The Iranian History 1979 AD

 

Brief History of Iran Iranian History Chronicle

Guadeloupe Conference On Iran

Jan, 4, 1979 AD

This conference of the heads of four Western powers; U.S., UK, France and West Germany, was held in the first week of January 1979 on the island of Guadeloupe. The agenda concerned the world situation and the political crisis in Iran, where a popular revolutionary upsurge was about to topple the Mohammad Reza Shah, the monarch brought back to power by a coup organized by CIA and MI6 in 1953. The dimensions of the agreements achieved before and after the conference have been kept secret.
French President Giscard d'Estaing hosted the Guadeloupe Conference which convened between Jan, 4 and Jan, 7 1979. US President Jimmy Carter, British Prime Minister James Callaghan, and German chancellor Helmut Schmidt attended the 4 day meeting.
The leader had reached the conclusion that Shah could no more stay in power and his stay would only raise tensions. In a press conference, the US secretary of state Cyrus Vance announced that Shah was getting ready for holidays outside Iran adding that Shah's political role on shaping Iran's future had come to an end. (Updated: Feb, 1, 2010)





Bakhtiar Becomes Prime Minister

Jan, 6, 1979 AD

Mohammad Reza Shah (Pahlavi II) meets with his last Prime Minister Shahpour Bakhtiar's Cabinet of Ministers.Shapour Bakhtiar was Shah's last prime minister. He took several measures to appeal to the opposition movement such as ending restrictions on the press, freeing political prisoners, dissolution of SAVAK, lifting martial law, promising free elections, withdrawal from CENTO treaty, canceling arms orders from the US, and stopping export oil to South Africa and Israel. Bakhtiar's attempt to prevent Khomeini's return by closing the Mehrabad Airport at Tehran on January 26, only aggrevated the public so that he had to reopen the airport for Khomeini's arrival on Feb,1. The following ten days were a countdoen for the ollapse of Pahlavi monarchy.
On Feb, 8, uniformed air force officers appeared before Khomeini pledging their allegiance . On Feb, 10 the Bakhtiar government announced a curfew which was ignored by the public who was already armed and over the next 24 hours, revolutionaries seized police barracks, prisons, and buildings. On Feb 11, senior military commanders announced their neutrality thus withdrawing from the streets that meant end of support for Bakhtiar government. On Feb, 12, Bakhtiar was in hiding, and the country was in rebel hands. The monarchy had collapsed. (Updated: May, 6, 2009)





Shah Flees To Egypt

Jan, 16, 1979 AD

Shah GoneThe last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi leaves Iran with his wife and family for Aswan in Egypt. Public demonstration in almost all Iranian cities could no more be silenced by military force and Shah was afraid of a coup against himself and was hoping that after his departure a CIA backed coup just like the one in 1953 would bring him back to the throne but overall circumstances were against him and a daily newspaper published the headline "Shah Gone", in a country where because of public fear nobody would dare call him anything but Shahanshah. In less than a month, the regime fell; thus putting an end to the Pahlavi kingdom. Amazingly, all factors were supporting the revolution including leftist, rightist, extremist, democratic wings and even foreign countries did not want Shah any more, maybe because Iran had become a regional economic and military power. After Shah left, people started chanting, dancing, offering free candies and cookies and the sound of car horns did not stop the whole day. (Updated: Jan, 16, 2008)





Ayatollah Khomeini Arrives In Tehran

Feb, 1, 1979 AD

Ayatollah Khomeini Arrives in Tehran accompanied by Air France pilotAn important milestone in actualization of the Islamic revolution was Ayatollah Khomeini's return on this day. He arrived at the Mehrabad airport at 9:33 am on Air France. Accompanied by thousands of enthusiastic supporters, he went directly to Behesht Zahra to make a speech honoring martyrs killed during the uprising against Shah. Khomeini was born on May, 17, 1900 and became one of the most prominent religious leaders in the Shiite Muslim world. His famous speech against immunity given to Americans on June, 5, 1963 incited a revolt in Qom soon to spread around Iran. Therefore he entered the black list of Shah's secret service named SAVAK. Khomeini was arrested in March 1965 and sent to exile in Iraq, Turkey and then France. His opposition continued and accelerated in 1979. Public mass demonstrations, strikes, and riots accompanied by a strong foreign media coverage and support from all leftist and rightist dissident groups accelerated in 1978 thus made Shah and his family flee to Egypt on Jan, 16, 1979. Mohammad Reza Shah assigned Bakhtiar, one of dissident figures jailed after the coup in 1953 in hopes of gaining back public support. But it was too late and the wheels of revolution crushed the bones of monarchy and 50 days later, in a referendum, Iranians voted for Islamic Republic as their new form of government. Khomeini died in 1989 at the age of 89. (Updated: Oct, 23, 2008)





