Iran Case Study Vocab (Textbook)

Question 1

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Answer 1

President of Iran from 2005 to 2013 (principalist)

Question 2

Ashura

Answer 2

The most important Shia religious holiday, commemorating the death of Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad

Question 3

Assembly of Experts

Answer 3

Elected body that chooses the supreme leader

Question 4

ayatollah

Answer 4

In Shiite Islam, a title in the religious hierarchy achieved by scholars who have demonstrated highly advanced knowledge of Islamic law and religion

Question 5

Basij

Answer 5

“People’s militia,” which serves as a public morals police

Question 6

bonyads

Answer 6

Parastatal foundations made in part from assets nationalized after the Iranian Revolution

Question 7

chief justice

Answer 7

Head of the judiciary

Question 8

Constitutional Revolution

Answer 8

1905-06 uprising against Qajar dynasty by secular and religious leaders to limit the power of the monarchy and resist Western imperialism

Question 9

Expediency Council

Answer 9

Appointed body that mediates between the Majlis and the Guardian Council over legislative disputes

Question 10

Farsi

Answer 10

Language of Iran

Question 11

Guardian Council

Answer 11

Appointed body that vets candidates for office and can overturn legislation

Question 12

imams

Answer 12

Descendants of the prophet Muhammad, considered by Shia to be true political and religious leaders of Islam

Question 13

Iran-Iraq War

Answer 13

The 1980-88 conflict between the two countries, started by Iraq

Question 14

Islamic Republic of Iran

Answer 14

Name for postrevolutionary Iran

Question 15

Islamism/Islamic fundamentalism

Answer 15

The belief that Islam should be the source of the political regime

Question 16

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Answer 16

Current supreme leader of Iran, as of 1989

Question 17

Mohammad Khatami

Answer 17

President of Iran from 1997 to 2005 (reformist)

Question 18

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Answer 18

First supreme leader of Iran, from 1980 to his death in 1989

Question 19

Koran (Quran)

Answer 19

Central holy book of Islam

Question 20

Mahdi

Answer 20

In Shiism, a term for the “hidden imam,” the descendant of Muhammad who will return to Earth to usher in a new age

Question 21

Majlis

Answer 21

Legislature of Iran

Question 22

Mohammad Mosaddeq

Answer 22

Prime minister of Iran; deposed in 1953 by Operation Ajax

Question 23

Muhammad

Answer 23

Main prophet of Islam

Question 24

National Front

Answer 24

Political party in Iran following World War II; it opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources; outlawed after Operation Ajax

Question 25

Operation Ajax

Answer 25

United States- and United Kingdom-backed overthrow of Iranian prime minister Mosaddeq in 1953

Question 26

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi

Answer 26

Monarch of Iran from 1941 to 1979

Question 27

Reza Shah Pahlavi

Answer 27

Monarch of Iran from 1925 to 1941

Question 28

Persia

Answer 28

Name for Iran before 1935

Question 29

president (Iran)

Answer 29

In Iran, the head of government

Question 30

principalists

Answer 30

Term for political conservatives in Iran who oppose liberalization and political reform

Question 31

quietists

Answer 31

Description of view within Shiism that rejects theocracy and the direct role of religion in the state

Question 32

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Answer 32

President of Iran from 1989 to 1997

Question 33

Revolutionary Guard

Answer 33

Paramilitary force charged with defending the regime from domestic and internal enemies

Question 34

Hassan Rouhani

Answer 34

President of Iran from 2013 to 2021

Question 35

SAVAK

Answer 35

Secret police of prerevolutionary Iran

Question 36

Second Khordad Front

Answer 36

Reformist alliance that emerge in Iran to contest the 2000 Majlis elections

Question 37

Sharia

Answer 37

System of Islamic law

Question 38

Shiism

Answer 38

Minority sect of Islan that differs from Sunnism over the rightful heir and proper descendants of the prophet Muhammad

Question 39

supreme leader

Answer 39

Chief spiritual and political leader of Iran

Question 40

theocracy

Answer 40

Rule by religion or religious leaders

Question 41

ummah

Answer 41

Literally, "community;" meant to refer to the nation or Islamic communities everywhere

Question 42

velayat-e faqih

Answer 42

Rule by Islamic jurists; also, Islamic Republic's political system, which places power in the hands of clerics

Question 43

White Revolution

Answer 43

Reforms enacted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, beginning in 1963, to rapidly modernize and Westernize Iran