 The Global Cyber Threat Environment, Module 10, Understanding the Iranian Mindset. Objectives. Once you have completed the readings, lecture, activity, and assessment, you will be able to describe how the Shia sect of Islam developed. Articulate the role of the Shah in modern Iran. Welcome to Global Cyber Threat Environment, Module 10. The title of this module is Understanding the Iranian Mindset and will be given by our guest lecturer, Professor Nadia Jelani-Heiler. Professor Jelani holds a master's degree in political science from the University of South Carolina and is currently finishing her doctoral dissertation at the same institution. She currently teaches courses in international relations and international security studies at Augusta University. And her research focuses on the nexus between international political economy and international security, particularly within the regions of the Middle East and North Africa. The history of the Iranian region can be traced back to prehistory. If you remember back to your world history classes, that quote unquote cradle of civilization, the river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, what is modern day Iraq, is very close to modern day Iran. Many of the great empires of the ancient and modern worlds rose and fell over Iran. Indians have a rich history that they pride and perhaps that fuels a feeling of entitlement to regional power and control. But the history of powerful empires is also tempered with the history of marginalization and persecution of the Shiite minority in Islam. The Shiites emerged shortly after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, more as a political party at the time that supported the leadership of the Prophet's cousin Ali. There was this rift between the believers in Arabia who wanted to see the line of succession pass through the Prophet's family, the Shia. And those who argued that such a monarchical approach to succession went against the Prophet's own teachings. This group, the Sunnis, selected Muhammad's best friend Abu Bakr as the leader. Eventually a familial dynasty did emerge, the Umayyad dynasty, which was the first great Islamic empire. And in an effort to secure their control, the Umayyads ended up slaughtering the companions of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, who was still challenging the Umayyad control of the empire. This event is commemorated every year in the Shia holiday of Ashura. In addition to repressing the Shia, who were largely Arab at the time, the Umayyads also repressed non-Arabs within their empire. The majority of Iranians are ethnically Persian, not Arab. As such, they would have been treated as second-class citizens within the Umayyad empire. The Shia sect of Islam grew out of this belief that the bloodline of the Prophet Muhammad, the leaders became known as Imams, had semi-divine qualities and were the true religious leaders after the Prophet's death. The most prominent sect of Shiaism are called the Twelvers. They believed that there were 12 Imams whose teachings should be followed in addition to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet himself came to prominence as both a religious and political leader, and this helps explain the support of Ayatollah Khomeini as the post-revolutionary leader in Iran. So let's talk more about modern events in Iran. After World War II, the governing structure in Iran is like a monarchy. The Shia, Muhammad Reza Palavi, was installed at a relatively young age after his father was deposed by Britain in the Soviet Union. The young Shia reinstated the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, allowing some form of democratic elections to take place. And in 1951, Muhammad Masadegh was appointed prime minister by the National Front, which was the most powerful party in Iran at the time. Masadegh was pro-democracy, critical of the Shia's ultimate control, secularist, which clashed with Iran's spiritual leadership, Ayatollah Khomeini, who was also the speaker of the parliament at the time, and his main goal was to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian oil company. This goal had widespread support within Iran, but the British were not willing to budge an inch on their control of Iranian oil. Now, a few years prior to this, the U.S. had agreed to share a Saudi oil revenue 50-50, and Iran wanted Britain to follow suit. But years after failed negotiations, Iran nationalized the oil, and Britain, in response, instituted a powerful embargo on Iranian oil. They pressured all their allies to follow suit. The embargo resulted in instability in Iran, but not in Masadegh's removal from office. He was widely seen as a patriot and a hero of the Iranian people for standing up to Imperial Britain. But he was also starting to make decisions that were in opposition to his earlier pro-democracy image. He used the instability to amass more power in his role as prime minister, and eventually dissolved the modules altogether, and this was a move that was widely seen as authoritarian. The Shah actually supported the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian oil company and attempted to stand by his prime minister, but the British and the Americans wanted Masadegh out. Britain wanted to regain control of its lucrative oil industry in Iran, and they convinced the U.S. that Masadegh was being unduly influenced by the communists in Iran. Now, this was the beginning of the Cold War. The U.S. was fighting a war in Korea against the communists, and allowing the Soviet Union to gain control of one of the world's largest oil reserves was not an option for the U.S. We agreed to help Britain depose of Masadegh, and the CIA operation Ajax was how we did it. The Shah issued a statement removing Masadegh from office and installing a loyal general, General Zahady, as prime minister. Masadegh rejected the statement, imprisoned the messenger, and continued to rule in Iran. Masadegh's supporters took to the streets in protest of the attempted coup, and the Shah fled the country. The U.S. hired Iranians to pose as members of the Communist Party and also as anti-Masadegh protesters. The Communist Party protesters announced a communist revolution and carried out a full-on riot. In response, the anti-Masadegh-slash-pro-sha protesters whipped up support of average Iranians who were aghast at the actions of this quote-unquote communist revolution and wanted a return to stability. Zahady got the military involved as well and stormed the government buildings, resulting in Masadegh fleeing this time and eventually turning himself in. The Shah returned, allowed international companies access to Iranian oil reserves, and