For more information about Iran (1940s), see:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-an-alternative-cold-war.280530/#post-7699657
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Shahanshah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last monarch of Iran
From the anti-Mossadegh coup of 1953, the Iranian regime was haunted by a crisis of legitimacy. Having overthrown a popular nationalist leader with support from the 'imperialists', the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi desperately needed a
raison d'être for his autocratic control of the state. He would eventually find this purpose in the modernisation and Westernisation of his country. At first, however, he would be preoccupied with reestablishing monarchical control over the domestic political landscape in Iran. After the coup, the real power behind the throne lay with the Shah's Prime Minister, General Fazlollah Zahedi. At this stage, American and British diplomatic circles, as well as large parts of the Iranian elite, held the Shah in contempt, seeing him as a weak-willed figurehead. Mohammad Reza proved a surprisingly astute politician, and learn to consolidate his power by playing off various factions of the elite against each other. The Shah cultivated an image of a merciful ruler, imprisoning political opponents, such as the supporters of Mossadegh's National Front, and then pardoning them. Many had instead expected a bloody purge. Seeking to broaden his support base, Mohammad Reza ended up adopting many of the policies of the banned National Front, hoping that popular approval could counteract any planned sedition from elites that opposed his reform plans. In 1955, the Shah dismissed General Zahedi and appointed Hossein Ala', who governed as Prime Minister until 1957. In the mid-1950s, the Shah also intended to develop a non-Islamic identity in Iran. In order to do so, he emphasised Iran's Achaemenid imperial past, drawing parallels between himself and Cyrus the Great. He also promised to bring Iranian living standards to the level of the Western nations. To satiate the
ulema, who were critical of his de-emphasising of the Islamic past of Iran, he resumed the traditional persecution of Baha'i faithful, razing the primary Baha'i temple in Tehran and passing a law banning Baha'i from publicly congregating.
Privately, the Shah's marriage with his second wife, Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, was becoming increasingly strained, as Queen Soraya clashed with Ernest Perron, a homosexual Swiss who was the Shah's personal secretary, confidante and best friend. Perron seemed to enjoy antagonising the Queen, offending her greatly when he arrived at her palace and proceeded to ask lewd questions about her and the Shah's sex life. The marriage between the two would end in 1958, when no remedy could be found to the Queen's infertility. Despite his constant philandering, those close to the Shah would attest that he always loved Soraya, even after their divorce, and she lived out the rest of her days as a wealthy socialite in Paris, her favourite city.
On 27th February 1958, Iranian commander Valiollah Gharani attempted a coup d'etat against the Shah. The coup failed, but it was soon discovered by SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency, that Gharani had met with American officials in Tunisia [174]. The Shah demanded that from thereon American officials were not authorised to contact the opposition. Insecure in US support for his regime, in January 1959 the Shah began negotiations for a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Receiving furious telegrams from President Eisenhower, in the end the Shah refused to sign an agreement. Soviet dissatisfaction with the Shah's refusal to pledge non-aggression against the Communist superpower led the KGB to attempt to assassinate Mohammad Reza on multiple occasions, nope of which were successful, largely due to the leaking of these plots by KGB station chief in Tehran, Vladimir Kuzichkin.
Mohammad Reza's first major dispute with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a prominent Shi'a cleric, came in 1962 when the Shah altered the laws for swearing in members of municipal councils, allowing non-Muslims to swear oaths upon their own holy books. Khomeini opposed this, feeling that it was a demotion of the primacy of the Quran in a country which was officially Muslim. In what would become Khomeini's
modus operandi, he organised demonstrations against the Shah.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
In 1963, the Shah launched an ambitious reform programme that became known as the White Revolution. The clergy vociferously opposed the programme, especially the introduction of women's suffrage. Demonstrations against the Shah's rule continued throughout 1963 and 1964, centred in the holy city of Qom, a city full of religious seminaries and the centre of theology in Iran. Clashes with police throughout the period led to over 200 deaths. When criticised for the autocratic nature of his rule, he retorted that "when Persians act like Swedes, then I will act like the King of Sweden". In 1967, he had himself crowned
Shahanshah, "King of Kings" or Emperor. He claimed that he chose this moment because he had not deserved it prior, and that "there is no honour in being the Emperor of a poor country". Mohammad Reza felt that Iran was now sufficiently prosperous for him to adopt such a grandiose title. After his coronation, the Shah began to live an ever more grandiose lifestyle. In 1971, he hosted a spectacular commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. Nevertheless, in the 1970s, Iran's economy continued to grow rapidly. With a growth rate equivalent to fast-growing economies such as Turkey, Thailand and the Philippines, Western commentators expected Iran to reach first-world status within a generation. Taking a strong etatist role in economic development, Mohammad Reza supported emergent industrialists, who quickly developed an innovative automotive and engineering sector. The Shah introduced labour laws to ensure that ordinary Iranians gained some benefit from these new, profitable industries. Iran also received generous economic and military aid from the United States during this period, which armed them with some of their most advanced weaponry as a bulwark against the United Arab Republic. As the key remaining US ally in the Persian Gulf region, the Shah exploited his "reverse leverage" against the US, extracting ever greater concessions from the democratic superpower.
