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Some Important Events in the Modern History of Iran
Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 8th of the Islamic month of Shawwal 1324 AH, the first issue of the daily “Majlis” was published in Iran by Constitutional Movement activist Mirza Seyyed Mohammad Sadeq Tabatabai, Following announcement of the freedom of press, several papers were published in different Iranian cities, but “Majlis” was the first daily circulated after opening of Iran’s first parliament. It focused in detail on debates during parliamentary sessions.
On August 17, 1990 AD, in the process of exchange of prisoners of war (POWs), the first group of Iranian POWs returned home, as part of implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 598 that ended the 8-year war the US had imposed on Iran through Saddam. The POW exchange which Saddam had hindered for two years took place after his occupation of Kuwait and subsequent isolation in the region and the world. This day is marked as Day of Azadegan (Freed POWS). It is worth noting that some 7,000 Iraqi POWs sought refuge in Iran under supervision of the International Red Cross, refusing to return to their homeland because of the tyranny of the Ba’th minority regime.
On August 18, 1940 AD, the prominent Iranian painter, Mohammad Ghaffari, titled “Kamal ol-Molk” (Wonder of the State), passed away in exile in the northeastern Iranian city of Nayshapour. He was a product of Tehran’s Dar ul-Fonoun School and on joining the court of the Qajarid King, Naser od-Din Shah, created valuable works of art. He painted 170 masterpieces in this era. He later traveled to Europe to acquire further knowledge in the field of painting and upon return to Iran groomed numerous students. He was exiled to a village in the vicinity of Naishapur by the British-installed Pahlavi potentate, Reza Khan, whose portrait he refused to paint. This renowned painter was laid to rest in the garden of the mausoleum of the acclaimed Iranian poet, Fareed od-Din Attar Naishapuri.
On August 18, 1988 AD, a ceasefire formally took effect as per UN Security Council Resolution 598, ending the 8-year war launched on Islamic Iran by the US through its agent, Saddam, the leader of the tyrannical Ba'th minority regime of Iraq. The goal of the invasion was to topple the Islamic Republic system of government, but thanks to the committed and courageous Iranian forces, the armed-to-the-teeth Ba'thist war machine failed in its efforts.
On August 19, 1953 AD, the US staged a coup in Iran to overthrow the government of Prime Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq for nationalization of the oil industry and to return to the Peacock Throne the fugitive British-installed Pahlavi potentate, Mohammad Reza. The coup plotters mobilized a number of thugs to take to the streets and attack government centres with the assistance of mercenaries in the security forces. General Fazlollah Zahedi, a US pawn, announced the collapse of the Mosaddeq administration and his own appointment as the premier through the radio network. Following the fugitive Shah’s return to Iran from Italy, dictatorship was intensified across the country. The other consequence of this US-plotted coup was Washington’s total domination over Iran’s sources, which continued until the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
On August 20, 1978 AD, people of the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan staged huge demonstrations against the inhumane arson attack on Rex Cinema by agents of the British-installed and American-backed Pahlavi regime. In this tragic incident, 277 women, men, and children lost their lives.
On August 20, 1959 AD, the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) was set up with the signing of an accord in the Turkish capital Ankara by Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, and Britain, for replacing the Bagdad Pact that had collapsed the year before with General Abdul-Karim Qassim’s coup in Iraq and his decision to withdraw from the Treaty. Although the US was not a signatory and had an observer status, it played the major role in CENTO, which was the central loop in the West’s military girdle around the Soviet Union. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Iran’s withdrawal, CENTO collapsed and was dissolved.
On August 24, 1978 AD, Hojjat al-Islam Seyyed Ali Andarzgou, was martyred by agents of the Shah's regime. He started his struggles at the age of 19 and joined the Islamic Coalition Group after acquaintance with Hojjat al-Islam Navvab Safavi, who was eventually martyred. Andarzgou was among those who planned the revolutionary execution in 1965 of the Shah's Prime Minister, the notorious Hassan-Ali Mansour, who mortgaged Iran's sovereignty by signing the scandalous Capitulation Accord granting judicial immunity to US nationals in Iran. For the next 13 years, Andarzgou, who was sentenced to death in absentia, continued his underground activities against the Shah's despotic regime, until he was identified and attained martyrdom this day in an armed clash.
