Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Iranian Revolution

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

The story of modern Iran is a collision between a monarchy with a history dating back to the Persian Empire and a frustrated nation with massive oil reserves historically coveted by Western powers. Governed by an authoritarian monarch in the mid-20th century who welcomed Western influence, the nation grew increasingly resentful of foreign control over its oil. From this discontent, an influential Islamic cleric fomented dissent while in exile, which ultimately brought down the monarchy. Learn more about the 1979 Iranian Revolution on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Quince Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Mint Mobile Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of modern Iran is a collision between a monarchy with a history dating back to the Persian Empire and a frustrated nation with massive oil reserves historically coveted by Western powers. Governed by an authoritarian monarch in the mid-20th century who welcomed Western influence, the nation grew increasingly resentful of foreign control over its oil. From this discontent, an influential Islamic cleric fomented dissent while in exile, which ultimately brought down the monarchy. Learn more about the 1970s. Iranian Revolution on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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in a search for salvation. To understand the events of 1979, we have to go back to the beginning of the 20th century to examine the developments that led to the revolution. 1907 was a tragic year in Persian and Iranian history, as Britain and Russia divided Iran into spheres of influence, ending Persian control over its own natural resources. This partition came only one year after the constitutional revolution of 1906 that had established a parliament known as the Magillus to check the power of the monarch. In 1908, a British oil expedition in Persia discovered massive oil reserves.

This began a period of oil extraction that lasted for most of the century, which also cultivated a deep and enduring hostility towards violations of Persia's sovereignty and resources. During World War I, Iran's Qajar dynasty capitulated to the formal occupation of Iran by the United Kingdom in Russia. This occupation evolved into a horrific famine after the war that killed an estimated two million people. Inside Iran, the famine was blamed on the foreign pillaging of Iran's food stores. This tragedy precipitated a coup in 1925 as the Qajar dynasty collapsed and power transferred to the military leader Reza Khan Polavi. The Polavi dynasty changed Persas's name to Iran in 1945. Polavi hoped that the name change would help establish an independent nation free of colonial

subjugation. The new nation had an authoritarian government and abandoned the democratic process established during the 1906 revolution. Inspired by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk in Turkey, Pahlavi saw modernization as the government's primary focus. Modernization would involve increasing the size of the national army, expanding Iran's rail capacity, building an effective bureaucracy and establishing complete control over rogue provinces. These reforms were welcome in both Iran's rural villages and in urban centers. The Shah also welcomed foreign investment in Iran, particularly in the oil industry. The Shah in his inner circle amassed astonishing wealth as Iran became the world's second

largest producer of oil. While all this was happening, Iranian nationalism was simmering under the surface. A clumsy transition from Reza Shah to his son Mohammed Reza Shah at the beginning of World War II was caused by a joint British-Soviet occupation of the nation to protect oil trade routes. On the streets of Iran, the perception was that Iranian authoritarian rule enriched the elites at the expense of Iranian sovereignty and oil wealth. The power of the Majilist Parliament had been weakened during the foreign occupations and authoritarian rule, yet it asserted its influence in 1951 when it elected,

Mohammed Mossadegh as Prime Minister. Mossadegh emerged in 1949, initiating a national debate over the nationalization of Iran's oil resources. He became a heroic figure in the country and an enemy of the United States and Britain. Mossadegh's goal of nationalizing Iranian oil resources had powerful allies on the streets of Iran.

His strongest allies were the bizarras, a powerful class of merchants and traders in Iran. The bizarists could influence public opinion, through their control over the bazaars. And with the backing of the bizarists, Mossadegh's power and influence surged. The Shah had to act to keep control, so a plan was hatched along with the backing of the United States and Great Britain. The CIA and MI6 launched Operation Ajax, which was a plot to remove Mossadec and to re-establish the autocracy of the Shah. The mission was formerly acknowledged by the CIA in 2023. In the context of the Times,

Mossadegh's efforts to nationalize the oil industry was viewed as a threat to the Cold War balance. In July of 1953, the complex campaign against him began with an effort to flood the bazaars with reports intended to discredit Mossadegh. The British and Americans realized that the easiest way to discredit the popular nationalist was to drive a wedge between him and the Bizarri support. Mossadegh was cast as a communist poised to destroy Bizarri's influence in the Iranian economy. government-run newspapers reported that Mossadegh intended to nationalize not only Iranian oil, but Iran's entire economy, which would severely limit the Bizarre's economic influence in the country. And the accusations didn't stop there. Perhaps more devastating were the attacks on Mossed and his plans for the Islamic faith in Iran. The bazaars and mosques were flooded with propaganda, accusing Mossadegh of plans to nationalize Islam by taking religious authority away from Islamic clerics. Project Ajax had spread unrest from the bazaars to the moss throughout Iran and divided Mossed from the two most powerful forces in the country, the Bizaris and the Shiite clerics. In August of 1953, the Shah formally signed a royal decree relieving Mossadegh of his office.

