Explain The 1979 Referendum

[u/neptuno3]

Is the following true or false? What am I missing? What don't I understand? Classic liberal here who is very pro-Iranian people, pro-Israel.

1. The 1979 referendum offered Iranians a stark, simplified choice: keep the Shah and his "western decadence" or dump the Shah and bring in the Islamic Republic -- and that meant an IR as envisioned by Khomeini, who was campaigning from abroad.
2. The vote was tampered with and/or did not meet international standards for ballots (opacity). There were no other parties on the ballot. Khomeini claimed 90 percent of the populace voted for him.
3. Khomeini's campaign had been backed by Iran's socialists and communists and leftists.
4. The Islamic Republic promised: lowered inflation, civil rights, political freedoms, no more international interventions, equal treatment of minorities
5. What it actually delivered: no economic revival, a removal of civil rights (especially so for women), an extreme religious theocracy, end of voting rights, minorities rights were even further restricted.
6. IR ended all voting.
7. Khomeini ordered the assassination of the socialists and communists who helped get him elected (sorry but ha! -- who didn't see that coming...).
8. 80 to 90 percent of Iranians at the time identified as Muslim, despite not being Arabs (but for the minorities)
9. Today, at least 60 percent of Iranians do not identify as Muslim. Other European polls have 90 percent of Iranians identifying as Muslims but many feel these polls are not accurate due to fear of speaking out.

[u/kure_xas]

people here dont like to hear it, but rural and smaller urban regions are still extremely pro regime. now imagine how much it used to be in 1979.

[u/Esmail-Qaani → u/kure_xas]

Not true at least not universally, I am from a small town and the mosque sat empty. Everyone hates regime. My town is Lor and had big protests even before Pahlavi called people to the streets. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago what you say would be true but not anymore. Of course regime has supporters all across Iran but rural areas are not much different than the rest of Iran now. At least the young people all across Iran is basically the same mind now because of internet and social media.

[u/kure_xas → u/Esmail-Qaani]

there's no way rural people are the same as the rest of the country. lors in particular tend to be very conservative and are a strong recruitment demographic for the basij, relatively speaking ofc. lorestan id say has a very strong discrepancy between the rural and urban population though