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The June 1981 Coup: The Stolen Narrative of the Iranian Revolution

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Peace as Liberation

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Abstract

On 21 June 1981, Abolhassan Banisadr, the first elected president of Iran, was removed from office 15 months into his presidency on grounds of “incompetence.” Many researchers have thus seen the removal of the president as the result of a classic power struggle which forced him out of office. However, a critical interrogation of the role of major actors in these events calls this narrative into question and suggests that the removal of the elected president was in fact a coup d’état not only against him but against the republican politics of the post-revolutionary government. This argument has significant political implications as it renders subsequent governments in Iran unconstitutional and opens up possibilities for new interpretations of the history of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    After the occupation of the American embassy on 4 November 1978, Khomeini called the action a “second revolution”, an “authentic revolution” bigger than the first, and Rafsanjani (1999) called the removal of Banisadr the “third” and even greater revolution. It is curious to note that in Rafsanjani’s memoir (1999),the phrase “third revolution” can be found in the index but is missing in the text. See also Xinhua General Overseas News Service, 18 June 1981; Rafsanjani, 1999/1378.

  2. 2.

    See also Milani (n.d.); Farhi (1990); Halliday (1982); Parsa (1989); Keshavarzian (2009); Kesselman et al. (2013); Katouzian (2010).

  3. 3.

    For example, see a recent documentary produced and aired by Iranian state television (2013, June 19), and a speech made at the Council of Experts by its then-leader, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani (2013, March 6). There is a related report by the Centre of Islamic Revolution Documents (2014). Finally, see a documentary made by the Qom Seminary Site (2014, March 21).

  4. 4.

    He refers to the Devotees of the People’s Organization (Sazamane Fadaeeyan-e Khalg), which was a Marxist–Stalinist organization that started a civil war in different parts of Iran, primarily in the Kurdish region, after the revolution.

  5. 5.

    Later, Hassan Ayat (an MP and member of the IRP central committee) criticised Banisadr for using these terms regarding the hostage-taking and saw it as a reason for his removal. See Ardebili (1985/1364, p. 348).

  6. 6.

    Mohammad Mussadegh was Iranian prime minister from 1951–1953, when he was overthrown in a CIA-engineered coup. The ruling clergy were opponents of Mussadegh; Banisadr was his advocate.

  7. 7.

    The Red Cross report concerned the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by the Iranian army. The report praised the Iranian army for their treatment. The reason for the humanistic treatment of the Iraqi prisoners was Banisadr’s order, as commander in chief, that the army treat these prisoners humanely and observe the Geneva Convention. Khamenei’s reference to the Red Cross report is irrelevant here as Banisadr had exposed the torture of Iranians in prisons and not prisoners of war.

  8. 8.

    “Most other offenses in Islamic law are called taʿzīr crimes (discretionary crimes), and their punishment is left to the discretion of the qāzī (judge), whose options are often limited to traditional forms (imprisonment or corporal punishment).“(Punishment in Islamic law, 2007)

  9. 9.

    “The code instituted a system that embraced the form and content of Islamic law, including a series of traditional punishments such as retributions (Arabic qiṣāṣ) for murder and other violent crimes wherein the nearest relative of a murdered party may, if the court approves, take the life of the killer. “(Iran: Justice of Iran, 1999)

  10. 10.

    Imam Hussein was the third Shia imam who, with a number of followers, rose against the tyrannical, newly established Omavid dynasty in the seventh century B.C. They were martyred by Yazid’s army (the Khalif at the time). Hussein’s martyrdom is seen by the Shia as the highest form of uprising for justice against tyranny.

  11. 11.

    He refers to Banisadr’s refusal to kiss Khomeini’s hand when Khomeini handed him the decree, as well as the way he treated the signed decree of his presidency by Khomeini (instead of reading it, he put it on the table and made his own speech). In an interview (13 February 2014), I asked Banisadr to explain these behaviours. He responded: “When Khomeini entered the hall in the hospital, where he was recovering from a heart attack, and I saw him pale and weak, I was overwhelmed with emotion and kissed his hand. However, when he gave me the decree in which he endorsed my presidency, I ignored it and without reading it put it on the table. The reason for that was because I did not accept such an endorsement. People overwhelmingly had elected me and that was the only endorsement which I needed and respected. Later, I did not even pick the letter up in order to keep it. I learned after that one of the army commanders had picked it up. As far as I know it is still filed in the army’s headquarters.”

  12. 12.

    Keyhan newspaper, 20 June 1981 [30 khordad 1360]. Still, soon after Khomeini’s death Khamenei became the absolute ruler of the country, enjoying legal powers which even Khomeini did not have. For the speech, see Khamenei’s Friday prayer, 19 June 1981, quoted in Ardebili, Ghaeleh chahardahe esfand, p. 701.

  13. 13.

    ibid.

  14. 14.

    In order to keep people informed during his presidency, he published daily reports about his activities, explaining his actions in the fields of military, economy, politics, and culture; he sometimes also gave summaries of the books he was reading or visits to his mother.

  15. 15.

    Jafari was a leader of a student organisation in Europe from 1971–78 and chief editor of Enghelabe Eslami from 1979–81. His release from prison became possible when Ayatollah Montazeri intervened.

  16. 16.

    Rafsanjani also refers to this as “the shooting incident”; see Rafsanjani, Memoir, p. 153.

Abbreviations

CIA:

Central Intelligence Agency

IRP:

Islamic Republic Party

IRI:

Islamic Republic of Iran

MI5:

(Britain’s) Military Intelligence, Section 5

MP:

Member of Parliament

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    Mahmood Delkhasteh

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    Fatima Waqi Sajjad

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Delkhasteh, M. (2023). The June 1981 Coup: The Stolen Narrative of the Iranian Revolution. In: Sajjad, F.W. (eds) Peace as Liberation. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41965-2_9

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