A Brief History of the Iranian Revolution

Northlight Theatre
January 12, 2023

1976 – ANDY WARHOL IN IRAN

In the play, the character Farhad belongs to a group aligned against the Shah. Warhol’s visit to Iran was real. His encounter with Farhad is fictional.

1977 – LEADING UP TO THE REVOLUTION

JANUARY – JULY: Journalists and political activists publish a series of open letters criticizing the accumulation of power at the hands of the Shah.
NOVEMBER 15: During a visit to Washington, the Shah’s welcome at the White House is disrupted by protests by Iranian students

1978 – THE REVOLUTION BEGINS

JANUARY 6: Iranian newspaper publishes a front-page editorial disparaging Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, reportedly written at the directive of the Shah.
JANUARY 9: Several thousand protest the defamation of Khomeini; security forces kill at least five people.
AUGUST 9: Riots begin across Iran. Martial law is declared.
DECEMBER 10: Millions of Iranians protest all over the country demanding the removal of the Shah and return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

1979 – THE REVOLUTION

FEBRUARY: Khomeini returns to Iran and is greeted by millions of people in the streets of Tehran. Khomeini orders his followers to rise up in national revolution. Any remnants of the Shah’s government collapse.
MARCH 8: Tens of thousands of Iranian women protest in Tehran on International Women’s Day to oppose mandatory veiling.
OCTOBER 14: Assembly of Experts approves draft new constitution, enshrining Khomeini’s innovative doctrine of velayat-e faqih, which accords ultimate authority to a religious leader.

1980 – AFTER THE FALL OF THE SHAH

JANUARY 25: Abolhassan Bani Sadr is elected as the Islamic Republic’s first president;
APRIL 1: Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic.
APRIL 7: US severs diplomatic relations with Iran.
SEPTEMBER 22: Iraq invades Iran, setting off an eight-year conflict that resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides.

2022 – PRESENT DAY

SEPTEMBER: The “Women, Life, Freedom” protest movement began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s “morality police”. Protesters have taken to the streets across the country to demand equal rights for women—and an end to a regime that’s proven incapable of guaranteeing them.
NOVEMBER: Gen Z speaks out: “Frustrated and angry with the status quo, they aren’t afraid to express themselves online or in person nor to push the red lines of the Islamic Republic,” Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council writes. “And they’re shaking up the aging, sclerotic clerical establishment to a degree not seen since the country’s 1979 revolution.”

Sourced from brookings.edu and atlanticcouncil.org

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