On August 25, 1941 AD during World War II, Allied Forces occupied Iran following the rapid advance of Nazi German troops in the Soviet Union. Britain and the US decided to use Iran as a bridge to ferry aid to the USSR. The Soviet and British troops pounded Iran from the air, ground, and sea, and due to the inability of the autocratic ruler, Reza Khan Pahlavi, several military bases were destroyed and Iran’s navy was wiped out. Twenty days later Tehran was occupied. Reza Khan was deposed and deported to Mauritius and then to South Africa, while his son, Mohammad Reza, was placed on the Peacock Throne.
On August 26, 1789 AD, the valiant Iranian crown prince, Abbas Mirza, was born to King Fath Ali Shah, the second ruler of the Qajarid dynasty. He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with expansionist Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He was intelligent, possessed literary taste, and modernized the Iranian army. At the same time he was noteworthy for the comparative simplicity of his life. As commander of the Iranian forces, his aid was solicited by both England and Napoleon, anxious to checkmate one another in the East. Abbas Mirza defended Iran against Russian attacks, but the French failed to provide him assistance, and the court in Tehran was also slow in realizing the situation on the borders, as a result of which he was defeated in the Battle of Aslanduz in 1813. Iran was forced to sign the Treaty of Golestan, ceding large parts of its territories in the Caucasus including present-day Georgia, Daghestan, and most of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1821 when the Ottomans attacked Iran, Abbas Mirza defeated them in the Battle of Erzurum, and through the Treaty of 1823, ensured Iran’s sovereignty. His second war with Russia, which began in 1826 with initial success, ended in 1828 with a string of costly defeats after which Iran was forced to cede nearly all of its Armenian territories as well as Nakhchivan, as per the Treaty of Turkmanchay. In 1833, while restoring order in the province of Khorasan in the east, Crown Prince Abbas Mirza died at the age of 44 years in holy Mashhad. A year later in1834 when Fath Ali Shah Qajar died, Abbas Mirza’s eldest son, Mohammed Mirza, succeed him as the king of Iran.
On August 30, 1981 AD, Iranian President Mohammad Ali Rajai, and Prime Minister Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad Javad Bahonar, were martyred in a bomb blast carried out by the MKO terrorist outfit at the premier’s office in Tehran. Rajai, a teacher by profession, was imprisoned and tortured on several occasions by the Shah’s regime for his Islamic political activities. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was elected to the parliament, was named minister of education, became prime minister, and finally chosen as president in the nationwide elections. He named courageous and committed religious scholar Dr. Mohammad Javad Bahonar, as the premier. In view of the impeccable credentials of these two faithful and modest persons, who were committed to the lofty ideals of the Islamic Revolution, the MKO terrorists martyred them this day on the orders of Global Arrogance.
On August 31, 1907 AD, the British and Russian empires concluded a pact to divide Iran into three regions, taking over the southern and northern parts respectively, and leaving the central region as independent under the weak Qajarid dynasty. The Iranian people were enraged and and Iran’s national parliament opposed this pact. A decade later in 1917, following the revolution in Moscow, Russian forces left Iran.
On September 3, 1915 AD, the leader of the anti-colonial movement in southern Iran, Ra'ees Ali Delvari, attained martyrdom at the hands of the British invaders, at Tangestan near Bushehr, after seven years of resistance. The uprising was the result of a fatwa for jihad issued by the ulema for defence of the country. Delvari and his courageous comrades foiled the attacks of well-equipped British troops for occupation of the Port of Bushehr, before their martyrdom.
On September 4, 1978 AD, the first million-strong demonstration of the Muslim Iranian people against the Pahlavi Shah's despotic regime started. These demonstrations started from four districts of the capital Tehran on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and after performing of the Special Eid Prayer. The demonstrators, who were holding picutures of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) called for independence and freedom and establishment of the Islamic Republic.
