To what extent should we attribute the 1979 Iranian Revolution to Essay

To what extent should we attribute the 1979 Iranian Revolution to Khomeinis leadership - Essay Example However, the Soviet Union was not involved in overthrowing the government, which was led by Shah. Initially, demonstrations started in 1977 in October (Harmon, 2004:5). This was followed by civil resistance from the people, especially the population that was affiliated to the Islamic religion. In the wake of 1978, the demonstrations escalated. During the demonstrations, 2 policemen and 6 protesters were confirmed dead. However, Khomeini declared that 70 were martyrs, including his son. The continued demonstrations were threatening to paralyse the country, especially in the end of 1978. This led to the exile of Shah on the January 16th in 1979. This marked the start of a new regime in Iran, led by Khomeini (Adib-Moghaddam, 2014:1). Through all these activities, Khomeini has various attributes that led to the overthrowing of Shah in Iran. To begin with, Khomeini advocated for the rights of all the people in the country. In essence, he was a unifying factor in the country, as he was destined to protect the rights of all the people. As a result, he unified student’s unions, religions affiliations and other organisations that were disinterested in the current leadership. The attribute of unifying score of people to fight for an ostensible reason was instrumental in the revolution (Adib-Moghaddam, 2014:1). It is noted that many revolutions are successful when people engage large numbers. Therefore, Khomeini used this particular attribute to ensure the revolution was successful. Similarly, he engaged Islamic principles in the fight. Though the educated clerics, he was able to interpret the Islamic principles, and explained them to the masses. This led to acceptance to fight against the government of the day, as they wanted liberation. During the revolution, Khomeini instigated the slogan â€Å"neither east nor west† in gathering the masses. He stated that the most important thing for the Iranians was freedom.