- 1797-06-17 — Áqá Muhammad Khán, leader of the Qájárs, (b. 5 September, 1772, d. 23 October, 1834) proclaimed himself Sháh of Persia; beginning of Qájár dynasty. He ruled until the 23rd of October, 1834. [AY213, Wikipedia]
The Qajar dynasty lasted until 1925. [Wikipedia]
- 1797-08-00 — Crown Prince Fath-`Alí Mírzá assumed leadership of Persia. (1797 (or 1798) to 1834)
- 1798-03-21 — Fath-`Alí Khán was crowned second Qájár Sháh during Naw-Rúz festival.
- 1799-03-21 — Fath-`Alí Sháh's son, `Abbás Mírzá (aged 9), was designated Crown Prince of Persia.
- 1804-00-00 — Russo-Persian War resulted in a Russian victory. The Battle of Aslan Duz on 31 October 1812 was the turning point in the war, which led to the complete destruction of the Persian army, thus leaving Fath Ali Shah with no other option but to sign the Treaty of Gulistan on 24 October 1813. Numerically, Persian forces had a considerable advantage during the war, a ratio of 5 to 1 over their Russian adversaries, however, the Persian forces were technologically backwards and poorly trained - a problem that the Persian government failed to recognize.
With the Treaty of Gulistan Persia ceded what is now Georgia, Dagestan, parts of northern Armenia, and most of what now comprises modern Azerbaijan to Russia.
- 1828-02-10 — Defeat of the Persians at the hands of the Russians.
The Russo-Persian War of 1826–28 was the last major military conflict between the Russian Empire and Iran.
The war ended following the occupation of Tabriz and had even more disastrous results for Persia than the 1804-1813 war. The ensuing Treaty of Turkmenchay, signed on 10 February 1828 in Torkamanchay, Iran, stripped Persia of its last remaining territories in the Caucasus, which comprised all of modern Armenia, the southern remainder of modern Azerbaijan, and modern Igdir in Turkey. Through the Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties Persia had lost all of its territories in the Caucasus to Russia making them the unquestioned dominant power in the region. [BBRSM55]
- 1834-09-09 —
The end of the reign of Fath-`Alí Sháh and the accession of his grandson, Muhammad Sháh. [B7; BBD83, 164; BBR153, 482]
- Fifty–three sons and 46 daughters survived Fath-`Alí Sháh. [B7]
- After his accession Muhammad Sháh executed the Grand Vizier, the Qá'im Máqám, the man who had raised him to the throne. He then installed his tutor, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí, to the position (1835). During his first year in office Hájí Mírzá Áqásí succeeded in removing most of the supporters of the previous prime minister from power, filling their positions with his own appointees from Máh-Kú. Among those removed from power was Mírzá Buzurg Núrí, Bahá'u'lláh's father. [B10–11]
- See BBD164 for picture.
- See B11–122 for the relationship between the Sháh and his new Grand Vizier, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí.
- For details on the life of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí see BBD19.
- For an example of Hájí Mírzá Áqásí's machinations against Bahá'u'lláh and others see DB120-122.
- 1839-00-01 — Defeat of Persia at the hands of the British. [BBRSM55]
- 1845-06-28 —
- 1848-09-04 —
The death of the chronically ill Muhammad Sháh whom Shoghi Effendi described as bigoted, sickly and vacillating. [BBR153–4; GPB4; Encyclopædia Iranica]
- This precipitated the downfall of the Grand Vizier, Hájí Mírzá Áqásí because many of Tehran's elite arose against him. [Bab147; BBD19; BBR156]
- For details of his life, fall and death in Karbila on the 1st of August, 1849, see BBR154–6 and BKG52–5.
- The edict for Bahá'u'lláh's arrest was rendered null. [BKG50; BW18:381; DB298-300] iiiii
- 1848-09-12 —
The accession of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh at Tabríz. [BBR482]
- He was 17 years old. [BBR158; GPB37]
- He ruled from 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated on the eve of his jubilee. [BBD168; BBR482]
- The first four years of his reign were marked by the `fiercest and bloodiest of the persecutions of the religion of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh'. During the whole of his reign there were `sporadic persecutions and, in at least some cases, he himself was directly responsible for the death of the martyrs'. [BBR157]
- For the first time in the Faith's history the civil and ecclesiastical powers banded together in a systematic campaign against it, one that was to `culminate in the horrors experienced by Bahá'u'lláh in the Síyáh-Chál' and `His subsequent banishment to Iraq'. [GPB37]
- See BBRSM25 for an explanation of why the Bábí religion was a challenge to the secular regime.
