Iran: How did we get to the current crisis and where might it lead.

The Islamic Republic of Iran was born in violent revolution in early 1979 with the fall of the Shah and the establishment of a peculiar system if Islamic government (velayat-e-faqih) under Ayatollah Khomeini. Almost immediately Iraq (Sadam Hussein) invaded and commenced a bloody war which lasted until 1988 threatening the collapse of the regime. Internally a series of revolts and political assassinations in 1981 almost wiped out the entire government. This was followed by the mass execution of political opponents, a series of contested elections, rising confrontation with the United States and Israel, and the establishment of an internal system of political repression which nevertheless failed to prevent several mass demonstrations against the regime – all of which were suppressed with great brutality and bloodshed.

Now the Iran regime stands near the brink of potential collapse both from external and internal forces and dramatic news is evolving daily. We will examine the innards of the Islamic regime and its immediate prospects.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• Michael Azworthy: Revolutionary Iran (Allen Lane, 2013), ISBN: 9781846142918
• Scott Anderson: King of Kings – The fall of the Shah, the 1979  Iranian Revolution and the unmaking of the modern Middle East (Hutchinson, 2025), ISBN: 9781529155266