution brought about some re-Islamisation of Iran, particularly in terms of personal appearance -- beards, hijab -- it has not prompted a reversal of some modernizing trends or a reversion to traditional patterns of family life, (such as polygamy and the extended family with numerous children).

Despite the lowering of the legal age of marriage for women fell to 9, and the Ayatollah Khomeini's support for early marriage for females,

It is recommended that one hurries in giving husband to a daughter who has attained puberty, meaning that she is of the age of religious accountability. His Holiness, Sadegh [the 6th Imam] salutations to him, bade that it is one of a man's good fortunes that his daughter does not see menses in his own house.

the actual average age of marriage for women rose to 22 by 1996. Thus the age difference between husbands and wives in Iran actually fell between 1980 and 2000, from 7 to 2.1 years. (The man's average age at marriage has remained around 24.4 over the past 20 years, which means greater educational equality between spouses.)

Nor has Islamisation of family law lead to an increase in the number of polygamous families or more frequent divorces. Polygamy has remained at about 2% of permanent marriages during the past 40 years and the divorce rate has decreased slightly since the 1970s.

Population growth was encouraged for the first nine years of the revolution, but in 1988 youth unemployment concerns prompted the government to do "an amazing U-turn" and Iran now has "one of the world's most effective" family planning programs.

After Iranian revolution, Iranian women have continued to occupy high positions in political system. In late 1990s, Iranians sent more women to Iranian parliament than Americans sent to U.S. senate.

The success of elimination of Western influence has also been mixed. A common Western custom - the wearing of neckties - is banned in government buildings in Iran. Western music is banned even more thoroughly, but observors note it is nonetheless popular and widespread.

Human Rights

Main article: Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

In the 28 months between February 1979 and June 1981, revolutionary courts executed 497 political opponents as `counterrevolutionaries`, and `sowers of corruption on earth.` In the next four years from June 1981 until June 1985, the courts sentenced more than 8000 opponents to death. Like other revolutions before it, the Iranian Revolution took a higher toll on those who had participated in the revolution than those in the regime it over through.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Iran

Iran is governed by Sharia law. It is one of the few Muslim countries where hijab for women is required by law. At the same time, it has "the lowest mosque attendance of any Islamic country," according to Zohreh Soleimani of the BBC. Iranian clergy have complained that more than 70% of the population do not perform their daily prayers and that less than 2% attend Friday mosques.

For religious minorities life has been mixed under the Islamic Republic. Khomeini also called for unity between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims (Sunni Muslims are the largest religious minority in Iran). Pre-revolutionary statements by Khomeini were antagonistic towards Jews, but shortly after his return from exile in 1979, he issued a fatwa ordering that Jews and other minorities (except Baha'is) be treated well. Non-Muslim religious minorities do not have equal rights in the Islamic Republic (For example senior government posts are reserved for Muslims and Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian schools must be run by Muslim principals) but four of the 270 seats in parliament are reserved for three non-Islamic minority religions.

The 300,000 members of the Bahá'í Faith, are actively harassed. "Some 200 of whom have been executed and the rest forced to convert or subjected to the most horrendous disabilities." Starting in late 1979 the new government systematically targeted the leadership of the Bahá'í community by focusing on the Bahá'í leadership.

Main article: Persecution of Bahá'ís

Natural disasters

Main article: Earthquakes in Iran

An earthquake, centered on Bam in SE Iran, killed more than 26,000 people in Dec 2003. A major earthquake hit N Iran on June 21 1990, killing nearly 40,000 people.

Scientific development

Main article: Science in Iran

Iran's scientific progress is subject to many problems including funding, international sanctions and management. However in some areas such as medicine, surgery, pharmacology, stem cell research and theoretical physics (e.g. string theory), Iranian scientists have found international reputation since the Iranian revolution. Perhaps, nuclear technology and stem cell research were the two fields that have enjoyed special support from the central government and Iranian leadership since the revolution.

Iran has some of the most liberal laws on stem cell research. This has helped Iran to place itself among leaders of stem cell technology. However, the United States, followed by Germany, is by far the world’s leader in the total number of stem cell articles published. In terms of articles per capita basis, Israel is the leading state. Iran with one paper per capita has been ranked 16th along with Czech Republic, Spain, Romania, Switzerland and Turkey. Except for 21 countries, all other states produced no published research in this field till 2007.