American General Leaves Tehran

Feb, 3, 1979 AD

Iranian girl and boy celebrating victory of the revolutionGeneral Robert E. Huyser a special envoy from Jimmy Carter left Tehran for Washington. His mission was to help the Iranian army take control of the civil uprising in Iran. Of Dutch origin Huyser was a US air force general who published the book Mission to Tehran before he died of heart attack in 1997 at the age of 73. As deputy of the U.S. European command, he knew many of top Iranian military officers. In his book he describes his mission as one that started with desperation and disunity and ended in disaster. In a speech in 1986 he said that knew it would be impossible to keep the Shah in power. Right after his arrival on Jan, 4 Huyser began a round of almost daily meetings with the army, navy, and air force top officers, plus chiefs of the police, gendarmerie and SAVAK. He left Iran on February 3, before the final confrontation between the army and the revolutionary forces.
Did Huyser come to organize a military coup? Probably as a last resort, and by that time it was too late. (Updated: Oct, 23, 2008)





Bazargan Becomes Prime Minister

Feb, 5, 1979 AD

Forouhar Bazargan JavadiBazargan was assigned by Ayatollah Khomeini as the revolutionary prime minister to form the interim government. At the same time Bakhtiar was the last prime minister assigned by Pahlavi 2; thus Iran had two prime ministers at the same time for six days. Bazargan was a well known nationalist who participated actively in the movement that ended with nationalization of oil. He founded the Freedom Movement in 1961 after which he was sent to prison together with Ayatollah Taleghani. His cabinet did not last more than 9 months because of constant pressure by hard liners. After his resignation, he was elected to the parliament and was one of the dissidents who was tolerated by the regime somehow because of respect he had earned through the years. He died on Jan, 20, 1995 at the age of 86 while being treated in Zurich as the only surviving secular leader tolerated by the regime. His death opened a remarkable gap in the ranks of the opposition, since very few other Iranians could publicly make criticism with impunity.
Some highlights of his term as prime minister are:
-Facilitating transition of power
-Preparation for the elections
Bazargan was the founder of the Iranian society for freedom and human rights. (Updated: Feb, 6, 2008)





Iran Sides With Palestinians Against Israel

Feb, 19, 1979 AD

A view from Historical Tehran Bazaar late 1970sOne of the most determining dates in contemporary Iranian history is today when during a ceremony Yasser Arafat, the leader of the PLO inaugurated the Palestine embassy in Tehran. The building allocated for this purpose was the embassy of Israel. Ahmad, Ayatollah Khomeini's son represented his father in the ceremony and Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi, one of the prominent leaders of Iranian National Freedom Movement made a historical speech denouncing Israel atrocities and praising Palestinians rights. Meanwhile, the ministry of foreign affairs of the interim revolutionary government ordered all Israel diplomats, embassy staff, and advisors to leave the country while Iranian citizens were ordered to leave Israel immediately. All diplomatic relations were halted and Iran declared that it does not recognize the state of Israel anymore.
This action immediately angered western countries. Iran later started to play an active role against the Zionist regime in Lebanon that led to creation of Hezbollah. Iran's alliance with Syria and Palestinian resistance created a counter balancing weight against colonial policies that took away Palestinians homeland in 1948. Ironically, Iran was a major player on the opposite side for more than 30 years. As a matter of fact, as long as the Arabs see Iran as an outsider as today, all efforts to help Palestinians prove futile as seen in the past 30 years. (Updated: Feb, 20, 2008)





Iran Officially Shifts From Monarchy To Republic

Apr, 1, 1979 AD

1979 Revolution ChildrenAfter a referendum that took place on two consequent days, a great majority of Iranians voted for a change of regime from Monarchy to Islamic Republic. According to published records in this referendum 20,288,000 people voted "Yes" and 241,000 people voted "No" at the poll. Ayatollah Khomeini's declaration that was published in Iranian newspaper officially announced the end of thousands of years of monarchy and start of a new era for all Iranians. (Updated: Dec, 11, 2007)





Dr. Motahhari Assassinated

May, 1, 1979 AD

A view from Tehran's crowded Toopkhaneh Square late 1970sMorteza Motahhari, one of the most prominent figures of the Islamic revolution of Iran was assassinated while leaving Dr. Sahabi's house in Tehran. The murderer approached him from behind and shot him in the back of his head causing his death in minutes. The extremist Forghan group took the responsibility for this terror act in a phone calls made to the media. Born on Feb, 3, 1920, Motahhari was a professor of theology and philosophy whose Islamic guidelines were taught in all levels of the Iranian educational system even before the revolution. He was the head of the revolutionary committee's meetings. Right after the CIA backed Shah was toppled, widespread terror activities took place all over Iran mostly targeting thinkers, researchers and key figures that formed the structure of a think thank that could have led Islamic teachings from theory to reality. However, these terror acts, coup attempts associated with the imposed Iraq war , and economic sanctions were only a small part of the price Iranians have been paying for liberty and independence. (Updated: Feb, 19, 2008)





