As I explain in my forthcoming book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS (click here to preorder), Reza Shah, who was Shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941, admired the father of Turkish secularism, Kemal Ataturk, and set Iran on a secular path. In chanting his name, Iranians are expressing their dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic that supplanted Reza Shah’s son and successor, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. We can only hope that free people will soon be able to overthrow the tyrannical and oppressive Islamic Republic, and give Iranians the government they deserve.
(Thanks to Amil Imani.)
Peter Buckley says
Indeed. IMHO I don’t believe Iran has been a “muslim country” for some time. According to a BBC report a few years back, mosque attendance in Iran was down to 2% of population (probably even lower now):
http://www.thepersonalistproject.org/home/comments/symptoms_of_deeper_problems_in_muslim_theocracies_as_in_western_democracies
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/11776241/Friday-prayers-in-the-Islamic-Republic-of-Iran-but-where-are-the-worshippers.html
The mullahs are hanging on by a thread. Not long to go now………..
Brian hoff says
The going to the mosque isnot requires our mosque can only hold 800 to 1000 people at than time there are about 4000 moslim where I live.
peter says
Please stop it! Everybody knows how all people are herded in to mosque with a whip hand in all muslim countries including Iran and SauidI Arabia.Probably everybody does not kinow!
gravenimage says
Iran still hangs gay people from cranes, threatens to wipe Israel off the map and death to America, and stones women to death. I’m afraid this is all pretty Islamic.
DMA says
They’ve had their 40 years in power and Farked it up ,, time for good old democracy
Rarely says
A breath of fresh air but don’t get too excited yet. In too many parts of the world, and the Middle East in particular, “democracy” simply means “tyranny by the majority”. Without protections, both built in and cultural, to protect the minority “democracy” can look very unfamiliar to us.
Iran was hardly a democracy under the Shah but we liked it because he was on our side. His overthrow was in no small part due to hatred of his subversive police squads and authoritarian regime.
Richard says
The last thing any of us should want is democracy in an Islamic country. Hopefully, Iran is the exception, as mosque attendance might indicate, but Saddam Hussain protected Christians in Iran. His second in command was a Christian, but their Christians have been massacred since we “freed” that country”. By the same terms, Assad has protected Christians in Syria. If he goes, they go. There is a wonderful book: “Germany Tried Democracy”. It is about the rise of Adolph Hitler.
Angry Aussie says
Richard, Saddam was from Iraq, and not Iran? Different regimes. Iran is Shia.
Saddam didn’t protect Christians so much as keep a lid on Islamic extremism according to my Assyrian friends who fled Iraq after attacks from ISIS.
The Muslim mind in the Middle East, and in Western countries, proves time and time again that they can’t cope with democracy. They tend to need to be told what to do. Especially the more devout ones. They need instructions, like Sharia Law, as opposed to free thought.
So many of them come to Western countries and the ones that eventually become quite well educated at our expense, aim to overthrow our governments because in their minds, democracy just doesn’t work.
Chris Malan says
Yes, the democracy fans never claim Hitler and Mugabe as triumphs of democracy. Yet both won democratically.
peter says
You keep blaming Hitler for everything but you forget that thte main reason Hitler came to power was the way the Germany was treaed by the allies following the treaty of Versailes .As Hitler notes in his Mein Kempf ordinary Gemans needed a suitcase full of money to buy a loaf of bread and it was the reality on the ground while the wishy washy politicians like most politicians were saying everything is fine and dandy ! Pleople knew better ! The same thing goes for Muslim Immigration to the west .
Yokel says
And look what democracy has done to Britain! (As is oft repeated on these pages!)
gravenimage says
Oh, good God–another apologist for Hitler. *Ugh*.
Phil Copson says
“….Iran was hardly a democracy under the Shah but we liked it because he was on our side. His overthrow was in no small part due to hatred of his subversive police squads and authoritarian regime…..”
—————————————————————————————-
What was the death toll under the Shah compared to Khomeini ?
I don’t know the figures, but would I be far wrong in guessing several hundred under the Shah, and several hundred thousand under Khomeini ?
Similarly, the Russians overthrew the Tsar – and what did they get ? A regime that murdered more per day than had died in the Tsar’s entire reign.
Prince Sianhouk vs Pol Pot, anyone ?