On August 26, 1979 AD, Mahdi Araqi and his son Hesam were martyred by MKO terrorists. Mahdi Araqi was one of the prominent figures of the Islamic Revolution and for years had struggled against the Shah’s despotic regime. He was a close ally of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). This faithful and committed revolutionary figure languished in the Shah’s dungeons for several years and was tortured. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he attained martyrdom.
On August 28,1992 AD, the revolutionary Iranian Islamic scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Majid Iravani, passed away at the age of 58. Born in the city of Tabriz, he was a product of the Qom Seminary, where he studied under such prominent scholars as Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi and the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). Ayatollah Iravani actively participated in the Islamic movement and struggles against Shah’s despotic regime and was incarcerated by the security forces on several occasions. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he lectured on Islamic sciences, while continuing his social and revolutionary activities.
On August 29, 1990 AD, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Shahab od-Din Mar'ashi Najafi, passed away at the age of 96 and was laid to rest at the doorstep of his famous library in the holy city of Qom. He mastered theology, jurisprudence, hadith, exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, philosophy, and principles of ethics at the seminaries of Kazemain and holy Najaf in Iraq. After attaining the status of Ijtehad he returned to Iran and started to lecture and research at the Qom Seminary. He was a supporter of the Father of the Islamic Revolution, late Imam Khomeini (RA), in the struggles against the Shah’s despotic regime. He has left behind a large number of books on theology, jurisprudence, hadith, history and genealogy. Grand Ayatollah Mar'ashi Najafi also founded the public library in the holy city of Qom, which houses more than 300,000 books – many of them rare manuscripts collected by him.
On 18th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1254 AH, the well-known theologian and hadith authority (mohaddith) Mirza Hussein Nouri, was born in the northern Iranian city of Nour in Mazandaran. Following the completion of his preliminary studies, he strove to scrutinize the vast hadith literature and became an authority in this regard. He is the author of several valuable books, including "Shakh-e Touba", and "Shehab os-Saqeb” on the Imam of the Age, and the encyclopedic work in over twenty volumes titled, “Mustadrik Wasa’el ash-Shi’a”. He was the teacher of Shaikh Abbas Qomi, the compiler of the prayer-supplication manual, “Mafatih al-Jenan” (Keys to Paradise)
On August 29, 1952 AD, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Taqi Khwansari, passed away. Born in the central Iranian city of Khwansar, he mastered theology, jurisprudence, and philosophy at the seminary in holy Najaf in Iraq. Alongside the Iraqi people, Grand Ayatollah Khwansari participated in their war against the British forces. He was held captive by the British and was sent to exile in Singapore. After four years in exile, he returned to Iran and became a lecturer at the Qom seminary. He continued to struggle against the British colonialists in Iran, and supported the Iranian nation’s struggles for nationalization of the oil industry.
On 26th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1293 AH, the Source of Emulation, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Abdul-Mohammad Musavi, passed away. A child prodigy he memorized the holy Qur’an when only seven years old and at the age of 24 attained the status of Ijtehad – or independent reasoning on basis of the Holy Qur’an and Prophet's Hadith. He was one of the prominent lecturers of and his services include establishment of seminaries and other social activities. He wrote several books, including the treatise titled "Dhakhirat al-Ebaad".
On 23rd of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1112 AH, the famous Islamic scholar, Seyyed Ne'matollah ibn Abdullah al-Jaza'eri, passed away in Shushtar, Khuzestan, southwestern Iran, at the age of 62. An expert in theology, hadith, exegesis of the holy Quran, and Arabic literature, he made every effort to promote the teachings of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt. After initial studies in Hoveiza, he moved to Shiraz, where for nine years he studied under the leading ulema including Shaikh Ibrahim, the son of the famous philosopher, Mullah Sadra Shirazi. To pursue higher studies he went to the Safavid capital Isfahan, where his teacher was the celebrated Allamah Mohammad Baqer Majlisi. After 8 years he left for Iraq but because of the restrictions placed by the Ottoman occupiers did not stay there for long. On return to Iran, he was appointed Shaikh ol-Islam or Chief Religious Scholar of Shushtar, where he breathed his last. He groomed many scholars and was a prolific writer. His works include "al-Anwaar an-Nu'maniyah", "Qissas al-Anbiyya" (Accounts of the Prophets), "Madinat-al-Hadith", "Hedayat al-Mo'menin" and a commentary on "Sahifat as-Sajjadiyya", the collection of supplications of Imam Zain al-Abedin (AS), the 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
On 7th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1393 AH, the exegete of the Holy Qur’an, Ayatollah Mirza Abu’l-Hussain Sharani, passed away at the age of 73. He was an authority on Islamic sciences and was fluent in French, Arabic, and English languages. He has left behind several compilations, including the 10-volume exegesis of the Holy Qur’an.
