Until the 16 century Persia was a Sunni country with a well-developed Sunni culture. But conquest by Shiite Azeri Turks radically changed the nation and the culture. A new clergy of mullahs and ayatollahs dominated politics and daily life. Celebrations of self-mortification found their way to the center of public consciousness. The Pahlevi Shahs tried to reverse this fanaticism. But the power of the mullahs returned in the form of Khomeni and his ‘revolution.’ Shiite Iran is now the leader of a new Shiite ‘empire.’