Which statement best describes the major aim of leaders of the Iranian Revolution of 1979?

• A. To restore Islamic beliefs and culture to preeminence in Iran.
• B. To check the spread of Soviet influence in Southwest Asia.
• C. To create an egalitarian society through the redistribution of property and wealth.
• D. To abolish feudal traditions that prevented the modernization of Iranian society.

Answer: (A)

The central aim of the leaders was to restore Islam as the guiding force of Iran, placing Islamic beliefs and culture at the forefront of government and society and reorienting law and policy around Islamic principles. This perspective was voiced by religious leaders who opposed the Shah’s secular, Western-oriented modernization and sought to reestablish clerical authority in political life, creating an Islamic Republic grounded in Sharia and the authority of the clergy. While the revolution occurred in the Cold War era and carried broad concerns about foreign influence, its core motive was religious legitimacy and governance, not Soviet containment, wealth redistribution, or dismantling feudal traditions for modernization.