Women in the U S. They continue to sponsor bills which only apply to females.

results in the second class status of women is a direct result of our overthrowing the Democratically elected government of Iran, installing the Shah, which led to the Islamic Revolution, and thus the conditions that exist in Iran today

Of course the perceived threats many view Iran today as are a direct result of out invasion of Iraq which destabilized the entire region, gave birth to ISIS, and disrupted the whole balance of power

Nothing happens in a vacuum, and in the case of Iran, our actions made it what it is today

Islamic Revolution was a response to the prevailing secularism in Iran that ran counter to Islamic values.

The revolution would have occurred irrespective of the US and UK ousting Mosaddegh.

In fact, it is an insult to Iranians to suggest otherwise.

It is also preposterous to blame the existence of ISIS on the US invasion of Iraq, but I guess that is the thing to do in some quarters.

1953, i believe you are ignoring the history


If the United States had not sent agents to depose Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, Iran would probably have continued along its path toward full democracy.

By reinstalling the Shah, the U.S. brought Iran's progress toward democracy to a screeching halt. The Shah ruled with increasing repression for 25 years, and that repression produced the explosion of the late 1970's Islamic Revolution.

I recommend the book All The Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer

Why replace him with the Ayatollah?

What made the Islamic component of the Islamic revolution so appealing?

East, look at the mess we made in South America, and most of the right wing repressive regimes in most cases were replaced by left wing repressive regimes.

A book of fiction by Harold Robbins, explored that theme in the book The Adventurers

The book The Ugly American also explored consequnces of unintended actions

No, I am not from the school that everything the U.S. does internationally is bad, but years of repression in a country are usually replaced by other repressive governments, that is what usually happens

I would argue that the Western secular nature of pre-Islamic Revolution Iran was a critical component not to be overlooked.

Remember that the Shah had secular opponents as well, but it was the Ayatollah and his followers who won the day.

There was a major Islamic revival going on throughout the 1970's, and I would daresay that even without the events you allude to of the 1950s, the Western, liberal secularists and the Islamic fundamentalists would have found themselves in a power struggle in the 1970's during that period of religious revival.

For arguments sake if I take your argument at face value, that would extrapolate that if the Christian extreme right takes over the same thing would happen here. The Salem witch trials as a possible extrapolation example. Actually the same would apply to any country, if their radical elements tried to take over.

Problem is the Middle East, because of their oil has been played by the East and West against each other, and that contributed to the issues you allude to.

and own their own property. Marriage laws still suck. A woman can get an abortion if she can get a male relative's approval.

Iran is light years ahead of Saudi Arabia, still trailing behind Turkey and Palestine. I'd definitely give them a mixed review.

In a fight against ISIS, I'm backing Iran.

Have you read this Amnesty report?

https://www.amnesty.org/en/articles/news/2015/03/iran-proposed-laws-reduce-women-to-baby-making-machines/

Excerpt:

Despite claims by Iran’s authorities, including statements by President Hasan Rouhani that men and women in Iran are treated equally, in reality this is far from the truth. Sexual violence and discrimination against women in Iran is rife and women in Iran are denied equal rights with respect to marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, travel, and even in their choice of clothing.

Iran’s Penal Code penalizes women and girls as early as nine years old who fail to cover their hair with a headscarf and comply with compulsory dress codes with imprisonment or a cash fine. These laws are regularly used by the police to harass and detain women in public for their appearance and clothing.

According to Iran’s existing Civil Code, a woman would not be entitled to spousal maintenance if she refuses to comply with the “duties of marriage”, which can include refusing to have sex with her husband or leaving the house without permission .

and I pointed out that the marriage laws still sucked.

The pressure to win a baby race will lessen as the ISIS slaughter continues.

Head scarves abound in my part of town. If that was such a big inconvenience, women would discard them immediately on moving here. However, this is the desert, and in the desert one of the first things you learn is to cover up, especially in summer.