Case Study: Iran Flashcards
President of Iran from 2005 to 2013
Is sufficiently islamic and tried to increase societal organizing. Was ultimately de-elected because he left the government open to critism
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The most important Shia religious holiday, commemorating the death of Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad
Ashura
Elected body that chooses the supreme leader
.Assembly of Experts
In Shiite Islam, a title in the religious hierarchy achieved by scholars who have demonstrated highly advanced knowledge of Islamic law and religion
Ayatollah
“people’s militia” which serves as a public morals police
Basij
Parastatal foundations made in part from assets nationalized after the Iranian Revolution
Bonyads
Head of the Judiciary
Chief Justice
1905-06 uprising against Qajar dynasty by secular and religious leaders to limit the power of monarchy and resist Western imperialism
Constitutional Revolution
Appointed body that mediates between Majlis and the guardian council over legislative disputes
Expediency Council
Language of Iran
Farsi
Appointed body that vets candidates for office and can overrun legislation
Guardian Council
Descendants of the prophet Muhammad, considered by Shia to be true political and religious leaders of Islam
Imams
The 1980 - 88 conflict between two countries started by Iraq
Iran - Iraq War
Name for post revolutionary Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
The belief that Islam should be the source of political regime
Islamic Fundamentalism
Current supreme leader of Iran, as of 1989
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
President of Iran from 1997 to 2005
Mohammad Khatami
First supreme leader of Iran, from 1980 to his death in 1989
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Central holy book of Islam
Koran
In Shiism, a term for the “hidden imam”, the descendant of Muhammad who will return to earth to usher a new age
Mahdi
Legislatures of Iran
Majlis
Prime minister of Iran; deposed in 1953 by Operation Ajax
Mohammad Mosaddeq
Main prophet of Islam
Muhammad
Political party in Iran following World War II; it opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources; outlawed after Operation Ajax
National Front
United States - and United Kingdom - baked overthrow of Iranian prime minister Mosaddeq in 1953
Operation Ajax
Monarch of Iran from 1941 to 1979
Also called the Shah.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Monarch of Iran from 1925 to 1941
Reza Shah Pahlavi
Name for Iran before 1935
Persia
In Iran, the head of government
President
Term for political conservatives in Iran who oppose liberalization and political to limit the power of private business
Principalists
Description of view within Shiism that rejects theocracy and the direct role of religion in the state
Quietist
President of Iran from 1989 to 1997
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Paramilitary force charged with defending the regime from domestic and internal enemies
Revolutionary Guard
Current President of Iran
Hassan Rouhani
Secret police of pre revolutionary Iran
SAVAK
Reformist alliance that emerged in Iran to contest the 2000 Majlis elections
Second Khordad Front
System of Islamic law
Sharia
Minority sect of Islam that differs from Sunnism over the rightful heir and proper descendants of the prophet Muhammad
Shiism
Chief spiritual and political leader of Iran
Supreme Leader
Rule by religion or religious leaders
Theocracy
Literally, “community”; meant to refer to the nation or Islamic communities everywhere
Ummah
Rule by Islamic jurists; also, Islamic Republic’s political system, which places power in the hands of clerics
Velayat -e faqih
Reforms enacted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , beginning in 1963, to rapidly modernize the westernize Iran
White Revolution
