Iranian Dissidents
Iranian dissidents are composed of scattered groups that reject the current government and by extension the previous regime, and instead seek the establishment of democratic institutions. Notable dissidents *Shapour Bakhtiar - the leader of the National Resistance Movement of Iran *Ruhollah Khomeini - exiled in 1964 for opposing the shah's rule, he later became the Supreme Leader of Iran after the 1979 revolution. *Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran - eldest son of the deposed shah *Maryam Rajavi - the wife of Massoud Rajavi, leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. *Massoud Rajavi - the leader of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. * And other national groups, secular democrats, monarchists, and Republicans. References Dissidents A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the polit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pahlavi Dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who took on the name of the Pahlavi language spoken in the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire in order to strengthen his nationalist credentials. The dynasty replaced the Qajar dynasty in 1925 after the 1921 coup d'état, beginning on 14 January 1921 when 42-year-old soldier Reza Khan was promoted by British General Edmund Ironside to lead the British-run Persian Cossack Brigade. About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000-4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran in what became known as the 1921 Persian coup d'état. The rest of the country was taken by 1923, and by October 1925 the Majlis agreed to depose and formally exile Ahmad Shah Qajar. The Majlis declared Reza Pahlavi as the new Shah of Iran on 12 D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose governing officials to do so ("representative democracy"). Who is considered part of "the people" and how authority is shared among or delegated by the people has changed over time and at different rates in different countries. Features of democracy often include freedom of assembly, association, property rights, freedom of religion and speech, inclusiveness and equality, citizenship, consent of the governed, voting rights, freedom from unwarranted governmental deprivation of the right to life and liberty, and minority rights. The notion of democracy has evolved over time considerably. Throughout history, one can find evidence of direct democracy, in which communities make decisions through popular assembly. Today, the dominant form of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shapour Bakhtiar
Shapour Bakhtiar ( fa, شاپور بختیار, ; 26 June 19146 August 1991) was an Iranian politician who served as the last Prime Minister of Iran under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the words of historian Abbas Milani: "more than once in the tone of a jeremiad he reminded the nation of the dangers of clerical despotism, and of how the fascism of the mullahs would be darker than any military junta". In 1991, he and his secretary were murdered in his home in Suresnes, France, by agents of the Islamic Republic. Early life Bakhtiar was born on 26 June 1914 in southwestern Iran into a family of Iranian tribal nobility, the family of the paramount chieftains of the then powerful Bakhtiari tribe. His father was Mohammad Reza Khan (''Sardar-e-Fateh''). His mother was Naz-Baygom, and both of his parents were Lurs and Bakhtiaris. Bakhtiar's maternal grandfather, Najaf-Gholi Khan Samsam ol-Saltaneh, had been appointed prime minister twice, in 1912 and 1918. Bakhtiar's mother died ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Resistance Movement Of Iran
The National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (NAMIR; fa, نهضت مقاومت ملی ایران) was a political organization founded by Shapour Bakhtiar in 1979. An exiled Iranian dissidents, opposition to the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic regime, the organization pursued a convergence of nationalism and constitutional liberalism and its membership included liberals, conservatives, and democratic socialists, as well as monarchists. Leadership Other than Bakhtiar, who was the leader of the party, three senior members served in the capacity of the Chairman of Executive Committee: Abdolrahman Boroomand (1980–1987; March–August 1991) Mohammad Moshiri (March 1987–July 1989), Sadegh Sadireh (July 1989–March 1991). Financial sources Soon after its establishment, the organization received some $500,000 contribution from Ashraf Pahlavi. Manouchehr Ghorbanifar allegedly provided them with $10 million, while Ba'athist Iraq also funded the organiz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which saw the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the end of the Persian monarchy. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's first supreme leader, a position created in the constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. Most of his period in power was taken up by the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989. Khomeini was born in Khomeyn, in what is now Iran's Markazi province. His father was murdered in 1903 when Khomeini was two years old. He began studying the Quran and Arabic from a young age and was assiste ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran , image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg , caption = Shah in 1973 , succession = Shah of Iran , reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979 , coronation = 26 October 1967 , predecessor = Reza Shah , successor = ''Monarchy abolished''Ruhollah Khomeini as Supreme Leader , birth_date = , birth_place = Tehran, Sublime State of Persia , death_date = , death_place = Cairo, Egypt , burial_place = 29 July 1980Al-Rifa'i Mosque, Cairo, Egypt , spouse = , issue = , regnal name = Mohammad Reza Shah fa, محمدرضا شاه , native_lang1 = Alma mater , native_lang1_name1 = , house = Pahlavi , father = Reza Shah , mother = Tadj ol-Molouk , religion = Twelver Shi’ism , signature = , module = Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Supreme Leader Of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executive system and History of the judicial system of Iran, judicial system of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic theocratic government and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces. The Supreme Leader is the highest-ranking political and religious authority of Iran. The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, armed forces, Judicial system of Iran, judiciary, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, state television, and other key government organisations such as Guardian Council and Expediency Discernment Council are subject to the Supreme Leader."Who's in Charge?" by Ervand Abrahamian ''London Review of Books'', 6 November 2008 According to the constitution, t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various Organizations of the Iranian Revolution, leftist and Islamist organizations. After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Pahlavi had aligned with the United States and the Western Bloc to rule more firmly as an authoritarian monarch. He relied heavily on support from the United States to hold on to power which he held for a further 26 years. This led to the 1963 White Revolution and the arrest and exile of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1964. Amidst massive tensions between Khomeini and the Shah, demonstrations began in Octob ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince Of Iran
Reza Pahlavi ( fa, رضا پهلوی; born 31 October 1960) is the oldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and his wife Farah Diba. Prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he was the crown prince and the last heir apparent to the throne of the Imperial State of Iran. Pahlavi is the founder and leader of the self-styled National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group, and is a prominent critic of Iran's Islamic Republic government. Early life and education Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran as the eldest legitimate son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran and Farah Pahlavi, the Shahbanu of Iran. Pahlavi's siblings include his sister Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (born 1963), brother Prince Ali Reza Pahlavi (1966–2011), and sister Princess Leila Pahlavi (1970–2001), as well as a half-sister, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 1940). When he was born, the Shah pardoned 98 political prisoners and the government declared a 20% reduction in incom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maryam Rajavi
Maryam Rajavi ( fa, مریم رجوی, , fa, مریم قجر عضدانلو) is a leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), an organization advocating for the overthrow of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian government, and president-elect of its National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). She is married to Massoud Rajavi, who is the co-leader of MEK. Early life and education Rajavi was born Maryam Qajar-Azodanlu on 4 December 1953 in Tehran, Iran. She was raised in a middle-class family of civil servants descended from a member of the Qajar dynasty. She attended the Sharif University of Technology in Iran, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in metallurgy. Political career Rajavi has stated that her political activism began when she was twenty-two after her sister Narges was killed by SAVAK. Her other sister, Massumeh, was also executed (while pregnant) in 1982 by Ruhollah Khomeini’s regime. Then she became a member of the People's Mojahedin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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People's Mojahedin Organization Of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian political-militant organization. It advocates overthrowing the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and installing its own government. Its revolutionary interpretation of Islam contrasts with the conservative Islam of the traditional clergy as well as the populist version developed by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1970s. It is also Iran's largest and most active political opposition group. The MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The organization engaged in armed conflict with the Pahlavi dynasty in the 1970s and contributed to the overthrow of the Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It subsequently pursued the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Massoud Rajavi
Massoud Rajavi ( fa, مسعود رجوی, born 18 August 1948 – disappeared 13 March 2003) became the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) in 1979. In 1985, he married Maryam Rajavi, who became the co-leader of the MEK. After leaving Iran in 1981, he resided in France and Iraq. He disappeared during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and it is not known whether he is still alive. This has left Maryam Rajavi as the public face of the MEK. Biography Rajavi joined the MEK when he was 20 and a law student at the University of Tehran. He graduated with a degree in political law. Rajavi and the MEK actively opposed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran and participated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. During the Pahlavi Iran, Pahlavi regime, Rajavi was arrested by SAVAK and sentenced to death. Due to efforts by his brother, Kazem Rajavi, and various Swiss lawyers and professors, his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. He was released from prison during the Iranian ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |