Inspiration for Islamist movements

The Iranian Revolution inspired Islamist political movements throughout the Muslim world. Sunni Islamists (most Islamist movements are Sunni; Iran is unusual in being Shia) often viewed the Iranian model skeptically on theological grounds but were energized by the demonstration that an Islamic government could be established by overthrowing a Western-backed regime. Groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine, and (much later) the Taliban in Afghanistan drew inspiration from various aspects of the Iranian model.