Reza Shah Research Articles

Leadership Role of Hassan Rouhani and Nuclear Deal of Iran

Hassan Rouhani had been serving as secretary to Supreme National Security Council for 16 years. Hassan Rouhani was the person who was tasked to lead the team of technically, politically and legally expert's negotiators on nuclear program of Iran to start talks with the western powers to decreased the tension between IAEA body and foreign ministry of Iran on reports published by the IAEA and adoption of the UN Security Council resolution condemning Iran. Iran's nuclear program was started in the era of the reign of Raza Shah Pahlavi before the Islamic Revolution. It was not only another country providing nuclear technology but also America. Iran's foreign policy will not be affected by the slogans, but we will safely defend our national interests. Hassan Rouhani After elected as President in 2013, promised that he would work to bring relief in economic sanctions on the country due to which the economy was destroyed and life was difficult for the Iranian people. Iran's hardliner leaders had been opposing the any deal and talks on the matter of nuclear program. On the other end reformist groups in the Iran always favored the new ideas and negotiations on nuclear program and when the balance of power turned in favor of President Rouhani when won the elections in 2013 and he gave the green signal to the negotiators.

Britain and reza shah, from the Persian coup d’état in 1921 to the occupation of Iran in World War II

Britain and reza shah, from the Persian coup d’état in 1921 to the occupation of Iran in World War II

‘This is a Prison…A Death in Life’: Reza Shah’s troubled exile on the Island of Mauritius

Reza Shah, the feared and powerful master of Iran for nearly two decades, spent the last years of his life in lonely exile, on the island of Mauritius, then in South Africa. His life in exile was hardly a happy one. The place and conditions of his exile were dictated not by himself but by the British, and the relationship between the two remained uneasy. Britain’s handling of Reza Shah – the degree and freedom and choice they were prepared to allow him and his family – were determined by the exigencies of war. Reza Shah sought to loosen the bonds of British control. In Tehran, his son and successor, Mohammad Reza Shah, also played a role. He used what leverage he had with the British to help ease the conditions of his father’s exile, while he endeavored to protect Iran’s interests under a difficult foreign occupation. The push-and-pull of cross-purposes entailed by this triangular relationship defined Reza Shah’s life in exile in both Mauritius and Johannesburg. This article examines the Mauritian period of his exile.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s Autocracy: Governmental Constraints, 1960s–1970s

Even when Mohammad Reza Shah became an autocrat by the early 1960s, systemic constraints on his power persisted. One was government officials. They certainly accepted the shah’s governmental centrality. But in parallel they inventively created more elbowroom for themselves than they are normally credited for, shaping everyday administration and co-shaping policies. The article substantiates this argument in two steps. First, it looks at Iran’s Sāzmān-e bimeh-hā-ye ejtemāʿi-ye kārgarān (Workers Social Insurance Organization [SBIK]), drawing principally on French-language International Labor Organization (ILO) archival files. Although the shah had a well-publicized stake in social insurance expansion, the SBIK influenced policy strategy, sometimes against his explicit wishes; also, it handled routine operations and relations with the ILO independently from him. Second, the article zooms out to analyze Persian-language Harvard University Iranian Oral History Project interviews with high-ranking officials, alongside other published and unpublished sources, to show how government officials maintained some autonomy vis-à-vis the shah. Their strategies included self-effacement, the agreement on a unified cabinet policy position before a royal audience, resignation threats, open pushback, and gifts, including favors, to third parties.

The involvement of Western Orientalists in cultural heritage affairs during the Pahlavi Era, Iran (1925–1979)

ABSTRACTAfter years of neglect, along with the rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, Western Orientalist and Iranian enlightened thinkers provided a forum to proliferate the discourse on cultural heritage. During the Pahlavi epoch (1925–1979), Western archaeologists and architects were closely involved in cultural heritage affairs, which effectively manipulated the concept of Iranian nationalism, particularly by focusing on the pre-Islamic heritage. Despite the underlying role of the Western Orientalists in the conservation of architectural heritage, it has not been scrutinised yet, and a few publications merely studied their cooperation from an archaeological and architectural perspective. Employing an interpretive-historical research method using significant primary sources this paper examines the role and involvement of four key figures, namely Ernst Herzfeld, André Godard, Arthur Upham Pope, and Maxime Siroux, in the restoration projects that has simply slipped into neglect after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Drawing upon the under-researched and unpublished primary materials such as government letters and memoirs, this paper elucidates the involvement of Western Orientalists in conservation and/or destruction of cultural heritage in Twentieth-Century Iran.

