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Solaryia wrote:

Late, but even Iran was pretty nice and on the way to be a Turkey-esque secular nation back in the 1970s before the extremists took over (of course the monarchy had its own issues, but they were certainly not the Islamic hardliners of today)

Relatively yes. Of course you had the bazaaris and the ulema, especially the part based in Qom, still excerting major influence on the populace. But of course in no way the same amount as the current clergy leadership does.