declarations issued from his exile in iraq argued
that the marjaa was not only the chief religious
authority, but also the ideal ruler. He called for the
overthrow of the shah’s regime and its replacement
with a theocracy based on the sharia.
The resulting revolution of 1978–1979
involved massive demonstrations in Iran’s cities
on major Shii holy days or days of mourning for
“martyrs” killed during the demonstrations. One
of the slogans that echoed through the streets
declared, “Every day is ashUra, every place is
karbala,” in memory of Imam Husayn’s martyr-
dom at Karbala in 680. These strikes and demon-
strations, many of which were organized by local
revolutionary komitehs (committees) and madrasa
students, together with lack of U.S. political
support, forced the ailing shah and his queen to
flee the country on January 15, 1979. Khomeini
returned in triumph from his 15-year exile on
February 1 and was greeted by millions of cheer-
ing Iranians, some thinking that the messianic
age had arrived and others thinking the ayatol-
lah would support the creation of a democratic
government, then step back from the political
arena. Instead, Khomeini moved quickly to cre-
ate an interim government, and Iran was declared
an Islamic republic by national referendum in
March 1979. An Islamic constitution was drafted
by the interim government and passed by another
referendum. It included an article that designated
the chief Shii jurist the supreme leader of the
republic, thus making Khomeini’s doctrine of
government of the jurist (vilayet-i faqih) a reality.
Khomeini remained both the supreme leader and
marjaa-i taqlid until his death in 1989.
The revolutionary government of the new
Islamic Republic implemented draconian mea-
sures to undo the shah’s program of moderniza-
tion, Westernization, and secularization that had
so distressed traditional and sharia-minded Irani-
ans. In its place were reassertions of “traditional”
Islamic gender roles and spheres (public sphere
as male space, and private as female); the resump-
tion of mandatory “modest” dress for women; the
gradual removal of women from professional and
public employment, particularly in the legislature
and judiciary; expansion of the sharia court sys-
tem to all spheres of law (not just family law);
the closure of Western-style educational institu-
tions and programs with the exception of medi-
cine and some of the technical professions, and
reconstitution of Islamic educational institutions
using traditional religious curricula and peda-
gogical methods emphasizing memorization and
recitation. Enforcement of these laws and others
was undertaken by morals police who increas-
ingly intimidated Iranians in the streets and at
home. The Revolutionary Guard, a special armed
force, was created to protect the republic from
enemies foreign and domestic. The new govern-
ment imprisoned, tried, and executed members
of the shah’s government. It also turned against
the People’s Warriors (mUJahidin-i khalq), a
rival, left-leaning revolutionary organization that
had recruited members from Iran’s middle-class
youth. On November 4, 1979, pro-Khomeini
students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and
took embassy personnel as hostages for more
than a year (1979–80). This event not only helped
Khomeini consolidate his power but also brought
down the then American president, Jimmy Carter,
who lost his reelection bid in 1980 largely for fail-
ing to resolve the hostage situation.
Although there continue to be hard-line “revo-
lutionaries” in Iran, the social, political, artistic, and
intellectual, as well as religious pendulums showed
signs of swinging back toward more moderate,
reform-minded expressions of the Iranian spirit in
the generation since Khomeini and his supporters
toppled the shah’s regime. This trend suffered a set-
back, however, in 2005, when religious hardliners
seeking to keep the spirit of Khomeini’s revolution
alive prevailed in national elections.
See also bazaar; constitUtionalism; consti-
tUtional revolUtion; gUlF Wars; tWelve-imam
shiism; UsUli school.
Kathleen M. O’ConnorK 366 Iranian Revolution of 1978–1979