The Khordad 15th Uprising (June 05, 1963).

Few people in the West know that the initial spark of the 1979 Islamic Revolution dates back to the uprising of the 15th of Khordad, corresponding to June 5, 1963 in the Western calendar, when the Shiite clergy and the popular masses clashed openly for the first time against the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

To better understand the context of the revolt, it is good to remember that on June 3, 1963, on the occasion of Ashura (one of the most cherished Shiite religious holidays), Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the future Revolution, delivered a scathing speech from the holy city of Qom, in which he frontally attacked the Shah, calling him a "poor wretch" and accusing him of having sold Iran to the Americans and Israelis, trampling on the values ​​of Islam. A few days later, on June 5 (15 Khordad in the Iranian calendar), regime security forces stormed Qom and arrested Imam Khomeini, transferring him to a prison in Tehran, believing this would silence him. Instead, as soon as the news spread the next morning, Iran exploded.

Large crowds of protesters took to the streets in Qom, Tehran, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Varamin: many of them wore white Islamic shrouds, symbolizing their readiness to die for their faith and the defense of the Imam. Furthermore, merchants in the large traditional markets closed their shutters in a total strike: it was the beginning of the uprising against the oppressive regime of the Shah, who responded with an iron fist, sending troops and tanks to block the roads and ordering fire on the crowds. The riots lasted about three days before being bloodily quelled.

Yet the ensuing massacre did not quell Iranians' desire for revolt and justice; if anything, it only deepened it and entrenched it in their hearts. Moreover, that bloody event elevated Imam Khomeini to the leadership of the opposition to the Shah, setting in motion the chain of events that led, years later, to the victory of the Revolution and the birth of the Islamic Republic of Iran.