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Iran
The New Constitution
Khomeini had charged the provisional government with the task
of drawing up a draft constitution. A step in this direction was
taken on March 30 and 31, 1979, when a national referendum was
held to determine the kind of political system to be established.
Khomeini rejected demands by various political groups and by Shariatmadari
that voters be given a wide choice. The only form of government
to appear on the ballot was an Islamic republic, and voting was
not by secret ballot. The government reported an overwhelming
majority of over 98 percent in favor of an Islamic republic. Khomeini
proclaimed the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran on
April 1, 1979.
The Khomeini regime unveiled a draft constitution on June 18.
Aside from substituting a strong president, on the Gaullist model,
for the monarchy, the constitution did not differ markedly from
the 1906 constitution and did not give the clerics an important
role in the new state structure (see Constitutional Framework
, ch. 4). Khomeini was prepared to submit this draft, virtually
unmodified, to a national referendum or, barring that, to an appointed
council of forty representatives who could advise on, but not
revise, the document. Ironically, as it turned out, it was the
parties of the left who most vehemently rejected this procedure
and demanded that the constitution be submitted for full-scale
review by a constituent assembly. Shariatmadari supported these
demands.
A newly created seventy-three-member Assembly of Experts convened
on August 18, 1979, to consider the draft constitution. Clerics,
and members and supporters of the IRP dominated the assembly,
which revamped the constitution to establish the basis for a state
dominated by the Shia clergy. The Assembly of Experts completed
its work on November 15, and the Constitution was approved in
a national referendum on December 2 and 3, 1979, once again, according
to government figures, by over 98 percent of the vote.
In October 1979, when it had become clear that the draft constitution
would institutionalize clerical domination of the state, Bazargan
and a number of his cabinet colleagues had attempted to persuade
Khomeini to dissolve the Assembly of Experts, but Khomeini refused.
Now opposition parties attempted to articulate their objections
to the Constitution through protests led by the IPRP. Following
the approval of the Constitution, Shariatmadari's followers in
Tabriz organized demonstrations and seized control of the radio
station. A potentially serious challenge to the dominant clerical
hierarchy fizzled out, however, when Shariatmadari wavered in
his support for the protesters, and the pro-Khomeini forces organized
massive counterdemonstrations in the city in 1979. In fear of
condemnation by Khomeini and of IRP reprisals, the IPRP in December
1979 announced the dissolution of the party.
Few foreign initiatives were possible in the early months of
the Revolution. The Bazargan government attempted to maintain
correct relations with the Persian Gulf states, despite harsh
denunciations of the Gulf rulers by senior clerics and revolutionary
leaders. Anti-American feeling was widespread and was fanned by
Khomeini himself, populist preachers, and the left-wing parties.
Bazargan, however, continued to seek military spare parts from
Washington and asked for intelligence information on Soviet and
Iraqi activities in Iran. On November 1, 1979, Bazargan met with
President Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew K. Brzezinski,
in Algiers, where the two men were attending Independence Day
celebrations. Meanwhile, the shah, who was seriously ill, was
admitted to the United States for medical treatment. Iranians
feared that the shah would use this visit to the United States
to secure United States support for an attempt to overthrow the
Islamic Republic. On November 1, 1979, hundreds of thousands marched
in Tehran to demand the shah's extradition, while the press denounced
Bazargan for meeting with a key United States official. On November
4, young men who later designated themselves "students of the
Imam's line," (imam--see Glossary) occupied the United States
embassy compound and took United States diplomats hostage. Bazargan
resigned two days later; no prime minister was named to replace
him.
The Revolutionary Council took over the prime minister's functions,
pending presidential and Majlis elections. The elections for the
new president were held in January 1980; Bazargan, fearing further
personal attacks, did not run. The three leading candidates were
Jalal od Din Farsi, representing the IRP, the dominant clerical
party; Abolhasan Bani Sadr, an independent associated with Khomeini
who had written widely on the relationship of Islam to politics
and economics; and Admiral Ahmad Madani, a naval officer who had
served as governor of Khuzestan Province and commander of the
navy after the Revolution. Farsi, however, was disqualified because
of his Afghan origin, leaving Bani Sadr and Madani as the primary
challengers. Bani Sadr was elected by 75 percent of the vote.
Data as of December 1987
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