Historical Security Council
Islamic Revolution in Iran
Since the 1950s, the US supported Mohammad Reza Shah has ruled over Iran. Though there has been much westernization and economic expansion under his reign, there has also been growing opposition to how he has used the secret police, the Savak, to control the country with an iron fist. Most dissenters against either the government or its policies have been jailed or executed, and basic civil liberties have been severely restricted. In addition, the fact that the Shah firmly believes in a secular society devoid of Islamic influence has fanned the flames of revolution. Shi'a Muslim opposition against the Shah has reached a fever pitch.
This opposition is being led by the exiled Iranian Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Khomeini. In recent months, the political climate in Iran has become so heated that the Shah has fled for fear of his own safety, and left his deputy, Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar to control the country with the help of the Supreme Army Councilors. This has proved to be impossible. Ayatollah Khomeini has returned from exile in France and has succeeded in driving Bakhtiar and other remaining officials of the Shah from the country. Now instead of peace and freedom, we are seeing the same tactics used by the Shah being utilized by the followers of the Ayatollah. Hundreds, if not thousands of secular leaders and advocates have been executed, and many more have been uprooted from their homes, forced to flee for their lives.
However, this crisis has expanded beyond a simple internal conflict. In recent days, Iranian Islamic students have stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and taken 66 American citizens hostage. This move has violated international law regarding not just international kidnapping, but also US control of its embassy soil. The United Nations Security Council must solve this conflict before this violence spreads even further.