Islamic Republic Of Iran example essay topic

IRAN: POLITICS AND RELIGION After the fall of the Shah a new revolution was born with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In November 1979, the Iranian government became a large threat to the United States' national security. In one of the largest and longest lasting hostage situations of American history, the Iranian leadership proved contempt for diplomatic norms and world opinion during the hostage crisis. They appeared supremely confident that Iran would succeed on its own, regardless of the rest of the world and certain that God was on their side. Since this event, Iran has remained an isolated country from the rest of the world and still remains one of the largest threats to the United States' national security. One of the main problems with the Iranian government is that there is a duality and question of power between the main religious leader and the political leader.

The supreme religious leader, as opposed to the political leader, according to the Iranian Constitution, is specifically charged with various duties as leading the television and radio network to appointing personnel to the hugely powerful Guardian Council, which can overrule the parliament at will and dismiss the elected officials assuming power of the supreme command over the armed forces (Mackey, 149-151). This power struggle between the religious and political regimes is what caused the revolutionary war in 1979. The first strike against the American freedoms was seen through the 444-day hostage action against the United States Embassy staff in Tehran. The Islamic revolutionary party took this measure to ensure that the American military would not intervene in the Iranian power struggle. Since the hostage crisis, Iran has become synonymous with terror. During the revolutionary struggle and the hostage crisis, groups of local toughs were formed and grew in strength.

These neighborhood thugs were called hizbollah is, also known as the groups of the Party of God (Schlesinger, 97). These groups were sponsored by the religious revolution of Islam to carry out measures necessary for the revolution. In the beginning the group was given simple tasks like enforcing the policy of all women being veiled and members of party harassed those that were found unveiled. The terrorist group of Hizbollah has now grown into one of the largest state sponsored organizations of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khomeini made further use of the Hizbollah during the Iranian hostage crisis against other groups within Iran that opposed the revolution. After the Tehran Embassy takeover documents were found that gave detailed information about opposition groups (Schlesinger, 98).

These documents gave information on groups that the United States thought that it could count on for support. Through the newly created gang of the Hizbollah, the Khomeini had proof to wipe out and discredit the political factions that supported the United States. After the Reagan administration was elected to Presidency in the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran was ready to export terrorism and attack the security of all non-Muslim activities around the world. The main target of the Iranian government was the United States. Because of the status as a world power and more than over-powering military, the Hizbollah was forced to use gorilla like tactics and suicide missions. On October 23, 1983 the Islamic jihad (Religious Holy War) moved from Iran to the Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.

Ten minutes before reveille on a balmy Sunday, the one day of the week the Marines were allowed to sleep in an extra half hour, a young Shiite extremist drove a Mercedes truck into the main airport compound where most of the American troops were housed (Wright, 119). The explosion that took the lives of 241 Marine and Navy personnel was the largest non-nuclear explosion since World War II, as well as the largest, state sponsored, and life-taking terrorist event against the United States. The problem that the United States is now facing is that the American borders are no longer sacred. Although bin Laden is somewhat a new face in the terrorist game, the old players, such as the Iranians and the Hizbollah, should not be overlooked in the "War on Terrorism". As long as the Islamic radicals struggle with Israel's recognition by the majority of the rest of the world as a sovereign nation, the remaining population of the non-Muslim community, to include the "godless West", is at risk. There are some similarities to the current Iranian political and religious struggles to that of the United States own history.

In the earliest of beginnings in American history the struggle of power between church and state is documented, but there are also some crucial differences. It is true that the early pilgrims described Puritan New England as a "Christian Commonwealth", which sounds somewhat like the idea of an Islamic Republic of Iran in terms of matters of religion and state. The only difference is that the United States found a way through constitution and intolerance of the English monarchy to overcome the religious persecution and make one very strong nation, by turning different interpretations into strengths and unity under one government. The Islamic Republic of Iran will have to one-day make the distinction between state and religious power, and until this intolerance of all other non-Muslim religions is abolished the rest of the world will be at risk of persecutions by the governments state sponsored terrorism. Eventually, the Iranian government will have to consider separating the political and religious wings, and allow the people of Iran as well as the rest of the world to live life according to that individual's own beliefs; but until that time the United States' national security is at grave risk to more attacks by this radical nation. Since the fall of the Shah, the Islamic Republic of Iran has isolated itself from the rest of the world, and has proven to be one of the greatest threats to American security through the use of state sponsored terrorism based on religious goals and formed by political movement.

Bibliography

Mackey, Sandra. THE IRANIANS: PERSIA, ISLAM AND THE SOUL OF A NATION. New York: Penguin Group, 1996.
Schlesinger JR, Arthur M. AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.
Wright, Robin. IN THE NAME OF GOD: THE KHOMEINI DECADE. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.