By 1975, the Shah had abolished the existing two-party system in favour of the newly established Rastakhiz ("Resurrection") Party. Even prior to the introduction of the one-party state, discontent had simmered below the surface from a number of sources. Some were disaffected labourers, missing out on the nation's newfound prosperity. Others were religious zealots, who saw the White Revolution as Gharbzadegi ("Occidentosis", "Western infection"). A number of guerrilla groups, which blended Marxist and Islamic teachings, began to operate in the regions and cities of Iran. The most significant of these loosely-allied groups was the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), or People's Mujahedin, which followed the thought of Iranian sociologist Ali Shariati. Shariati divided Shi'ism between 'Black Shi'ism' and 'Red Shi'ism'. Black Shi'ism was deemed to be 'Safavid Shi'ism', which had been instrumentalised to bolster feudalism. Red Shi'ism, which he believed to be the Shi'ism of Ali, was a method of revolutionary praxis, which would bring about the liberation of Third World peoples. The membership of underground organisations swelled, as the oil boom of the 1970s caused runaway inflation and a growing wealth divide. As austerity measures were introduced to bring inflation back under control, those who suffered most were poor migrant workers who had left their homes in the countryside to service the construction boom in Iran's cities, especially Tehran. Ali Shariati died of a heart attack in 1977, but many ordinary Iranians blamed his death of SAVAK.
In early 1978, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote a newspaper article criticising the Shah. In response, the Shah denounced Khomeini as a "British agent" and a "mad poet". Angered by the insult, crowds of religious students clashed with police in Qom. Demonstrations against police brutality then sprang up across major cities throughout the country. The military got involved in suppression of the protests, which only led to an increase in the size of the crowds that took to the streets. On May 10th, army personnel fired upon the residence of Ayatollah Shariatmadari, a moderate cleric who supported democratic reform. The cleric was unharmed, but one of his students was killed. He immediate made public statements calling for the reinstatement of the 1906 Constitution, as well as a shift from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. Despite unrest, the Shah continued his reforms, hoping for democratic elections to the Majlis to take place in 1979 (albeit with only the Rastakhiz Party represented). Protestors were tried in civilian, rather than military courts, who had traditionally presided over sedition cases. Many were promptly released. The head of SAVAK was replaced by a less hardline chief, and the government entered into negotiations with the moderate clergy, represented by Shariatmadari. By summer, the protests had started to die down.
In August, 422 were killed as four arsonists trapped moviegoers within the Cinema Rex in Abadan and set the theatre ablaze. Khomeini blamed SAVAK and the Shah for the attack, whilst Tehran blamed Islamic Marxists. To this day, no-one is entirely sure who was responsible for the arson. As the economic situation resulted in more layoffs, and as outrage over the Cinema Rex incident boiled over, massive demonstrations manifested in the streets of Tehran. Some protestors went as far as to chant "Burn the Shah!". In the following months, attacks on Western businesses and workers became increasingly frequent. The Shahist regime attempted to appease the public. The Rastakhiz Party was abolished, all other parties were legalised, SAVAK's authority was severely curtailed and 34 of the organisation's commanders dismissed. Casinos and nightclubs were shut down, and the imperial calendar (which had been adopted during the 2500th anniversary and started from that the founding of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great) reverted back to the Islamic calendar. The government cracked down on corruption, including within the royal family itself. The government also entered into negotiations with Shariatmadari and National Front leader Karim Sanjabi in order to organise future elections.
On 4th September, during the holiday of Eid-e-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, large marches which had been organised by the clergy occurred in Tehran and provincial centres across the country. Even larger demonstrations followed a few days later. This led the Shah, on 8th September, to declare martial law in the capital, as well as 11 other major cities. All street demonstrations were banned and a curfew imposed. Troops in Tehran were commanded by the notoriously ruthless General Gholam-Ali Oveissi. 5,000 protestors squared off with troops in Jaleh Square, who fired into the crowd, killing 64. Clashes throughout the day claimed even more lives. The Shah was horrified by the events, and ordered troops not to fire on protesters. This did little to rehabilitate his image, however, as he lost ever more credibility through the brutality of his underlings. The next day, 700 workers at Tehran's main oil refinery went on strike. On the 11th, refineries in five other cities were shut down by industrial action. On the 13th, all central government employees in Tehran went on strike simultaneously. By late October, a nationwide general strike brought most major industries to a grinding halt. The Shah attempted to appease workers with general pay increases, to no avail. His advisors began to push him to take forceful measures to bring strikers back into line. As the Shah pondered his options, the situation in Iran turned into even more of a tinderbox. Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been living in exile in Najaf, Iraq, was assassinated by agents of the UAR's State Security Investigations Service, who were concerned that his ideology of Shi'a theocracy could undermine their position in Iraq. Nevertheless, it was widely believed that the culprits of Khomeini's murder was SAVAK[175], and that the assassination was ordered by the Shah.
