After World War II, Iran experienced political instability and foreign influence that led to the establishment of an autocratic monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from 1941-1979. Discontent with the Shah's oppressive rule grew, culminating in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Shah and replaced the Iranian government with an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The new regime faced domestic unrest and external conflict, including an eight-year war with Iraq from 1980-1988 that ended in a stalemate.

1. P A R T O N E
IRAN

2. PAHLAVI DYNASTY
1925-1979
• Not sure why they call it a dynasty – they only had
two family members ruling …..
• Shah #1: tried to modernize Iran by modeling Iran
after the West.
• Reforms he made that stuck:
• Militarism, nationalism, strict censorship, and state
propaganda.
• Reforms that did NOT stick:
• Secularizing and liberalizing

4. MUHAMMAD REZA PAHLAVI
• Ruler of Iran from
1941-1979

5. IRAN AND WWII
• World War Two essentially forces the first Shah out
and puts his pro-British son in – Shah #2.
• Why the Shah change?
• The British and the Soviets occupied Iran during
WWII to secure the oil there.
• Shah #1 was not to thrilled about this so the British
convinced Shah #1 to step down in favor of the
pro-western Shah #2.

6. IRAN AND WWII
• After WWII :
• the British left only after getting oil concessions from Iran.
50/50 profit sharing of all oil revenue (but the British are in
charge of the accounting ….. Pretty shady because the
Iranians don’t get to see the books)
• Soviets just won’t leave – kind of like a bad, uninvited
house guest.
• The Soviets are trying to spark a couple communist
revolutions in Northern Iran – but they didn’t take.
• They eventually give up and leave too.
• After this Shah #2 really not a fan of USSR!

7. 1947-1957
• Once Britain and the USSR leave, Shah #2 takes a
real hands off approach to ruling Iran but wants
things to be pro-Western and anti- USSR.
• Gives Parliamentary Monarchy a shot – but it was
an absolute mess. The democracy experiment
almost cost the Shah his position.
• Newly elected Prime Minister took over power
democratically in Iran. Britain and the USA didn’t
like that – because Shah #2 was anti-USSR and pro-
West. New guy, not so much.
• So we launched a counter coup. Thanks to USA and
Britain the Shah regains power and things change.

8. 1957-1978
• The Shah transitioned Iran into an autocracy.
• Not all bad – he did institute several modernizing
measures – often referred to as his White Revolution.
• However he also created a secret police network
that took care of anyone who was “trouble” for the
Shah.
• His biggest critic has a cleric named Ayatollah
Khomeini. He was arrested and then exiled to
Turkey, Iraq, and eventually France.

9. SUMMARIZE
• 1. In a formal paragraph, summarize Iran’s history
from World War II to 1978?
• 2. In a second paragraph, give me a formal
reflection on what you think about this time in Iran’s
history.

10. P A R T T WO
IRAN

11. THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
• Protests and strikes break out against the Shah –
kicking off the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
• The protests intensified and shut down the country.
• Shah left the country
• Ayatollah came back.
• Fighting breaks out and lasted for about 10 days
before rebel forces defeated the Shah’s loyalist
troops.

13. THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
• Elections were held and the people approved a
theocratic constitution and declared the Ayatollah
the Supreme Leader of Iran.
• Officially begins the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• Side note: founding of the Republic also included a
purge of competing political groups. Kind of hard to
have a democracy without political discussion.

14. ALI KHAMENEI

15. US EMBASSY
• During the revolution the US embassy was seized by
Islamic students and US workers there were held
hostage.
• As you can imagine – this caused things to go a bit
sour between US and the Iranians.
• Don’t worry – they only held our people hostage for
444 days.
• Carter did a lot of leg work, but they weren’t
released untilthe Reagan presidency.

17. SUMMARIZE
• 3. Summarize the Islamic Revolution era of Iran’s
history in a formal paragraph.

18. IRAQ – IRAN WAR
• Saddam Hussein thought this would be a great time to
invade Iran because he thought Iran had descended
into chaos.
• Saddam had desires to create an empire in the Middle
East. He would of course be its ruler …
• Not only was Iran able to hold off his invasion but they
succeeded in driving the invading Iraqis back.
• The Ayatollah saw this war as an opportunity to spread
the Islamic Revolution – figured the Shiites of Iraq would
help him. They didn’t; but the Kurds in the Northern Iraq
did. The Kurds hoped to break away and form their own
country.
• War ended in a draw eight years later. Many died and
world oil supplies were disrupted.

19. SINCE THE WAR
• After the war, Iran had two Presidents who focused
on rebuilding Iran’s infrastructure and economy.
• They also created diplomatic and economic ties
with Europe and Asia.
• They opened the country to foreign investment
and started Iran towards a free market economy.
• They also attempted to grant a few more civil
liberties – but Iran runs a pretty tight ship …..

20. IRAN FOREIGN POLICY
• Iran is a strong advocate of removing all foreign
influence from the Middle East – including the state
of Israel.
• Deny the Holocaust ever happened – they see it as
Western justification for putting Israel back on the
map.
• They support groups in the region who have similar
beliefs with military and monetary aid.
• They have been tied to sponsoring terrorism –
especially in acts against Iraq and Israel.

21. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

22. CONCERNS OVER IRAN
• President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• He’s out there and he’s a vocal fist shaker!
• Very assertive at expanding Iranian influence in the
Middle East.
• This makes our allies nervous. USA is heavily allied
with Sunni Arabs and the Sunni Arabs aren’t real
comfortable with a strong Shiite Persian country.

23. SUMMARIZE
• 4. Use a graphic organizer to illustrate the Iran-Iraq
War (before, during, and after).

24. NUKES?
• Iran and the Middle East’s modern history has
shown heavy interference by foreign powers.
• From Iran’s perspective the only effective way to
protect their sovereignty is to have a nuclear
deterrent?
• Would they Nuke Israel? Europe? USA?

25. STRAIGHT OF HORMUZ
• Sanctions placed on Iran to halt their nuclear
program have recently been enacted.
• This has had a crippling effect on Iran’s economy.
• To retaliate, Iran has threatened to shut down the
Straight of Hormuz?

26. VIDEOS
• Iraq-Iran War:
• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• The Gulf of Hormuz

27. SUMMARIZE
• 5. In paragraph form, summarize Iran’s ability to
fight a war and disrupt the Straight of Hormuz.

28. TIMELINE
• Using your summaries, make a timeline of Iranian
history from World War II to present.

29. OVERALL
• What is your overall opinion about a possible US –
Iran War?
• Support your stance with details …