Under mounting pressure for not being vocal enough over what appears to be a fraudulent presidential election in Iran, and the violent repression of dissident voices, which has already resulted in a number of deaths, President Obama shot back on Tuesday with a stronger condemnation, saying he was ``appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings and imprisonments of the past few days.”
        While there is broad consensus about the outrage and suppression of enraged Iranian voters, there is much less agreement over what the United States can actually do about the situation except voice its pointed disapproval.
        If Obama, for example, aligns himself too closely with the demonstrators and should Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remain president, the chances of ``engaging’’ Iran about curtailing their nuclear program might linger without any concrete talks for years to come.
        Whatever the outcome of the Iranian election, the chorus of rebellion in Iran seems to be tilting the country toward a counter-revolution, a historic development not seen since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
        Here, then, are some highlights of Iran’s transition to a theocratic republic, with the population displaying sporadic protests for greater democracy over the last 30 years.

• On September 17, 1941, Muhammad Reza Shah was sworn in as the new Shah of Iran, becoming the second king of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

• In 1934, Tehran University is established, with programs in arts, science, medicine, law, and engineering, making it the oldest and largest university in Iran. In 1937, the university opened its doors to women.

• A new book, ``Kashf al-Asrar'' (Unveiling of the Secrets) written by Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, a religious leader and politician is published in 1942, a publication which refutes the growing advocacy of secularism in Iran.

• In 1958, the monarchy creates a two-party system, although in name only. During the same year, the Shah establishes SAVAK, the secret police charged with smothering political dissent, particularly trade unions and the intelligentsia.  The department soon became known as the ``Iron fist of the Shah’’.

• January 21, 1962:  Government troops brutally attack students at Tehran University holding demonstrations against the policies of the Shah.

• In 1963, the Shah instituted the ``Revolution of the People and the Shah’’, more commonly referred to as the ``White Revolution’’, so called because it would introduce massive change within Iran without bloodshed. The White Revolution introduced secularization including programs of social, political and economic democracy. The Shah’s reforms earned the endorsement of President Kennedy. Ultimately, however, the revolution did little in moving toward political democracy; and in fact resulted in major social disruptions.

• MOJAHEDIN-I KHALQ-I IRAN (IRANIAN PEOPLES' FREEDOM FIGHTERS) is founded in 1965  under the guidance of six Tehran University graduates who were members of the Liberation Movement of Iran, a dissident group promoting armed struggle against the Shah and western imperialism.

• In 1967, the Family Protection Laws are passed, granting  women greater rights in marriage

• The Resurrection Party (Hezb-e Rastakhiz) is established in 1975, making membership mandatory for all Iranians, while the official majority party Novin and the minority party, Hezb-i Mardom are abolished.

• In 1976, 100,000 gather in the city of Isfahan for the funeral of Ayatollah Abolhassan Shamsabadi, a high-ranking Islamic cleric, rumored to have been murdered by the Shah’s secret police for being critical of the government.  Many observers point to this incident as the time when Islam begins to gather force.

• May 1977: Antigovernment protests are reported in Tehran, while two seminarians are killed in Qom

• In the fall of 1977, 50 Iranians sign an open letter to the Shah asking for a more open political system and the freeing of political prisoners. Their plea is ignored.

• September, 1977: Tehran is put under martial law. Hundreds of demonstrators are killed in Zhaleh Square in what became known as "Black Friday"

• December 1977: While anti-Shah demonstrations engulf Iran, U.S. Marines are sent in use tear gas to disperse crowds gathered near the U.S. Embassy

• January, 1979: A million jubilant Iranians demonstrate in Tehran, calling for the formation of an Islamic republic and the return of Khomeini.

• January 16, 1979: Unable to stand up to insurmountable opposition, the Shah flees Iran

• March, 1979: Women begin to protest new veiling codes imposed by the clergy.

• April, 1979: The Islamic Republic is established

• November 4, 1979: Militants seize the American embassy in Tehran and hold 52 American diplomats hostage there for 444 days.  The hostages wouldn’t be released until Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, January 20, 1981.

• The Islamic Republic proclaimed there would be an elected Parliament, the Majle; the popular election of a president, who would appoint a Prime Minister and cabinet to be approved by Majles. In addition, the Republic established a Council of Guardians-comprised of 12 appointees, six religious scholars and six lawyers charged with the power to certify candidates for election, interpret the constitution and veto any legislation by the Majles deemed not in concert with the principles of Islam. The distinction between religious and secular life was formally abolished.

• January 25, 1980: The first Iranian president, Abu al-Hassan Bani-Sadr, is inaugurated. He’s dismissed and exiled by Khomeini in June 1981.

• October, 1981: The Ayatollah Ali Khomeini is elected the third president of the Islamic Republic

• Amnesty International estimates 1,000 people were executed in Iran in the first 18 months of the Islamic Revolution.

• March, 1986: Khomeini allows women to participate in public life and the military

• December, 1988: The government approves the establishment of a limited number of political parties

• Khomeini dies on June 3, 1989

• October, 1989: The Majlis rules that all future Majlis candidates must hold a bachelor's degree or be theological school graduate.

• November, 1989: Over 15,000 Iranians chanting ''Death to America!'' and a mob of students burning an American flag, participate in demonstrations marking the tenth anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran

• April, 1990: During an antigovernment demonstration in Tehran, one person is killed and 65 others arrested.

•  June, 1990: The government bans Iran's Liberation Movement and arrests eight dissidents.

• October, 1990: Khamenei is accused of manipulating election results involving radical candidates

• January, 1991: Iranian university students strike for improved education, the release of detained students, and the closure of campus Islamic societies.

• September, 1991: Widespread demonstrations and strikes break out in protest over low wages and oppressive working conditions.

• May 30, 1992: Thousands of Iranians participate in protests over land disputes in Meshed, setting fires to cars and municipal buildings. By June, the government orders severe measures to restrain riots and demonstrations by announcing insurgents would be tried by the Islamic Revolutionary Court, a judicial body which typically imposes the death penalty.

• November, 1992: The government rules that men and women should ride separately on Tehran buses

• December, 1993: The United Nations denounces Iran for the executions of dissidents and the continuing threat on Salman Rushdie's life;

• April, 1994: To protect national and religious cultures, the government bans television satellite dishes and equipment

• February, 1995: The government shuts down the newspaper, Jahan-e Islam for ``creating doubts, printing untrue stories and insulting the religious beliefs of the Muslim nation."

• September, 1996: A University Professor, Abdolkarim Soroush, calls for a strengthening of democracy by creating greater separation between the mosque and the state. The New York Times reported the professor's stated beliefs alarmed government officials; and led to him being mugged on two separate occasions while lecturing.

• May, 1997: In a stunning landslide victory, Mohammed Khatami, who was forced out of the government five years earlier, and campaigned on a platform of tolerance and social reform is elected president of Iran,  a sign that many Iranians are beginning to resent their private and public restrictions imposed upon them by the Islamic government.

• July, 1999: Iranian students promoting greater democracy, cultural reforms, and upset with the slow pace of reforms promised to them by President Mohammad Khatami take to the streets in 18 cities and towns. The government was quick to quell the unrest. Security forces reportedly stormed university dorms, pummeling students while they slept; others were pushed from second the third floor windows. As many as five to eight students, according to some reports, had been killed.
NOTE: In August, 2000, parliament passed a bill that prohibited police from entering universities without permission.
• April, 2000: Clerical courts concerned that their Islamic values s were being undermined, closed down 19 newspapers and magazines.

• November, 2002: Iran's National Security Council, headed by Mohammad Khatami prohibits students from holding a rally to protest the death sentence given to pro-reform scholar Hashem Aghajari who had challenged the hard-lined clerics. The students used the harsh sentence as a pretext to demonstrate for freedom of speech and other political reforms.

• February, 2004: The Iran Participation Front, Iran's leading reform party, announced they would not participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections after half of the 8,200 candidates were rejected by the Guardian Council. A day earlier, a third of the Parliament’s members resigned to protest the ban of the reformist candidates.

• October, 2007: Students at Amir Kabir University protest the jail sentences and reported torture of three activists for publishing articles considered insulting to Islam

• June, 2009: Riot police used tear gas and live bullets to disperse angry demonstrators upset that the presidential election had been rigged. Despite the Guardian Council acknowledging voting irregularities took place in 50 districts, the council maintains the June 12th presidential election was not affected.

Footnotes

• Tehran became capital of Iran at the end of the 18th century.  In 2009, its estimated population was over 12 million.

• In 2009, sixty percent of the university students are comprised of women, a 30 percent increase since 1982

• According to the latest census figures, 22.3 percent of the Iranian population is under 15; only three percent of the population is 65 and older.

• The median age in Iran is 27; the literacy rate is 77 percent

• The percentage of women represented in parliament in Iran stands at 2.8 percent

• There are an estimated 23 million Internet and 29 million cell phone users in Iran

-Bill Lucey
WPLucey@gmail.com

Source:  ``Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundations of the Islamic Revolution in Iran’’ by Hamid Dabashi; ``Iran:  A People Interrupted'' by Hamid Dabashi; ``Islamism and Modernism:  The Changing Discourse in Iran'' by Farhang Rajaee; ``Historical Dictionary of Iran’’ By John H. Lorentz; The New York Times archives, U.S. Census Bureau; CIA-World Fact Book