- See SB86 for a reason for Násiri'd-Dín Sháh's cruelty towards the Bábís and Bahá'ís.
- See RB3:201 for an explanation of his lengthy reign.
- He chose as his prime minister Mírzá Taqí Khán-i-Faráhání, known as a great reformer and a founder of modern Iran. [BBD221; BBR160]
- It was not until the spring of 1849 that the new regime was in firm control.
- His reform antagonized many and a coalition was formed against him. One of the most active proponents was the queen mother. She convinced the Shah that the prime minister wanted his throne. In October of 1851 the Shah dismissed him and exiled him to Kashan where he was murdered on the Shah's orders.
- 1848-10-19 —
Entry of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh into Tihrán. [BBR482]
- MH240 says it took him 45 days to travel to Tihrán to occupy his father's throne.
- Hájí Mírzá Áaqsí Khán-i-Faráhání took up post as his prime minister. [BBR482]
- By the end of 1848 the governmental opposition to the Báb continued and intensified. Encouraged by the ulama (religious leaders), the public increasingly turned against the Báb and His followers and the Bábis "were held responsible for the country's general state of turmoil." [RR395]
- 1852-08-15 —
Attempt on the life of the Sháh in Afcha, near Tehran. [BBR128; BBRSM:30; BKG74–5; DB599; ESW20; GPB62; TN2930]
- See BKG74–5 for circumstances of the event.
- See BKG76 for the fate of the perpetrators.
- See BBR128–46 for reporting of the event in the West.
- Ja'far-Qulí Khán wrote immediately to Bahá'u'lláh telling Him of the event and that the mother of the Sháh was denouncing Bahá'u'lláh as the 'would-be murderer'. Ja'far-Qulí Khán offered to hide Bahá'u'lláh. [BKG77; DB602]
- 1856-00-04 — The Anglo-Persian War. [BBR165, 263]
- 1862-08-22 — Concessions by the Persian government in the Qajar period (1789-1925) included grants of political and extraterritorial rights to the Russian and British governments, as well as monopolies, contracts, and licenses to British and Russian citizens and companies to carry on specific economic activities on Persian territory. Please see Encyclopaedia Iranica for details of concessions to both the British and the Russians.
The following is an example of one such concession: The Telegraph Concession in Iran in 1862 was a significant agreement that allowed a British company to construct and operate a telegraph line in Persain territory. This concession played a crucial role in the development of telecommunication infrastructure and British influence in Iran during the 19th century.
The concession was granted to a British entrepreneur named Charles Morrison by, Nasir al-Din Shah. The agreement gave Morrison the exclusive rights to build a telegraph line across Persia. This line was intended to connect the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea with branches extending to Tehran and other important cities.
The British government supported Morrison in securing the concession as it served British interests in the region. It was not only a means of communication but also had strategic importance as it facilitated the transmission of information and news across the vast Iranian territory and contributed to British control over their interests.
Construction began in 1864 and was completed in several stages over the following years. The concession allowed Morrison's company to operate for 70 years. The telegraph line facilitated communication between Persia and British India, which was also under British control at the time, and it played a role in the coordination of British interests in the region.
- 1869-00-00 — A great famine occurred in Iran in which about 10 per cent of the population died and a further 10 per cent emigrated. [BBRSM86; GPB233]
- 1872-07-25 — The Baron de Reuter concession in 1872 was a significant agreement between the government of Persia and a British financier named Julius de Reuter. This concession, sometimes referred to as the Reuter Concession, granted exclusive rights to de Reuter for the construction of a telegraph line that would connect Tehran to the western border with the Ottoman Empire and the right to explore and to exploit various natural resources, including mines and forests, along the proposed telegraph route.
The concession met with controversy and criticism and became a symbol of the encroachment of European powers and their control over Iran's resources and infrastructure. This lead to the re-negotiation of the contract and the terms of the concession were revised to be somewhat less favourable to the concessionaire.
[Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu'l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p3; Wikipedia] - 1875-00-04 —
At the request of Baha'u'lláh,`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote The Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a treatise on the establishment of a just, progressive and divinely-based government. [SDCv; Baha'u'llah on the Circumstances of the Composition of "The Secret of Divine Civilization" a provisional translation of a Tablet by Bahá'u'lláh by Adib Masumian]
- It was lithographed in Bombay in 1882. It was first published in English under the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization in London in 1910. [SDCv] It was re-issued in 1918 and later translated as The Secret of Divine Civilization by Marzieh Gail and published by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust in Wilmette in 1957.
- See Marzieh Gail's Summon Up Remembrance pg46-47 for a description of Persia at the time. The nation was ostensibly ruled by a self-serving monarch who had little regard for the county or its people. The government administered the chessboard where Russia and England played out their competing imperialistic designs to increase their respective spheres of influence. Through bribery and intrigue, they contended to raise up ministers who would do their bidding. They thwarted the progress of the nation by manipulating the clergy to oppose any Western ideas, threatening that such would threaten Islam. If required these measures were supplemented with the bribery of the ulamas, accepted eagerly either for their personal gain or for contributions to their communities. Thus Iranians were kept divided, deprived, and ignorant; all the better to exploit them. [SUR62]
- Shoghi Effendi called The Secret of Divine Civilization "`Abdu'l-Bahá's outstanding contribution to the future reorganization of the world". [WOB37]
- See the English translation of the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of Iran dated 26 November 2003 in which they make reference to this book.
- See a comment about the book.
- 1889-08-19 — Baron Julius de Reuter, a British-German financier with a history of financial agreements in Persia, secured a concession from the Persian government. This concession allowed him to establish the Imperial Bank of Persia. The bank was the first modern bank in Iran and introduced European banking ideas to a country in which they were previously unknown. The concession gave him exclusive rights to issue banknotes, manage the state's revenues, and establish branches in various Iranian cities.
The bank was given the authority to handle customs duties and foreign trade, which were significant sources of revenue for the Persian government. The bank was also responsible for managing the government's foreign debts and helping Iran to raise capital in international markets.
As usury was forbidden under Islam, the traditional money lenders in Iran were the Jewish sarrafs, who continued to dominate the field after the establishment of the Imperial Bank due to greater loan flexibility and cultural ties. At the time the only form of money in circulation was gold and silver coins.
In 1890 a similar Russian bank known as the Loan and Discount Bank of Persia was founded. The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 split Iran into a Russian and British sphere of influence. It assigned to the Russian Loan and Discount Bank the revenues from the amortization of Persian debts in northern Iran, and the same for the British Imperial Bank in southern Iran.
Bank Melli, an Iranian-controlled central bank, was established in 1928.
[Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu'l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p3; Wikipedia]
- 1890-03-00 —
Násiri'd-Dín Sháh entered into contract of 50 years duration with British interests that would provide him with an annual payment plus 25% of the profits for the production and sale of tobacco. Prior to this, in the 1870s and 1880s the country's telegraph and mail systems, its fisheries, and many of its mines were sold to Western, mostly British, interests.
- Opposition, fomented by Britain's rival Russia, came from merchants and shopkeepers who anticipated higher prices and feared being marginalized if the tobacco trade were to pass into the hands of foreigners. Many of the ulama supported the resistance, in part from fear of foreign influence and some because they owned land, either privately of on religious property, that grew tobacco. Articulated as a struggle in defense of Islam against foreign intrusion, the movement quickly became a popular one. At that time about one third of the population of 8 million used tobacco.
- The movement first flared up in Shiraz, the centre of Iran's main tobacco-growing region and then Tabriz in the north of the country that was under heavy Russian influence. Isfahan and Mashhad soon followed in popular clergy-led agitation. The protest movement culminated when the ulama declared tobacco itself unclean and smoking religiously impermissible. Ordinary Iranians, frustrated at the mismanagement and misery prevalent in the country, massively heeded the call. People throughout the country gave up smoking.
- In January 1892 the Shah rescinded the concession and was forced to compensate the tobacco company for its losses. The Qajar government had to take out a £500,000 loan to cover the cost.
- The Tobacco Revolt is considered a landmark event in Iran's modern history. It is often seen as the first episode in which common people showed an awareness of a collective identity and were successful in mobilizing disparate groups around a common cause.
[Encyclopedia]
[Wikipedia]
- See 'Abdu'l-Bahá's comments on the insurrection that saw the clergy's involvement in the affairs of state in His Treatise on Politics.
