PLATO Society

1. PLATO Society Shi’ism and Theocratic Governance in the Islamic Republic of Iran January 18-February 22, 2019 Peter Krug Meeting Four (Feb. 8, 2019): Shi’ite Islamism in Practice, 1979-1989

2. Today’s Title (“Shi’ite Islamism”): • “Islamism”: Islam serves as the basis for civil governance. • “Shi’ite Islamism”: the Guardianship of the Jurist as the theoretical basis for direct clerical rule in civil governance (theocracy). • Today: the construction and evolution of Shi’ite Islamism in Iran, 1979-1989

3. The Feb. 1st (Week Three) Session: 1. The Guardianship of the Jurist 2. The diverse nature of the revolutionary movement 3. The institutional structure of the IRI, as established in its hybrid constitution

4. Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) • Another important institution (only briefly cited on February 1st) • A military force to balance the army • Constitution: the IRGC, “organized in the early days of the triumph of the Revolution,is to be maintained so that it may continue in its role of guarding the Revolution and its achievements.”

5. Feb. 1st Questions About Parliament (Majles): • How many female deputies? • Currently, 17 seats out of 290 • Women’s voting rights? • Full suffrage since 1963

6. Questions About Parliament (continuing): • Influence of clerics? • Decreased participation since the 1980’s (over 100 clerics in the 1980-88 Parliaments; 27 in 2012-2016) • Meanwhile, in the ten Parliaments: • A forum for heated policy debates • Great turnover; absence of parties • Influence of propertied middle classes, Revolutionary Guards

7. Weeks 4-6 in the Course: Timeline, 1979-2019 • 1979: • February: Khomeini’s return; collapse of the Shah’s regime • November: seizure of U.S. Embassy; taking of hostages • December: new Constitution • 1980: export of revolution; war with Iraq

8. Timeline, 1979-2019 (continuing) • 1980-1982: domestic strife; elimination of opposition • 1979 to mid-1980’s: theocratic- Islamist governance

9. Timeline, 1979-2019 (continuing) • Mid-1980’s to 1989: gradual evolution toward pragmatic governance • June, 1989: Death of Ruhollah Khomeini; Ali Khamenei the new Supreme Leader

10. Timeline, 1979-2019 (continuing): • 1989-1997: pragmatic governance • 1997-2005: Presidency of Mohammad Khatami; pragmatic-reformist governance • 2005-2013: Presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; populist-Islamist governance • 2009: disputed elections

11. Timeline, 1979-2019 (continuing): • 2013-present: Presidency of Hassan Rouhani; pragmatist governance • July, 2015: Iran nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action: JCPOA)

12. Weeks 4-6: Introduction • However, this course is not just a chronology of events in the history of the IRI. • Instead, it’s an effort to develop a framework for viewing the past forty years as well as current and future developments in the IRI. • At the center of that framework is Shi’ism (Shi’ite Islamism).

13. Weeks 4-6: Introduction (continuing) • Here’s the framework: the IRI is not monolithic. • Its governance has been, and is, marked by different orientations, grounded in differing interpretations of Shi’ism (primarily, of Islamic law and ethics) that result in different policy positions.

14. Weeks 4-6: Introduction (continuing) • The IRI: A complex, fluid variety of power centers and differing views on how best to advance the building of an Islamic state • Therefore, many compromises and policy contradictions.

15. Four Competing Orientations: • None of these is secular; all are grounded in Islam. • The four orientations: • Theocratic Islamism (clerical supervision) • Populist Islamism (social goals) • Pragmatism (expanded state) • Reformism (democratic elements)

16. Today’s Primary Theme: • In the 1980’s, a gradual, non-linear evolution in governance from revolutionary policies toward pragmatism (strengthening of the Islamic state) • An observation: in the early years of the IRI, much governmental action not based on legislation; instead, acts of the Supreme Leader and Ministries

17. Today’s Outline: 1. Revolutionary governance, 1979 to mid-1980’s • Foreign affairs; culture, including status of women and education; law 2. Toward pragmatism, mid-1980’s to 1989 • Shi’ite doctrine; foreign affairs; culture; law

18. Revolutionary Governance: Foreign Affairs • Seizure of U.S. Embassy (Nov., 1989) immediately reflected revolutionary goals • Acceptance of immediate international isolation (Khomeini: “We must become isolated in order to become independent”) • Rejection of international law constraints

19. Foreign Affairs (continuing): • Export of the revolution • Constitution (Preamble): “extending the sovereignty of God’s law throughout the world” • Creation of the Office of Islamic Liberation Movements • Under the auspices of the IRGC • Its task: exporting Iran’s revolutionary model.

