Island of Stability (speech)

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Jimmy Carter with Mohammed Reza Pahlavi at the Niavaran Complex in Tehran, Iran, December 1977.

"Island of Stability" is a phrase that became the namesake for a 1977 speech by American president

Islamic Revolution overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty and replaced it with the Islamic Republic
.

Place and date

In late December 1977, Carter visited the Shah in Iran. At a party for New Year's Eve, held in Tehran's Niavaran Complex, he made a speech describing the American stance on Iran's place in the world order, stating: "Iran is an island of stability in one of the most troubled areas of the world";[1][2] he also described Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a popular shah among the Iranian people.[3][4]

Consequences

After Carter's speech, the Shah felt encouraged to further suppress his political opponents. One week later, in January 1978, the article "Iran and Red and Black Colonization" was published in Ettela'at under a pseudonym, targeting Ruhollah Khomeini. Following the article's publication, several protests occurred in Mashhad, Qom, and Tehran. Khomeini condemned Carter and described the Shah as a tyrant and a traitor to the Iranian nation.[5]

Analysis of the support

Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi claimed that Carter was aware of the regional instability spurred by sporadic protests against Pahlavi rule in Iran, and so he made the speech for the Shah as a reassurance of American support.[6] Iranian academic Sadegh Zibakalam has stated that the speech was based on Carter's false impression of Iran's circumstances, and that the American government misjudged the true scope of the Islamic Revolution.[7]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781135043810
    .
  2. ISBN 9780275971878
    .
  3. ISBN 9781860643743
    .
  4. ISBN 9789088900198
    .
  5. ISBN 9789644723070. Archived
    from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2024-09-09.
  6. ^ "Carter administration and Iran's revolution". BBC Persian. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  7. ^ Sadegh Zibakalam. End of mirage: An introduction of Islamic revolution. pp. 154–157.
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