- 1896-04-19 —
Násiri'd-Dín Sháh was assassinated on the eve of the celebration of his jubilee. He had ascended to the throne in 1848 and by the Islamic lunar calendar it marked the 50th year of his reign. [BKG455]
- BBRXXIX and BBRSM219 say it was 1 May.
- His assassin, Mírzá Ridá-yi-Kirmáni, a Pan-Islamic terrorist, was a follower of Jamálu'd-Dín-i-Afghání, one of the originators of the Constitutional movement in Iran and an enemy of the Faith however some newspaper accounts held that the assassin was a Bábí. [BBRSM87; GBP296; MCS540]
- For an account of his assassination see PDC67–8.
- See BKG430–55 for a history of his reign.
- He was succeeded by his son Muzaffari'd-Dín. [GPB296]
- See also CBM54-56.
- See AY214-216. iiiii
- 1896-05-01 —
Muzaffari'd-Dín became the shah of Persia. He was the son of Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. He had been sent as governor to the province of Azerbaijan in 1861 and, as the crown prince, had spent 35 years in the pursuit of pleasure. When he ascended to the throne he was unprepared for the office. In addition, the country had huge debts to both Britain and Russia.
- It was now the turn of the "Turks", called such because Turkish was the language of Ádhirbáyján. The new shah's relatives and friends were awarded ministries and other positions while only a few of the incumbents retained their positions. [SUR78]
- He inherited a country marked by social unrest and discontent, and an ailing economy burdened with foreign loans. Unlike his father, Muzaffar al-Din Shah suffered from ill health, and had a weaker character yet a kinder heart. The circumstances in which Iran found itself under his rule were also different from those of his father's time. Foreign involvement and influence were growing considerably, as were social and political discontent, along with demands for reform. The appointment in August 1897 of the reform-minded Mirza 'Ali Khan Amin al-Daulih as the new prime minister was, partly at least, an attempt to meet some of these demands. [
The Forgotten Schools; The Bahá'ís and Modern Education in Iran, 1899–1934p51]
- 1906-08-05 — After an almost bloodless revolution Muzaffari'd-Din Sháh was forced to sign a royal decree called the "Golestān Palace Agreement" promising the establishment of a constitutional government with a National Assembly to be elected from amount the working guilds, landowners merchants and the nobles. The parliament was opened on the 7th of October and the constitution signed on the 30th of December. This marked the beginning of a period of constitutional governance in the country. [AY p24; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East1 by Kamran Ekbal p6]
- 1907-01-08 — The death of Muzaffari'd-Dín Sháh just a few days after he had signed the constitution. [BBR354, 482]
- 1907-01-19 —
The accession of Muhammad-`Alí Sháh to the throne of Iran. He reigned until 1909. He attempted to rescind the constitution and abolish parliamentary government. After several disputes with the members of the Majlis in June, 1908 he bombed the Majlis building, arrested many of the deputies and closed down the assembly. In July 1909 constitutional forces deposed him and he went into exile in Russia from where he attempted to regain his throne. [BBR354, 482, AY218]
- The Bahá'í community received some measure of protection under this regime. [BBRSM:97–8]
- 1907-08-31 — Anglo-Russian Convention relating to Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet, was signed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The convention brought shaky British–Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified respective control in the three countries. It delineated spheres of influence in Persia, stipulated that neither country would interfere in Tibet's internal affairs, and recognized Britain's influence over Afghanistan. [AY p47-48; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p6]
- 1908-06-23 — Muhammad-`Alí Sháh undertook a successful coup d'état in Iran and abolished the Constitution. [BBR369]
During a tense period of political struggle, a bomb was thrown into the Iranian Majlis (parliament) while it was in session. The explosion caused damage to the building and injured several parliamentarians, but there were no fatalities. The identity of the individual or group responsible remains a subject of historical debate. Some believe it was an attempt to disrupt the growing influence of the constitutionalists and the Majlis, while others suspect foreign interference. The event had significant political repercussions. It galvanized public opinion and further fuelled the demand for constitutional government and the rule of law. [Wikipedia]
- 1909-07-18 — The accession of Ahmad Sháh Qajar, the boy-king, to the throne of Iran. He was twelve years old and because of his youth a regency was established under Azudu'l-Mulk, the head of the Qájár family. Ahmad's official coronation took place on the 21st of July, 1914. His reign formerly lasted until October 1925 when he was deposed by the Majles while he was absent in Europe. He was the last of the Qajar dynasty which had begun around 1789. [BBR482; CBM57]
The period of this reign was of the so-called pénétration pacifique, the technical term used euphemistically in contemporary Western works, during which the country was subjugated by the Western Powers and lost its sovereignty as well as its natural resources. [Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Bahá's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p6]
- 1909-12-24 — The constitutional revolution effectively ended when the Shah's minister oversaw the expulsion of the deputies of the Second Majis with the support of 12,000 Russian troops. [Wikipedia]
- 1911-05-11 —
W. Morgan Shuster was an American chosen by the Persian Chargé d'Affaires at Washington, Mirza Ali Kuli Khan, to serve as Treasurer-General of Persia for a period of three years. His mandate was to organize and conduct the collection and disbursements of the revenues. Four American assistants were likewise engaged to serve under the Treasurer-General. Since the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 the country was under the influence of the Russians in the north and the British in the south. The purpose in engaging Shuster was to put the country's financial affairs in order so that they might attract investment from other nations.