Iran had some significant successes in nuclear technology during last few decades, especially in nuclear medicine. However, there is hardly any connection between Iran's scientific society and that of the Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's national science budget is about $900 million and it has not been subject to any significant increase since 15 years ago. United States federal budget for 2007 was $25 billion, more than 25 time above Iran's budget.

Khomeini era

Islamic Revolution

Main article: Iranian Revolution

Islamic Republic of Iran began with the Iranian Revolution. Although some might argue that the revolution is still ongoing, its time span can be said to have begun in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations to overthrow the Shah, and concluded with the approval of the new theocratic Constitution — whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country — in December 1979. In between, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled Iran in January 1979 after strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country, and on February 1, 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran to a greeting by several million Iranians. The final collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty occurred shortly after on February 11 when Iran's military declared itself "neutral" after guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979 when Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so.

Initial international impact

The initial impact of the Islamic revolution around the world was striking. In the non-Muslim world it has changed the image of Islam, generating much interest in the politics and spirituality of Islam. In the Mideast and Muslim world, particularly in its early years, it triggered enormous enthusiasm and redoubled opposition to western intervention and influence. Islamist insurgents rose in Saudi Arabia (the 1979 week-long takeover of the Grand Mosque), Egypt (the 1981 machine-gunning of the Egyptian President Sadat), Syria (the Muslim Brotherhood rebellion in Hama), and Lebanon (the 1983 bombing of the American Embassy and French and American peace-keeping troops).

Hostage crisis

Main article: Iran hostage crisis

An event that helped radicalize the revolution and strengthen its anti-American stance was the Iran hostage crisis. On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran holding 52 embassy employees hostage for a 444 days. The Carter administration severed diplomatic relations and imposed economic sanctions on April 7, 1980 and later that month unsuccessfully attempted a rescue that further enhanced Khomeini's prestige in Iran. On May 24 the International Court of Justice called for the hostages to be released. Finally the hostages were released 20 January 1981, by agreement of the Carter Administration, see Algiers Accords Jan. 19, 1981. The crisis also marked the beginning of American legal action, or sanctions, that economically separated Iran from America. Sanctions blocked all property within US jurisdiction owned by the Central Bank and Government of Iran.

Terror attacks

One early challenge to the theocratic government of Ayatollah Khomeini was a series of devastating terror attacks attributed to the People's Mujahedin of Iran or MKO. Hundreds of PMOI supporters and members were killed from 1979 to 1981, and some 3,000 were arrested. but unlike other opposition groups the regime repressed, the MKO was able to retaliate.

On 28 June 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, bombs were detonated at the headquarters of the since-dissolved Islamic Republic Party. Around 70 high-ranking officials, including Chief Justice Mohammad Beheshti (who was the second most powerful figure in the revolution after Ayatollah Khomeini at the time), cabinet members, and members of parliament, were killed. The Mujahedin never publicly confirmed or denied any responsibility for the deed, but only stated the attack was `a natural and necessary reaction to the regime's atrocities.` Khomeini did accuse them of responsibility and, according to BBC journalist Baqer Moin, the Mujahedin were "generally perceived as the culprits" for it in Iran. Two months later on August 30, another bomb was detonated killing President Rajai and Premier Mohammad Javad Bahonar. A member of the Mujahedin, Mas'ud Kashmiri, was announced as the perpetrator, and according to regime reports came close to killing the entire government including Khomeini. The reaction following both bombings was intense with many arrests and executions of Mujahedin and other leftist groups, but "assassinations of leading officials and active supporters of the regime by the Mujahedin were to continue for the next year or two."

Iran–Iraq War

Main article: Iran–Iraq War

The eight year long Iran–Iraq War (September 1980 - August 1988) was the most important international event for the first decade of the Islamic Republic and possibly for its history so far. It helped to strengthen the revolution although it cost Iran much in lives and treasure.

Shortly after the success of the revolution, revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini began calling for Islamic revolutions across the Muslim world, including Iran's Arab neighbor Iraq, the one large state besides Iran with a Shia Muslim majority population.

