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In February of 1979, Tehran was in chaos. A cancer-stricken Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Western-backed autocrat, had gone into exile in mid-January, leaving behind a rickety regency council. On Feb. 1, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the godfather of the revolution, returned from exile in Paris. And in the Iranian version of “Ten Days That Shook the World,” street demonstrations raged until the government collapsed on Feb. 11.
Ecstatic Iranians danced in the streets, playing cat and mouse with soldiers as lingering pro-government sharpshooters fired from the rooftops. Families joined in mass protests, as vigilantes ransacked liquor stores and people kissed the foreheads of turbaned clerics leading the revolution.
Forty years ago, Iranians swelled with pride, hope and the expectation of a better future. Dreams of freedom and independence from the United States fired up the revolutionaries. But great, rapid change can leave deep and lasting wounds. There were lashings, hangings, amputations and mass imprisonment. Thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands left the country, some fleeing for their lives, never to return.
celebrating the 40th anniversary of the revolution on Feb. 11 is closer than most outsiders generally appreciate to being that “normal” country Iran
Behnaz Shafiei, right, a motocross rider and road racer, is the first Iranian woman to have participated in professional road racing.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Image
Behnaz Shafiei, right, a motocross rider and road racer, is the first Iranian woman to have participated in professional road racing.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
An Iranian couple strolling arm in arm in a Tehran park.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Image
An Iranian couple strolling arm in arm in a Tehran park.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
While state television still refuses to show musical instruments, there are buskers on the streets of Tehran. One day I was watching a couple of young men, one on drums and the other on guitar, when suddenly, a tall young woman appeared with a bass guitar and joined in. At times the state would fight back, making a few arrests in fitful efforts to roll back the changes, but never for long. At times, it seemed as if they had simply given up.
Connections to the outside world — the internet, of course, but particularly satellite TV broadcasts that broke the veil of isolation — were critical drivers of change.
One day the police raided our apartment building and destroyed the multitude of satellite dishes on the roof. The only one left was mine — as a journalist, I had special permission to have one. That evening about 20 female neighbors joined me in my living room to watch their favorite Turkish soap opera. By the next day, they all had new dishes.
@ThomasErdbrink
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 11, 2019, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Revolution at 40: Iranians Loosen Ideology’s Grip on Daily Life. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
Ecstatic Iranians danced in the streets, playing cat and mouse with soldiers as lingering pro-government sharpshooters fired from the rooftops. Families joined in mass protests, as vigilantes ransacked liquor stores and people kissed the foreheads of turbaned clerics leading the revolution.
Forty years ago, Iranians swelled with pride, hope and the expectation of a better future. Dreams of freedom and independence from the United States fired up the revolutionaries. But great, rapid change can leave deep and lasting wounds. There were lashings, hangings, amputations and mass imprisonment. Thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands left the country, some fleeing for their lives, never to return.
celebrating the 40th anniversary of the revolution on Feb. 11 is closer than most outsiders generally appreciate to being that “normal” country Iran
Behnaz Shafiei, right, a motocross rider and road racer, is the first Iranian woman to have participated in professional road racing.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Image
Behnaz Shafiei, right, a motocross rider and road racer, is the first Iranian woman to have participated in professional road racing.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
An Iranian couple strolling arm in arm in a Tehran park.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
Image
An Iranian couple strolling arm in arm in a Tehran park.CreditArash Khamooshi for The New York Times
While state television still refuses to show musical instruments, there are buskers on the streets of Tehran. One day I was watching a couple of young men, one on drums and the other on guitar, when suddenly, a tall young woman appeared with a bass guitar and joined in. At times the state would fight back, making a few arrests in fitful efforts to roll back the changes, but never for long. At times, it seemed as if they had simply given up.
Connections to the outside world — the internet, of course, but particularly satellite TV broadcasts that broke the veil of isolation — were critical drivers of change.
One day the police raided our apartment building and destroyed the multitude of satellite dishes on the roof. The only one left was mine — as a journalist, I had special permission to have one. That evening about 20 female neighbors joined me in my living room to watch their favorite Turkish soap opera. By the next day, they all had new dishes.
@ThomasErdbrink
A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 11, 2019, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Revolution at 40: Iranians Loosen Ideology’s Grip on Daily Life. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
