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In 1979, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown by an Islamic Revolution in Iran, replacing its millennia-old monarchy with a theocratic republic. Shortly after, the leader of the Revolution, a senior Islamic jurist named Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, also transliterated Khumaynî, successfully supported referendums to declare Iran an Islamic Republic in March 1979, and to approve a ...
The Islamic Republic of Iran is an Islamic theocracy headed by a Supreme Leader. Its constitution was approved in 1979 and amended in 1989. Jaafari school of thought is the official religion. Theocratic bodies supervise the government which has an elected president and elected governmental bodies at the national, provincial and local levels.
The Shah maintained a close relationship with both regimes, sharing a fear of the southward expansion of the Soviet Union, Iran's powerful northern neighbor. Leftist and Islamist groups attacked his government for violating the Iranian Constitution, and political oppression by the SAVAK (secret police).
The creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran was a dramatic, historical event, following the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979 by the Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. "Islamic" in the country's title was not a symbol of cultural identity, but indicated specific governmental system based on rule by Islamic jurists ...
Seventy years after a CIA-orchestrated coup toppled Iran's prime minister, its legacy remains both contentious and complicated for the Islamic Republic as tensions stay high with the United States.
Iran has been described as a "theocratic republic" by various sources, [36] [37] [38] including the CIA World Factbook. [39] Its constitution has been described as a "hybrid" of "theocratic and democratic elements" by Francis Fukuyama. [40] Like other Islamic states, it maintains religious laws and has religious courts to interpret all aspects ...
The CIA now officially describes the 1953 coup it backed in Iran that overthrew its prime minister and cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as undemocratic. Other American officials ...
Iran, under its anti-Western theocratic dictatorship, has been a thorn in the side of the U.S. for decades, guilty of taking, torturing and murdering American hostages and attacking American allies.