ABSTRACT
The political, social and cultural influence of Shia Islam in Iran is longstanding: its formation and reformation by social, political and religious change agents has been an historical constant. Socio-economic anti-natalism was the underlying rationale of the program under the Shah. Iran, a major West Asian/Middle Eastern, state underwent two major socio-political shifts in the twentieth century. A national population debate, with the emphasis on control, was first initiated under the Shah in the 1960s as part of the White Revolution' modernisation and development policy. The primary concerns of the political elite were the consolidation of power, national ideology and identity, internal political turmoil and international pressures. The government's decision to rely on foreign expertise, opinion and assistance in family planning programs and debate not only alienated the clergy, it also heightened clerical suspicion of the program and its intentions at a time when this group was growing increasingly politicised and anti-establishment.
