IRAN 1979: REVOLUTION CRISIS SIMULATION

IRAN 1979: REVOLUTION CRISIS SIMULATION

Objective:
Students play factions in Iran during the final year of the Shah’s rule. Each group must decide whether to support the monarchy, demand reform, or push for revolution—while competing visions for Iran’s future emerge.

The simulation demonstrates how revolutions are often coalitions of groups with different goals, and why the outcome may not match what many participants expected.

CLASS FACTIONS

FACTION DOSSIER SHEETS:

Each faction begins with 10 Influence Tokens.

Influence tokens represent:

  • political support

  • ability to mobilize protests

  • economic leverage

  • influence over public opinion

Tokens are spent to influence events.

You can create alliances with like-minded factions.

1. Royalists (Supporters of the Shah)

2. Islamic Clerics

3. Students and Intellectuals

4. Bazaar Merchants

5. Workers and Urban Poor

Debrief:

Use these questions to connect the simulation to Persepolis.

  1. Why did groups with very different goals unite against the Shah?

  2. Why do revolutions sometimes produce new authoritarian systems?

  3. Which faction was most effective in shaping events?

  4. How does Persepolis show the effects of these political changes on everyday life?

  5. Could the revolution have ended differently?