Theocrats of Islamic Revolution in Iran Are Still Widely Misunderstood
By
Clifford May
December
31, 2020
In early
1979, I was sent to Iran to report on the rebellion then underway. I was
woefully ignorant of Iranian history, politics, and theology. But older, more
experienced colleagues in the journalistic, diplomatic, and intelligence
communities also misunderstood would become known as the Islamic Revolution.
So, it was
with both curiosity and pleasure that I've been reading "The Last Shah:
America, Iran and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty" an enlightening new
history by Ray Takeyh, the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East
Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Among The
Revelations: By the
late 1970s, the U.S. intelligence community, and William Sullivan, America's
last ambassador in Tehran, knew full well that Iran was not, as President
Carter curiously proclaimed on Dec. 31, 1977, "an island of
stability."
On the
contrary, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's government was riddled with corruption
and dissent. His health was in decline, along with his popularity. He was
"devious and cynical," writes Mr. Takeyh but, to his credit, he would
not contemplate a bloody crackdown against his opponents because "he
sincerely believed that a monarch should not kill his subjects."
The
opponents that most concerned Ambassador Sullivan were Iran's Communists even
though, Mr. Takeyh writes, the Tudeh had become a "dormant political
party." Foreign reporters like myself were inclined to focus on
Western-educated reformers. What few analysts perceived: It was the religious
extremists who were at history's helm.
For years,
they had been mixing Islamic theology with Marxism, refashioning Shiism into
what Mr. Takeyh calls "a religion of dissent led by rebels seeking social
justice."
They
regarded modernization, the Shah's main pursuit, as "borrowing ideas from
Europe and America," and they rejected it.
Among those
advancing such ideas was a dour cleric living in exile, first in Turkey and
Iraq, then in France, who "stood above everyone else in terms of courage
and charisma."
A book
published by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1970, "Islamic
Government," had attracted little attention. It's most audacious proposal,
Mr. Takeyh writes, was that "the clergy should assume political power.
This contravened Shia thought" which had long emphasized that "the
guardians of faith should keep their distance from centers of power" until
the return of the "Hidden Imam," a messianic figure.
Mr. Takeyh
notes too: "Khomeini's contempt for democratic rule and his hatred of
religious minorities are evident throughout the text."
In November
1978, Ambassador Sullivan sent a diplomatic cable to Washington suggesting that
Ayatollah Khomeini might be persuaded to compromise with moderate dissidents,
and "return to Iran in triumph and hold a Gandhi-like position in the
political constellation."
"As an
emissary of a secular republic known for its pragmatism," Mr. Takeyh
explains, "Sullivan simply could not comprehend revolutionaries who meant
what they said."
The Shah
fled Iran on Jan. 16, 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran on Feb. 1,
proclaiming that he was not leading "a nationalist rebellion" but
rather a "Quranic rebellion," an "Islamic rebellion."
A
referendum was held in March. Iranians were asked to vote yes or no to the
founding of an Islamic Republic. The "yes" ballot was colored green,
the "no" was red. Voters had to request one or the other.
Almost no
one asked for a red ballot. If a similar plebiscite were held today, would the
results be the same? My guess is yes, if - now as then - mullahs were
supervising the not-secret balloting.
Over the
months that followed, "Liberals were cast aside and traditional clergy
were forced to comply with the new strictures. Women's rights were curtailed
and religious minorities endured persecution."
Islamic
courts were established and those who had served the shah were summarily tried,
convicted and executed for such crimes as "spreading corruption on
earth." When one defendant asked what that meant, the judge replied:
"What you are guilty of."
Mr. Takeyh
adds: "Scores of Arab and Kurdish separatist leaders, and then the
leftists who had cheered when the shah's officials were put to death, also
faced the mullahs' wrath."
Thousands
are estimated to have been killed. Nevertheless, Supreme Leader Khomeini - the
new title awarded him by the Islamic Republic's constitution - would later
regret that he had not gone further, that he had not, in his words, "set
up gallows in the main squares and cut down all the corrupt people. In the
presence of God Almighty and the dear nation of Iran, I apologize for our
mistakes."
Along with
most reporters, I left Iran before summer. After that, news from the Islamic
Republic seldom made the front pages. Then, on Nov. 4, 1979, as crowds outside
the U.S. embassy in Tehran chanted "Death to America!" several
hundred young followers of the Supreme Leader breached the walls. The diplomats
inside were held hostage for 444 days.
Mr.
Khomeini died in 1989. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei, now 81, who has
remained an ardent Khomeinist, burning with hatred of America. He and Iran's
other theocrats, Mr. Takeyh writes, are in pursuit of "the most ambitious
imperial venture in Iran's modern history."
Too many in
the journalistic, diplomatic, and intelligence communities still don't
understand that. Nor, clearly, do the 150 House Democrats who last week signed
a letter urging Joe Biden to re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a
deal that doesn't curb the regime's support for terrorism, its threats to
Iran's neighbours, or its suppression of the Iranian people.
Despite
repeated claims to the contrary, it also doesn't stop Iran's rulers from
acquiring nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them to targets anywhere -
America included. On the contrary, it leads to that outcome with a promise of
American and European acquiescence. Ayatollah Khomeini would be pleased.
Original
Headline: Came the Islamic Revolution
Source: Clifford May.Org
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/theocrats-islamic-revolution-iran-still/d/123943