page_title: Timeline of the Iranian Revolution
section_title: 1979
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the Iranian Revolution / 1979
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: در روز 13 آبان 1358 سفارت امریکا در تهران توسط دانشجویان موسوم به دانشجویان پیرو خط امام تسخیر شد. در عکس چند دانشجو در حال بالا رفتن از درب سفارت هستند.English: Iran hostage crisis - Iraninan students comes up U.S. embassy in Tehran
context_page_description: For earlier events refer to Pahlavi dynasty and for later ones refer to History of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
context_section_description: January 3: Shapour Bakhtiar of the National Front (Jabhe-yi Melli) was appointed prime minister to replace General Azhari.
  January 4: Shapour Bakhtiar approved as the Prime Minister by Parliament.
  January 12: Revolutionary Council formed by Khomeini to manage revolution. The names of its members are not disclosed.
  January 16: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi leave Iran for Aswan, Egypt, to be welcome by Anwar Sadat. The Shah states that he has left for vacation and medical treatment.
  January 22: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family leaves Egypt for Morocco.
  January 23: An attempt by the Royal Council to negotiate with Ayatollah Khomeini fails as Jalaleddin Tehrani, the head of the council  who was sent to France, unexpectedly turns against the Royal Council, announces his resignation and declares the council as illegal.
  February 1: Khomeini returns to Iran from exile. According to BBC up to five million people line up in the streets of the Iran's capital, Tehran to witness the homecoming of  Khomeini.
  February 4:  Khomeini appoints Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister of The Interim Government of Iran.
  February 9: Fighting breaks out between pro-Khomeini technicians (Homafaran) of Iran Air Force and Iranian Imperial Guard.
  February 10: Bakhtiar announces martial law with an extended curfew. Khomeini orders followers to ignore it, and proclaims jihad against army units that do not surrender to revolutionaries. Leftist guerrillas and revolutionaries join rebel troops looting arms from police stations and other government facilities. The next morning, the heads of the army finally declare neutrality to avoid disintegration and "further bloodshed".
  February 11 : Regime collapses. Revolution victorious. Pahlavi dynasty ends. Royal prime minister, Bakhtiar, goes into hiding, eventually finding exile in Paris.
  February 12: The committees of Islamic revolution were charged.
  February 18 : Foundation of Islamic Republican party by revolutionary clerics comprising Beheshti, Bahonar, Khamenei, Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mousavi Ardebili.
  March 17: Revolt in Sanandaj.
  March 26 : Revolt in Gonbad-e Qabus. Valyollah Qarani, the first chief of Army after revolution, dismissed by the Interim Government of Iran under pressure of leftist. Naser Farbod is appointed as his replacement.
  March 30 and 31 : National referendum held on whether Iran should become an "Islamic Republic".
  March 30: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family  arrives in the Bahamas from Morocco.
  April 1: 98.2% of votes tallied are in favor of an Islamic republic.  Islamic republic established.
  April 17: Revolt in Naqadeh.
  April 20: Valyollah Qarani assassinated by the Forqan group.
  May 1: Morteza Motahhari, one of the most notable ideologists of Islamic revolution, assassinated by the Forqan group.
  May 5: Islamic Revolution Guards Corps established by a decree issued by Ayatollah Khomeini.
  June 5: Early indication of split between Khomeini and non-theocratic intellectuals. In a speech, Khomeini asked: "Who are they that wish to divert our Islamic movement from Islam? ... Intellectuals, do not be Western-style intellectuals, imported intellectuals."
  June 10: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family  arrives in Mexico after being denied a visa extension in the Bahamas
  June 14: Official preliminary draft of the constitution published. Draft constitution contains Council of Guardians to veto un-Islamic legislation, but no Velayat-e faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists). Khomeini declares it `correct.`
  June 15: Khomeini attacks liberal and leftwing groups as `counter-revolutionaries` against Islam. Groups had advocated the election of a Constituent Assembly to write the new constitution. "No `Westernized jurists` are needed to write the constitution, only `noble members of the clergy.`" "Campaign launched to popularised the idea of the velayat-e faqih," hitherto virtually unknown to most Iranians.
  June 17: "Construction Jihad" was established by the order of the Ayatollah Khomeini.
  August 7: Ayandegan, "the daily newspaper with the widest circulatio
caption: Iraninan students comes up U.S. embassy in Tehran, March 4, 1979
exif: {"Image Tag 0x0301": "20000/9091", "Image Tag 0x5110": "1", "Image Tag 0x5111": "3778", "Image Tag 0x5112": "3778"}