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October 18, 2005

Group 2's compiled information

Group 2: Give information about the revolution and subsequent war with Iraq. Concentrate on the effects inside Iran.

OVERVIEW OF IRAN-IRAQ WAR The war between Iraq and Iran formally began on September 22, 1980, yet the announcement of war was preceded by many years of border, political, and religious disputes. The war officially began with Iraq’s invasions of Iran, however there is some dispute over whether Iran may have been the first to attack.

Despite the history of conflict between the two countries, the primary factor was a quest for dominance of the Persian Gulf region. Much of this dominance was based upon the acquisition of oil, for oil was, and still is, an extremely important participant in world relations. Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s President, was interested in bringing his country to a regional power. He believed that successfully invading Iran would make this dream come true and give Iraq control of the oil trade. Another conflict that fueled the war was an ongoing border dispute between the two countries. Iraq claimed the Arvand-Roud waterway between the two countries as its territory, while Iran insisted that a line running down the middle of the waterway should be the official border, because of a 1975 agreement between the two countries.

So, how does all of this relate to the Iranian Revolution? In truth, due to the revolution, Iran was very unstable and had extremely weak defenses. Thus, Hussein’s dreams of domination were not really out of reach. Hussein and his country expected that Iranians would be slow to support their new government. However, more than 100,000 Iranian volunteers entered the war in two months. The sheer determination of Iran’s army and nation was enough to combat Iraq’s power, including their possession of chemical weapons. Although many believed that Iran owned chemical weapons as well, it was never confirmed.

The war between the two countries lasted eight years and grew to involve many more disputes, including “The Tanker War”, which involved countries around the world negotiating their ability to obtain oil from the Persian Gulf. The war also incorporated a lot of alliances with other countries (including the United States, France, the USSR, and others) which involved the attainment of many different and deadly weapons. Despite the magnitude of the disputes between the two countries, a cease-fire was finally agreed upon on August 20, 1988, mostly at the urging of the United Nations.

Despite the huge amount of conflict and almost 675,000 casualties between the two countries, nothing was really resolved by the war. The cease-fire merely stopped the fighting, but strained relations and conflicts continue to this day.

IRANIAN REVOLUTION -The Iranian Revolution was the 1979 revolution that transformed Iran from an autocratic, pro-western monarchy, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to an Islamic, populist theocratic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The revolution has been divided into two stages: the first stage saw an alliance of liberal, leftist, and religious groups oust the Shah; the second stage, often named the Islamic Revolution, saw the ayatollah's come to power -Iran transformed from autocratic, pro-western monarchy to Islamic, populist republic -2 stages of revolution: 1st) alliance of liberal, leftist and religious groups oust the Shah
2nd) Islamic Revolution- atyatollahs come to power -Shah was in power since 1941, wealthy elite and benefited from his strict regime -Shah became too wealthy and was not doing anything for his nation/ much opposition from religious groups, urban middle class and poor, and people who supported constitutional democracy/ extremely strict regime/ enforced censorship laws -Pahlavi, though having good relations with the United States, refused to comply or even compromise with the Iranian Muslim views, like, for example, their ideals on pre-marital sex, gambling, and alcohol—his rule was cruel and harsh and me with much criticism -“SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS CONCERNGS (of the people): these included opposition to government brutality and a commitment to fight poverty -1963-7: Iranian government grows economically, but most of money is used to get the rich richer and buy weapons from the United States -Pre-Revolution Conditions: gap between rich and poor -Early 1970s: 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire where celebrations consisted of a three-day party held at the site of Persepolis in October, 1971, which cost more than $300 million (much expensive food and drink); grand festivities while many of the poor were starving. As crude oil prices started to climb, so did the intolerance of the Shah and his regime -Policy of Land reform angered the mullahs who declared a holy war against the Shah this early opposition lead by Mehdi Bazargan (Freedom Movement—liberal, a secularist group) – interested in the West -RADICAL: Ali Shari'ati, murdered by SAVAK in 1977 (caused great tension) -Up to 1978: Urban middle class (secular and supported constitutional monarchy) supported revolution – ISLAMIC GROUPS gathered the biggest amount of people January of 1978: the official press ran a story attacking Khomeini. Angry students and religious leaders protested against the allegations in the city of Qom. Army killed many students. Feb 18: People tried to mourn the death of the students and hold a memorial service while demonstrating against the Shah in Tabriz (many people killed) March 29 & May 10: unethical movies, symbols destroyed -“The nation was rapidly destabilizing, with major protests becoming a regular occurrence. The Shah introduced martial law, and banned all demonstrations. On Friday, September 8, a massive protest broke out in Tehran, and in what became known as Black Friday, the regime used the full force of its weaponry to crush the protests." *“The protests of 1978 culminated in December, during the holy month of Muharram, one of the most important months for Shia Muslims. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed each day, yet each day the protests grew. On December 12, over two million people filled the streets of Tehran to protest against the Shah” (Wikipedia). -Army began to turn on itself (and subsequently fall apart) “The Shah agreed to introduce a constitution and appoint the moderate Shapour Bakhtiar as Prime Minister, but it was too late for compromise. The majority of the population was by this time loyal to Khomeini, and when he called for a complete end to the monarchy, the Shah was forced to flee the country on January 16, 1979. Khomeini returned to Iran on February 1, 1979, invited by the anti-Shah revolution already in progress” (Wikipedia).

