On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returns to …

Years: 1979 - 1979

On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returns to Iran and on February 12 proclaims the Islamic Republic of Iran under a provisional government that includes representatives of the revolutionary coalition’s nationalist and liberal elements.

Khomeini appoints moderate Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister.

A 1979 military coup ends President-for-Life Masie’s brutal dictatorship in the now-bankrupt Equatorial Guinea.

Deposed Pakistani President Ali Bhutto is executed in 1979.

It soon develops that Iran’s revolutionary committee and newly created revolutionary guards (Pasdaran) act independently of the provisional government.

A draft constitution submitted by the provisional government is bypassed by the clerically-dominated Assembly of Experts elected in place of a constituent assembly.

In its stead, the Assembly proposes a theocracy based on the mandate of the Faqih, with an elected parliament and president.

Smallpox is officially eradicated worldwide in October 1979.

CIA agents stationed at the American Embassy in Tehran fail to burn classified documents before the embassy’s seizure by militant Islamic students in November 1979.

The students retrieve the documents from the shredder and painstakingly tape them back together, in the process discovering that three of the 52 hostages they have seized are CIA agents.

Khomeini supports the takeover and dismisses Bazargan.

The US freezes all iranian assets held by US banks.

Iran’s proposed theocratic government is approved by a referendum in December, 1979.

Moderate Abolhasan Bani-Sadr is elected president in January 1980.

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