Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution
Following the Iranian Revolution, which overthrew the Shah of Iran, in February 1979, Iran was in a "revolutionary crisis mode" from this time until 1982 or 1983 when forces loyal to the revolution's leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, consolidated power. During this period, Iran's economy and the apparatus of government collapsed; its military and security forces were in disarray.
Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution | |||||||
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Part of the Cold War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Political: Armed groups:
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Political only:
Armed groups:
Separatists: Sudan Royal Saudi Air Force | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ruhollah Khomeini |
Mehdi Bazargan Akbar Goodarzi † Rahman Ghasemlou Saddam Hussein | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Iranian Armed Forces: Total forces 207,500 (June 1979); 305,000 (peak); 240,000 (final) Theater forces: 6,000–10,000 | 2,000 to 10,000–15,000 (MEK); 3,000 (Paykar); 5,000 (Fedai factions in total); 10,000 to 25,000–30,000 (KDPI), 5,000 (Komolah) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3,000 servicemen (conservative estimate) | 1,000 estimated KIA (MEK); 4,000 estimated KIA (KDPI) | ||||||
10,000 estimated KIA (total) not including Iran–Iraq War | |||||||
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Rebellions by Marxist guerrillas and federalist parties against Islamist forces in Khuzistan, Kurdistan, and Gonbad-e Qabus started in April 1979, some of them taking more than a year to suppress. Concern about breakdown of order was sufficiently high to prompt discussion by the US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski over the danger of a Soviet invasion/incursion (the USSR sharing a border with Iran) and whether the US should be prepared to counter it.
By 1983, Khomeini and his supporters had crushed the rival factions and consolidated power. Elements that played a part in both the crisis and its end were the Iran hostage crisis, the invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and the presidency of Abolhassan Banisadr.