As news of Khomeini's death broke in Iran, all hell broke loose. Massive rioting engulfed Qom, Tehran and Isfahan. By late October, the military and police had effectively left the University of Tehran to be occupied by student protestors. The opposition acquired weapons from sacking police stations, and began to use them in attacks of police and military personnel. Sanjabi was arrested, and the British embassy in Tehran was burned, along with a number of other Western-owned or Western-inspired businesses (i.e. movie theaters, bars etc.) by youths who had been sent by mullahs from mosques in Southern Tehran. On 6th November, martial law was declared in the Southwestern province of Khuzestan. Navy personnel were used as strikebreakers and oil production rose. A number of public voices, notably that of Mahmoud Taleghani of the Freedom Movement of Iran, denounced the Shah and his government. Taleghani had been strongly influenced by Marxist currents of thought, as well as Shariati's writings. Whilst he personally disliked Khomeini for what he considered his reactionary and autocratic tendencies, he exploited widespread grief to inflame the opposition to the royalist regime. Organised by clerics such as Taleghani, a massive demonstration of two million people, 10% of Tehran's total population, marched onto the streets on
muharram, the 2nd December 1978. As Tasu'a and Ashura approached, the Shah began to negotiate with the opposition, releasing Sanjabi and 120 other political prisoners. On 11th December, Ashura, a dozen officers were shot dead at the Lavizan barracks in Tehran by mutinous troops. Fearing further mutinies, many army officers ordered their troops to retire to their barracks. Mashhad, the second-largest city in Iran, was left in the hands of protestors.
On 28th December, prominent National Front leader Shahpour Bakhtiar was appointed Prime Minister. A furious Sanjabi immediately expelled him from the National Front. The Shah had decided that the royal family would go on a holiday, and whilst they were away, Bakhtiar would hold a referendum to determine whether the Iranian people wished to keep the monarchy intact or to transition to a republic. On 16th January, the Shah and his family fled to what would become exile in Lebanon [176]. Bakhtiar dissolved SAVAK and freed all remaining political prisoners, announcing free elections. On 9th February, a rebellion broke out amongst Air Force technicians at Doshan Tappeh AFB in Southeast Tehran. A unit of the Shahist Immortal Guards of the Iranian Imperial Army sought to apprehend the rebels, resulting in a firefight. Soon large crowds emerged in support, building barracades and bringing the rebels supplies, whilst MEK guerrillas seized a weapons factory, distributing 50,000 automatic weapons and ammunition to locals. They then began to storm police stations and army bases, disarming personnel onsite. Seeking to avoid a general bloodbath, commander of Tehran's martial law, General Mehdi Rahimi refused to use his 30,000 strong Immortal Guards to crush the insurrection. On 11th February, all army units were ordered back to their bases, effectively abandoning the country to the various rebels, and the Bakhtiar government collapsed.
Massoud Rajavi, leader of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq
In the next few days, anarchy reigned in Tehran. Various factions vied over control of city blocks. Whilst the National Front had tried to assert some degree of leadership, they were forced off the streets by the more violent factions. These largely consisted of the followers of various conservative mullahs, who Mohammad Beheshti, Khomeini's close friend and right-hand man, had unsuccessfully tried to reunite under his leadership; against a loose coalition of leftist guerrillas, dominated by the
primus inter pares MEK. The Tudeh Party had been largely marginalised by the MEK, seen as it was as a puppet of Soviet interests. Given that the Soviet Union had retained a 30% share of Iranian oil since the crisis in the 1950s, the USSR was seen as just another foreign power seeking to exploit Iran's natural wealth. The MEK, under the leadership of the adept Massoud Rajavi, would systematically seize territory from the fractured Islamists. The left-Islamist coalition was now the most powerful force in Iran. Mahmoud Taleghani provided a spiritual voice and religious legitimacy, whilst Rajavi had managed to bring about a coalition of organisations until his general leadership (including the People's Fedai Guerrillas, National Democratic Front, and the League of Iranian Socialists). Rajavi's right-hand man and commander of the MEK's armed wing, Mousa Khiabani, proved capable of destroying the poorly-organised and equipped
fedaiyeen who followed the mullahs. The MEK linked up with other uprisings in Khuzestan, Gilan and elsewhere. By the late quarter of 1980, the Revolutionary Council, headed by Taleghani and Rajavi, had full control over the territories of Iran. In the resultant political wrangling, the MEK purged fully-secular Marxist parties, including Tudeh and Peykar, accusing them of being 'Social-Imperialist Russian spies'. The 30% oil exports to the USSR were halted, causing a diplomatic crisis from which the Soviets eventually backed down, seeking to court the new regime in Tehran. Mahmoud Taleghani was increasingly supported in debates against more conservative clergy, who were ignored and mocked by the MEK regime. In a political masterstroke, Rajavi at once appeased Taleghani and removed him as a potential threat to his leadership by granting political sovereignty to Qom (similar to the Vatican's arrangement with Italy) and establishing Taleghani as the
Marja' and Prime Ayatollah of Qom.
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[174] IOTL, Athens.
[175] IOTL, Khomeini was exiled from Iraq to France after the Shah put significant pressure on the Iraqi government.
[176] IOTL, Egypt.