American Minute with Bill Federer History of Iran Part 3 WWI in Middle East to Khomeini’s Revolution

In Iran’s history, part 3, we will learn about post World War I, Shah Reza’s secular government, Britain’s coup to oust him, Mossadegh confiscating British oil, and the pro-American Shah Reza Pahlavi ousted by Khomeini’s Islamist revolution.

Knowing world history, which is at times shocking, helps us understand how current situations … continue reading …

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When Germany lost World War I, its ally, the 600-year-old Turkish Ottoman Empire, also lost, with its land divided into Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Turkey.

Ataturk became Turkey’s leader in 1923 and proceeded to secularize Turkey.

Likewise in Iran, Reza Shah seized power from the Qajar Dynasty in 1925 and secularized Persia.

He allowed women to be educated and wear fashionable clothing.

He replaced sharia with a civil code, similar to French law, and replaced religious courts with state courts.

To emphasize national identity, Reza Shah began referring to Persia as “Iran.”

Some Middle Easterners who resisted secularism formed the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 and with other Islamist groups targeted secular leaders with assassinations, even siding with Nazis.

During the Cold War, Mossadegh grew anti-western, being supported by Iran’s Tudeh Communist Party.

Mossadegh assumed emergency powers, dissolved Parliament and limited the Shah’s authority.

As a result, Britain experienced an oil shortage and appealed to President Eisenhower for help.

Eisenhower’s CIA Director Allen Dulles had joined in Project FF in 1952 to remove Egypt’s King Farouk, as he had opened relations with Soviet Russia.

In 1953, the CIA carried out Operation Ajax, led by Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, to remove Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadegh in order to solidify support for Shah Reza Pahlavi, a strong ally with America.

For the next 37 years, Reza Pahlavi created one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

He arranged trade deals with the U.S., even having the Cadillac Seville manufactured in Iran.

He promoted a secular government with freedoms, especially for women.

Pahlavi was wary of socialists and Islamists plotting to overthrow him.

The United States supported Shah Reza Pahlavi, who met with Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford.

This all changed with President Jimmy Carter.

On New Year’s Eve, 1977, Carter toasted the Shah, praising his leadership for making Iran “an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world.”

Shortly after, though, Carter began secretly plotting with Ayatollah Khomeini exiled in France to undermine the Shah.

The BBC published an article, June 3, 2016, titled “Two Weeks in January: America’s secret engagement with Khomeini,” revealing

“… a trove of newly declassified US government documents … that tell the largely unknown story of America’s secret engagement with Khomeini, an enigmatic cleric who would soon inspire Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Americanism worldwide.”

The BBC explained:

“From his home in exile outside Paris, the defiant leader of the Iranian revolution effectively offered the Carter administration a deal …

If President Jimmy Carter could use his influence on the military to clear the way for his takeover, Khomeini suggested, he would calm the nation.”

The article added:

“On November 9, 1978, in a now-famous cable, ‘Thinking the Unthinkable,’ the US ambassador to Iran, William Sullivan … argued that Washington should get the Shah and his top generals out of Iran, and then make a deal … (with) Khomeini.”

Carter, influenced by his globalist advisors, pressured the Shah to leave Iran in 1979.

Carter’s diary recorded he was skiing at Camp David on February 11, 1979, the exact day Khomeini’s revolutionary forces took control of Iran.

Though Khomeini had assured Carter,  “You will see we are not in any particular animosity with the Americans,” within months Khomeini called America “The Great Satan,” chanted “death to America,” and vowed to fight American imperialism worldwide, saying: “We will export our revolution to the entire world.”

Khomeini exported revolution, supporting Islamist organizations such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis, which attacked Israel for being the last major obstacle in reestablishing the Caliphate — a one world Islamic government.

Hezbollah established a base in Venezuela and has infiltrated drug gangs that travel through Central America into the United States.

One of his clerics even threatened to destroy the ancient palace of King Cyrus located at Persepolis, as the Shah had used it to rally national identity.

Khomeini’s strategy had been to assemble a broad coalition of people unhappy with the Shah, including liberals, moderates, leftists, Marxists, socialists, poor, and urban youth, by making promises he had no intention of keeping. Once in power, he began liquidating those groups one-by-one.

Naive youth who had joined Marxist socialist groups to help Khomeini come to power were ordered shot.

In typical Islamist “taqiyya” fashion, Khomeini broke every promise he had made to Carter.

He imprisoned 52 Americans for 444 days, only releasing them minutes after the swearing in of the next President, Ronald Reagan, whom he feared.

UPI Archives recorded Ronald Reagan, October 21, 1984:

“I criticized President Carter for undercutting what was a stalwart ally, the Shah of Iran … I am not at all convinced that he was that far out of line with his people or that they wanted (the revolution) to happen.

The Shah had done our bidding and carried our load in the Middle East for quite some time. And I did think that it was a blot on our record that we let him down …

The Shah … was building low cost housing, had taken land from the mullahs and was distributing it to the peasants so they could be land owners. Things of that kind.

But we turned it over to a maniacal fanatic who has slaughtered thousands of thousands of people calling it executions.”

Jimmy Carter’s 1979 foreign policy decision had ripple effects.

It was soon followed by Iran, under the Ayatollah, fighting Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, from 1980 to 1988, with the U.S. and U.S.S.R. involved behind the scenes.

Over a million died.

Khomeini wrote a book on sharia law in 1970 titled Islamic Governance of the Jurist “Hokumat-e Islami: Velayat-e faqih.” He advocated:

-The laws of society should be made up only of sharia. Other laws are unnecessary because sharia laws cover “all human affairs”;

-Those holding government posts should have deep knowledge of sharia.

-Rule by “those claiming to be representatives of the majority of the people” are proclaimed “wrong” by Islam.

