John Yang Red 1

Iran Vocabulary
1) Assembly of Religious Experts a group of 86 male clerics whos role is to appoint the Leader; they must be approved by the Guardian Council and are allowed to serve two 4-year terms BahaI a minority religion that is discriminated against in Iranian culture; its a mix of several religions Bazaars a marketplace in an Iranian city charismatic authority type of leadership that comes from the strong and popular personality of a leader Constitution of 1979 constitution that incorporated democratic values and created the Islamic Republic equality-with-difference the term used to describe the status of women in Iran expediency council the council that acts to mediate differences between the Majles and the Guardian Council Faqih a high ranking Islamic leader who is permitted to issue fatwas Farsi the primary language of most Iranians

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10) Fatwa - A ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority; usually by a high ranking official like a Faqih 11) Fundamentalism strict maintenance and obedience of the fundamental doctrines of some religion 12) Globalization the process of intermingling and connections between people all around the world 13) Guardian Council a governmental body that consists of 12 male clerics; they act as interpreters of the constitution, supervising elections, and approving candidates to different bodies of government 14) Hezbollahis A radical political and military organization that arose after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon 15) hojjat al-Islam an Islamic title that refers to middle-ranking clerics

16) imams title given to various Islamic leaders; especially those who are descendants of Muhammad 17) jihad a holy war; a struggle for the sake of islam

18) Khordad Front a group that consists of members having a common reformist ideal 19) Majles the legislative body of Iranian government; consists of 290 people 20) National Front an Iranian political party that supports secularism, nationalism, and liberalization 21) OPEC Organization of petroleum exporting companies; controls middle-eastern oil prices 22) Qajar Empire empire ruled by Iranian royalty from the late 18th to early 20th centuries; spread Persian culture throughout its lands 23) Pahlavis dynasty ruled by 2 hereditary rulers; ruled from 1878-1979 and promoted secular and western ideas 24) People of the Book people of any other religion mentioned in the Quran 25) Provision of Public Policies the ability of a government to provide for its people 26) rentier state a state that collects most of its revenue from exports and receiving rent on things like domestic oil fields 27) Revolutionary Guard a branch of the Iranian military that was formed after the Iranian revolution 28) Revolution of 1979 the revolution that founded the Islamic Republic and ended Pahlavi rule 29) Safavids people of 16th through 18th century Iran who ruled according to Shiism 30) 31) Secularization the division of religion and government in a state shariah law of islam

32) Sunni largest sect of islam but a minority in Iran; believe in giving power to Muhammads descendants 33) Supreme Leader the religious leader of Iran; acts as head of state

34) Tehran Spring refers to the green movement; questioned the integrity of ahmadinejads 2009 victory 35) Theocracy a form of government in which religious leaders rule with legitimacy based upon the will of god 36) Tudeh Party Iranian communist party; pro-soviet and anti-imperialist

37) Twelver Shiism refers to the Shiites that believe the 12th Imam will reappear 38) Ulema body of religious experts in sharia law

39) velayat-e faqih (jurists guardianship) idea that states that high ranking clerics are best suited to rule muslim society 40) White Revolution a series of reforms launched by Reza Shah that attempted to strengthen the agricultural classes; bloodless revolution

Key Figures
1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the current and 6th president of Iran. 2. Moussavi Mehdi Karroubi an Iranian reformist politician that is currently the chairman of the national trust party 3. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei previous president and current Supreme leader of Iran. 4. Reza Khan the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. Also allowed for the incorporation of many democratic ideals under his rule. 5. Mohammad Khatami The fifth president of iran and a leader of the green movement. 6. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini leader of the Iranian revolution and previous supreme leader. 7. Muhammed Mosaddeq prime minister of iran that was overthrown by a coup by a coalition of british and American intelligence agencies 8. Mir Hussein Moussavi the last prime minister of iran. 9. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi son of reza shah and last ruler of the Pahlavi dynasty.

10. Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi raRafsanjani fourth president of iran and currently the chairman of the expediency council.