On 11th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1232 AH, the jurisprudent and theologian, Mullah Ali Akbar Eiji Isfahani, passed away. He groomed many students and authored several books, including “Zubdat-al-Ma’aref”.
On 15th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1248 AH, the scholar Shaikh Mohammad Naqi, passed away in Isfahan. He is the author of the book “Hadayat al-Mustarshadin”. A product of the seminary of holy Najaf in Iraq, he groomed at least 300 scholars.
On 17th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1263 AH, the eminent scholar, Seyyed Ibrahim Karbalai, passed away in the holy city of Karbala In Iraq at the age of 49. Born in Iran, he completed his preliminary studies in his homeland before leaving for Iraq, where in holy Karbala he spent the rest of his life, studying and lecturing on Islamic sciences. Among the books written by him mention can be made of "Dala’el al-Ahkaam", and "Treatises on Hajj Pilgrimage".
On September 3, 1748 AD, the 3rd ruler of the Afsharid dynasty, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, was deposed by Nader Shah Afshar’s grandson, Shahrukh Afshar, less than two months after he had usurped the throne of Iran from his brother, Adel Shah, the elder nephew and successor of Nader Shah. Shahrukh, who made Mashhad his capital, was deposed and blinded a year later by Shah Suleiman II, who in turn was blinded the next year (1750) and replaced by the blind Shahrukh. The eastern parts of Khorasan seceded from Iran during his rule to become the new country of Afghanistan, while Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar seized Mazandaran on the Caspian Sea, and Karim Khan Zand of Shiraz took over most of the country. In 1796, after exterminating the Zands and formally founding the Qajar Dynasty, Agha Mohammad Khan tortured Shahrukh to death, thus ending all vestiges of the dynasty founded by the adventurer Nader Shah Afshar, who had liberated Iran from the Afghan occupation and then crowned himself king by ending the Safavid Empire that had rule for two centuries and thirty years.
158 solar years ago, on this day in 1855 AD, US soldiers brutally massacred over a hundred men, women and children of the Sioux Amerindian tribe in Nebraska. The US army was led by General William S. Harney. The US has a sordid record of genocide and has almost exterminated the native Amerindian people.
On September 3, 1915 AD, the leader of the anti-colonial movement in southern Iran, Ra'ees Ali Delvari, attained martyrdom at the hands of the British invaders, at Tangestan near Bushehr, after seven years of resistance. The uprising was the result of a fatwa for jihad issued by the ulema for defence of the country. Delvari and his courageous comrades foiled the attacks of well-equipped British troops for occupation of the Port of Bushehr, before their martyrdom.
On September 4, 1746 AD, The Treaty of Kerden was signed between the Ottoman Empire and Nader Shah Afshar of Iran, reaffirming the border drawn in the Treaty of Zuhab and allowing Iranian pilgrims to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hijaz, which was under Turkish occupation.
On September 4, 1978 AD, the first million-strong demonstration of the Muslim Iranian people against the Pahlavi Shah's despotic regime started. These demonstrations started from four districts of the capital Tehran on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and after performing of the Special Eid Prayer. The demonstrators, who were holding picutures of the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) called for independence and freedom and establishment of the Islamic Republic.
