>was already heading towards this trajectory
No, sorry but the statistcal facts don't support this view. In fact Iran's Human Development Index prior to the revolution was low, and not at all rising: https://photius.com/rankings/human_developement_index_1975-2005.html
And Iran's decision to try to topple Saddam since he was a continuing threat, was in fact vindicated by subsequent events when even the US sought to topple him. Had the Saudis, Kuwaitis and US listened to Khomeini when he warned them that Saddam would turn on them too. Imagine how much death and suffering would have been avoided there.
And this book refutes the claims of the likes of Milani
A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran https://www.amazon.com/Social-Revolution-Politics-Welfare-State/dp/0520280822/ref
> No, it's because Iran is a miserable place to live,
Can’t imagine why. Certainly not because of a decades long impostition of sanctions, which impeded exports and made imports nearly impossible, made inflation rampant and was specifically designed to cause hardship.
> and like many Islamists you want all the benefits of living in a western society while supporting tyranny back home.
You’re delusional.
>And there's no continuous British-Iranian community dating before the Qajar dynasty.
Yeah, totally, you know me so well! I’m just a fake person!
> You said "Iran was only modestly ahead" of such countries. You don't understand numbers.
And this is what the data shows. Just because you can't read the data, doesn't mean you have to sperg out on me.
> you're an absolute idiot to use data from 1975-1979. Iran was indisputably one of the fastest growing economies of the world.
I'm using Data from that time, because it's relevant and available. The data shows that Iran had the highest income inequality in the world and was in rapid economic flux. You’ve ignored that because it doesn’t fit in with your “Muh Shah” complex.
> This is the reality of Iran's economic progress which was destroyed by the mullahs:
Yeah, I was waiting for you to post this nonsense:
Meanwhile in the real world.
> Why do you lack any historical perspective?
Why do you lack both historical and modern perspective?
You, your "encyclopedia", and your "decent Iranian economist", ignore the brutal impact of the sanctions. As a matter of fact, you haven't once mentioned them. Perhaps because the general progress that Iran makes in defiance of these sanctions contradicts your assertion that the "Mullahs destroyed Iran."
You lack historical perspective because you fail to take into account the fact that immediately after the revolution, Iran became embroiled in a brutal conflict not just with Iraq, but those who armed and funded them.
That’s why Iran’s HDI shot up in the 90’s, post-war reconstruction reinvigorated the economy.
> Do you not realise less than 5% of Iran was literate, and almost half the population didn't speak Persian just a few decades prior? It's not a sign of IRI's success that literacy rates are higher today than the 1930s either. As I said, the Pahlavis had the difficult task of having to build a state almost from scratch and create institutions to develop the country up. The IRI just took everything the Pahlavis built like Sharif University, and barely improved upon them.
> Wrong answer.
Actually, that's the correct answer.
> Because it was written by a decent Iranian economist.
For the Atlantic council and with no mention of the war or the sanctions. Nice.
> Why do you live in the UK while supporting the evils of the Islamic regime?
Because most of my family is here, and has a long history here?
Why does me living in the UK somehow deprive me of giving a voice or an opinion on Iran? You think that because I was born in the UK, I’m somehow less knowledgeable on Iran, despite going there for the whole summer each year of my life?
Go fuck yourself with a spiked bat you waste of sperm and piss.
> There are decent people in Iran that would love to live here, while you trash the west and support the mafia-state of the IRI.
Yep I’m not a decent person, because I showed you evidence that your dick-sucking of the Shah was based on American bullshit.
Pathetic.
A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran
by Kevan Harris
– University of California Press Aug 2017
https://www.amazon.com/Social-Revolution-Politics-Welfare-State/dp/0520280822
More: ie Iran implemented Basic Universal Income https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-basic-income-results-2017-5
Oh and Iran has an extensive social care network including a medical care delivery system that is a world model https://www.aarp.org/health/doctors-hospitals/info-06-2010/iranian_cure_for_thedeltas_blues.html
In general, Iran is now a "Highly Developed" country with higher living standards than Turkey
The UN made a comparative graph of Iran's development compared to other countries http://www.ir.undp.org/content/dam/iran/img/News/March%202013/14%20March%202013-%20Global%20launch%20of%20the%202013%20Human%20Development%20Report%202013/iran-trend%20hdr2013.jpg
Here's a book on the topic https://www.amazon.com/Social-Revolution-Politics-Welfare-State/dp/0520280822/
Despite high educational attainment, women are still underrepresented in the workplace, this has a lot to do with a social system of values that encourages families and women as mothers however women in Iran aren't marrying as young nor having as many babies and are instead becoming independent http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-iran-unmarried-snap-story.html
Oh and BTW as far as having modern cancer wards etc, Iran has a long history in medicine and medical education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Gondishapur and social emphasis on higher ed