- After an encounter with the Russian Consul-General he was forced to leave on the 14th of January, 1912. [AY79-82]
- He subsequently wrote a book called The Strangling of Persia.
- 1917-00-00 — Foreign troops occupied nearly all of neutral Iran. [AB416; BBRSM:87]
- 1919-08-19 — The Anglo-Persian agreement was signed whereby Persia would get advisors for every department and give every concession to England. It effectively made Persia a British protectorate and eliminated the Russian influence that had been established by the earlier Anglo-Russian pact. The United States Government was much displeased, for this represented a breach of 'open covenants openly arrived at', one of Wilson's Fourteen Points, and represented a continuation of the secret diplomacy of former times. The price of this agreement, according to one official, was £500,000 paid out to one prominent official, and £300,000 to another.
When the Persians discovered by what dubious means this Agreement was contrived, they arose in fury, there was a coup d'état with the backing of the Cossack Brigade, Siyyid Zia-ed-Din came to power (1921) and abrogated the Agreement. Then he himself would be overthrown, and replaced by Reza Khan of the Cossack Brigade as Minister of War and Commander in Chief. Thus an illiterate one-time army private, once a sentry at a hospital gate, would eventually (1925) become a powerful Shah.
[AY172, 210] - 1921-02-02 — Ahmad Sháh, who succeeded to the throne at age 11, (reigned 1909–25) was deposed in a coup d'état led by Reza Khán who appointed himself prime minister. He ruled as Reza Sháh Pahlaví between 1925–41.
- 1925-10-31 — Ahmad Sháh was deposed and the Qájár dynasty (1785-1925) was formerly terminated by declaration of the National Consultative Assembly. He was replaced by Reza Shah Pahlavi. [BBD190; BBR482; BBRSM87, PDC66-69, AY46-47]
- 1925-12-13 — Ridá (or Reza) Sháh acceded to the throne of Iran. The Pahlaví dynasty commenced. [BBR482]
During the period of the later Qajar shahs, namely Muzaffar al-Din (r. 1896–1907) , Muhammad-'Ali (r. 1907–9) and Ahmad (r. 1909–25) , the Iranian state became steadily weaker and sank into anarchy as a result of years of revolution, war, corruption, injustice, insecurity, and foreign intervention and occupation, all of which took a heavy toll on the local population. The country was thoroughly disappointed with the outcome of its hard-won freedom, the incompetence of successive cabinets, the inefficiency of the shahs, and the corruption of the bureaucracy. The continuous interference of foreign powers in Iran's affairs, especially Britain and Russia, combined with their excessive consular rights were a constant source of national humiliation and impotent dissension, which by 1921 had turned into loud, nationalistic protests throughout the country. The people looked for a strong government that would overcome these weaknesses. [The Forgotten Schools: The Bahá'ís and Modern Education in Iran, 1899–1934 p107] - 1941-09-16 —
In Iran, Ridá Sháh abdicated and Muhammad-Ridá Sháh ascended to the throne. His rule was to last until 1979. [BBR482]
- Ridá Sháh was overthrown by the British and Russians. [BBRSM173]
- His reign can be described in three phases:
-
The first phase, from 1941 through 1955, was a period characterized by physical danger, during which Bahá'ís were scapegoated in the interactions among the government, the clerics and the people, and experienced several bloody incidents, the culmination of which was the 1955 anti-Bahá'í campaign and its aftermaths.
