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Period: to
20th Century
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Qajar dynasty was in power
Very corrupt, protests began. -
First Constitutional Revolution
Led to a constitutional monarchy -
Reza Khan overthrows Qajar Dynasty
Becomes first shah of Persia until World War II. He had been a Nazi supporter, and the Allies supported Mohammad Rez Pahlavi, who became the new shah. -
Mossadegh was the Prime Minister
Was prime minister until 1954. Mossadegh was very popular; he nationalized Iran's petroleum and oil industries and introduced welfare reforms. However, the nationalizing of oil made the UK very nervous, and Churchill established an embargo before planning to overthrow him with Truman. -
Protests against Shah
Shah eventually flees; Iran goes from a constitutional monarchy to an Islamic Republic (this was voted in by popular referendum against a constitutional monarchy and was a reaction against the modernization of the shah). -
Theocratic Constitution, Khomeini
Ayatollah Khomeini becomes Supreme Leader; Iran becomes an autocratic regime; Khomeini starts eliminating political opponents. -
Iraq Invades Iran
War lasts for 8 years. -
Khatami comes to power.
Moderate reformist who promoted free speech, freedom of expression, etc.; started new diplomatic ties with the west -
Period: to
21st Century
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Protests break out
Protests break out against alleged electoral fraud in favor of candidates Mousavi and Karroubi. The protests began as peaceful but quickly became increasingly violent. -
Guardian Council announces it will hold a partial recount
Mousavi rejects this concession, demanding that a new election be held. -
Guardian Council
Guardian Council invites three major challengers to meet to discuss their grievances. -
Supreme Leader Khamenei
Khamenei orders Karroubi and Mousavi to stop the protests, saying that the media and Western leaders are trying to divide the state and that he will not give into "illegal pressures to change the results". Karroubi cancels the recount, and Mousavi is ordered by the Revolutionary Guard to stay silent. -
Neda Soltan is killed in a protest
Her image becomes a symbol for the protests. Mousavi continues to demand a recount in the name of Iran's republicanism, and a member of the Guardian Council is quoted as agreeing to randomly recount up to 10% of the vote. -
Admission
The Guardian Council admits that there were some irregularities in the votes, and that there were more votes cast than eligible voters in over 50 cities. -
Ahmadinejad declared the winner...
by the Guadian Council. More protesters gather and are dispersed by tear gas. -
Ahmadinejad's victory
is reaffirmed by the Guardian Council after randomly recounting 10% of the votes. -
Protests break out again
The anniversary of the 18 Tir Massacre. -
Inauguration
Of President Ahmadinejad's second term. -
Protests break out again
The government is losing support; the police are becoming more lenient. -
Protests begin again.
Following over a year of scattered protests, mass protests begin again in response to the other protests throughout the Middle East.