The war began with Iraqi's invasion of Iran, with an attempt by Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein to take advantage of the perceived post-revolutionary military weakness in Iran and the Revolution's unpopularity with Western governments. Much of the top leadership of Iran's once-strong Iranian military had been executed. Saddam sought to expand Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf and the oil reserves in Khuzestan (which also only has a substantial Arab population), and to undermine Iranian Islamic revolutionary attempts to incite the Shi'a majority of his country. Many Iranians believe Saddam invaded with the encouragement of the United States, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

A combination of fierce resistance by Iranians and military incompetence by Iraqi forces soon stalled the Iraqi advance and by early 1982 Iran regained almost all the territory lost to the invasion. The invasion rallied Iranians behind the new regime, enhancing Khomeini's stature and allowed him to consolidate and stabilize his leadership. After this reversal, Khomeini refused an Iraqi offer of a truce, instead demanding reparation and toppling of Saddam Hussein from power.

As the costs of the eight-year war mounted and Iranian morale waned, Khomeini finally accepted a truce called for by UN Security Council Resolution 598. Nonetheless, severe fighting continued into the 1990s (and even to the present on a smaller scale) as Kurdish, nationalist, and communist forces fought the Iranian government.

The war is reckoned to have ended in a "draw", with no change in borders or regimes, an estimated 200,000 Iranian killed and cost Iran $627 billion in total direct and indirect costs (in 1990 dollars). Nonetheless the war helped to `awaken the people and to fight the problems that threaten the revolution,` in the word of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Early laws of the Islamic Republic

The new regime undid the Shah's old Family Protection Law, lowering the marriage age for girls back to nine and allowed husbands to divorce wives with the Triple talaq, without court permission. It purged women from the judiciary and secular teachers from the educational system. It removed Bahais from government positions, closed down their temples, and arrested and even executed their leaders. A strict `Islamic code of public appearance` was enforced - men were discouraged from wearing ties, women were obliged to wear either scarves and long coats or preferably the full chadour.

Economy

Iran economy suffered during the first decade following the revolution. Its currency, the rial, fell from 7 to the dollar before the revolution, to 1749 to the dollar in 1989. The revolution also is said have put an end to the influence of "the notables", and created a very large public sector of the economy, when the government "nationalizing their enterprises in order to keep their employees working... the state ended up with more than 2000 factories many of them operating in the red."

President Rafsanjani's administration

See also: Rafsanjani presidency

Ideological changes by fatwa and constitution

Two major changes in the ideological underpinnings of the Islamic Republic occurred toward the end of Khomeini's reign. In January 1988, he issued an edict declaring that the Islamic "Government is among the most important divine injunctions and has priority over all peripheral divine orders ... even prayers, fasting and the hajj." In April of the next year he decreed a task force to revise the country's constitution to separate the post of Supreme Leader of Iran from that of Shia marja, (the `highest source of religious emulation`), since he found none of marja to be suitable sucessors as none had given strong support for his policies. The amendments were drafted and approved by the public about one month after Khomeini's death (1989 July 9). They paved the way for Ali Khamenei - a long time lieutenant of Khomeini, but a relatively low ranking cleric - to be Khomeini's successor as Supreme Leader, but to critics they undermined the "intellectual foundations" of the Islamic Republic theocracy, braking "the charismatic bond between leader and followers."

Political struggle

The first post-war decade in Iran has been described as a time of pragmatism, and an `economy-first` policy. According to Shirin Ebadi, "about two years into the postwar period, the Islamic Republic quietly changed course. ... It was fairly clear by then that the Shia revolution would not be sweeping the region."

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected president shortly after Khomeini's death, and has been described as less revolutionary and "isolationist" than his rivals - "economically liberal, politically authoritarian, and philosophically traditional." (He served from August 17, 1989 to August 1997.) While Leader Khamane'i and the Council of Guardians generally supported these policies, in the majles radicals deputees initially had control, outnumbered Rafsanjani's "pragmatic-conservative camp" 90 to 160.

The two groups differed strongly over economic and foreign policy, with radicals tending to support mass political participation and state control of the economy, and oppose normalization of relations with the West. Conservatives used the power to disqualification candidates from running for office to deal with this problem. "The council of Guardians disqualified nearly all radical candidates from the fall 1990 Assembly of Experts elections because they had failed to pass written and oral tests in Islamic jurisprudence." In the winter and spring of 1992 nearly one-third of the 3150 candidates for the 1992 election for the majles were rejected, including 39 incumbents. Leading radicals such as Khalkhali, Nabvi, Bayat, and Hajjat al-Eslam Hadi Ghaffari were sent packing because they lacked the "proper Islamic credentials."