The second phase, from the late 1950s to around 1977, marked almost two decades of relative respite from physical attacks, during which Bahá'ís enjoyed more security than before, without ever being officially recognized as a religious community and while their existence as Bahá'ís was essentially ignored or denied.
The last two years of the reign of the Shah comprised the third phase, the revival of a bloody period. [Towards a History of Iran's Bahá'í Community During the Reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, 1941-1979 by Mina Yazdani]
- 1963-00-01 — 15 years after the establishment of Israel and during the course of the unrest that swept through Iran in response to a set of far-reaching reforms launched by Muhammad-Ridá Sháh, Ayatollah Khomeini and the Association of Iranian Clerics, in two separate declarations, denounced Bahá'ís as agents and representatives of Israel, and demanded their severe repression.
During the 1960s and 70s almost everything that troubled Iranian clerics was seen as evidence of a Bahá'í-Israeli plot against Islam. The Shah, who was harshly rebuked by the 'ulama for his regime's strong ties with Israel, was accused of being a Bahá'í because of some of the reforms he had introduced, notably his giving voting rights to women, and providing blue-collar industrial workers with a share of the profits earned by their companies. Various cultural events launched by the administration, some of which had clear Western tones, were seen as Bahá'í plots to undermine the Islamic identity of Iranians. Iranian ministers and courtiers were almost collectively accused of being Bahá'ís. Even Iran's notorious intelligence agency, SAVAK, whose strong anti-leftist agenda had naturally led to its inclination to recruit people with Islamic ties, and which had obvious connections with the Hujjatieh society – the self-professed arch-enemies of the Bahá'ís – was seen as nothing more than a Bahá'í puppet. Consequently, the 1979 Islamic Revolution came about not just as an uprising against the Shah, but supposedly as a reaction to an Israeli-Bahá'í threat.
[Iran Press Watch 1407] - 1979-01-17 — Mohammad Rezā Pahlavi, known as Mohammad Reza Shah, entitled Shāhanshāh ("Emperor" or "King of Kings"), fled Iran. The dissolution of the monarchy was complete on the 11th of February.
- 1979-02-01 — Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from exile in France. On the 11th of February, the revolutionary government assumed power.
- 1979-04-01 —
The declaration of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran after a referendum with a 98.2% supporting vote.
- And part of that constitution...
Iran's Army and Revolutionary Guards "will be responsible not only for guarding and preserving the frontiers of the country, but also for fulfilling the ideological mission of (Shiite) jihad in God's way; that is, extending the sovereignty of God's (Shiite) law throughout the world ... in the hope that this century will witness the establishment of a universal holy government and the downfall of all others."
- The IRGC is also the backbone of the clerical establishment in Iran. The senior cadres of the IRGC and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei enjoy the final say in Iran's domestic and foreign policy and support for proxies. The IRGC, in addition, is engaged in the domestic repression of dissidents; the suppression of freedom of speech, press and assembly, and imprisoning political opponents. The Washington office of an Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has released a 175-page book, "The Rise of the Revolutionary Guards Corps Financial Empire," demonstrating that the IRGC controls more than half Iran's GDP and owns several major economic powerhouses and religious endowments, such as Astan-e Qods Razavi, in the northeastern city of Mashad. The NCRI also published another detailed book on 15 Iranian terrorist training centers, where the IRGC provides ideological, military and tactical training to foreign recruits, who are later dispatched to conduct terrorist activities in the Middle East and beyond.
[Gatestone Institue 18 December 2021]
- The formalization of the concept of Governance of the Jurisconsult (also known as "Wilayat al-Faqih" in Arabic) in the Iranian constitution solidified Khomeini's ideas and provided the framework for the political structure and governance in Iran, with Khomeini himself becoming the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The main aspects of this doctrine in Twelver Shia Islam were: 1. Supreme Authority of the Jurisconsult (Faqih), 2. Guardianship and Leadership in the place of the 12th Imam until his return, 3. The establishment of an Islamic State where the Jurisconsult (Faqih) would hold ultimate authority, 4. The Faqih would be legitimized through popular vote, 5. The Faqih would have the authority to interpret and enforce Islamic law in all aspect of society, 6. Social justice, equity and the welfare of the people would be implemented, 7. Resistance against oppression both from within and outside the country would be a duty, 8. Islamic jurisprudence would evolve and adapt to the changing times. [Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran]
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