http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état (known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup[3]) was the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh on 19 August 1953, orchestrated by the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom and the United States under the name TPAJAX Project.[4] The coup saw the transition of Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi from a constitutional monarch to an authoritarian one who relied heavily on United States support to hold on to power until his own overthrow in February 1979.[5]
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ReplyDeleteIn the early sixties Shah Pahlavi attempted to secularize Iran using, I suppose, the Turkish model. A ban on hijab (religious cover for women) was issued. Women in the hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest. The ban was lifted.
DeleteSomething else worth noting is that the Shah ordered the assassination of the father of Ayatollah Khomeini. He was a major Islamic scholar. The Shah also ordered an attack on the religious school where Ayatollah Khomeini studied. Imam Khomeini himself escaped harm, but many of his young colleagues were killed.
In an Islamic country ordinary citizens must have recourse to political redress. It can be argued, however, that public protest against the political leadership is not permissible because Islam does permit such. BUT it is the religious duty of religious scholars to call political leaders to account by whatever means they deem appropriate.
The Shah brutally suppressed any kind of redress or protest on the part of anyone. According to Islam he was the worst kind of leader because he used force to prevent Muslims from practicing what God has ordained for Muslims. In this sense, the Shah was worse than Hitler or anybody like that.
The Shah's government is one the US created and which it supported for as long as that was tolerated by the Iranian people. The current government is the one favored by most Iranians. It is the one the US media vilifies.