Why was the Shah and his regime unpopular in Iran?

  • Frustrated nationalism and anti-Western feeling –

  • The Shah had only secured power in 1953 by overthrowing Mossadeq, his Prime Minister, in a military coup assisted by MI6 and the CIA

  • Mossadeq had been popular – he had forced through the nationalisation of Iran’s oil fields

  • The Shah’s coup had no popular support, and the Shah was clearly in the pocket of the Americans

  • Iranians disliked the way in which Western powers still took so much of the profits from Iranian oil

  • Britain and America even dictated general government policy

  • The Shah even supported the right of Israel to exist

  • Economic and social factors –

  • The regime was seen as monopolising the country’s wealth, living in luxury and was seen as corrupt – by the late 1970s the richest 10% accounted for 38% of total expenditure, compared to the 1.3% of total expenditure from the poorest 10%

  • The ‘White Revolution’ instigated in 1963 didn’t really improve things for ordinary Iranians

  • Land redistribution barely gave peasants enough land to support their families Despite Iran’s oil wealth, most villages lacked piped water, electricity, roads and other basic services

  • Both illiteracy and infant mortality rates remained high

  • By the mid-1970s Iran still had one of the worst doctor-patient ratios and one of the worst infant mortality rates in the Middle East

  • Very few people were in higher education

  • The insensitivity of some of the Shah’s policies –

  • The Shah westernised Iran, a strongly Islamic country

  • In a country where millions struggled to feed themselves, there was excessive expenditure on the Shah’s coronation, the celebration of the dubious 2,500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy and on the Shahyad Monument built to celebrate the achievements of the Pahlavi dynasty

  • A new imperial calendar replaced the Muslim calendar

  • The Shah allowed imports from the West, e.g. large quantities of American foodstuffs at the expense of Iranian farmers

  • And he built Western-style shopping malls which undercut the bazaar merchants

  • Cinemas began showing foreign, unIslamic, films

  • The Shah’s government controlled what mullahs were allowed to preach

  • The mullahs were not allowed to get involved in political matters

  • Some mullahs were banned from preaching altogether

  • Some mullahs were hounded by SAVAK, arrested and imprisoned for provoking opposition

  • Other mullahs were forced into exile

  • Oppression –

  • In March, 1975 the Shah established a one-party state

  • Criticism of the Shah and his government was quickly suppressed

  • The intelligence service and secret police, known as SAVAK, were used to root out opponents to the Shah’s regime, even with regard to mullahs

  • They were known for their brutal tactics including torture, forced confessions and executions

  • SAVAK imposed censorship

  • SAVAK screened government and university appointments