Politics and ideology in the Islamic republic of Iran

Abstract

That the Iranian revolution of 1979 was genuine can hardly be contested. But its rather rapid metamorphosis into an Islamic revolution was as much the product of the ulama's political shrewdness as it was their political fortune. Leaving aside the causes of their ascendancy to power, the inevitable consequence of their reign has been an impressive politicoideological Islamization of Iran. It all began shortly after the election of the first president, Abol Hassan Bani Sadr, in January 1980. Though at first the drive was thought to be a transient cultural backlash caused by half a century of modernization and westernization under the Pahlavis, it soon evolved into a vigorous campaign with clear structural ramifications.