Political movement in post-revolutionary Iran
Iranian monarchism
is the advocacy of restoring the
monarchy
in
Iran
, which was abolished after the
1979 Revolution
.
Historical background
[
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]
Iran first became a constitutional monarchy in 1906 under the
Qajar dynasty
, but underwent a period of autocracy during the years 1925–1941 during the rule of
Reza Shah
, who, after staging a coup d'etat that led to the founding of the
Pahlavi dynasty
, imposed self-rule. Parliament became a rubber stamp, the press was censored and the
Communist Party
and
trade unions
banned.
[1]
After Reza Shah's abdication in 1941, the
Iranian National Assembly
was restored to power. During the years 1941 to 1953, Iran remained a constitutional monarchy and active
parliamentary democracy
with Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
retaining extensive legal executive powers.
On March 15, 1951, the National Assembly, led by Prime Minister
Hossein Ala
, unanimously voted to nationalize the oil industry, which at the time was dominated by the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(now
BP
). In 1953, the British
MI6
and American
CIA
orchestrated a coup against
Mohammed Mossadegh
's government. Agents fueled rumors that the republican-minded Mossadegh was planning on abolishing the monarchy and declaring himself president of a new Republic of Iran, leading to a pro-monarchist backlash from the public and leading to a successful result in the coup against the prime minister.
The Shah, who had gone into exile during the coup, returned to Iran and named General
Fazlollah Zahedi
as the new prime minister. Many contemporary sources attribute the coup, or counter
coup
, entirely to the
U.S.
American
CIA
(
CIA
Coup
) and agents of the British
MI6
who are reported to have organized and paid for it.
[2]
These sources point to many other coups in which the CIA was instrumental, such as that in Chile in 1973. Monarchists, however, argue that the counter-coup was in fact a popular uprising, and that the foreign intelligence agencies' undeniable involvement was peripheral. At least some historians argue the coup could not have taken place without both CIA organizing and Iranian support.
[3]
[4]
Afterwards, the era of constitutional monarchy gradually came to an end as the Shah increasingly exercised his executive powers unilaterally, thus leading towards the development of autocracy. By the early 1970s, with most political parties having been banned, Iran had effectively become a one-party state under
Rastakhiz
.
National Front
leaders like
Karim Sanjabi
and moderate traditional Islamic leaders like
Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari
continued to espouse a constitutional monarchy.
Under increasing international pressure, particularly from President
Jimmy Carter
of the United States, the Shah pushed forward major democratic reforms in the late 1970s, designed to gradually restore the constitutional monarchy as it had originally been. However, several uprisings in 1978 and 1979 culminated in the Shah, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had kept the fact secret, to leave the country with his family to seek treatment overseas. Within a few weeks the Shah's government had effectively collapsed and the Second Revolution had begun. The new provisional revolutionary government officially abolished the monarchy and declared Iran to be a republic. In April 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran was established, under the
Supreme Leadership
of
Ruhollah Khomeini
.
In the months following the Revolution, former Field Marshal of the Imperial Armed Forces
Bahram Aryana
organized a counter-revolution in exile. Based in
Paris
,
France
, with other military officials of the Imperial Armed Forces and Prince
Shahriar Shafiq
, he established
Azadegan
, a paramilitary resistance intended to help restore the constitutional monarchy. Fearing a growing counter-revolution, Prince Shahriar was assassinated in Paris in December 1979 by Khomeinist agents, which was a major setback for the monarchist resistance. Despite a number of successful operations which garnered international media attention in 1980 and 1981, the outbreak of war between Iran and
Iraq
officially brought any hope for counter-revolution to an end.
In the 1990s and the decade following 2000, the Shah's reputation has staged something of a revival, with many Iranians looking back on his era as a time when Iran was more prosperous
[5]
[6]
and the government less oppressive.
[7]
Journalist
Afshin Molavi
reports even members of the uneducated poor - traditionally core supporters of the revolution that overthrew the Shah - making remarks such as 'God bless the Shah's soul, the economy was better then;' and finds that "books about the former Shah (even censored ones) sell briskly," while "books of the Rightly Guided Path sit idle."
[8]
Monarchist parties
[
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]
Monarchist parties and organizations are strictly prohibited by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and monarchists and their sympathizers are subject to imprisonment if discovered. However, monarchists remain active in
Los Angeles
and maintain links with their organizations and parties in Europe such as
Azadegan
, the
Constitutionalist Party
and
Rastakhiz
.
Monarchist groups such as Azadegan and Constitutionalist only advocate for the restoration of the constitutional monarchy, without necessarily endorsing the
Pahlavi dynasty
, the
Qajar dynasty
or any other Iranian royal dynasty. Rastakhiz specifically calls for the return of the House of Pahlavi to the throne, while the
Kingdom Assembly of Iran
is opposed to a Pahlavi restoration.
The former Crown Prince of Iran,
Reza Pahlavi
, himself does not advocate the restoration of his
dynasty
, instead stating that the matter is for Iranians themselves to decide in a national referendum whether or not to restore the constitutional monarchy with the restoration of the House of Pahlavi.
[9]
Monarchist political parties
[
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]
See also
[
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]
Politics of Iran
Political parties in Iran
Kingdom Assembly of Iran
List of monarchs of Persia
List of Shahbanus of Persia
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Townson, Duncan,
The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern History 1789-1945 (Second Edition)
, Penguin, 2001, p. 459
- ^
Kinzer, Stephen,
All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
, Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.5, 6, 210
- ^
Keddie, Nikki R., Roots of Revolution, Yale University Press, 1981, p.140
- ^
Kinzer, Stephen,
All the Shah's Men : An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
, Stephen Kinzer, John Wiley and Sons, 2003, p.211
- ^
Molavi, Afshin,
The Soul of Iran
, Norton (2005), p.74
- ^
Iran Report
2 February 2004
- ^
Sciolino, Elaine,
Persian Mirrors,
Touchstone, (2000), p.239, 244
- ^
Molavi, Afshin,
The Soul of Iran
, Norton (2005), p.74, 10
- ^
Reza Pahlavi's Next Revolution: Successor Story, The New Republic, Franklin Foer, Thursday, January 3rd, 2002
Archived
2007-02-21 at the
Wayback Machine
External links
[
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]