The saying Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad, sometimes given in Latin as Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat (literally: Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first deprives of reason) or Quem Iuppiter vult perdere, dementat prius (literally: Those whom Jupiter wishes to destroy, he first deprives of reason)

The Shah of Iran was the leader of a constitutional monarchy. He ruled from 1941 until 1979. He maintained ill relations with the Shia clergy. In the latter years of his rule he attempted to undermine their influence. He wanted to change the official calendar from Islamic to one based on the Persian Empire. The state did not enforce Islamic laws. His government built universities and schools and advanced Iranian culture. He advocated women’s suffrage.

Intellectuals began to advocate for the overthrow of the Shah in 1977. According to the Iranian Constitution, the Shah was supposed to support the ideals of Islam. Distribution of wealth hadn’t lifted up the lower classes despite an economic oil boom. The stories in the Iranian press about lascivious behavior of the Ayatollah Khomeini, in exile since 1964 sparked protests against the government and these accusations in his hometown of Qum.

The developments initiated by seminaries in the city of Qom closing on 7 January 1978 were followed by the bazaar and seminary closing, and students rallied towards the homes of the religious leaders on the next day. On 9 January 1978, seminary students and other people demonstrated in the city, which was cracked down by the Shah’s security forces who shot live ammunition to disperse the crowd when the peaceful demonstration turned violent. Between 5–300 of the demonstrators were reportedly killed in the protest. 9 January 1978 (19 Dey) is regarded as a bloody day in Qom Wikipedia

SAVAK, the “Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State” of Iran served as the Shah’s intelligence and security service. Nematollah Nassiri served as it’s head from 1965 until 1978. His service was organized and trained with help from the CIA. Heavy handed tactics by Nassiri helped create anti Shah sentiment in Iran.

Also in 1977, the popular and influential modernist Islamist theorist Ali Shariati died under mysterious circumstances. This both angered his followers, who considered him a martyr at the hands of SAVAK, and removed a potential revolutionary rival to Khomeini. Finally, in October Khomeini’s son Mostafa died of an alleged heart attack, and his death was also blamed on SAVAK. A subsequent memorial service for Mostafa in Tehran put Khomeini back in the spotlight. Wikipedia

“If I want you to go left, I push you as hard as I can to the right.”

According to US Embassy staff, the Shah had lost any grip on reality and some questioned his sanity. Martial law was declared in 1978 as things got progressively worse. The Carter administration debated on whether to continue to support the Shah. Under advisement from man gods pretending to be leftitsts, he chose to help the Ayatollah Khomeini (see Case Study 31) return to the country as a peaceful spiritual leader. This, he was told, would help calm the situation.

The Ayatollah returned to Iran on the promise not to attempt a coup. The ongoing strife levels elevated. Soon the country was in full revolution mode. Ideological tensions persisted between Pahlavi and Khomeini. Anti-government demonstrations began in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included communists, socialists, and Islamists. When the dust settled the student and pro constitution forces were out in the cold with the Shia forces under Khomeini in full control of the country.

Communist groups—primarily the Tudeh Party of Iran and the Fedaian guerrillas were part of the Iranian Revolution. Other opposition groups included constitutionalist liberals—the democratic, reformist Islamic Freedom Movement of Iran, headed by Mehdi Bazargan, and the more secular National Front. They were based in the urban middle class, and wanted the Shah to adhere to the Iranian Constitution of 1906 rather than to replace him with a theocracy, but lacked the cohesion and organization of Khomeini’s forces. Wikipedia

It is important to note the unusual nature of this revolution. The country was relatively prosperous, their had been no military defeat, there was no lower class uprising or a corps of disgruntled military officers. The Shah instituted land reforms in 1951 and was a proponent of the redistribution of wealth. Before his reign 70% of the land was owned by large wealthy landowners or religious foundations. In the 1950s he began by giving 500K hectares to about 30K homeless families.

Intellectuals of Iranian society began teaching and lobbying against the Shah in 1977. They helped create perceptions of the Shah’s regime as corrupt, repressive, and overly reliant on foreign powers, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom. They criticized his regime as having colluded in the loss of Iranian identity, particularly his lack of recognition of Islam. The Shah’s stance was that Islam had been imposed on Persian society and had no bearing on true Iranian culture.

The Shah’s diminishing popularity made him more paranoid and more oppressive. Leaders like Nassiri and some overly aggressive security services officers contributed to the perception of oppression by killing opposition leaders and shooting protesters. This in turn kick started the Iranian Revolution. The Shah’s opposition to Islam, the efforts of intellectual malcontents and mistakes by the US and France were his undoing.

Iran’s Shia Theocracy is now a regional, political and military rival to Saudi Arabia’s Sunni Monarchy. Iran has sought to expand it’s influence by providing military support to the Shia Houthi rebels in Yemen and Shia groups in Iraq. Iran’s stated goal of the destruction of Israel, intended to improve their popularity in the Muslim world, has led to their similar support of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has been aligned with the Soviet Union and now with Vlad Putin‘s Russian Federation

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