Your right, the "majority" bit was me sort of stating something I actually have no actual facts on, so sorry about that! I guess I just presumed.
About the elections and nature of Iranian society before the revolution I'm not sure about either. But Iran always seems to have had a generally conservative muslim rural and lower class. I can't imagine how the revolution could have happened and remained in power without at least some major support from some segment of the population.
the revolution in 79 was never an Islamic Revolution
It was a communist/popular revolution.
At that time Communism was absolutely huge in Iran (my own dad was a communist in the tudeh party). All the communist parties were against the shah who they saw as a puppet of the Imperialists. A big chunk of Iran was also very poor, sort of like China today. Literacy rates were awful as well (50 percent) and that meant people could easily be swayed to one side or another in a matter of a few years. Resentment towards the monarchy was rampant throughout the Iranian society. Every group and institution had its own vision for Iran but they all shared an ultimate goal which was to see the shah out of power and have a democratic country. Once things got out of hand (some years before the revolution) the movement realized that it needed a genuine leader to unite the country. This is where the clergy comes in. THE ONLY INSTITUTION STRONG ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE THE MONARCHY WAS THE CLERGY. Unlike with all the groups, the shah could not just execute clergy members! Imagine executing the pope!!! The Italian society would erupt into anger. He couldn't kill ayatollah khomaini so he sent him into exile. From exile khomaini became "the leader of the people." HE BECAME GHANDI. Even communist groups (my own dad's party, even though he won't admit to it) willingly served khomaini because they though that the clergy is the only instituition that can unite the country.
Fast forward to 79. The revolution has already happened and now people want to decide for their future. A referendum is held in Iran and the people vote for the Islamic REPUBLIC. I capitalized republic because that is what they all thought of. To them Islam was everything. My grandmother who voted for the Islamic republic prayed every day and considered herself a devout muslim but she didn't wear a hijab. My mother NEVER WORE A HIJAB IN HER LIFE NOR SHE PRAYED BEFORE THE IR REGIME but she was still in favor of the Islamic REPUBLIC. Same with my atheist communist father and uncles! They looked at Islam as a uniting factor. They never thought khomaini would turn the country into a THEOCRACY. Even a year after the toppling of the shah khomaini was saying that hijab will NEVER BECOME MANDATORY ETC... but soon things started changing. The traditional business class of Iran who controlled the nations wealth at the time (the bazaris) had the complete backing of the clergy. However the biggest reason the country was allowed to become a thecoracy was the Iran- Iraq war.
The country fell into absolute chaos! The army was disassembled, the generals and officers and even air force pilots were all either executed and in jail or had escaped the country!! Khomaini and the ruling elite turned the war into a holy war. Soon Khomaini and his people started to shift alliances. The very people who helped them topple the shah were now enemies. During the 80s the clergy executed more than a hundred thousand POLITICAL PRISONERS. These people consisted of simple university students who identified themselves as communists or were people who were now seeing the true colors of khomaini. My own father signed his execution papers in jail three times but he was later released (Communists who were in the Tudeh party were dealt with less harshly b/c they helped the regime at the begining of the revolution, but again none of them want to admit that).
The war united the people and any hope of rescuing the revolution was gone!
The regime however made one bad decision that will soon cost them their power.
In 1979 Iran had around 30 million people.
Today Iran has around 80 million people.
More than 70 percent of IRanians were born after the revolutions and want nothing to do with the Islamic Republic. The new generation are the MTV generation. Growing up we were brainwashed day and night but when we went home we were in front of the internet, satellite TV, watching holly wood movies etc...
The regime banned the use of condoms (they said it was unislamic) because they knew that after the death of 1.5 million men in the war they would need more people. However soon after they realized their mistake and banned the lift. Today Iran is the largest condom producer in the region and it even exports to the surrounding countries lol.
Iran became an Islamic republic because people were ignorant and uneducated and they let it happen. The reality is that the majority of IRan today knows about the outside world unlike before concepts like secularism, democracy etc... are much more talked about unlike the past where the majority were illiterate villagers.
Topic: Hi!!