When Iran went off the tracks.

The Shah of Iran, seen in Tehran, Iran, 1976.

If one removes the optical theological angle of the Shia Revolution in Iran, and looks only at the economic data, it becomes rather clear, Iran was economically ruined by the revolution rapidly. Iran, before 1979 was considered to be a rising economy, and a wealthy nation by most of the world. The reality was that the Shah of Iran, had since the late 1960s become a difficult ruler for his Western Allies to manage, as he had his own ambitions for Iran which were nationalist and well within his grasp to accomplish. The Shah of Iran saw the future as one where a secular Iran would embrace modernity with the full knowledge that it was heir of the Persia which existed before the Arab Invasion of the 5th century and the conversion of the population often by force to Islam. His consistent references to this Iran of antiquity was an obvious source of displeasure for those who drew their power from theology which saw no place this Pre-Islamic identity and history.

The great defeat Iran suffered after the Islamic Invasion, was apparent in the literature which came about in centuries to follow, and a student of history and nationalism in particular could not avoid but see the Shah of Iran’s narration of a longing for a restoration of the Persia of the past into a modern sense. It was always clear that Iran had been counted among the greatest Empires of antiquity. The Shah of Iran saw his nation under this context, though his opponents would paint him as an agent of the West. Perhaps the Shah of Iran had not come into his own, during the early 1950s when he was installed back in power by Britain and United States after Prime Minister Mossadegh had toppled his rule and gone on to nationalize Iran’s oil industry out of British hands. The resulting embargo of Iran brought Iran’s economy to its knees though the popularity of Mossadegh soared even though he no longer had a path to create a social welfare state as the Iranian people in vast majority desired at the time. Across the border in Iraq the socialists took hold of power during the 1950s as well, as the ideas of Gamal Abdel Naser and Prime Minister Nehru flooded the minds of people who had regained independence after centuries of colonial rule with the concept that socialism was the future. The Shah of Iran stood as a leader who stopped Iran from going on this…