MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Iran
Index
Khomeini had charged the provisional government with the task
of drawing up a draft constitution. A step in this direction was
taken on March 30 and 31, 1979, when a national referendum was held
to determine the kind of political system to be established.
Khomeini rejected demands by various political groups and by
Shariatmadari that voters be given a wide choice. The only form of
government to appear on the ballot was an Islamic republic, and
voting was not by secret ballot. The government reported an
overwhelming majority of over 98 percent in favor of an Islamic
republic. Khomeini proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic
Republic of Iran on April 1, 1979.
The Khomeini regime unveiled a draft constitution on June 18.
Aside from substituting a strong president, on the Gaullist model,
for the monarchy, the constitution did not differ markedly from the
1906 constitution and did not give the clerics an important role in
the new state structure
(see Constitutional Framework
, ch. 4).
Khomeini was prepared to submit this draft, virtually unmodified,
to a national referendum or, barring that, to an appointed council
of forty representatives who could advise on, but not revise, the
document. Ironically, as it turned out, it was the parties of the
left who most vehemently rejected this procedure and demanded that
the constitution be submitted for full-scale review by a
constituent assembly. Shariatmadari supported these demands.
A newly created seventy-three-member Assembly of Experts
convened on August 18, 1979, to consider the draft constitution.
Clerics, and members and supporters of the IRP dominated the
assembly, which revamped the constitution to establish the basis
for a state dominated by the Shia clergy. The Assembly of Experts
completed its work on November 15, and the Constitution was
approved in a national referendum on December 2 and 3, 1979, once
again, according to government figures, by over 98 percent of the
vote.
In October 1979, when it had become clear that the draft
constitution would institutionalize clerical domination of the
state, Bazargan and a number of his cabinet colleagues had
attempted to persuade Khomeini to dissolve the Assembly of Experts,
but Khomeini refused. Now opposition parties attempted to
articulate their objections to the Constitution through protests
led by the IPRP. Following the approval of the Constitution,
Shariatmadari's followers in Tabriz organized demonstrations and
seized control of the radio station. A potentially serious
challenge to the dominant clerical hierarchy fizzled out, however,
when Shariatmadari wavered in his support for the protesters, and
the pro-Khomeini forces organized massive counterdemonstrations in
the city in 1979. In fear of condemnation by Khomeini and of IRP
reprisals, the IPRP in December 1979 announced the dissolution of
the party.
Few foreign initiatives were possible in the early months of
the Revolution. The Bazargan government attempted to maintain
correct relations with the Persian Gulf states, despite harsh
denunciations of the Gulf rulers by senior clerics and
revolutionary leaders. Anti-American feeling was widespread and was
fanned by Khomeini himself, populist preachers, and the left-wing
parties. Bazargan, however, continued to seek military spare parts
from Washington and asked for intelligence information on Soviet
and Iraqi activities in Iran. On November 1, 1979, Bazargan met
with President Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew K.
Brzezinski, in Algiers, where the two men were attending
Independence Day celebrations. Meanwhile, the shah, who was
seriously ill, was admitted to the United States for medical
treatment. Iranians feared that the shah would use this visit to
the United States to secure United States support for an attempt to
overthrow the Islamic Republic. On November 1, 1979, hundreds of
thousands marched in Tehran to demand the shah's extradition, while
the press denounced Bazargan for meeting with a key United States
official. On November 4, young men who later designated themselves
"students of the Imam's line,"
(imam--see Glossary)
occupied the
United States embassy compound and took United States diplomats
hostage. Bazargan resigned two days later; no prime minister was
named to replace him.
Demonstrators outside the United States Embassy in Tehran in late 1979
Courtesy Lehtikuva/PHOTRI
The Revolutionary Council took over the prime minister's
functions, pending presidential and Majlis elections. The elections
for the new president were held in January 1980; Bazargan, fearing
further personal attacks, did not run. The three leading candidates
were Jalal od Din Farsi, representing the IRP, the dominant
clerical party; Abolhasan Bani Sadr, an independent associated with
Khomeini who had written widely on the relationship of Islam to
politics and economics; and Admiral Ahmad Madani, a naval officer
who had served as governor of Khuzestan Province and commander of
the navy after the Revolution. Farsi, however, was disqualified
because of his Afghan origin, leaving Bani Sadr and Madani as the
primary challengers. Bani Sadr was elected by 75 percent of the
vote.
Data as of December 1987
|
|