On September 5, 1772 AD, Fath-Ali Shah, the second king of the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran, was born. Son of Hussain Qoli Khan, the brother of the founder of the dynasty, Agha Mohammad Khan, he was governor of Fars and succeeded his childless uncle on his assassinated in 1797. Much of his 37-year long reign that saw the gradual loss of vast areas of Iran in the Caucasus, Khorasan, Sistan-Baluchestan, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, was marked by the resurgence of Persian arts and painting, as well as a deeply elaborate court culture. Portraiture and large-scale oil paintings reached new heights under his personal patronage. While the economic conditions of the people declined, Fath Ali Shah ordered the creation of royal regalia, including coronation chairs such as the bejeweled "Takht-e-Tavoos" (Peacock Throne) – modeled on the famous Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan, which Nader Shah Afshar had brought as booty from India, and which was dismantled and distributed amongst his generals after his assassination. Fath Ali Shah also modified with a large number of pearls and gems his uncle’s crown, the "Taj-e-Kiyani". He led a life of luxury oblivious of the poverty of the people and the political humiliation to Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as a result of the Russian-imposed Golestan and Turkmanchai Treaties, coupled with growing British pressures and encroachments. When his son and crown prince Abbas Mirza died on 25 October 1833, he named his grandson Mohammed Mirza as crown prince and successor, before his death a on 23 October 1834.
On September 5, 1848 AD, Mohammad Shah Qajar, the 3rd ruler of the Qajarid Dynasty of Iran, died at the age of 40, after a reign of 14 years. Son of the famous crown prince, Abbas Mirza, who predeceased Fath Ali Shah, he succeeded his grandfather, and twice tried to unsuccessfully liberate Herat, the “Pearl of Khorasan” from Afghan occupation, but was thwarted by the British, who sent naval forces to the Persian Gulf to occupy Kharg island and threaten Bushehr. It was during his rule that the symbol of “Shir va Khorshid” (Lion and Sun) against a red, white, and green background became the flag of Iran.
On September 5, 1981 AD, Iran's Prosecutor General, Ayatollah Ali Qoddusi, was martyred due to detonation of a bomb planted by MKO terrorists. He was a student of such luminaries as Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hussain Boroujerdi, Allamah Seyyed Mohammad Hussain Tabatabai (the famous exegete of the holy Qur'an), and the Father of Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA). On attaining the status of Ijtehad, he actively participated in religious affairs including the foundation of the Haqqani Seminary. In 1962, he joined the Imam in the struggle against Shah's despotic regime, and was imprisoned due to his revolutionary activities. On the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he was appointed Prosecutor-General.
On 29th of the Islamic month of Shawwal in 1228 AH, the Golestan Treaty was imposed on Qajarid Iran by Czarist Russia in the village of the same name in the Caucasus, following ten years of warfare that led to the loss of vast areas of northwestern Iran. As per the treaty that was mediated by the crafty British, the Russians occupied what are now the republics of Daghestan and Georgia, as well as Baku in northern Azerbaijan. Thirteen years later in 1241 AH, Russia once again invaded Iran, and occupied other regions, such as Armenia, Nakhchivan and what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On September 6, 1978 AD, with the progress of the struggles of the Iranian people against Shah's despotic regime, huge demonstrations were held nationwide. The Pahlavi regime scared of the people's anger banned public protests. The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) issued a fatwa from his exile in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, calling on the Iranian people to continue their struggles until the downfall of the oppressive regime, and terming the holding of demonstrations for attainment of Islamic goals as “a form of worship."
On September 6, 2003 AD, Iranian mountaineer, Mohammad Oraz, died in Islamabad, Pakistan, at the age of 34 during an attempt to climb Mount Gasherbrum in the Himalayas. Born in Naqadeh in West Azarbaijan Province, he was the second Iranian to conquer Mount Everest. An ethnic Kurd and graduate of Orumiyeh University, Oraz and his compatriot Moqbel Honarpajhouh were caught up in an avalanche. They were rescued and transferred to Shafa Hospital in Islamabad, where his colleague survived but he died 20 days later. The successful international ascents of Oraz include: Mount Rakapushi, Pakistan in 1998; Mount Everest, Nepal in1998; Mount Cho Oyu, Nepal in 2000; Mount Shishapangma, Nepal in 2000, Mount Makalu, Nepal in 2001; Mount Ararat, Turkey in 2001; Mount Lhotse, Nepal in 2002; and up to 7900m of Gasherbrum I, Pakistan in 2003.