And after a clumsy coup in which the Shah fled to Iraq and was later returned to power with the help of American operatives, the campaign succeeded officially in ousting Mossadegh. To avoid creating a martyr, the Shah relegated. Mossadegh to a decade of house arrest. He died in isolation, but the nationalist movement he had lit still was burning. The Shah resumed to his modernization campaign and introduced modest reforms to placate the powerful Bizarri Shiai Cleric Alliance. He also returned to a program of expanded foreign investment in Iran's oil industry. All the while, Iranian nationalism continued to simmer under the surface. A surge in oil prices in the 1970s brought great wealth to Iran. However, the

prosperity from this windfall didn't impact everyone equally. While the bizarist merchant class experienced rising personal incomes, the wealth of Iranian elites expanded at a far greater rate. In an era of rapid urbanization, nationalist sentiment spread as the bizarrest anger focused on the expanding wealth gap, the Shah's growing extravagance, and the continued, need to embrace of American economic interests. Western stores and banks began to open throughout the bazaars of Iran. Traditional economic norms were under siege and financial pain radiated through Iran's urban bazaars. The Iranian nationalist powder keg needed a flame to ignite it. That spark came from an outspoken Shiite cleric by the name of Ayatollah Ruhola Khomeini. Khamenei was a charismatic

Islamic cleric who transformed discontent with the Shah's government into a movement based on Islamic nationalism. The Ayatollah publicly denounced the Shah in 1963, calling him a miserable wretch in a speech in the clerical center of Quom. His denunciations led to his arrest by the Shah's secret police and imprisonment. His imprisonment inspired protests against the Shah and his policies. The protests were a broad coalition of bizari's, devout Muslims, and students. After six days of protests, the Shah responded with brutal military force on June 5, 1963. The ensuing violence shocked international observers. An estimated 500 protesters were killed, although there's no consensus on an exact number,

with the state claiming only 86 killed and the movement claiming thousands. June 5th is a public holiday in Iran today, commemorating the 15th of Cordad uprising. The revolution was now underway, and Khomeini became. its focal point. For Khomeini and his followers, the response to the protesters validated their claims that the Shah was a bloodthirsty dictator and that he must step aside. The momentum started by Mossadegh in 1953 had stalled and was unraveled by a coalition of Western powers. The 1963 revolution was different. This time, the momentum was one of faith. The Shah dissolved the Magillist Parliament in 1961 and seized upon the events of 1963 to push through an aggressive,

series of far-reaching reforms. These reforms, known as the White Revolution, had far-reaching effects on the Iranian people. Khamini attacked the Shah from three different angles. He denounced the reforms as a violation of the 1906 Constitution, claimed that the Shah had surrendered to American interests, and that the Shah was leading a direct assault on Islam. One of his most successful tactics was to merge a defensive Islam with the passion for Iranian independence. Komeni was exiled to Iraq after condemning the Shah's reforms. The Ayatollah's influence was expanding, and his exile only added to his growing fame. His pitcher began to appear in Iranian bazaars, a key sign of shifting popular opinion. The Ayatollah had unified a fractured nationalist movement

by aligning the poor, the bazaaries, and the Shiite clerics. 1971 saw two significant events. First, the Shah celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy, and as part of that celebration, hosted a party that cost nearly a billion inflation-injusted dollars. It was one of the most extravagant state parties in modern history, and the criticism at home and abroad for its opulence amid widespread poverty in the country only fanned the flames of discontent in Iran. The second event was that the Ayatollah published a justification for abolishing the monarchy and establishing an Islamic Republic. The economic realities of the mid-1970s had significant implications for Iran. Between

1976 and 1978, Iran experienced food shortages and protests against wealth inequality. The windfall from Iranian oil experts had done little to expand opportunities and wealth for lower-class Iranians, and the anger was palpable in the bazaars. Volatility in the oil markets and a dramatic decline in demand had devastating effects on the Iranian population. The economic unrest galvanized anti-Shah nationalism that had been simmering since 1963. To control public opinion in the bazaars, the Shah targeted the opposition by sending a secret police into the markets. The bizarists were the focus, and many were arrested and even sent into exile. The government launched a propaganda campaign to discredit Khomeini.

However, what had worked with Mossadegh years ago no longer worked this time. The Shah was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1970. and his health was starting to fail. While the Shah's public presence was diminishing due to poor health, the Ayatollah launched a remarkable campaign against the Shah. The Ayatollah began recording political sermons on audio cassettes and smuggled them into Iran. These cassettes were played in the bazaars and further accelerated the movement against the Shah. And it was a brilliant strategy, as the Ayatollah was able to do an end run around the Shah's control of Iranian media.

The Ayatollah framed the revolution as a religious struggle to reclaim Iran's soul, positioning the mosque as the final fortress against an out-of-touch monarchy that had traded Islamic tradition for American interests. The Ayatollah put this in perspective after the revolution's success when he said, quote, we did not make the revolution for cheap melons, we made it for Islam. The Shah's cancer caused him to disappear from public life in 1978. During his absence, an increasingly desperate state continued to crack down a demonstrations, hoping to extinguish the fire Khomeini had ignited. However, this proved to be a

futile effort. The Ashura protests of December 1978 marked the point of no return. While exact numbers are impossible to verify, the movement effectively brought the nation to a standstill, emptying the bazaars, and flooding the streets of Tehran with millions of protesters. By early 1979, the Shah of Iran was dying. He left for medical treatment and never returned, and he died a year later from lymphoma. The Ayatollah returned to Iran on February 1st, 1979, after 16 years in exile. On February 10th and 11th, he had mobilized his opposition to take power by force as they seized prisons, police stations, and military installations. The Iranian military declared neutrality and stated its intention not to interfere in the growing movement, and with that, the Iranian monarchy was effectively

over. A nationwide election was held in late March of 2017. and had asked one simple yes or no question. Should the monarchy be replaced by an Islamic Republic? On April 1st, the Ayatollah declared the foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Constitution of 1979 established a theocratic government based on the Ayatollah's concept of guardianship of the Islamic jurist, a system in which power is centralized in the hands of the Ayatollah and his successor. The thing to remember in every revolution,

is that they're almost always against something, not for something. What replaces an unpopular system is often merely different, not necessarily better. The new power that replaces the old one may simply be better organized or more brutal than its competitors. Over the last 45 years, the impact of the Iranian Revolution has been felt worldwide. In terms of global impact, for better or worse, the 1979 Revolution ranks as one of the most significant events, of the 20th century. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel.

The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research in writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible. I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord, as this is where everything happens outside of the podcast.

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