DBWI: Prevent Iran from becoming Communist

It was 33 years ago this month that the military arm of the Tudeh (Communist) Party laid siege to Teheran, a turning point of the Iranian Civil War which began in early 1979 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was assassinated as he stepped off the plane that landed at the airport. 24 hours later, Iran descended into anarchy.

On March 27, 1979, the Communists with the help of defecting military officers marched into Teheran and declared the birth of the People's Republic of Persia and the abolition of the monarchy.

There were rumors that the Ayatollah Khomeini would have imposed Sharia law had he lived. And millions of Persians from all walks of life who wanted the Shah overthrown saw Khomeini as a moral authority figure. With no Islamic cleric matching Khomeini's popularity, popular support for Tudeh increased daily.

Had Khomeini lived, would Persia have fared better under Islamic rule instead of Communism? Would the Russians have invaded Afghanistan had Khomeini come to power? (Brezhnev wisely decided that Persia was a better investment than the hellhole that is Afghanistan)

How would ethnic minorities in Persia (Jews, Armenians, Kurds and Arabs) have fared under Khomeini? These communities have guaranteed seats in the People's National Majlis (Legislative Assembly) and continued to enjoy religious freedom under Communist rule.

Would the Persia-Iraq War have ended up differently if Khomeini was in charge?
 
Naw the Iraquis would have still have won, Khomeini would need to purge just as much as the Reds and the Persians would still have failed against the large, modern and somewhat competent Iraqi military and lost those provinces in that situation as well

At best they might draw the war into 1983 out of sheer stubbornness
 
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OCC: Iraq having a modern competent military? Come on man, don't derail the thread with something that is ludicrous in OTL, unless there's a POD with a rather different Iraq.
 
OCC: Iraq having a modern competent military? Come on man, don't derail the thread with something that is ludicrous in OTL, unless there's a POD with a rather different Iraq.
OOC: Competent from the perspective an outsider looking at a country that won one war and never fought any other major foes, OTL up until the Gulf War Iraq was rated a lot higher than after, in any case I figure this is more Iranian incompetence than Iraqi competence

In practice this Iraq is just as incompetent as OTL, but that was never revealed to the outside world in battle, and it happens to have been a bit luckier and Iran purged more and had more internal problems, so it LOOKS more competent

In any case edited in a weasel word
 
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OCC: Okay, thank you, although still... find a stalemate more likely. This is the country a thread almost overwhelming decided Nazi Germany in 1941 could defeat(yes, ASB as no other countries will intervene.)
 
OCC: Okay, thank you, although still... find a stalemate more likely. This is the country a thread almost overwhelming decided Nazi Germany in 1941 could defeat(yes, ASB as no other countries will intervene.)
OOC: Yeah but against a country almost as incompetent with a less modern military and in the case of this thread a full scale civil war (unlike OTL) things are different

I was in that ASB thread, I remember it
 
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OOC: Yeah but against a country just as incompetent with a less modern military and in the case of this thread a full scale civil war things are different, and I was in that ASB thread

OCC: Oh, good, we're on the same page.

For just as incompetent... yeah, although somehow they survived OTL using human wave tactics, so... ehh.
 
IC: Not sure if the Russians would invade Afghanistan or not, they still remember the great game and what the UK went through there

I heard rumors that if they did the Brits were planning on handing the Rooskies a copy of the Official British military History of the Afghan Wars to the Russians if they did, Afghanistan would be hell on anyone who tried that
 
OCC: Oh, good, we're on the same page.

For just as incompetent... yeah, although somehow they survived OTL using human wave tactics, so... ehh.
OOC: Almost as incompetent, I realized my mistake, and this time Iran is also going through a Civil War, so greater disruption, initial Iraqi attacks go better and it snowballs into an Iraqi victory, or at least that's how I perceive it based on the ATL Civil War in Iran and OTL initial Iraqi victories

Not to say Iraq is competent, but really when fighting an enemy in a full scale civil war you were able to stalemate when they were somewhat unified victory is a lot more possible, now to get things back on topic while I try and get some sleep

IC: not sure how well Persia would have done under Khomeini, short term he wouldn't have Soviet backing but he would probably eventually receive US backing as long as he was anti communist and did nothing stupid, so Persia likely does better than OTL after the collapse of the USSR
 
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All of you are assuming that Iran would have ended up under Khomeini, which I think is unlikely. The only reason that the Americans didn't intervene in the Iranian Revolution was that they were worried about starting WWIII; the Tudeh Party was basically an arm of Moscow. If Khomeini had tried to take charge, even after the Shah was lynched, I guarantee you that President Ford would have sent the Marines in to secure the country and put it back under the Pahlavis.
 
IC: Eh the US was still gunshy after Vietnam, intervene in a small island country yes, large mountainous country no

OOC: OTL carter was president, you change this
 

st.istvan

Banned
How would ethnic minorities in Persia (Jews, Armenians, Kurds and Arabs) have fared under Khomeini? These communities have guaranteed seats in the People's National Majlis (Legislative Assembly) and continued to enjoy religious freedom under Communist rule.

Would the Persia-Iraq War have ended up differently if Khomeini was in charge?

There might be religious freedom in theory...in practice, however, the case is very different, as in the other communist states.
I don't know if life for the Iranians would've been better or worse under Khomeini...worse in some ways, better in others probably.
 
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