20. Export of the Revolution: • Propaganda • Support of indigenous armed groups • Creation of proxy forces • Immediate targets: states with large Shi’ite populations • Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, Pakistan

21. Export of the Revolution • Iraq: two goals • Destabilization of Saddam Hussein’s regime (headline in Iran’s largest newspaper, April, 1980: “Imam Invites Iraq Military to Rebel”) • The road to Jerusalem is through Karbala

22. Export of the Revolution: • Lebanon: • Support of Hezbollah • Dispatch of Revolutionary Guards units

23. Foreign Affairs • War with Iraq: began with Iraqi invasion in September, 1980 • For Khomeini, a theological crusade: invocations of Karbala and Imam Husayn

24. Revolutionary Governance: Domestic Policies • Great advances in a non-contentious area: public health • A grassroots primary health care network, piped water systems, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition programs • 1985-1997: drop in maternal mortality per 100,000 births from 140 to 37

25. Revolutionary Governance: culture (Outline) • Protection of Morality 1. Reg. of behavior (Vigilante enforcement) 2. Censorship (including press restrictions) • Women’s status • Education

26. Revolutionary Governance: Culture • Enforcement of strict interpretations of Islamic law • A primary goal: protection of Islamic morality

27. Protection of Morality • Regulation of behavior: • Prohibitions on alcohol use, night clubs, dancing • Gender segregation in public places

28. Gender Segregation in Schools • All primary and secondary schools segregated, except remote rural areas • Female teachers in girls’ schools, male teachers in boys’ schools • In universities, separate seating in classrooms

29. Dress Codes • For both sexes, but much stricter for women • A series of compulsory veiling laws; nation-wide coverage enacted in 1981 • 1981: girls age 6 and above required to wear Islamic uniforms and head covers to school • Teachers required to do the same

30. Enforcement of Regulations on Behavior • Revolutionary Guards units; special police; vigilantes • Revolutionary courts • Judges often clerics without legal training

31. Protection of Morality: Censorship • Examples: • Publications (books, news media) • Stage productions, films • Music (Iranian and western pop), but not classical or Iranian folk • The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance administered censorship system

32. Status of Women: Seemingly Contradictory Policies • Broad expansion of educational opportunities for girls and women • Repeal of the 1975 Family Protection Law; re-instatement of traditional rules • Temporary marriage, child marriage, polygamy; greater rights for husbands in divorce, including child custody • War widows: loss of child custody

33. Revolutionary Governance: Education • Expansion at all levels, for both sexes • Substantial government funding • Rising literacy rates

34. Revolutionary Governance: Education • Religious instruction in schools • “Cultural Revolution” proclaimed: 1980-1983 • Council of the Cultural Revolution created in 1980 • Purges of teachers, particularly in higher education • Most universities shut down, 1980-83

35. Revolutionary Governance: Legal Matters • Many post-revolutionary cultural policies undertaken to meet strict interpretations of Islamic law (Sharia) • Goals of revolutionary governance: repeal of existing laws; codification of Islamic law • !982: Supreme Judicial Council declared all un-Islamic legal codes null

36. Background: Islamic Law • Through the centuries was the law of religious scholars (jurists), not subject to state codification • No formal system of authority for single answers on legal questions

37. Revolutionary Governance: Criminal Law • Codifications of criminal law: • Islamic Criminal Code, 1982 • Law of Punishments, 1982 • Included amputations and stoning • Severe punishments, including death, for sexual offenses, such as adultery and homosexuality

38. Toward Pragmatic Governance, mid-1980’s to 1989 • Indicators of shift away from revolutionary governance in a variety of areas. • Initially, these isolated, but their number and scope gradually increased • An early signal (1982): Khomeini’s announcement of stability as official policy

39. Doctrinal Differences Within the Clerical Estate • These had implications for on-going interpretations of Islamic law • One example: Grand Ayatollah Husayn-Ali Montazeri (1922-2009) • Was selected in 1985 to become Khomeini’s eventual successor as Supreme Leader • An early supporter of revolutionary policies (e.g., export of revolution)

40. Grand Ayatollah Montazeri

41. Montazeri • Was selected in 1985 to become Khomeini’s eventual successor as Supreme Leader • An early supporter of revolutionary policies (e.g., export of revolution) • However, in the latter 1980’s, he began to espouse different views • E.g., democratic views of Islamic law

42. Grand Ayatollah Montazeri • Ceased to support the export of revolution: the IRI should be only an example • Called for open assessment of government failures • Protested the execution of opposition members in 1988

43. Montazeri • In 1988, Khomeini forced his resignation as successor to the post of Supreme Leader

44. Ayatollah Yusef Sane’i(born 1937)

45. Within the Clerical Estate: Yusef Sane’i • Chairman of the Council of Guardians, 1980-1983 • In latter 1980’s, began to voice views on democratic political reform and women’s rights • Issued a fatwa condemning suicide bombing as contrary to Islamic law

46. Within the Clerical Estate • Other clerics voiced reformist interpretations of Islamic law • Also, ongoing disagreement with the “Guardianship of the Jurist” doctrine

47. Within the Clerical Estate • Meanwhile, reaction against these developments • Khomeini sought a more structured, state-based system for processing promotion with the ranks of religious scholars (e.g., centralized examinations) • 1987: establishment of a Special Court for Clergy

48. Signs of Pragmatism: Foreign Affairs • In the last years of the Iraq war (1980-1988), growing recognition of the war’s enormous costs, including economic damage • Khomeini, agreeing to cease-fire in July, 1988: making this decision worse than “drinking a cup of poison” • Did it to advance the interests of the state

49. Pragmatic Trend: Foreign Affairs • The decision to end the war accelerated a pragmatic trend in governance • However, one step away from this trend: Khomeini’s February, 1989 fatwa condemning the author Salmon Rushdie (produced a negative foreign reaction in many countries)

50. Signs of Pragmatism: Culture • Gradual relaxation of censorship • Mohammad Khatami, a mujtahid (qualified religious scholar) served as head of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1982-1986 and 1989-1992. • Easing of restrictions on the press (including women’s press); promotion of Iranian film industry