In late 1992 Minister of Islamic Guidance Seyed Mohammad Khatami and director of the Voice and Vision Broadcasting company Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani (brother of the president) were both forced out. By 1994 "hundreds of intellectuals and supposed dissidents were in prison and some had been executed." These purges cleared the regime of opponents but are thought to have set the stage for the reform movement, as exiled radicals warmed to the "liberal" values of freedom of speech, assembly, due process, etc.

Persian Gulf War

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in Aug., 1990, Iran adhered to international sanctions against Iraq. However, Iran condemned the use of U.S.-led coalition forces against Iraq during the Persian Gulf War (1991). As a result of the war and its aftermath, more than one million Kurds crossed the Iraqi border into Iran as refugees.

Economy

Despite the "economy first" focus, Iran suffered serious economic problems during the Rafsanjani era. According to economist Bijan Khajehpour, economic growth in Iran between 1989 and 1994 was "mainly financed through the accumulation of some $30 billion in foreign debt. In 1993, the ratio of Iran's foreign debt to the country's GDP reached 38%, which was alarming." A lack of foreign investment along with a fall in oil prices from $20 to $12 per barrel added to this external debt, and triggered an economic recession. The rial pummeted from 1749 to 6400 to the dollar in 1995. Unemployment reached 30%. The price of sugar, rice and butter rose threefold, and that of bread sixfold.

In part this economic downturn came from American economic sanctions leveled in 1995, when America suspended all trade with Iran, accusing Iran of supporting terrorist groups and attempting to develop nuclear weapons. The sanctions in turn may be traceable to the earlier hostage crisis and the enmity of the US government which continued to see Iran as a major regional threat both to America and Israel.

Birth control

Main article: Family planning in Iran

A new policy regarded as a success of the new government was its promotion of birth control. In 1989, the government, "having previously encouraged population growth, reversed gears and declared that Islam favored families with only two children". Birth control clinics were opened - especially for women. Condoms and pills were distributed. Subsidies to large families were cut. Sex education was introduced into the school curriculum, mandatory classes for newlyweds were held.)

President Khatami's reform era

The eight years of Mohammad Khatami's two terms as president from 1997-2005 are sometimes called Iran's Reform Era.

Khatami based his campaign on a reform program promising a more democratic and tolerant society, promotion of civil society, the rule of law and improvement of social rights. This included city council elections, adherence to Iran's constitution, freedom to criticize high ranking authorities - including the supreme leader, permission to operate newspapers of a wide range of political views, reopening the embassies of all European countries, reorganizing the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran after the Iran's Chain Murders of Intellectuals, initiating a dialogue between people of different faith inside and outside Iran, also called "Dialogue Among Civilizations."

Iran's large youth demographic (by 1995, about half of the country's 60.5 million people had not been born after the Islamic Revolution) is one of Khatami's bases of support.

See also: Mohammad Khatami's reforms and Iranian reform movement

Cultural changes

At first the new era saw significant liberalization. The number of daily newspapers published in Iran increased from five to twenty-six. Journal and book publishing also soared. Iran's film industry boomed under the Khatami regime and Iranian films won prizes at Cannes and Venice.

Conservative reaction

After taking office, Khatami faced fierce opposition from his powerful opponents within the unelected institutions of the state which he had no legal power over, and this led to repeated clashed between his government and these institutions (including the Guardian Council, the state radio and television, the police, the armed forces, the judiciary, the prisons, etc.).

In 1999, new curbs were put on the press. Courts banned more than 60 newspapers. Important allies of President Khatami were arrested, tried and imprisoned on what outside observers considered "trumped up" or ideological grounds. Tehran mayor, Gholamhossein Karbaschi was tried on corruption charges and Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri for "sacrilege" - despite their credentials as activists in the Islamic revolution. In 2002 history professor and reformist activist Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death for apostasy for calling for "Islamic Protestantism" and reform in Islam.

In July 1999 conservatives closed the reformist newspaper, Salam, and attacked a Tehran University student dormitory after students protested the closing. Prodemocracy student demonstrations erupted at Tehran University and other urban campuses. These were followed by a wave of counter demonstrations by conservative factions.