violently repressed the Iranian population with his new American-trained security forces, also known as the Sabak. The Shah quickly gained the reputation of a Western puppet. He owed his position to the U.S. and Great Britain. Underground movements emerged in opposition to the Shah from two main areas, the leftists-slash-communists and the religious clerics. The religious establishment in Iran has usually maintained a prestigious role throughout Iranian history. They were involved in an early push toward democratization in the early 1900s when that majlis was first created, and many within the religious establishment opposed the Shah's repressive measures. An international human rights group reported that the number of political prisoners in Iran jumped from around 100 in 1970 to 5,000 by 1976. The Shah was also increasingly using torture against his political prisoners, and this heavy-handed repression was contributing to a resistance movement at home, fomented by the religious political sermons of the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini. Khomeini was a well-respected religious scholar who had made a name for himself within the religious establishment. He had also made a name for himself politically by openly criticizing the Shah during a sermon on the Holy Day of Ashura. He was subsequently detained but only escalated his criticism of the Shah and the U.S. Khomeini ended up in exile, first in Iraq and later in Paris. He continued to criticize the Shah in famous sermons that were recorded on cassette tapes and disseminated across Iran. This new technology allowed for quick and inexpensive reproduction of recorded material. The cassette tapes were small and easy to hide or alter or dispose of if need be. Khomeini's message was one of an Islamic revolution that would sweep the nation and return Iran to the proper course. Central to his political philosophy was the idea of the Valayatefaki, or Governance of the Jurist. He argued that the government should be carried out according to Islamic law, and there was no one better suited to that job than the religious establishment. The Iranian people were sick of the repressive government of the Shah and the lack of economic opportunity that existed in Iran. By 1978, the underground rumblings of opposition broke into a full-on revolution. Mass protests resulted in violent responses by the government, but the more Iranians who died in these protests, the larger the next protests would be. And this vicious circle of violence resulted in the Shah fleeing Iran once again in January of 1979, never to return. With the Shah gone, a power vacuum opened up, and Khomeini, lauded as the architect of the revolution, flew into Tehran to fill the void. Khomeini quickly worked to purge the government of Shah loyalists and install his own supporters in key roles. He also promoted Islamization of Iranian society. Well-known secularists were jailed, were removed from key positions. Educational curriculum took on a more religious tone, and Khomeini worked to create a new government structure that installed him as the supreme leader, the head of the government. In October of 1979, the U.S. granted entrance to the Shah for medical treatment. This reminded the Iranian people of the U.S. involvement in Operation Ajax in the 50s and resulted in an immediate outcry. Iranians wanted the Shah extradited back to Iran to stand trial. On November 4th, a group of student revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Iran and took the embassy staff hostage. They demanded the Shah in return for the U.S. embassy hostages, and the U.S. refused. This standoff lasted 444 days, with the U.S. hostages often mistreated and disrespected by their captors. Internationally, the hostage crisis resulted in Iran becoming a pariah state. The Iranians had broken a huge diplomatic taboo. You don't mess with an embassy. The U.S. and many of our allies once again placed sanctions on Iranian oil. And the Iranian financial assets were frozen by the U.S. government. The hostage crisis officially ended January 20, 1981, with the signing of the Algiers Accord. The same day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as the President of the United States. Iran was already embroiled in a war with Iraq. U.S.-Iranian relations have been strained ever since. That money that was frozen in response to the hostage crisis was only recently released back to Iran after the nuclear deal negotiated under the Obama administration. During the Bush administration, Iran was included in the quote-unquote axis of evil, a designation that also included Iraq and North Korea, which described countries that sponsored terrorism and seek weapons of mass destruction. The Iranian nuclear program, which Iran always claimed was in place for non-military purposes, as well as their support for Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization in Lebanon, earned them the title. Today, it's largely understood that Iran sees itself as a regional power and feels the need to balance against Saudi Arabia. Iran has a hand in a number of conflicts in the region, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. And Iran and Israel also have a strained relationship with the current Ayatollah Khomeini, calling Israel a quote-unquote cancerous tumor, and former President Ahmadinejad calling for it to be quote-unquote by Dothamat. Israel sees the Iranian nuclear program as an existential threat. In addition, Iranian support for Hezbollah indirectly undermines the safety of Israeli citizens. Iranians criticize Israel for their treatment of the Palestinians in territories that Israel controls. Iran has also been accused of providing weapons and funding to Hamas, another designated terrorist organization located in the Palestinian territories. Iran, True or False The Shia sect of Islam has little importance in modern Iran. A. True B. False The answer is B. False Quiz Question 2, True or False By the mid-1970s, the Shah of Iran had become fiercely anti-United States and worked to bring Ayatollah Khomeini into power. A. True B. False The answer is B. False Activity, using websites like the CIA's World Factbook, build a presentation about modern-day Iran, include such facts as the country's population, breakdown of ethnicities and GDP, what industries and natural resources are most prominent in Iran's economy, who are its largest trading partners, what type of government does Iran have, who are the main political power brokers, include an assessment of what the future holds for Iran, do you believe that the Islamic Republic will continue to exist indefinitely, or is the Islamic government weak and susceptible to revolution?