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Background on coalition: https://www.iai.it/en/pubblicazioni/irans-islamic-revolution-40-way-post-revolutionary-society
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More information on the coalition and how it formed (various ideologically different groups united around Khomeini against the shah):
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/defendingkhomeini
https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution
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Khomeini excludes atheistic Marxists from his broad coalition (later executing them and removing infiltrators) and declares that he is against the Soviet Union: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_thought_and_legacy_of_Ruhollah_Khomeini
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Shia Islam as the glue that held the coalition together (info on coalition begins on page 54): https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1051&context=etd
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CIA's wrong prediction (last page): https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80T00634A000500010002-9.pdf
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The Republic's accomplishments (keep in mind this was all accomplished while the country faced an enormous amount of sanctions):
Iran showing fastest scientific growth of any country (11 times faster than world average):
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18546-iran-showing-fastest-scientific-growth-of-any-country/
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/136116/Iran-science-production-shows-world-s-fastest-growth
According to New Scientist, in 2017, Iran had the highest scientific growth in engineering and technical sciences in the world; ranked first in the field of aerospace in the region, second in the field of launch technologies and space infrastructure in the region, 4 in the world in terms of nanotechnology, and 2nd in the area of stem cells in the region. Iran also ranked first among Muslim countries and 23 in the world, in terms of biotechnology.
Iran in forefront when it comes to stem cell research:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/15/iran-at-forefront-of-stem-cell-research/
https://www.the-scientist.com/the-nutshell/iran-investing-in-stem-cells-44353
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/435213/Iran-pioneer-in-stem-cell-knowledge-technology
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/133696/Iran-to-launch-4-stem-cell-research-centers-abroad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royan_Institute#Prominent_achievements
World Data Atlas: Iran ranked 38th in 1970 in invention patents; it ranked 7th in 2016.
The independent Canadian institute Science-Metrix, which examines the scientific status of countries in an impartial manner, has announced Iran's scientific growth rate in 2018, as 11 times more than the global pace of science production
According to the World Bank, in the area of invention patents, Iran ranked 38th before the revolution in 1970; whereas, in 2016, Iran was reported to be the 7th country with the highest number of patents.
Scimago Journal: Based on their country rankings, in 1996, Iran ranked 52 among the 240 countries that were studied for their production of scientific documents. Under the governance of the Islamic Republic, in the course of 21 years, Iran had a 37-step jump in 2017 and ranked 15th in the world, higher than countries like Denmark, Switzerland, Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria. In the West Asian region, Iran occupied fifth place in 1996 in publishing citable scientific articles. But in 2017, with a noticeable jump and important difference compared to other countries, Iran ranked first in producing and publishing citable documents in the region. Moreover, Iran has published 13,000 more scientific documents than the second country in the ranking.
World Bank: Life expectancy has risen from 50 to 75 years. Before the revolution, of every one thousand children under 5, 185 died; now, mortality rate of children under 5 dropped to 14.9 per 1000 births. Iran ranked 21 in terms of quality and number of hospitals. Iran was ranked second in the world for controlling contagious diseases.
Before revolution, only 5,890 specialists across the country at that time. After the revolution, however, the number of medical specialists reached 36,000.
Based on the World Bank reports, in 2009, Iran ranked 21 in terms of the quality and number of hospitals. In 2017, Iran was recognized as the second country of the world in controlling contagious diseases. Iran’s status of sanitation and medical advances is so praiseworthy that the UNICEF has thanked Iran for its achievements.
143 Iranian nanotech companies in eight industries; 568 researchers in nanotech in 2003, 20,966 in 2013. In 1996, only a handful of countries had developed this science and technology; Iran ranked 58th among those 66. Of the 117 that now possess this technology, Iran jumped to 16th in 2017. Ranked first in the region, a jump from last in 96. In addition, as for the number of ISI articles published on Nano, Iran stands as the fourth nation, following countries like China and the U.S.; and countries like Germany, the U.K., and Japan come after Iran.
Iran has also seen increasing growth in Aerospace engineering. The statistics indicate that in 1996, Iran was the 45th country of the world in producing scientific articles on subjects related to Aerospace. However, taking a fast-forward leap, in 2017 Iran ranked the 11th in the world in scientific production on Aerospace. In the West Asia region, Iran ranked 6 in 1996 in the area of producing scientific articles on Aerospace; in the year 2017, Iran ranked first in the region in Aerospace scientific output. Only Islamic country that has launched three satellites into space.
According to the information provided by Scimago Journal, in 1996, Iran ranked 70 in the world in terms of scientific output and papers on nuclear technology. In 2017, Iran published 354 scientific articles on this field, thus raising to the 12th rank across the globe. In the same area, once again it is Iran that leads other nations in the West Asian region in 2017; whereas in 1996, Iran ranked 13th in the region. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran stands out as the first nation in West Asia in terms of the number of scientific articles on nuclear engineering and energy.
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Iran surpasses Israel in scientific research race:
- https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/.premium-iran-surpasses-israel-in-scientific-research-race-1.6051394
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-losing-edge-in-technology-war-with-iran-idf-intel-head-warns/
- https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-mi-chief-iran-catching-up-to-israel-in-tech-war-1.5415696
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As of 2016 Iran has the 5th highest number of STEM graduates worldwide with 335,000 annual graduates. During Shah, only 154,315 undergraduate students (30% women); during Ayatollah, 4.5 million now, 60% women. After revolution, at least 267 universities in Iran (compared to around 16 during shah). Shah modeled his universities after crappy American system; Republic modeled after French. Republic also investigated Marxist professors and removed them. Universities are generally tuition-free as well. Women are educated, but only 17% of the labor force is female — most raise children.
Ranked 16 for number of book titles published in applied sciences by UN; ranked 18 for number of book titles published in arts and recreation; 13 for psychology and philosophy; 3 for philology; 7 in pure sciences; 1 for female to male ratio in primary school enrollment; 8 for number of secondary education students; 3 for largest universities by enrollment; ranked first for science and technology growth rate. UNESCO ranked Iran 9th in the world for new titles and editions published; in 2014, 72,871 books were published (William Wresch).
Before revolution, over 60% of women were illiterate; in 1966, 17.42% of women — or 1,628,000 — were literate. Same year, only 39.19% — 3,928,000 — were literate. In 1986, 52.1% — 9.8 million — had become literate; by 1996, 74.2% of women were literate; and in 2006, 80.3% of women were literate. Men are at 88.7%. 2015, 93% of adult population is literate, 98% among young adults — regional average is 62%. The Shah's Literacy Corp to tackle illiteracy was not nearly as successful as the Republic's Literacy Movement Organization. Literacy gap between men and women narrowed under Republic.
https://www.mei.edu/publications/educational-attainment-iran
https://uil.unesco.org/partner/lifelong-learning/literacy-movement-organization-lmo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Iran#The_Literacy_Corps_(1969-1979)
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Despite regional instability, Iran has secured its borders and prevented internal instability (Ranked 2 for longest defensive wall)
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Defeated Saddam Hussein's Western-funded army despite being in political turmoil and established itself as a regional power (it was not before). During the war, more Iranians entered the middle class and developed a family planning program to lower the number of children women had (6.6 in 1977 to 2 births per woman in 2000). Paid off its loans to American banks within two years of the revolution. Despite decline in oil exports and international sanctions, Iran ranked 18th worldwide by GDP in 2016 by the World Bank.