Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC .The Islamic conquest of Persia and the end of the Sassanid Empire was a turning point in Iranian history. Iran had been a monarchy ruled by a shah, or emperor, almost without interruption from 1501 until the 1979 Islamic revolution, when Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979. Iran’s Islamic Revolution shook the world in 1979, with currents that continue to be felt today. Iran has a complicated history and social structure. It is important for the Iranian people to be able to find their own way to a better community and better world. In this essay, it will be compared that the history of Iran in two different periods of political system from Pahlavi to the current Iranian government and it has many disadvantages that have affected the culture, history and economy of Iran. During the reign of the Shah, people of Iran had freedom and choice and people lived together with each religion. Anyone could do whatever they wanted to choose the cover and is a country with an ancient history, which was the first multi ethnic, multi religion, and multi-language country in the world, but in these years after the revolution, Iran’s culture completely changed especially in women's rights.
According to research I have found that Pahlavi's reign in the last 50 years made Iran the superpower and the highest rank in the world. Equal rights and women's franchise were released. Free and excellent education was provided to all people. (amidi, 2015) The founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah, banned the hijab. Mass protests by women were unsuccessful in overturning the edict. (siamdoust, 2018) When the revolution came, many of the freedoms that women gained slowly and hardly lost, and the right to choose fell into the hands of militant clerics. Although most Iranian women played an important role in the revolution, religious women went to the streets and demanded that the Shah leave the country .Women in Iran supported the revolution because they thought they would have more freedom. But it soon became clear that they were wrong, and everything was contrary to their imagination. Immediately after the revolution, universities were closed for 2 years. The Iranian community found that the system was revamped to inculcate Islam and the power of Khomeini. The names of the Shah and his family were removed from history and from any other class. The leader quickly announced that women had to wear their own hijab in public spaces, and in fact the veil was compulsory. (siamdoust, 2018)
Since Islam was rooted in Iran, people are allowed to dominate the government, and the religion that the government says they have been executed and the right to choose from the people has been taken. During the reign of the Shah, Iran had good economic relations with the world and was the currency exchange center, but after the revolution, the Iranian business world was awful and continues to be sanctioned. (africa, 2018) The Iranian economy is currently in poverty, and in the coming months, the US government will decide to withdraw from the nuclear treaty and make severe sanctions against the clerical regime. (staff, 2018) Some researchers argues that the Iranian revolution put an end to the rule of the Shah, who had alienated powerful religious, political and popular forces with a programme of modernisation and Westernisation, coupled with heavy repression of dissent. Persia, as Iran was known before 1935, was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and the country has long maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language and adhering to the Shia interpretation of Islam. (iran country profile, 2018) According to Iran's Constitution, the Supreme Leader is responsible for the delineation and supervision of 'the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,' which means that he sets the tone and direction of Iran's domestic and foreign policies.
The Supreme Leader also is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controls the Islamic Republic's intelligence and security operations; he alone can declare war or peace. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, and the supreme commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also appoints six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians, the powerful body that oversees the activities of Parliament and determines which candidates are qualified to run for public office. (New York Times, 2019) Pahlavi Dynasty in 50 years, modernized the country, gave equal rights and voting right to women, provided free and high standard education for all. Many foreign nationals and companies came to Iran for economic opportunities. Thousands of Iranian students were getting higher education in Western countries, through various grants and scholarships. Iranian money was strong. Except a few, no country required visa from Iranians, and they had respect by other nations. After the revolution, the history of women's status changed in general, and compulsory coverage was one of the greatest changes in Iranian history. Combating social inequality was one of the main mottos of the 1979 revolution. But the promise was forgotten soon.
In conclusion, The Islamic Republic is one of the most corrupt political systems in the world. International Transparency puts Iran at the 138th place in terms of systematic corruption among 180 states. What is most annoying for Iranian officials in this index is that it shows Iran as a more corrupt state than many other developing countries. Based on the latest reports, the Islamic Republic of Iran is 90 steps more corrupt than Ruanda and 60 steps worse than Burkina Faso. From among its neighbors, Iran is 115 steps more corrupt than the United Arab Emirates. The reason for the widespread corruption in Iran is in the highly discriminative nature of the Islamic Republic system and the way its leader and the IRGC distribute concessions to regime insiders.