On September 8, 1978 AD, the Shah's despotic regime brutally attacked a massive rally in Tehran on Friday, the weekly holiday, killing as many as four thousand defenseless men, women, and children. The day is known as Black Friday or the Day of Martyrs. The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA) from his exile in holy Najaf in Iraq, sent a message of condolences to the people of Tehran, saying: "This is the path of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), and of his son, the Martyr of Karbala, Imam Husain (AS). The Iranian nation should be assured that, sooner or later, victory is yours."
On September 11, 1795 AD, in the Battle of Krtsanisi in the Caucasus, the Iranian army demolished the joint forces of the Kartl-Kakheti kingdoms, as Heraclius II of Georgia fled and Agha Mohammad Qajar took possession of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The cause of the war was the alliance of Heraclius with the Russian Empire, despite the fact that for the past two millenniums Georgia had intermittently been part of the various Iran-based empires. Since 1555 Eastern Georgia, which had been under Safavid suzerainty, asserted its independence in 1747 on the death of Nader Shah Afshar. After his triumph in Georgia, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar subdued all rivals by 1796 and crowned himself king of Iran to formally establish the Qajarid dynasty. The next year he died issueless and was succeeded by his pleasure-loving nephew, Fath Ali Shah Qajar, who during his long reign lost much of Iranian territory in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
On September 11, 1981 AD, the prominent scholar, Ayatollah Seyyed Asadollah Madani, was martyred by MKO terrorists in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, while leading the Friday Prayer at the age of 67. He completed his studies at the Qom and Najaf Seminaries, and attained the status of Ijtehad. He was active in the struggle against the despotic British-installed and US-backed Pahlavi regime, revealing the evil nature of the Shah during the 15th Khordad Uprising of June 4, 1963. As a result, he suffered imprisonment and banishment to remote areas of the country. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, he was appointed Friday Prayer Leader of Tabriz by the Founder of Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini (RA).
On September 12, 1723 AD, during the chaotic situation in Iran following the occupation of the country by the rebellious Hotaki Afghans who dethroned and imprisoned Shah Sultan Hussain Safavi in Isfahan, the year-long Russo-Persian War ended with the signing of a humiliating treaty by the weak Shah Tahmasp II, who ceded to the Russians the cities of Derbend in Daghestan and Baku in what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the Caucasus province of Shirvan, and parts of Astara, Gilan, and Mazandaran. A decade later after the rise of Nader Shah Afshar and his crushing victories over the Afghan usurpers, the Russians were forced to withdraw from the northwestern parts of the country including Derbend and Daghestan, when the Iranian king threatened to march on to Moscow.
On September 12, 1920 AD, the prominent activist of the Constitutional Era, Sheikh Mohammad Khiabani, was martyred, thus ending the uprising in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz against the despotic Qajar Dynasty. After acquiring Islamic sciences, he struggled against the injustices of the monarchial system. He strove to awaken the people against the infiltration of foreign powers, believing that the root cause of the problems of the Islamic ummah, were the oppressive rulers and their colonial masters. Following the ouster of Mohammad Ali Shah and his fleeing from Iran in 1908, Khiabani was elected to the parliament in Tehran as representative of the people of Tabriz, from where he launched his uprising following signing of the ominous pact with Britain in 1919 by the corrupt Prime Minister Wosouq od-Dowlah. After succeeding in taking charge of the administration of Tabriz, he was captured in an unequal battle with the governmental forces and executed.
On September 14, 1978 AD, the people of Tehran held a massive demonstration to commemorate the traditional 7th day of the martyrdom of fellow citizens brutally gunned down by the Shah’s forces on September 7. A large number of people moved toward Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery to pay respects at the graves of martyrs. The Shah’s regime intended to block the path, but faced with large number of people chanting revolutionary slogans, backed off.
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