What do you exactly mean by "the impact of the Baha'i Faith have on the Iranian Islamic Revolution"? Are you asking if the Islamic Revolution incorporated some Baha'i doctrine? Or are you asking if the Baha'i Faith contributed to the fall of the Islamic Revolution?
The answer to the first part of my question is a big no, the Shia-influenced Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 used none of the incorporated doctrines in the Baha'i Faith. The reason for this is because Baha'is are seen as infidels and heretics. In Islam, it is considered a sin and a crime to leave the Islamic faith as Islam is considered by Muslims to be the last legitimate religion and Muhammad as the last prophet of the monotheistic Abrahamic religion. In a letter between Dr. Seyyed Muhammad Golpaygani [Secretary of the Supreme Revolutionary Council] to Head of the Office of Esteemed Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei], Golpaygani gave a list to Khamenei that detailed the "Baha'i Question". One of the major policies implemented against Baha'is were their legal and educational status. Golpaygani wrote, "[Baha'is] can be enrolled in schools provided they have not identified themselves as Baha’is", "Deny them employment if they identify themselves as Baha’is," and "Deny them any position of influence, such as in the education sector, etc."^1 Even after the Islamic Revolution, negativity towards the Baha'i faith was frowned upon to the point where they are treated as secondary citizens only if they identify as Baha'is, other than that, the Islamic State does not care. This vilifying behavior only proves that Ayatollah Khomeini and his Islamic extremism would have, in no circumstance, allowed Baha'i faith to become apart of the Islamic Revolution.
In addition, many Islamic Clerics and Muslims saw the Baha'is as closely tied within the inner circle of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. As the tensions and unrest increased throughout the late 1970s, Islamic forces used this opportunity to stage protests against the Shah and his lavish spendings. Before we get into the 1979 Islamic Revolution, we need to take a step back. In Reza Shah's White Revolution of 1963, the Shah found endorsement in Baha'i teachings on education. Geoffrey Nash pointed out, “When the Shi’ite clergy formulated its demands on the Shah, they included: ‘spread of Bahaism, increasing numbers of Europeans in the administration, contracting of foreign loans…’ as the evils to be fought.”^2 Indeed, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote in the Islamic Government that "centers of evil propaganda run by the churches, the Zionists, and the Baha’is in order to lead our people astray and make them abandon the ordinances and teaching of Islam ... These centers must be destroyed."^3 The rhetoric that placed the blame upon the upper-class, Jews and Baha'is - like every other revolution in the past 400 years - spurred action to absolutely demolish their existence. As we can see in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Baha'is were unwelcomed by the new Islamic Government and the Republic actively sought to reduce and eliminate their influence.
The answer to my second question, I kind of answered it in my earlier paragraphs. The Baha’is generally experienced a period of prosperity under the Shah, even though they were never officially recognized in Iran since the founding of the Baha’i sect in the 19th century. Prior to the Islamic Revolution, powerful figures within the Iranian economy were Baha’is; among them was Habib Sabet, builder of the first Pepsi Cola factory in Iran, and a millionaire.^4 Politicians include the Shah’s Prime Minister for twelve years, Abbas Hoveyda, and another Minister, Mansour Rouhani came from families where one or both parents were Baha’is; although the Baha’i faith is determined not by birth, but by the conscious of the individual at the age of maturity.^5 The acceptance of Baha'is into Reza Shah's inner circles was not that surprising. Under the tenets of the Baha’i Faith, Baha’is are to be apolitical, which also reinforced the idea that Baha’is is not a threat to the Shah’s regime. An unsurprising change of attitude would soon engulf the peace of what the Baha’is endured during this time, for even under the Shah, the clergy were the worst enemy of the Baha’is – after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, they were in power.
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