Mounting social discontent in the 1970s in Iran, which culminated in the Islamic Revolution under the wise leadership of Imam Khomeini at the end of the decade, had several crucial dimensions.
Social and political protest against Shah regime was often met with censorship, surveillance, or harassment, and illegal detention and torture were common.
The 1953 coup, backed by the CIA, against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadesh, an outspoken advocate of nationalism who almost succeeded in deposing the shah, particularly incensed Iran’s intellectuals
Imam Khomeini, a professor of philosophy at Qom seminary who had been exiled in 1964 after speaking out harshly against the shah’s so-called reform program and argued that, with the help of the ulama, the shah could be overthrown.
All groups of society had now joined the ulama in a broad opposition to the shah’s regime.
Imam Khomeini continued to preach in exile about the evils of the Pahlavi regime, accusing the shah of subservience to foreign powers.
Thousands of tapes and print copies of Imam Khomeini’s speeches were smuggled back into Iran during the 1970s as an increasing number of Iranians turned to the ulama for guidance.
The shah’s dependence on the US and his regime’s ill-considered economic policies had turned the masses against Shah regime. through corruption or incompetence, had failed to deliver all that was promised was manifested in demonstrations against the regime in 1978.
Just weeks before the victory of revolution and Imam's return to Iran, he formed the revolutionary council. its existence was kept a secret during the early, less secure time of the revolution, and its members and the exact nature of what the council did remained undisclosed to the public until early 1980. Some of the council's members like Motahhari, Taleqani, Bahonar and Beheshti.
Over the next few months there issued from the council hundreds of rulings and laws, dealing with everything from bank nationalization to nurses' salaries."
Finally, the Islamic revolution led to victory under Imam's leadership. Imam formed a revolutionary council to run the country's affairs.
At the same time, Imam tried hard to make people aware of the importance of a referendum, which appointed the type of government people wanted and announced their opinion with regards to an Islamic republic. He frequently repeated the following in his speeches: "You are free to vote for anything you want. I myself will vote for an Islamic Republic."
Finally on Friday the 30th of March 1979 the people voted. The leader of the revolution voted during the early hours of the day. The polls showed that 98% of the people voted for an Islamic republic.
On the 1st of April the Imam congratulated the people for their choice and officially announced the establishment of an Islamic republic. Four days later the Imam formed a constitutional assembly in order for the constitutional laws to be discussed and approved.
Other measures the Imam took were: to order a committee to be formed to help those in need and to open up a bank account with the number 100 as the account number. This account was for those who needed homes and shelters.
On the 25th of May Imam Khomeini assigned Bazargan, the provisional Prime Minister, the job of perfecting the constitutional laws. The revolutionary council had to approve it and the different sects of people, who were represented by different ministers, had to approve the laws and give their views regarding it.
On the 3rd of August millions of Iranian all over the country came to vote for the ministers of parliament. Seventy five ministers were chosen by the people. These ministers had the responsibility of discussing and approving the constitutional laws.
Information services and the security councils of America, Israel and the Soviet Union and some political parties opposing the revolution, were known as the main obstacles in getting the country back to normality. What made Imam Khomeini's work more
difficult were the cries for independence from the cities on the border, tribal disputes, and the assassination of great characters who played great roles in the revolution such as: Vali Allah Qarani, Ayatollah Motahari, Ayatollah Mofateh, Mehdi Araqi, and Hashemi Rafsanjani. Imam Khomeini always tried to keep a good relationship with the people by telling them of all the daily occurrences. This is because he believed that the people are what hold the country and the revolution together. The following events showed that Imam Khomeini's strategies were vital in helping the revolution successfully pass the first few shaky years.
On the 6th of September 1979, the provisional Prime Minister announced that in order to observe the country's affairs and create harmony in the government, the Imam should travel to Tehran. However Imam Khomeini stated that if he came to Tehran it would prevent him from his daily work and thinking about future strategies. Therefore, the provisional Prime Minister found the circumstances too difficult and so after the conquering of the American embassy in Tehran, he resigned. Imam Khomeini transferred his responsibilities to the revolutionary council. Due to various pressures and difficulties the Imam had a heart attack on the 22nd of January 1980 and was transferred to a hospital in Tehran.