Iran Case Study Vocab Flashcards
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of Iran from 2005 to 2013 (principalist)
Ashura
The most important Shia religious holiday, commemorating the death of Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad
Assembly of Experts
Elected body that chooses the supreme leader
ayatollah
In Shiite Islam, a title in the religious hierarchy achieved by scholars who have demonstrated highly advanced knowledge of Islamic law and religion
Basij
“People’s militia,” which serves as a public morals police
bonyads
Parastatal foundations made in part from assets nationalized after the Iranian Revolution
chief justice
Head of the judiciary
Constitutional Revolution
1905-06 uprising against Qajar dynasty by secular and religious leaders to limit the power of the monarchy and resist Western imperialism
Expediency Council
Appointed body that mediates between the Majlis and the Guardian Council over legislative disputes
Farsi
Language of Iran
Guardian Council
Appointed body that vets candidates for office and can overturn legislation
imams
Descendants of the prophet Muhammad, considered by Shia to be true political and religious leaders of Islam
Iran-Iraq War
The 1980-88 conflict between the two countries, started by Iraq
Islamic Republic of Iran
Name for postrevolutionary Iran
Islamism/Islamic fundamentalism
The belief that Islam should be the source of the political regime
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Current supreme leader of Iran, as of 1989
Mohammad Khatami
President of Iran from 1997 to 2005 (reformist)
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
First supreme leader of Iran, from 1980 to his death in 1989
Koran (Quran)
Central holy book of Islam
Mahdi
In Shiism, a term for the “hidden imam,” the descendant of Muhammad who will return to Earth to usher in a new age
Majlis
Legislature of Iran
Mohammad Mosaddeq
Prime minister of Iran; deposed in 1953 by Operation Ajax
Muhammad
Main prophet of Islam
National Front
Political party in Iran following World War II; it opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources; outlawed after Operation Ajax
Operation Ajax
United States- and United Kingdom-backed overthrow of Iranian prime minister Mosaddeq in 1953
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Monarch of Iran from 1941 to 1979
Reza Shah Pahlavi
Monarch of Iran from 1925 to 1941
Persia
Name for Iran before 1935
president (Iran)
In Iran, the head of government
principalists
Term for political conservatives in Iran who oppose liberalization and political reform
quietists
Description of view within Shiism that rejects theocracy and the direct role of religion in the state
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
President of Iran from 1989 to 1997
Revolutionary Guard
Paramilitary force charged with defending the regime from domestic and internal enemies
Hassan Rouhani
President of Iran from 2013 to 2021
SAVAK
Secret police of prerevolutionary Iran
Second Khordad Front
Reformist alliance that emerge in Iran to contest the 2000 Majlis elections
Sharia
System of Islamic law
Shiism
Minority sect of Islan that differs from Sunnism over the rightful heir and proper descendants of the prophet Muhammad
supreme leader
Chief spiritual and political leader of Iran
theocracy
Rule by religion or religious leaders
ummah
Literally, “community;” meant to refer to the nation or Islamic communities everywhere
velayat-e faqih
Rule by Islamic jurists; also, Islamic Republic’s political system, which places power in the hands of clerics
White Revolution
Reforms enacted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, beginning in 1963, to rapidly modernize and Westernize Iran
