When it comes to the question of why Shah’s relatively mild and wimpy dictatorship (if even you can call it that) was replaced by this horrendous, mass murdering disaster of the IR, the response that one most often hears from the assortment of the fossil 1960’s and 70’s revolutionaries, West residing -yet West hating—Islamists and lazy IR appeasers is this: the “revolution” was just and proper; it’s just that Khomeini and the mullahs just hijacked it and the people were powerless to stop them. Bullshit!! My opinion is—and has always been—that the Islamic Republic is compatible with Iranians’ ultra-religious and xenophobic culture, and that is why it came to power, has remained in power for three and half decades despite unspeakable crimes against the people, and will remain in power for the foreseeable future.
Look at it by way of this example: Egypt had a bloody revolution that deposed a dictator. The dictator was replaced by another authoritarian ruler who wanted to shove a friendly constitution down people’s throats (sound familiar?) in a haste. But people didn’t like the constitution, and didn’t like the fact that the new ruler is becoming another dictator. So, they have taken to the streets, and despite tanks on the streets, despite threats, beatings and killings, they are not giving up. They are coming from all around the country to protect the ideals for which they had a revolution. Now, compare that with Iran. Just a month or so after taking power, Khomeini had an “election” on the form of government with a “yes or no” answer to the Islamic Republic (can you believe that nonsense?), and there wasn’t even a peep from anyone. He then shoved a “velayat faghih” constitution down their throats through the same process. Again, not even a peep. They could have poured onto the streets, just like Egyptians are doing. So, why didn’t they? There are only a couple of painful answers: 1) they were onboard with the ultra-religious form of government; 2) they were too lazy and/or scared to say or do anything. I go with number 1. And please, don’t cite me the example of five (or even a hundred) guys who may have said something at the time. I’m talking about statistically significant portions of the population—as is the case in Egypt.
There you have it folks: the overwhelming majority of Iranians WANT the Islamic Republic. It’s culturally compatible with them. That’s all.
Photo: Masses of Iranians at their beloved leader, Khomeini's, funeral.