The New Frontier Meets the White Revolution: The Peace Corps in Iran, 1962‒76

The Peace Corps brought an estimated 1,800 Americans to Iran from 1962 to 1976, coinciding with the unfolding of Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi’s Enqelāb-e Sefid, or White Revolution. This article surveys Peace Corps Iran’s fourteen-year history by dividing it into three distinct moments defined by changing social and political conditions in Iran and shifting US‒Iranian relations. Initially, the Peace Corps Iran experiment built on earlier American foreign assistance programs, while coinciding with the roll-out of the White Revolution. Second, during its heyday in the mid-1960s, the Peace Corps inevitably became entangled with the White Revolution’s unfolding, both experiencing a phase of expansion and apparent success. Finally, as Iranian social and political conditions moved toward instability by the 1970s, Peace Corps Iran also seemed to have lost its direction and purpose, which ultimately led to a vote by volunteers to terminate the program. Based on accounts by US Peace Corps volunteers and the Iranians with whom they worked, the Peace Corps Agency, and the US State Department, this article argues that, ultimately, the Peace Corps Iran experience left a more lasting legacy on individuals than institutions.

The Persian Gulf, 1919–39: Changes, Challenges, and Transitions

The interwar period (1919–39) was a formative period in the Persian Gulf. These years marked a transition from a Gulf society once characterized by symbiosis and interdependency to a sub-region characterized by national divisions, sectarian suspicions, rivalries and political tension. This period witnessed a surge of anti-colonial and nationalist feeling in Iran, the rise of a stridently nationalist military leader in the person of Reza Shah Pahlavi, his implementation of an assertive Persian Gulf policy and his re-assertion of Iran’s claims to coastal territories ruled by Arab shaykhs under British protection. The challenge posed by ascendant Iran to Britain’s dominant position in the Persian Gulf generated an abrupt shift from indirect to direct forms of colonial penetration in the Gulf Arab shaykhdoms and a transfer of Britain’s locus of power from the Iranian to the Arabian littoral. This article surveys the wide-ranging political, economic and social processes that transformed the Persian Gulf community into a sub-region of Arab-Iranian rivalry during the interwar period.

Pahlavi's the Pioneers of Education in Iran: A Study of Reza Shah

Pahlavi's the Pioneers of Education in Iran: A Study of Reza Shah

Persian ‘Rashti jokes’: modern Iran’s palimpsests of gheyrat-based masculinity

For almost a century, a Persian ethnic joke cycle has circulated among Iranians about the men and women of the northern Iranian city of Rasht, labelling them as cuckolds and promiscuous women. A foray into the historical background and possible (gendered) functions of these jokes is long overdue. I argue that the central motif of Rashti jokes is gheyrat—a gendered social construct based on a man’s sense of honour, possessiveness and protectiveness towards certain female kin—which remains pivotal to our understanding of the texts and the historical context of the jokes. Critically reviewing extant theories on the historical origins of Rashti jokes, I argue they have roots in two modern phenomena: (a) debates among turn-of-the-twentieth-century Iranian thinkers over women’s (un)veiling; and (b) Reza Shah’s methodical promotion of an Aryanist, pan-Persian ideology. Focusing on the gender-disciplinary functions of the jokes, I then show how some contemporary Rashti jokes are deployed to project and inscribe gender-hierarchical notions that clearly surpass the jokes’ immediate, ethnic targets by commenting on broad socio-political topics. Such instances suggest that as a culture-wide joke cycle, Rashti jokes may also reinforce a form of Iranian masculinity obsessed with gheyrat-motivated control and aggression.

Reading Iran: American Academics and the Last Shah

Despite the nature of American influence in postwar Iran, and despite the fact that Iranian studies has grown into a flourishing field in the United States, scholars have not explored the field's origins during the Cold War era. This article begins with the life of T. Cuyler Young to trace the critical genealogy within the field as it developed, in cooperation between American and Iranian scholars, during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. It proceeds to analyze two cohorts of American scholars whose political inclinations ranged from liberal reformism to revolutionary Marxism. As revolutionary momentum swelled in Iran in the late 1970s, critical scholars broke through superpower dogmas and envisioned a post-shah Iran. However, Cold War teleologies prevented them from fully grasping Iranian realities, particularly Khomeini's vision for Iran. This article argues that the modern field of Iranian studies in the United States was shaped by multiple generations of critical voices, all of which were informed by historically situated encounters with Iran and expressed through a range of methodological and theoretical perspectives.