-Clerical rule is necessary to prevent injustice.

Islamic leaders were so strict they insisted the Qur’an only be recited in Arabic, yet the language of the people is Farsi.

Condemning democracy, Khomeini ordered mass executions of those he deemed “enemies of Islam,” as he instituted the world’s only Shi’a Islamic theocracy.

His religious police, Gasht-e Ershad, enforced sharia law:

• beating and flogging women who do not adhere to strict dress codes of being covered with veils;
• no freedom for liberals, leftists, or feminists, with Farrokhrou Parsa, the first woman to serve in Iran’s cabinet, being executed by a firing squad;
• no woman can leave her house without her husband’s permission;
• no woman can leave her house unless accompanied by a male relative;
• a woman must obey her husband in all matters or else she has no right to clothing, housing, or food;
• a man can have multiple wives, as young as 13;
• a man may physically discipline a wife for disobedience;
• no right for a woman to divorce her husband;
• men possess exclusive right to divorce, and can divorce a wife without her knowledge, consent, or formal proceeding, only two male witnesses needed to hear husband’s announcement. Children are automatically in custody of father.
• no dogs are allowed as indoor pets;
• tattoos are frowned upon and cannot depict anything clerics deem obscene or western;
• no alcohol, western movies, or dances;
• no music, including on radio or television;
• no men and women swimming or sunbathing;
• men punished for wearing shorts;
• all homosexuals are to be exterminated;
• execution of drug addicts and prostitutes;
• no freedom of speech, with “fatwa” decrees to assassinate those insulting Islam. Anything that is not Islam insults Islam;
• no freedom of assembly if deemed detrimental to the principles of Islam;
• no right for general public to own weapons unless part of government-approved groups;
• no meaningful right for the people to petition the government for a redress of grievances;
• all education must be Islamized;
• youth are encouraged to martyrdom for Islam;
• no right to a public trial by an impartial jury;
• no right to be secure from arbitrary arrests, home invasions or property seizures;
• four fingers of right hand amputated for theft, and for second offense left foot amputated;
• torture systematically used against political prisoners;
• death penalty for converting to Christianity.

Voice of the Martyrs reported:

“The Iranian government is among the most oppressive regimes in the world. It is illegal to leave Islam, and Christians face the constant threat of imprisonment and being falsely charged with ‘acting against national security’ for owning Bibles or even talking about Christ.”

President Nixon’s last official address, August 8, 1974, left a Middle East warning “… so that the cradle of civilization will not become its grave.”

Ronald Reagan warned in his autobiography, An American Life, 1990 (Simon & Schuster):

“Twice in recent years, America has lost loyal allies in the Middle East, the Shah of Iran and Anwar Sadat …

I don’t think you can overstate the importance that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism will have to the rest of the world in the century ahead — especially if … fanatical elements get their hands on nuclear and chemical weapons.”

Obama’s foreign policy allowed the Islamic Republic of Iran to access billions of dollars while they were covertly developing nuclear technology.

CNN ran the headline, June 7, 2018: “Obama admin worked to allow Iran to exchange billions to bypass sanctions.”

Trump’s first term sanctioned Iran’s oil sales, depriving the regime of revenue. Biden stopped enforcing the sanctions, allowing Iran’s oil revenues to surge.

Russia helped Iran develop dual-use nuclear technology adaptable to weapons.

USA Today ran the headlines, April 11, 2024: “Voters, fearful of World War Three as Iran strikes Israel.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, adheres to Twelver Shi’a eschatology where he believes he is the prophesied “Seyed Khorasani” who will start a “final battle” of global chaos and conflict that will usher in the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi, who will annihilate Israel, “the Little Satan,” and the United States, “the Great Satan.”

In 2025, Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In January of 2026, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei crushed Iranians wanting freedom.

TIME Magazine reported, January 25, 2026, “Iran Protest Death Toll Could Top 30,000.”

Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah, received reports that 50,000 were killed.

TheGatewayPundit published, January 19, 2026: “’They Will Not Be Coming Back’: An Iranian in America Describes a Regime’s War on Its People”:

An Iranian refugee “estimates that the regime has killed … thousands … and more than 330,000 injured, with most victims reportedly under the age of 30 …

More than 24,000 protestors who had been jailed … “They will not be coming back,” the refuge said … “They will kill in jail …”

Sadly … once protesters realized they would simply be mowed down with no hope of bringing about regime change, they gave up.”

Despite persecutions, “Iran’s Crown Prince Admits Christianity is Fastest Growing Religion in the Islamic Nation,” reported Back to Jerusalem, January 29, 2026.

A survey by the Netherlands’ based GAMAAN institute found that 80 percent of Iranians desire a democratic government, rejecting the totalitarians Islamic Republic.

Billy Hallowell of CBN reported in 2024, “Iranian Muslims Find Jesus in Truly Miraculous Ways”:

“God is using dreams to speak to Iranians all the time,” Lana Silk, U.S. director of Transform Iran … told CBN News … “Iranians are open to dreams … and God uses that to speak to them” …

Sadly, conversion to Christianity can come at a great cost. “It’s dangerous,” Silk said of practicing the Christian faith in Iran. “It is illegal for them to convert to Christianity, it’s illegal for them to own a Bible” …

Silk said retribution for violating these restrictions could mean anything from a business being shut down to prison, torture — or worse.”

Persia fought the powerful kingdoms of Mongols, Turks, Mughals, and Russians, with alliances with European powers, and yes, at times, it has carried out terrible persecutions.

Today, millions of Iranians desire the freedoms taken for granted in America.

Let us pray for the people of Iran, and all who live under oppression, especially followers of Jesus.

Jeremiah 49:39 “‘But it will be in the last days that I will reverse the captivity and restore the fortunes of Elam,’ Says the Lord.”

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