The Role of the Guardian of Jurisprudence in Maintaining Cultural Identity of Iranians during Tobacco and Constitutionalist Movement

After the Régie agreement a great number of British entered Iran and started economical and cultural activities. A large number of Iranians cooperated with them which threatened the basis of Iranian and Islamic identity; this caused the movement of scholars and the religious people. This backfired as more stringent governmental grip on scholars and the elite. But after Mirzai Shirazi’s intervention people from all walks of society, even those who were cooperating with the company, stood against the Régie. Thus the Iranian- Islamic identity was saved. In the constitutionalist revolt, the scholars took a proactive stance against tyranny, and disabled the humanitarian sounding slogans of secular western sympathizers. The events which followed were testimony to people and the elite, those religious scholars proved to be the real promoter of democracy as opposed to the western sympathizers who soon joined the rank of Riza Khan’s tyranny.