Iran
American Hostage Crisis
Islam
The Influence of Sharia Law.
The Iran Iraq War
Overthrow of the Shah and Rise of he Ayatollah
Basics of Islam
What is a Sunni?
Five Pillars of Islam
Shahadah- The only God is Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet
Salah- Offer Salah(prayer) five times a day facing Mecca
Zakat- Pay Zakat (aims of charity), deepening on finanial ability and salary
Hajj- Make a pilgrimage to Mecca to the House of Allah
Fasting- Fast the whole month of Ramadan from sunrise to sunset
Sunnis account for 85% of the Muslim population. They believe that the new leaders should be elected from among Muhammad's close friends and elected Abu Baker as the new Caliph. after Muhammad's passing. He was the Father of Muhammad's wife.
1.8 Million Muslims worldwide. Islam is a monotheistic religion, with Allah as the only God. Islam is the complete submission to Allah by following the Quran and many strict rules to please Allah. It is split into two major sects, Sunni and Shia. They follow the Quran as their holy scripture and believe that it was written by God and should be memorized by all followers to fully understand its meaning.
During the Iran Revolution, radical Muslim students seized the US embassy in Iran and held 66 US citizens hostage for 444 days. This severely damaged US and Iran relationships which to this day have not been fully restored. The Us attempted a military attack but failed due to weather and technical issues. This event ended with the US embargo on Iran lifted in exchange for the hostages to be released.
Sharia Law is a set of religious laws laid out in the Quran. They are the basic rules and standards people should live by in order to please Allah and get into heaven. These laws include rules based on hygiene, cattier, diet, marriage, sexual offenses, violent crimes, murder and more. Breaking these laws in majority Muslim countries, often in the Middle East can result in possible punishments both by religious leaders or the government if it is a theocratic government.
The War
Effects of the War
Causes of the War
Why people disliked the Shah
The Iranian revolution
Who was the Shah
The Shah was the Iranian leader from 1941-1979, before the Iranian Revolution. He instituted many western-traditions in a very conservative society and had many Western ties himself. He held extreme power and brutally oppressed his people. While he was living a life of death and luxury a majority of his people lived in poverty.
Who is the Ayatollah
The Shah spent much of the oil revenue into US military training and Harware. Meanwhile, very little money went back into the Iranian economy, causing the economy to suffer and the people to be impoverished. There was lots of government corruption and religious leaders were angry with the westernization. Lastly, the shah was guilty of constitutional violations and the basic human rights of his people.
The Ayatollah was the founder and leader of the Iranian Revolution. He was an Islamic Scholar in Tran and studies the Quran. He began to speak out against he Shah which resulted in his expulsion form Iran. He arrives back in Iran in 1979 to start a theocracy under Islam . He leads many movements to reorder the government and society according to Islamis law. He Amin message is that Musims have strayed from the path of true Islam by following Western ways and wishes to return Iran to its former glory.
The Iranian revolution was the revolution that removed the Shah and Western influence from Iran leaving a pure Islam theocracy. It began in 1979 when the shah left Iran never to return. Khomeini used this opportunity to lead the Iranian people to overthrown the military and government
Western support
Saddam (Iraq) was concerned about Iran undermining his power and wanted to increase his influence in the Persian Gulf. He thought he could accomplish these by seizing prime geographic areas, particularly oil fields. Saddam had lots of military money and Iran was weak at this time. Iran was also preparing for a war due to Saddam's oppression of Shias in Iraq.
Saddam used weapons of mass destruction, such as mustard gas during the war. Saddam made several early advancements into Iran at the begging of the war but by mid 1982 Iranian forces drove Iraq back tot he border. Instead of ending the war, Iraq decides to enter Iran in July of 1982. The war continues into 1988 when Iraq defeats Iran forces in Iraq and the war ends with both countries gaining little to no territory but losing millions of lives.
a cease fire was declared on August 20th, 1988. There was more than 400 Billion in costs and damages associated with the war. Most of this came from oil revenues of both sides. Over 400,000 Iraqis were killed and over 750,000 Iranians were killed.
The Western Nations sided with Iraq simply because they dislikes Iran. The feared the rise of radicalized Islam whose influence was growing in Iran. They supplies Iraq with money, weapons, information and technology. Iran was supported by China, and North Korea. With the issue of weapons and mass destruction and chemical weapons, the western forces turned their heads becuase it benefited them.
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