ABSTRACT
Revolutions are brought about by the structural collapse of the political machinery on one hand and by the activities of groups and organizations exploiting such political exigencies on the other. A revolution will not occur unless these two developments overlap, whereby revolutionary groups can present a political alternative to the dying regime. When political institutions are weakened but there are no groups with popular support to initiate measures for the regime’s overthrow, internal power struggles or palace coups may take place. But revolutions entail the actual replacement of political systems. Political instability is not a sufficient prerequisite for revolutionary development. It needs to be complemented with the activities of opposition groups that can mobilize people towards specifically revolutionary goals. This chapter examines the nature and activities of groups opposing the Iranian regime prior to the revolution and outlines their manoeuvres and initiatives during the revolutionary crisis. Added to the structural collapse of the regime, discussed in the previous chapter, the actions of opposition groups provided the politically determinant causes of the Iranian revolution.
