State Security Law by decree, and suspended those articles in the constitution dealing with the legislative powers of the Assembly. In that same year, the emir established the State Security Court, whose judgments were not subject to appeal. Iranian Revolution and social and political change The tide of political Islam that swept the Middle East in the 1970s, culminating in the Iranian Revolution in 1979 was to have profound implications for Bahrain's social and political development. There were a number of factors that had caused Bahrain to be more liberal than its neighbours, but these were challenged by the rise of Islamic religious fundamentalism. Bahrain's pluralist traditions were to a large extent a result of the complex confessional and demographic makeup of the country, which required Shi'a Moslems Arabs, Sunni Moslem Arabs, ethnic Farsis (Huwala), and Iranian Arabs (Ajams), and a plethora of minority faiths, to live and work together. This tolerance had been buttressed by the prominence of Arab nationalism and Marxism as the main modes of dissent, both of which were socially progressive and downplayed religious affiliations. The country's traditional dependence on trade further encouraged openness. It was the political earthquake represented by the Shah's fall that changed the dynamics of Bahrain's politics. In 1981, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain (an alleged Iranian front organisation), attempted a coup d'état. Their goal was the assassination of Bahrain's leadership and installing an Islamist theocracy with a cleric as supreme leader. The attempted coup and the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War led to the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which Bahrain joined with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The sense of regional uncertainty was further heightened when Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait, triggering the 1991 Persian Gulf War. 1990s The 1990s saw growing criticism of the lack of democratic reforms. The unrest resulted in approximately forty deaths and ended after Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir in 1999. The emir appointed a 30-member Consultative Council for a four-year term in December 1992. Demonstrations followed the arrest of Shia cleric, Sheikh Ali Salman, on 5 December 1994 after he called for the restoration of the National Assembly and criticised the ruling family. A group of youths clashed with police after throwing stones at female runners during an international marathon for running bare-legged. In January 1995, Sheikh Ali Salman was deported and