World Savvy Monitor

Cyrus the Great

• Founded the Achaemenid Empire of Persia by uniting Persian and Median tribes in 550 BC

• Extended the Persian Empire’s borders throughout the Middle East and Asia, creating the largest and most powerful civilization in the ancient world 

• Conquered Babylon, freeing the Jews and allowing their return to Palestine

• Celebrated for his enlightened and tolerant rule; created the first known Charter of Human Rights

Darius I

• Further expanded the Persian Empire, bringing it into conflict with Greece
  

• Continued Cyrus’ enlightened rule

• Built the Persian capital at famed Persepolis

Alexander the Great

• Conquered the Persian Empire in 333 BC

• Destroyed Persepolis, yet is famous for his appreciation of Persian culture and his efforts to preserve it under Greco-Macedonian rule

The Prophet Mohammad

• Founder of Islam; born in Mecca; made famed journey to Medina in 622

• Thought to have received revelations from God (Allah) through the angel Gabriel

• His death in 632 touched off a succession battle leading to a schism within Islam between Shia and Sunni factions

Prophet Hussein (the Martyr)

• Descendant of the Prophet’s son-in law Ali and thought by Shia Muslims to be the rightful caliph

• Martyred in battle in Karbala in 680; along with Ali and their descendants, seen as one of 12 legitimate Prophets or Imams of Islam (hence Twelver Shi’ism)

Safavid Dynasty

• Persian leaders who formally declared Shia Islam to be the official religion of Persia in the 1600s

• Presided over the resurgence of the Persian Empire and increased contact with Europe
  

Qajar Dynasty

• Monarchs whose reign was characterized by conflict with Britain and Russia for regional dominance; during this time, Persia became seen as a “pawn” in the Great Game between the two powers

• Ultimately tilted toward Britain, granting trade and oil concessions that proved unpopular with the Persian people

Shah Reza Pahlavi

• War hero and celebrated military tactician who, with British help, mounted a coup on the last of the Qajar Shahs

• Became Prime Minister in 1923 and finally deposed the Shah in 1925, founding the Pahlavi dynasty

• Known for massive modernization efforts, including the construction of the Trans-Iranian Railroad and the founding of Tehran University

• Promoted a secular vision of the country much as Kemal Ataturk had in Turkey

• Changed name of nation from Persia to Iran to reflect Indo-European (Aryan) roots

• His affinity for Hitler and refusal to aid in the war effort against the Axis Powers led Britain and Russia to force his abdication in 1941

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

• Western-educated son of the Shah, assumed throne at the age of 22

• Used assassination attempt in 1949 to justify consolidation of power

• Widely seen as a puppet of the West

• Rivalry with reformist Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh caused him to briefly flee the country in 1953 until a British and American-backed coup removed Mossadegh from power

• Returned to the throne and initiated an ultimately hollow campaign of land reform known as the White Revolution in the 1960s

• Earned the enmity of clerics, merchants, intellectuals, and students by embracing the West, violently oppressing dissidents, and imprisoning opposition leader Ayatollah Khomeini

• Overthrown in the Revolution of 1979; fled to exile and died of cancer in 1980 after briefly receiving treatment in the United States 

Mohammad Mossadegh

• Member of the Qajar dynastic family, educated in Europe, assumed his first government position at age 16

• Former Minister to Reza Shah and a member of the Majiles when the Qajar monarchs were removed and the Pahlavi dynasty installed on the Peacock Throne

• Became a fierce opponent of Reza Shah, dropped out of political life until the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah; returned to the Majiles and began his campaign to rid Iran of British oil interests; assumed the office of Prime Minister and engaged in a struggle for power with Reza Shah

• Nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1951, resulting in a devastating British embargo and a coup that removed him from power in 1953

• Widely seen by the Iranian people as a fallen hero, undone by the machinations of exploitive Western powers 

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (aka The Imam)

• Born into a long line of respected religious scholars, became an outspoken opponent of the Shah whom he felt was leading the country away from its divinely-ordained religious path 

• Repeatedly jailed by the Shah for his dissident views

• Spent the decades preceding the Revolution in exile in Iraq and later France, building an active opposition movement; criticized the Shah for corruption, decadence, and Western influences

• Returned triumphant to Iran following the removal of the Shah in 1979; rallied the disparate factions of the Revolution and navigated the chaos of the immediate post-Revolution years to consolidate power among hardline clerics

• Served as Iran’s Supreme Leader, a powerful position largely created for him, until his death in 1989

• Widely seen as the Father of the Revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

• Religious scholar, loyal follower of Khomeini’s, and former President chosen to succeed Khomeini as Supreme Leader in 1989, despite failure to attain the highest clerical standing

• Known for his political savvy, Khamenei is seen as a pragmatist yet still commands the loyalty of conservative clerics

• As Supreme Leader, has presided over very different Presidents, from pragmatist Rafsanjani, to reformist Khatami, to current hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

• A preeminent power broker, having held most all high offices except Supreme Leader, including two terms as President from 1989-1997; called the “teflon Mullah”

• Considered a pragmatist, rather than a hardliner, his clerical credentials are considerable, and he wields significant power in elite theocratic government institutions and bodies

• Narrowly defeated for a non-consecutive third term as President in 2005 by the lesser known Ahmadinejad

• Seen as being more open than others to rapprochement with the West, primarily for economic reasons; also one of the richest people in Iran

Mohammad Khatami

• Member of the clerical elite, with close ties to Khomeini’s family; served as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in mid 1980s and early 1990s 

• Was dismissed from his post in 1992 by hardliners who felt he was too lenient with the media; became a reformer operating inside the establishment

• Became President in 1997 and instituted a brief period of liberalization that became known as Tehran Spring 

• Ultimately became discredited by his over-cautious approach to reform 

• Disappointed supporters in Iran and the West by refusing to challenge the regime

• Traveled widely after leaving office, establishing a Dialogue of Civilizations initiative designed to bring Iran closer to the international community

• Will oppose Ahmadinejad in the 2009 Presidential Elections

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• Son of the Revolution, former leader in the Revolutionary Guards, and former Mayor of Tehran who became president in 2005; hails from the lower classes and cultivates an image of himself as man of the people 

• Staunch conservative and religious hardliner; allegedly participated in the student-led seizure of the US Embassy in 1979 

• Known for his inflammatory anti-Western, and particularly anti-US, rhetoric 

• Has steadfastly proclaimed Iran’s right to develop a nuclear weapons program; rallies the population around the nuclear issue as the sovereign right of the Islamic Republic

• Has significantly rolled back liberal cultural and social reforms, reinstituting strict enforcement of veiling and other components of Sharia Law

• Led a crackdown on opposition media and associations; purged professors at Iranian Universities known for their liberal views

• Has encouraged Iranian women to create a new baby boom with which to fight the US and West

• Personally congratulated US President Barack Obama on his electoral victory in 2008; has insisted on “talks without preconditions” as a condition for reopening diplomatic channels with the US

Next:  Sources:  Key Foundation Documents