“Where Do I Go without Money?” Reza Shah’s Finances in Exile

When Reza Shah died in exile in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July 1944, he left in his account at Barclays Bank a deposit of £110,000, a considerable amount of money. Yet when he went into exile only three years earlier, Reza Shah feared he would be hard-pressed for money, if not left altogether destitute—and with good reason. He left Iran with a “horde” of progeny, family members and retainers. Before departing, he had ceded all his enormous wealth in cash and property to his son and successor. He did not remain destitute for long. His son, the new shah, continued to send him money, and for a while the British paid for a major part of his upkeep. Yet his money anxieties did not cease. This article describes and follows the winding trail of Reza Shah’s finances in exile.

IRAN’S FOREIGN POLICY AND EVOLVING ROLE OF SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most active players in the framework of South- South cooperation. During the Cold War period Iran treated South-South cooperation as an instrument for providing an independent foreign policy and defending the rights of “oppressed” peoples from the influence of colonizers and imperialists. Nowadays this vector of cooperation is used by Iran as tool for gaining regional superiority in the Middle East and the Muslim world in general. This article describes the Iranian foreign policy strategy and determinants from the Shah Pahlavi period until Hassan Rouhani presidency in order to assess whether the tools used to foster South-South cooperation for becoming regional power and achieving international recognition by the international community were useful. The author uses qualitative methodology in order to answer the following research questions: to analyze the Iran’s foreign policy literature, to identify the SSC initiatives in the post-bipolar era during the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khatami, Ahmadinejad and Rouhani, to explain the essence of “non-aligned strategy” and third-worldism. The article also covers the participation of Iran in the international institutions of the Global South, including Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), G77, etc.

IRANIAN NUCLEAR DEAL: CHALLENGES FOR REGIONAL AND GLOBAL STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Reza Shah Pahlavi laid the foundations of the Iranian nuclear quest in the 1950s by getting nuclear assistance under reciprocal arrangements in the US-sponsored Atom for Peace program. Iran is a signatory of the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) since 1970, and by their perspective, all protocols under NPT have fully complied. The 1979 revolution in Iran proved a watershed in relations with the USA due to the hostage crisis and increased hostility, which resulted in economic sanctions and isolation. However, Iran covertly pursued its nuclear program, which remained the subject of international debate until the nuclear deal of 2015 aimed at limiting Irans nuclear capability for the lifting of sanctions and breaking isolation. On 16 January 2016, in response to Irans compliance with the provisions of the nuclear deal, all nuclear-related sanctions were lifted. President Trump since taking over office has repeatedly criticized the agreement and decertified it unilaterally. This article analyses implications on regional and global strategic management.

Ontology of Iranian-French Cultural Relations: With an Emphasis on Contemporary Iranian History Prior to the Islamic Revolution

Culture is one of the most prominent concepts that can also be the source of many changes in the range of action and application, in addition to its theoretical competence. One of the major outcomes of culture in contemporary history is its importance in international relations, insofar as these relations can broaden the level of relations or even create deep political or economic links between countries. In contemporary history, Iran began its experience of cultural relations with the West, especially France; Reza Shah, who put Iran's modernization at the top of his goals, pursued literacy and expanded academic circles, and in this regard, one of the most prominent of his plans was to send students to the West, especially to France, which also contributed to the expansion of the presence of French culture and language in Iran. The second Pahlavi era was accompanied by a change in some of the transboundary equations, including the emergence of the United States as a superpower, a special interest of Mohammad Reza Shah in the United States as well as Washington's agenda for the presence in Iran that slowly diminished French cultural influence in Iran, and the English language and culture were replaced. However, French ideas and thoughts still constituted a significant part of the educated layers of Iran given its strong presence in the Iranian academic circles in the past.

Strengthening the Official National Discourse: The Impact of the First Pahlavi Government Institutions and Organizations

The modern relics of Reza Shah created new organizations, including the National Art Association, Museum of Ancient Iran, Ancient Persia Center, Organization of the development of thoughts, Academy of the national language of Iranians, and National radio based on the discourse of authoritarian nationalism influenced by the German dialectic of Nazism, under the influence of the thinkers of this age. These institutions, in their turn, tried to act in line with the internalization of the discourse of the official nationalism of the modern authoritarian state and the Iranian national identity defined by that discourse focusing on antiquity, authoritarianism, love for Shah, modernization and emphasis on national language. The current paper tries to address the actions of these institutions in constructing the Iranian national identity based on the discourse of authoritarian romantic nationalism.

