Part 1, Chapter 1
POD: Khomeini is more anti-Soviet than anti-American, though he is still the latter.
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In 1978 Iran was under the control of the authoritarian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The secret police, SAVAK, captured and tortured political dissidents, all parties were banned except for the pro-Shah Rastakhiz, and generally most Iranians were poor. Islamists, communists, socialists, liberals, nationalists, democrats, all had reason to dislike the Shah's regime. The former group would end up playing a pivotal role in post-Shah Iran.
However, by 1978, the anger Iranians had towards the Shah exploded into rage. The Islamic Revolution, as it was soon called, had numerous Iranians protesting against the Shah and many in favor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who was in exile in Switzerland. The Shah eventually tried to abdicate and attempt, but fail to escape. Mohammad Pahlavi was subsequently executed in a trial most would call unfair.
The new Iranian government refused to align with either the US or the USSR, and had reasons for disliking both (the US supported the Shah while the USSR was a boogeyman as they were a big atheist country to the north). As Iran slowly isolated itself, another event occurred in the region in 1979. Following political instability after the 1978 Afghan Communist (Saur) revolution, the Soviet Union invaded (or, according to its supporters, "intervened in") Afghanistan to support the communist government, which led to an insurgency by Islamic militants supported by Pakistan and the United States. Iran protested the invasion, though little did they know that soon it was them that would be invaded as well.
On April 24th, 1980 news emerged from Afghanistan that Soviet troops had looted a Shia Hazara village named Aliabad in Northern Afghanistan, killing 390 villagers, around 90% of the village's population. The Soviet Union court-martialed the troops responsible, though it did not save them from international condemnation, and the Aliabad Massacre was called the "Soviet My Lai" in international media. However, none were as livid as the Iranians.
"Death to the Soviets! Death to Communism!" was heard in numerous Iranian cities following Aliabad. Soviet flags were burnt, known communists lost their jobs and were even killed. Khomeini used Aliabad as an excuse to ban all leftist parties, which was not a controversial move at the time. However, the anger was not done yet. On April 30th, Iranian students stormed the Soviet embassy in Tehran, killing everyone who was a Soviet. Khomeini being mum on the issue led to numerous countries condemning Iran. However, the Soviets had gained a casus belli. The embassy massacre, along with suppression of the far-left and silence of the government over the embassy massacre had been more than enough proof that if the Soviets do not act, Iran would cause problems in Afghanistan and in the Shia-majority Azerbaijan SSR, a notion which did not sound that implausible. Alongside that, the Soviet Union had a close relationship with Iraq, which was preparing to invade Iran. On May 3rd, the Soviet Union began their invasion of Iran. The war had begun.
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In 1978 Iran was under the control of the authoritarian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The secret police, SAVAK, captured and tortured political dissidents, all parties were banned except for the pro-Shah Rastakhiz, and generally most Iranians were poor. Islamists, communists, socialists, liberals, nationalists, democrats, all had reason to dislike the Shah's regime. The former group would end up playing a pivotal role in post-Shah Iran.
However, by 1978, the anger Iranians had towards the Shah exploded into rage. The Islamic Revolution, as it was soon called, had numerous Iranians protesting against the Shah and many in favor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who was in exile in Switzerland. The Shah eventually tried to abdicate and attempt, but fail to escape. Mohammad Pahlavi was subsequently executed in a trial most would call unfair.
The new Iranian government refused to align with either the US or the USSR, and had reasons for disliking both (the US supported the Shah while the USSR was a boogeyman as they were a big atheist country to the north). As Iran slowly isolated itself, another event occurred in the region in 1979. Following political instability after the 1978 Afghan Communist (Saur) revolution, the Soviet Union invaded (or, according to its supporters, "intervened in") Afghanistan to support the communist government, which led to an insurgency by Islamic militants supported by Pakistan and the United States. Iran protested the invasion, though little did they know that soon it was them that would be invaded as well.
On April 24th, 1980 news emerged from Afghanistan that Soviet troops had looted a Shia Hazara village named Aliabad in Northern Afghanistan, killing 390 villagers, around 90% of the village's population. The Soviet Union court-martialed the troops responsible, though it did not save them from international condemnation, and the Aliabad Massacre was called the "Soviet My Lai" in international media. However, none were as livid as the Iranians.
"Death to the Soviets! Death to Communism!" was heard in numerous Iranian cities following Aliabad. Soviet flags were burnt, known communists lost their jobs and were even killed. Khomeini used Aliabad as an excuse to ban all leftist parties, which was not a controversial move at the time. However, the anger was not done yet. On April 30th, Iranian students stormed the Soviet embassy in Tehran, killing everyone who was a Soviet. Khomeini being mum on the issue led to numerous countries condemning Iran. However, the Soviets had gained a casus belli. The embassy massacre, along with suppression of the far-left and silence of the government over the embassy massacre had been more than enough proof that if the Soviets do not act, Iran would cause problems in Afghanistan and in the Shia-majority Azerbaijan SSR, a notion which did not sound that implausible. Alongside that, the Soviet Union had a close relationship with Iraq, which was preparing to invade Iran. On May 3rd, the Soviet Union began their invasion of Iran. The war had begun.
