American Revolution of two and a half centuries ago ignited many
other revolutions around the globe, notably the French, the Russian, the Cuban,
and the Chinese revolutions. Each one of these, and many other revolutions,
changed the social, political, economic, and geographical landscapes of the
world. One of these revolutions that dates back to 36 years ago has not been in
the news recently, but its impacts come to the surface every once in a while. In
the last decade we have been noticing interaction between the western
governments and this government, with a wide and increasing global impact. The
nuclear issue with Iran is the latest of many issues that have occurred since
the 1979 revolution, after the hostage crisis, Iran-Contra affair, and the war
with Iraq, just to name a few.
In 1979, in the last days of February, an Iranian student who had
travelled to the US shortly before the revolution, and for continuation of his
studies, was debating with himself whether to stay in the US and complete his
education or to go back to Iran and help his comrades to build a new society; a society that seemed from outside to have begun flourishing, right after the
departure of the old dictator. He finally decided to stay and finish his
master’s degree before going back. Near the end of his education, he met an American student a few years younger than him; a relationship that ended up in
marriage. One of the conditions of the marriage was to move back to Iran and
establish their family there. They decided for him to go back first and
evaluate the condition and find a job and housing, before the rest of the
family could join him. Upon his return, he was shocked to find a society utterly
different from what he had imagined. Not only the society was not politically opened
up, but the theocratic regime that had gripped the political climate was worse
than what he had read about the Middle-Ages in Europe. Although he had already
found a job and his parents agreed to provide him with housing, he decided to
go back to the US and raise his family there. He travelled back to New York State,
where his wife was living, and they started a family in the US. Fifteen year later, I was born to this family. The revolution of 1979 affected me
profoundly, because if the revolution did not occur, or it was not robbed from people by
religious figures, I would be born and raised in Iran. I may not have been as
much interested in the country where my father was born and spent more than one
third of his life, if the issues with the government of this country had not
been a continuous struggle among the Western countries.
As one of the major members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries), any change in the government, also changed the price of oil
globally, which had a direct effect on all aspects of the international economy.
In addition to oil, Iran exported many other minerals used in American and
European manufacturing firms. North of Iran was bordered with the Soviet Union, a
big player in cold war era. The king, who had abdicated once during another
uprising of a quarter of centuries earlier and was installed back in power by
the help of the CIA, was western governments’ right hand in patrolling the
whole of the Middle East. The king (called the Shah) was at times the most
important customer of the US military equipment, culminating an upsurge of
Americans military advisors living in Iran. These and many other economic,
political and social issues impacted the world at the time, the impact that is
even felt today after almost four decades. Interestingly, United States is the host of
the largest community of Iranians outside of Iran, mostly living in the county
of Orange in Southern California.
Iran was the first country in the recent history that changed its
government from a secular state to theocracy. The religion adopted by the
government was a brand of Islam, with a plan to expand the ideology soon after the
clergies established their hold on the government. The question is now, whether
the Islamization of many countries of recent years has stemmed from the Iranian
Islamic regime. Another controversy in relation with the government of Iran is
its nuclear issue. Although nuclear plants were installed in Iran during the regime
of the Shah, western powers with provocation of Israel are pushing Iran in
abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