Iranian Students Seize U.S. Embassy In Tehran

Nov, 4, 1979 AD

Shredded Documents US EmbassyDuring public uprising Shah fled the country. After the revolution U.S. was asked to return the dictator but the request was denied. He was reportedly under treatment for cancer and took a surgery in New York. On Nov, 4, 1979 a group of young people calling themselves Students in the path of Imam stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took all the staff hostage. The embassy staff reportedly tried to destroy classified documents by shredding and burning them.
The students read a statement that had been received from Ayatollah Montazeri, in which they quoted him as saying:
"The Iman said the Iranian nation must clean up its situation against the United States. This is like recognition of that message. U.S. must know it can't play with the feelings of the Iranian nation."
The U.S. embassy was named the Spy Den and 52 hostages were kept for 444 days and released on Jan, 21, 1981 the day Jimmy Carter was no more in White House. (Updated: Dec, 3, 2007)





PM Bazargan Resigns

Nov, 5, 1979 AD

Tehran's famous Tajrish Square on a snowy day late 1970sOne day after the U.S. embassy was raided, PM Bazargan resigned in protest. Bazargan was constantly under pressure from hardliners. He was one of founders of the most respected liberal movement in Iran whose political background indicated his activities alongside Mosaddegh. After the regime change, he was appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini to form the interim government which could only survive for 268 days. His informal meeting with Brzezinski, the senior national security advisor of the U.S. president gave his rivals a pretext to enchant "death to Bazargan" at the parliament.
During his term, Iranians enjoyed political and social freedoms as promised as a result of the revolution. Bazargan was openly opposed to enforcing hijab, restricting political activities and many other things that were happening without his consent. He was only used by the extremists for a while to hide the harsh face of what was later imposed as Islamic Republic to Iranians. He continued his political activities as the Tehran representative at the parliament for some time. Mehdi Bazargan died on Jan, 20, 1995 at the age of 86. (Updated: Nov, 6, 2008)





US Reacts To Hostage Crisis

Nov, 13, 1979 AD

U.S. President Jimmy CarterThe United States freezes Iranian assets in the US based on the decision by President Jimmy Carter entering the two countries into a long-term period of hostilities. Anti-American sentiments in Iran fueled in part by close ties between the U.S. and the unpopular leader Mohammad Reza Shah. Shah fled the country in 1979. When the monarch entered the U.S. for medical treatment, a group of militants calling themselves; Students in Imam's path, stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and seized 66 Americans.
Shah's extradition to Iran was demanded, but Jimmy Carter refused and froze all Iranian assets in the U.S. The Iranians released 13 women and African Americans on Nov, 1979, and another hostage was released in July 1980. A rescue attempt in April 1980 failed. Negotiations for the hostages' return began after the Shah died in July 1980, but the remaining 52 hostages were kept in captivity until Jan. 20, 1981, after 444 days when they were released moments after the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. The crisis contributed to Carter's failure to win reelection. (Updated: Nov, 13, 2007)





Islamic Republic Constitution Approved

Dec, 3, 1979 AD

Undated photo taken from khomeini pouring teaAfter the fall of monarchy, a draft constitution was presented by Ayatollah Khomeini on June 18. Aside from substituting a president for the king, the draft constitution did not differ markedly from the 1906 constitution. Then a seventy-three-member Assembly of Experts convened on August 18, 1979, to consider the draft constitution. Supporters of the Islamic Republic Party dominated the assembly, which changed the constitution to establish a state dominated by the clergy. The Assembly of Experts completed its work on November 15, and the Constitution was approved in a national referendum on December 2 and 3, 1979, according to government figures, by over 98 percent of the vote. (Updated: Jan, 22, 2009)





Shah Escapes To Panama

Dec, 15, 1979 AD

Niyavaran Palace PahlaviUnder international pressure and fear of being assassinated or delivered to Iran for trial, the Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah finds a resort in a far away island in Panama. Because of massive street demonstrations and constant public pressure Shah had fled from Iran like he had done 26 years before in hopes of another coup to put him back in power. But when he was allowed to the U.S. a hostage crisis began with seizure of the American embassy same year. He soon became one of the most unwanted people in the world with nowhere to go. His last trip was to Egypt where he died of cancer reportedly. Iran's diplomatic relations with the U.S. and Egypt became suspended ever since. (Updated: Dec, 22, 2007)





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