The Imperial Majesty of the shah was followed by a new kind of state, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei called the U.S. “the Great Satan,” perhaps because the shah was installed in 1941 by a U.S. coup. (In the Cold War Khamenei called the Soviet Union “the Lesser Satan.”) Mobs obediently invaded the American embassy and held the staff hostage for months. The Islamic Republic might have fallen apart under the new rules he designed. Today, in the Islamic Republic they are required to wear hijabs in public.

Source: National Post February 08, 2019 15:22 UTC