Reformers won a substantial victory in the Feb., 2000, parliamentary elections, capturing about two thirds of the seats, but conservative elements in the government forced the closure of the reformist press. Attempts by parliament to repeal restrictive press laws were forbidden by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Despite these conditions, President Khatami was overwhelming reelected in June, 2001. Tensions between reformers in parliament and conservatives in the judiciary and the Guardian Council, over both social and economic changes, increased after Khatami's reelection.

Foreign policy

Khatami worked to improve relations with other countries visiting many other countries and and holding a dialogue between civilizations, and encouraged foreigners to invest in Iran. He announced Iran would accept a two-state solution for Palestine if Palestinians agreed to one, relaxed restrictions on the Bahais, and assured Britain Iran would not implement the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Several European Union countries began renewing economic ties with Iran in the late 1990s and trade and investment increased. In 1998 Britain reestablished diplomatic relations with Iran broken since the 1979. The United States loosened its economic embargo, but it continued to block more normalized relations, arguing that the country had been implicated in international terrorism and was developing a nuclear weapons capacity. in his State of the Union Address United States President George W. Bush labeled Iran, along with Iraq, and North Korea as an "Axis of evil"

Tensions with the United States increased after the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, as U.S. officials increasingly denounced Iran for pursuing the alleged development of nuclear weapons.

Axis of Evil speech

On January 29 2002, Reformers received an unexpected blow when President George W. Bush named Iran as a major threat to world peace, part of an "Axis of Evil," despite Iranian cooperation with America in Afghanistan against the Taliban. The speech sparked widespread demonstrations all across Iran.

A number of Western analysts and journalists described the move as putting the reformists on the defensive and splitting them, while "rescuing" Islamist conservatives, and even being a major cause of the demise of the reform movement.

The reform era ended with the conservatives defeat of Iranian reformists in the elections of 2003, 2004 and 2005 - the local, parliamentary, and presidential elections. According to at least one observer, the reformists were defeated not so much by a growth of support for conservative Islamist policies as by division within the reformist movement and the banning of many reform candidates which discouraged pro-reform voters from voting.

President Ahmadinejad

Main article: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The presidential elections in June, 2005, were won by the hardline conservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who came to power with a pledge to fight corruption, defend the interests of the poor, and strengthening Iran's national security. Ahmadinejad defeated former president Rafsanjani in the runoff election with a large margin, though with a much lower turnout than in the reformist victories of 1997 and 2001. Ahmadinejad's populist economic policies and Rafsanjani's inability to pick up sufficient reformist support were credited with result. Ahmadinejad's victory gave conservatives control of all branches of Iran's government.

Ahmadinejad's administration has been marked by controversy over his outspoken pronouncements against American "arrogance" and "imperialism," on how the state of Israel is a “fabricated entity … doomed to go,” and over his populist economic policies of cheap loans for small businesses, and generous subsidies on petrol and food.

Foreign policy

Main article: Iran's foreign policy

Hezbollah's dependence on Iran for military and financial aid is heavily debated, and the Israel-Hezbollah 2006 War provided an eye-opening for the world of Hezbollah weapons said to be Iranian imports.

A report by the Asian think tank Strategic Foresight Group estimates the opportunity cost of conflict (i.e. not just the cost of arms and destruction but lack of economic growth that peaceful coexistance would have made possible) in the Middle East from 1991-2010 at a $12 trillion ($12,000,000,000,000). Iran’s share of the opportunity cost came to over $2.1 trillion. In other words had there been peace since 1991, the average Iranian citizen would have an estimated income of $7700 rather the $4100 that he or she will earn in 2010.

Controversy concerning remarks about Israel

See also: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel

President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad also made several controversial statements about the Holocaust and Israel, and was quoted in foreign media sources as saying "Israel should be wiped off the map." However his remarks did not enjoy support from Iranian leaders. Iran’s foreign minister denied that Tehran wanted to see Israel "wiped off the map," saying "Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood." It was asserted that the correct translation of Ahmadinejad's remark was, "the regime currently occupying Jerusalem will be erased from the pages of time." Reviewing the controversy over the translation, New York Times deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner observed that "all official translations" of the comments, including the foreign ministry and president's office, "refer to wiping Israel away".

Iran's stated policy on Israel is to urge a one-state solution through a countrywide referendum in which a government would be elected that all Palestinians and all Israelis would jointly vote for; which would normally be an end to the "Zionist state". Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, rejecting any attack on Israel, called for a referendum in Palestine. Ahmadinejad himself has also repeatedly called for such solution. Moreover Khamenei’s main advisor in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati, said that Holocaust was a genocide and a historical reality.