Reza Shah’s journey into exile

On September 16, 1941, three weeks after British and Soviet troops invaded Iran in the Second World War and occupied the country, Reza Shah abdicated the throne in favor of his son, quit Iranian soil and boarded a British ship to go into exile. The British refused to allow Reza Shah to choose his own place of exile (South America) and sent him to the island of Mauritius. This article examines British thinking that resulted in the choice of Mauritius as the place of exile. It traces Reza Shah’s journey across Iran as he prepared to leave the country; details the composition of the large party of family and staff that accompanied him; provides an account of Reza’s Shah’s reminiscences and reflections at this difficult and emotion-laden moment when he was forced to surrender power, and describes the ‘stooped and aged man’ he had become. It ends with the arrival of the ship carrying Reza Shah and the royal party in Mauritius.

Iraq's official position on political developments in Iran (1941-1945)

The events that took place in Iran during the second world war are considered an important item for Iraqi diplomacy and follow-up by the Foreign Ministry in Iraq. On the other hand, this Iraqi diplomacy was considered to be quite flexible when a reshuffle occurred. It was looking for its causes and linking them, and then adopting accurate scenarios to protect its interests. Iraq was not far from what was happening in Iran .When Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took power in Iran, The oil conflict has also existed. In addition to Iran's strategic position, making US intervention clear. Which prompted Iran to build an intimate relationship with the United States and strengthen its relations in all respects, especially when Ahmed assigned the strength of the Sultanate to form the ministry on the ninth of August 1924 and consider America a third force used by Ahmed Qawam as a bargaining chip to confront the British and Soviet Union in the region. After the issue of oil emerged on the political scene and at that time, the Iranian government took a deep breath in the embrace of the United States. In fact, Reza Shah Pahlawi inherited a backward country, especially in the economic field. He tried to reform the country's economic recession and make Iran to acquire a new stage, and the result of foreign demand for Iranian oil led to widespread reactions at the internal level and became pro-Western groups to reject the Soviet demand and solidarity with the independent. While the Iranian Communist Party (Toda Party) supported the request and held demonstrations for the immediate admission of the Soviet Union

Social and Political Consequences of Reza Shah’s Acquisition

In this research, the effects and social and political consequences of the acquisition of land and property by Reza Khan have been addressed. The importance of the issue was due to the small amount of ownership of property and land, and consequently the change in the social and political relations of previous landowners and the replacement of Reza Khan's trusted individuals. The main issue of this research is the explanation of some social and political events in the field of land and property acquisition. In this regard, the role of taking possession of property in advancing Reza Khan's autocratic thoughts on the diminution of religion in social life, as well as the weakening of the power of the constitutional and opposition leaders of Reza Khan has been explained. The result of this study was the wide-ranging consequences of the acquisition of land and property in the social form of people's lives and the transformation of the social classes on the basis of Reza Khan's ambitious policies. This form of appropriation has changed the course of government and parliament besides it came to the end of a decade that led to the power and influence of the politician in favor of Reza Khan.

Division and Discord among the Shia ʿUlamāʾ: New Lights on the Failure of the 1927 Anti-Conscription Movement in Iran

This essay delves into the 1927 anti-conscription movement and the causes of its failure. It argues that the Shia ʿulamāʾ of Iran and Iraq suffered from endemic divisions within their ranks, which in turn kept them from agreeing on a unified position against the extensive socioeconomic and military reforms under Reza Shah. The essay sheds light on the government’s use of religious justification that facilitated modern reforms. It also demonstrates how certain elements within the clerical establishment helped the Reza Shah government to win the senior clerics over or at least neutralize their opposition. This allows us to discern the fluid boundaries of tradition and modernity as modernizing reforms checked the Shia ʿulamāʾ’s long-standing authority in Iranian society.

A History of Persian Literature, Volume XI: Literature of the Early Twentieth Century: From the Constitutional Period to Reza Shah

A History of Persian Literature, Volume XI: Literature of the Early Twentieth Century: From the Constitutional Period to Reza Shah