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Iran. Iranians are majority Persian – as opposed to Arab They are Shia as opposed to Sunni. US intervention. In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh is elected Prime Minister and nationalizes oil industry In 1953, President Eisenhower approves a US and British-supported coup . The Shah.
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Iran Iranians are majority Persian – as opposed to Arab They are Shia as opposed to Sunni
US intervention • In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh is elected Prime Minister and nationalizes oil industry • In 1953, President Eisenhower approves a US and British-supported coup
The Shah • Mohammad Reza Pahlavi assumes control • Modernizes infrastructure and tries to improve lives for women • Increasingly autocratic and unpopular
Rise of Khomeini • Strikes and demonstrations begin in 1978 and the Shah flees in January 1979 • Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile and the country approves a theocratic Constitution in December 1979
Seizure of US embassy • Iranian students seize the US embassy and hold 66 American diplomats hostage from November 1979 to January 1981 • Carter launches ill-fated rescue attempt (doomed by sand storm) • Hostages released when frozen Iranian assets were returned • US appears weak, indecisive
Afghanistan • Irregularly dominated by the British from 1839-1919, Afghanistan is still a largely tribal society especially in the rural regions • The Pashtun dominate the Southern part of Afghanistan and the Northern part of Pakistan • One of the poorest nations in the world
Soviet invasion • In 1978 a Marxist government assumes control with support from the Soviets. • The US begins to support rural, socially conservative opponents and by 1979 the government is overthrown • December 1979, Soviets invade with 100,000 troops to back up their Marxist allies
US response • US begins to support variety of groups that opposed Soviet invasion, some of those people will later be part of the Taliban • The non-centralized Mujahideen based out of Pakistan, with support from Pakistani intilligence • The Soviets will lose about 15,000 dead but will kill between 600,000 to 1 million Afghans
Post-Soviet Afghanistan • Soviets withdraw in 1989 but leave behind a Afghan government that will last three more years against the fractured Mujahideen • As fighting against the Soviet-backed government continues, the US withdraws its support • The Taliban emerge as the strongest of the Mujahideen groups
Rise of Taliban • By 2000, the Taliban have seized 95 percent of the country • Women are banned from working, girls from attending school • Movie theaters were closed and music was banned • Osama Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan in 1996 and begins operating al Qaeda training camps