Controversy about Iran's nuclear program

See also: Iran's nuclear program and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747

After, in August 2005, Iran resumed converting raw uranium into gas, a necessary step for enrichment, the IAEA passed a resolution that accused Iran of failing to comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and called for the agency to report Iran to the UN Security Council. The timetable for the reporting, however, was left undetermined. Iran's stated position is that it is in full compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, that it has allowed the IAEA inspections beyond what is required, and that it has no ambitions to build atomic weapons.

In the February, 2004, elections, conservatives won control of parliament, securing some two thirds of the seats. Many Iranians, however, were unhappy with the failure of the current parliament to achieve any significant reforms or diminish the influence of the hardliners. In mid-2004 Iran began resuming the processing of nuclear fuel as part of its plan to achieve self-sufficiency in civilian nuclear power production, stating that the negotiations with European Union nations had failed to bring access to the advanced nuclear technology that was promised. The action was denounced by the United States as one which would give Iran the capability to develop nuclear weapons. The IAEA said that there was no evidence that Iran was seeking to develop such arms. However, the IAEA also called for Iran to abandon its plans to produce enriched uranium. In Nov., 2004, Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment, but subsequently indicated that it would not be held to the suspension if the negotiations the EU nations failed.

In October, however, Iran agreed, in negotiations with several W European nations, to toughen international inspections of its nuclear installations. Concern over Iran's nuclear program nonetheless continued.

Economy

See also: Economy of Iran

Ahmadinejad's populist economic policies of cheap loans for small businesses, and generous subsidies on petrol and food were helped by soaring petroleum export revenues until the Global financial crisis of 2008.

Controversies over economic policy

In June 2006, 50 Iranian economists wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad that criticized his price interventions to stabilize prices of goods, cement, government services, and his decree issued by the High Labor Council and the Ministry of Labor that proposed an increase of workers' salaries by 40 percent. Ahmadinejad publicly responded harshly to the letter and denounced the accusations.

In July 2007, Ahmadinejad ordered the dissolution of the Management and Planning Organisation of Iran, a relatively independent planning body with a supervisory role in addition to its responsibility to allocate the national budget, and replaced it with a new budget planning body directly under his control, a move that may give him a freer hand to implement populist policies.

In November 2008, a group of 60 Iranian economists condemned Ahmadinejad's economic policies, saying Iran faces deep economic problems, including stunted growth, double-digit inflation and widespread unemployment, and must drastically change course. It also criticized Ahmadinejad's foreign policy calling it "tension-creating" and saying it has "scared off foreign investment and inflicted heavy damage" on the economy. Ahmadinejad replied that Iran has been "least affected by this international financial crisis."

2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran

See also: 2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran and Ministry of Petroleum of Iran

2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran was launched by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet to reduce that country's fuel consumption. Although Iran is one of the world's largest producers of petroleum, mismanagement, rapid increases in demand and limited refining capacity has forced the country to import about 40% of its gasoline, at an annual cost of up to $7 billion.

Domestic policy

Human Rights

Further information: Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran § Current situation

According to the group Human Rights Watch, Iran’s human rights record "has deteriorated markedly" under the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Beginning in 2005, the number of offenders executed increased from 86 in 2005 to 317 in 2007. Months-long arbitrary detentions of "peaceful activists, journalists, students, and human rights defenders" and often charged with “acting against national security,” has intensified.

Population, family and women's issues

See also: Family planning in Iran

In April 2007, the Tehran police began the most fierce crackdown on "bad hijab" in more than a decade. In the capital Tehran thousands of Iranian women were cautioned over their poor Islamic dress and several hundred arrested.

Several controversial proposals by President Ahmadinejad and conservatives have not come to fruition. Plans to encourage larger families, to encourage polygamy by permitting it despite the opposition of a huband's first wife; and to put a tax on Mariyeh - a stipulated sum that a groom agrees to give or owe to his bride which is seen by many women "as a financial safety net in the event a husband leaves the marriage and is not forced to pay alimony" - have not gone anywhere.

See also

• History of Iran
• Foreign relations of Iran
• History of political Islam in Iran
• Iran's Nuclear Program