And what about those wicked white Rhodesians, eh ? How much better off the people of that country are – exchanging that terrible Ian Smith who kept the country prosperous and peaceful for that nice Mr Mugabe and his friendly, helpful death-squads and grinding poverty.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
mr spencer, are you happy for evil united states to continue invading other countries to install puppets? It will not succeed in Iran. The stolen assets kept by shah and retrieved back to Iran will never go back to evil united states. stop dreaming, the world has changed
JEFFREY B says
The Iranian Muslim Nazi regime will fail just like the German Nazi regime. Unfortunately, many people died and will continue to die fighting Nazism, whether German or Islamic.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
jeffrey, apartheid evil united states under savage mad devil trump and fascist evil zionist state of Israel are now the new neonazi states.Iran never invaded any nation, but evîl united states and fascist evil zionist state of Israel have been doing it carryingout mass killings to steal their wealths like Iraq and Libya. They cannot do that to Iran. You are a fool
Jimi Belton says
I think you are the FOOL..you pedofile race of humans….rape children….harm your beautiful women….marry babies…you sick dogs of humanity….love your sex with animals….what kind of twisted freak of nature do you represent….
Vivarto says
Ibrahim itace muhammed,
Israel is a tiny country. Certainly not imperialist or colonialist.
Arabs are colonialist who have colonized huge territories and have destroyed Iran, too.
Israel is a tiny jewish nation that just wants to be left alone in their tiny homeland. It is so small, only 1/2 the size of Denmark, or Holland.
1/3 the size of Lithuania and Latvia. 1/9th the size of Syria, and 1/78th the size of Iran.
Jews have every moral and legal right to have their country there. And by the way, it was Iran under the great king Cyrus that liberated the Jewish nation from Babylonian slavery and exile. He even gave the money to rebuild the temple.
Anyway, there is nothing “Nazi” about Israel. There is nothing evil either.
Islam on the other hand is evil inhuman ideology that has destroyed the glorious Iranian civilization and replaced it with primitive Arab death cult of Muhammad.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
Jeffrey, iran never invaded any nation, but apartheid evil united states and fascist evil zionist state of Israel have been doing it carryingout mass killings to steal their wealths like Iraq and Libya. You are just a fool
Vivarto says
Well, you don’t know your history.
Iran was once a huge empire stretching from India to Egypt. The empire was of course acquired by conquest.
Like all other countries, in history, whenever Iran was powerful it invaded and / or dominated other countries. I don’t hold it against the Iranian people. This is just the natural law of history.
As for stealing the wealth, it was the other way around. Jews did not steal the wealth from Iraq and Libya, but these Muslim countries stole all the property of Jewish people living there and threw them out. Even though Jews lived there much longer than Arabs.
Muslim Arabs are the colonists and destroyers of civilizations. Your own great Iranian civilization was destroyed by the Arab barbarians. Now instead of civilization you have Arab barbarity known as “Islam”.
Now you Iranians are humiliated and have to bow towards Arab shithole Mecca 5 times per day.
And your mullahs are shouting out deranged Arab Muhammad nonsense and the disgusting Arab Quran from their minarretes 5 times per day.
You have been conquered humiliated and have lost your culture, and now you defend your occupiers.
brenrod says
rubbish, iran spreads terror globally.. invaded iraq, lebanon, syria… blowing up jews in argentina… go figure
brenrod says
endless muslim taqiyya… best to ban them
Raja says
Ibrahim is such a nice person he is so similar to his prophet, who was one of the most blood thirsty and lying beast and puppet of Satan..
Indiana Tom says
Actually, having talked to Iranians, I sense they are a different cat than Mid-East Arabs. See how this all goes.
RichardL says
Strangely enough all the Iranians I know hate islam. They eat pork, drink, dress, live like everybody else. Iran is indeed very different.
Indiana Tom says
Yes, Iranians can be different. Not always easy to stereotype.
Ibrahim itace muhammed says
Raja, the satan In Durga goddess inspires Hindu barbarians to spill muslim bloods in India and use sticks Instead of penis to rape outcaste ladies. Are you justified?
gravenimage says
I see that Ibrahim itace muhammed is a fan of the sanguinary Mullahs. But then, whyt wouldn’t he be?
Anne Smith says
The Iranians I have met are indeed, as RichardL says, not at all Islamic and are cultured.
However I see this as a class problem, the educated and wealthy classes are not Islamic but the uneducated peasants are thoroughly indoctrinated fundamental Islamics and they are the ones with the largest demographic. This is also the reason Egypt voted in a Moslem Brotherhood President after the “Arab Spring” , who was later, thankfully, removed by the army. This demographic has also brought about the rise of Erdogan and his hard line Islamism in Turkey. The Turkish upper crust are not at all Islamic and are also cultured and well educated.
The huge Islamic birth rate among the peasant classes weighs heavily in favour of Islamic fundamentalism taking over these countries.
Unfortunately the meddling Western Governments haven’t quite caught up with these facts of life although I think now it is beginning to dawn on them.
