What if~Iranian Revolutions (Part 2: What if~The Islamic Revolution never happened?)

In the 21st century, we may worry about Iran having Nuclear Weapons since there is a lot of Anti-American sentiments going on in the country. But did you know that there was a possibility that Iran may not have been the way it is today?

In Iran's history there have been 2 separate events that have made up Iran as we know it today; the 1953 Coup and the Islamic Revolution in 1979. So what if these events went differently? This is a 2-part alternate scenario where it talks about the 2 events whether it went differently or didn't occur at all.

This is part 2 where we talk about the Islamic Revolution and what if it didn't happen.

## Context

After the 1953 Coup, the Shah dissolved the Iranian Parliament and became almost absolute ruler of Iran. By the 1970s, the Shah would become unpopular due to his oppressive policies such as his Progressive Movements, silencing critics and political opponents. He wanted to make Iran a modernized state heavily influenced by the west as he was a fan of secular European ideals, he even gave women rights, expanded education to the masses and allowed the west to create factories and even invest in the Iranian economy. But the Shah failed on land reforms which displaced many farmers, and also created a wealth gap as the Royal Family got rich off of the oil and little of that revenue went to the Iranian people.

Eventually this would make the Shah unpopular, especially to the predominantly Islamic population, among the Muslim population was an Islamic Cleric called Ayatollah Khomeini who was a known critic of the Shah who he considers a western puppet and hated his reforms. His actions would get Khomeini into trouble however as he was sent into exile.

This would spread anger among the Iranian populace over the next several years. Eventually by 1978, protests erupted across the country and though the Shah tried to negotiate with the protesters and even alleviate some of his reforms such as uncensoring the press and stopping corruption, this did calm down the angry population but then fate intervened, Islamic Terrorists invoked an attack which was blamed on the Shah which reignited protests, violence erupted, people died and eventually the Iranian Economy began to deteriorate as did the Shah's health, and eventually Khomeini returned to Iran and after violence across the nation the Dynasty collapsed. Khomeini than replaced the absolute monarchy with an Islamic Theocracy and implemented a lot of Islamic policies which took away women's rights and other things, Iran would also become an isolated Islamic state where Anti-Western sentiments ran freely, and still practiced in Iran today.

## What if?

Now, what if the Islamic Revolution never happened, what if Khomeini never changed Iran?

Now, a few things would need to change. First, the Shah would have to slow the progress of modernization. Another thing is that Khomeini would have to die before he becomes an influential leader.

In this alternate reality, the Shah had made more reforms which slowed the progress of modernization, and Khomeini dies while he was in exile. This would mean that Iran would continue on its path of modernization but just done at a slower pace, the west would still have a huge influence on the nation investing in Iranian companies, very much like the west does in China. The Pahlavi Dynasty would also continue with the death of Reza, and because of western influence, Iran would stay allies with the west (namely the United States).

One of the things that would happen is that the crises that saw the deterioration of relations between the west and Iran is that the 1979 Oil Crisis never happens, likewise the Hostage Crisis which would give Jimmy Carter a much better reputation during his time as President.

Because Khomeini never comes to power in this alternate reality, Saddam Hussein never invades Iran and thus the Iran-Iraq war never happens, like wise the 2 Gulf Wars. In fact, Iran would be military allies to the United States especially as the War on Terror begins as Iran would allow US Troops in Iran to better deal with the Terrorists in Afghanistan.

That'll do it for this part, what do you think would happen if the Islamic Revolution never happened, or if the 1953 coup was successful? Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.