EFFECTS OF REVOLUTION WITHIN IRAN -350 billion in damages after war

• revenue share fell after 1978-79 Iranian revolution and continued after war -300,000 Iranian casualties, including 61,000 missing in action and 5,000 in Iraqi prisons -2.5 million Iranians have become homeless, have lost their jobs, or are displaced. Most of these have taken sanctuary in refugee camps, makeshift shacks, and temporary shelters in major urban centres or in peripheral areas of war zones -A government survey taken after the end of hostilities revealed that 593,000 civilians were physically and/or mentally disabled by the war -The future productivity of Iran has been permanently altered; the energy and capacity of millions of productive working people who served in the war have been irretrievably lost -In the war region alone, more than 20 per cent (9,300) of the pre-war classrooms (44,300) were damaged or destroyed. Over a third (450,000) of the region's 1.25 million students fled elsewhere. This placed great strains on receiving school systems, which were forced to teach pupils in continuous shifts -a total of 102 'health houses', 84 rural health centers, 80 urban health centers and 12 provincial and/or district health centers were destroyed -Water and sewerage systems in the area were also heavily damaged -extensive minefields and unexploded war materials in all of Iran's five war-affected provinces have posed daily hazards to local populations. Reza Malekzadeh, representative of the Iranian Ministry of Health, reported in 1991 that at least 10 people a day were wounded, maimed, or killed by live war munitions -ground battles and aerial bombardments caused extensive destruction of forests - a process that was exacerbated by people searching for cooking fuel to replace normal supplies; run-off and erosion have increased as a result -Farmlands in the five war-impacted provinces appear to be contaminated by toxic materials emanating from chemical and biological weapons. During the war, produce from southern Iran was considered unhealthy and could not be marketed, thereby driving up prices and creating shortages -The war wiped out 4,000 villages, damaged 52 cities, and destroyed about 120,000 houses; 6 of the cities were completely levelled while another 15 sustained damage of 30-80 per cent. -over 30 per cent of the villages in the five most war-torn provinces were completely destroyed; others sustained severe damage -The monetary value of damage to human settlements was estimated at $13 billion for the period September 1980 to September 1985. For the entire war, human settlements damage may have exceeded $18 billion -By the time that Iran and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire, Iran's industry was operating at only 20-30 per cent of capacity -Oil installations in the Gulf region were a primary attack target. The main Iranian loading terminal, located in Kharg Island, was badly damaged in August 1982, effectively halving Iranian oil exports -oil revenues generally account for over 95 per cent of Iran's foreign exchange earnings and pay for the bulk of Iran's industrial inputs, food imports, and military needs

Posted by lcissearls at October 18, 2005 12:43 PM

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