Proud Anti-Islam says
Iranians are realizing that Islam has failed and the corrupt Islamic regime has also failed. It is time that the Iranian people take over Iran and abolish the Islamic regime that is destroyed peoples’ lives. I also say REZA SHAH, NOT to those evil ayatollahs who are so evil and so very corrupt.
Proud Anti-Islam says
My correction and my apologies. I intended to write: Islamic regime that is destroying peoples’ lives.
mortimer says
A restored monarchy under Crown Prince Reza Shah will bring a focus of unity for all Iranians and provide much needed stability.
Any new regime will be less corrupt than the mega-corrupt mullahocracy they have now.
gravenimage says
I don’t think we are apt to see this. I’d love for it to happen, though.
Raja says
Although the attendance to mosque might be down significantly let us not rest on that laurel. Islam is per se anti democracy, anti civilization, anti-establishment and so on. It is a beast that is restless, bloodthirsty and an agent of the devil who is always a liar and murderer.
I wonder how a huge percentage would convert to Christianity when stakes are against any conservative ideas in their system. You have large corporations(social media etc) who are working overtime to prop up hard left and Islam.
Unless the Iranians forgo the supermascism of Islam there is hardly any glimmer of hope.
Walter Sieruk says
This Islamic dictatorship of Iran has its origin in the deception of the Iranian people. For This Islamic regime was based in the foundation of false and empty promises. As well as lying words. After the fiendish Muslim clerics obtained total power in Iran they showed their true colors by having their Islamic state police who are called the “Revolutionary Guards truest the people on Iran in many heinously brutal and ruthless ways. As, for example, their brutal, callous misogyny against both girls and women. This statement is explained, in some detail, by the following. This tyrannical Islamic regime in Iran that so falsely and inappropriately has the word “republic” in its title. It should be made known that this called the “Iranian Revolution” turned out to be a hoax. Ayatollah Khomeini before achieving power in Iran in his lying and deceptions presented himself to the Iranian people as if he was someone who would be in power would give freedom to the people of Iran with any tyranny. The reality turned out to be just the opposite. As explained by a former Muslim as well as a man who took part in this Islamic “revolution “ ,who is now a Christian informs the reader of his book that “Prior to the Revolution no one ever imagined that other political parties would be suppressed under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini. He had promised that all groups would have freedom to run their own campaigns after the Revolution. He even stated that governing system would be based on the decision of the people via a referendum. He never spoke of a system that would be governed by Islam. He even made clear that mullahs would not take part in any political activities, and that they would only be allowed to teach spirituality… Immediately after the Revolution, mullahs rushed into government offices to occupy the most important political l positions, making it difficult for the interim secular government to function … The mullah’s occupation of position was exactly the opposite to what the Ayatollah Khomeini had promised before the Revolution.”. [1] In other words, the insincere, disingenuous and outright lying Ayatollah Khomeini made many bogus promise he really had no intention of keeping. His lying deception worked, for he achieved great power in Iran.
Furthermore, of the many heinously evils outcome s of that Islamic “revolution” is the extremely cruel, brutal and demonic misogyny of this hideous Islamic regime. Not only against women but even young girls. As explained by a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard member who defected to the West and how now lives in America his book also informs the reader about the malicious and murderous affront girls in Iran’s Evin prison which reads that those in power ,the “paraded teenage girls in front in front of me as they led them to their deaths. These girls were barely out of their childhood, barely old enough to think of themselves, much less form thoughts against the state. They knew nothing about the machinations of politics. They were innocent in every sense of the word and certainty innocent of trumped –up charges that led to their imprisonment. Yet they suffered fates too brutal for even the most vicious criminal. ..Their few remaining moments of life had been filled with the level of abuse that few can imagine…The author further states “They tortured and killed young girls, in God’s name and before their execution they raped them because they believed that if a girl dies virgin, she will go to heaven, and they wanted to deny them this reward.” [2] This is as malice -filled and viciously wicked as can possibly be. This, very much, reflects the wisdom found in POOR RICHARDS’ Almanack IN WHICH Benjamin Franklin printed “Those who are feared are also hated.”
TC says
WASN’T THAT IN 1981?
Kepha says
Do they mean the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, or his grandson, who now lives in exile in the USA?
Matthieu Baudin says
There is no lack of courage amongst the young in Iran but the regime has successfully indoctrinated a significant section of the new generation to be revolutionary zealots and these are the people with the guns.
JaimeInTexas says
I hope for Iranians to be free from oppressive government. That does not mean for Iran to become a vassal of these uSA.
gravenimage says
Iranians in packed soccer stadium chant “Reza Shah”
……………
Interesting.