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<\/a>Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite<\/a> kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Iranian<\/a> Medes<\/a> in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great<\/a> founded the Achaemenid Empire<\/a>, which stretched from Eastern Europe<\/a> to the Indus Valley<\/a>, making it one of the largest empires in history. The empire fell to Alexander the Great<\/a> in the fourth century BC and was divided into several Hellenistic states.<\/a> An Iranian rebellion established the Parthian Empire<\/a> in the third century BC, which was succeeded in the third century AD by the Sasanian Empire<\/a>, a major world power for the next four centuries.<\/p>\n Arab Muslims conquered the empire<\/a> in the seventh century AD, and the subsequent Islamization of Iran<\/a> led to the decline of the once dominant Zoroastrian<\/a> religion. Iran subsequently became a major center of Islamic culture and learning, with its art, literature, philosophy, and architecture spreading across the Muslim world and beyond during the Islamic Golden Age<\/a>. Over the next two centuries, a series of native Muslim dynasties<\/a> emerged before the Seljuq Turks<\/a> and the Ilkhanate Mongols<\/a> conquered the region. In the 15th century, the native Safavids<\/a> reestablished a unified Iranian state and national identity, with the country’s conversion to Shia Islam<\/a> marking a turning point in Iranian and Muslim history.<\/p>\n Under the reign of Nader Shah<\/a> in the 18th century, Iran once again became a major world power, though by the 19th century a series of conflicts with the Russian Empire<\/a> led to significant territorial losses. However, Iran would remain one of the few non-European states to avoid colonization by Europe. The early 20th century saw the Persian Constitutional Revolution<\/a>, which created the country’s first constitutional monarchy and legislature, and a gradual move towards greater democracy. Efforts to nationalize its fossil fuel supply from Western companies led to an Anglo-American coup in 1953<\/a>, which resulted in greater autocratic rule under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi<\/a> and growing Western political influence.<\/p>\n He went on to launch a far-reaching series of reforms in 1963<\/a>, which included industrial growth, infrastructure expansion, land reforms, and increased women’s rights. However, widespread dissatisfaction with the monarchy culminated in the Iranian Revolution<\/a>, which established the current Islamic Republic in 1979. Iran was invaded by Iraq in 1980, leading to a bloody and protracted war<\/a> that lasted for almost eight years, and ended in a stalemate with devastating losses for both sides.<\/p>\n Iran’s political system combines elements of a presidential democracy and an Islamic theocracy, with the ultimate authority vested in an autocratic “Supreme Leader<\/a>“. The Iranian government is widely considered to be authoritarian, with significant constraints and abuses against human rights and civil liberties, including the violent suppression of mass protests, unfair elections, and unequal rights for women and children.<\/p>\n Iran is a founding member of the UN<\/a>, ECO<\/a>, OIC<\/a>, and OPEC<\/a>. It is a major regional and middle power, and its large reserves of fossil fuels\u2014including the world’s largest natural gas supply and the third largest proven oil reserves\u2014exert considerable influence in international energy security and the world economy. The country’s rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 22 UNESCO World Heritage Sites<\/a>, the third largest number in Asia and 10th largest in the world. Historically a multi-ethnic country, Iran remains a pluralistic society comprising numerous ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, the largest being Persians<\/a>, Azeris<\/a>, Kurds<\/a>, Mazandaranis<\/a> and Lurs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran, like those excavated at Kashafrud<\/a> and Ganj Par<\/a> in northern Iran, confirm a human presence in Iran since the Lower Paleolithi<\/a>c. Iran’s Neanderthal artifacts from the Middle Paleolithic<\/a> have been found mainly in the Zagros<\/a> region, at sites such as Warwasi<\/a> and Yafteh<\/a>. From the 10th to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region in western Iran, including Chogha Golan<\/a>, Chogha Bonut<\/a>, and Chogha Mish<\/a>.<\/p>\n The occupation of grouped hamlets in the area of Susa<\/a>, as determined by radiocarbon dating, ranges from 4395-3955 to 3680-3490 BC. There are dozens of prehistoric sites across the Iranian Plateau, pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC. During the Bronze Age<\/a>, the territory of present-day Iran was home to several civilizations, including Elam<\/a>, Jiroft<\/a>, and Zayanderud<\/a>. Elam, the most prominent of these civilizations, developed in the southwest alongside those in Mesopotamia<\/a>, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Iranian empires. The advent of writing in Elam was paralleled to Sumer<\/a>, and the Elamite cuneiform<\/a> was developed since the third millennium BC.<\/p>\n From the 34th to the 20th century BC, northwestern Iran was part of the Kura-Araxes<\/a> culture, which stretched into the neighboring Caucasus<\/a> and Anatolia<\/a>. Since the earliest second millennium BC, Assyrians<\/a> settled in swaths of western Iran and incorporated the region into their territories.<\/p>\n By the second millennium BC, the ancient Iranian peoples arrived in what is now Iran from the Eurasian Steppe<\/a>, rivaling the native settlers of the region. As the Iranians dispersed into the wider area of Greater Iran<\/a> and beyond, the boundaries of modern-day Iran were dominated by Median<\/a>, Persian<\/a>, and Parthian<\/a> tribes.<\/p>\n From the late 10th to the late seventh century BC, the Iranian peoples, together with the “pre-Iranian” kingdoms, fell under the domination of the Assyrian Empire<\/a>, based in northern Mesopotamia<\/a>. Under king Cyaxares<\/a>, the Medes and Persians entered into an alliance with Babylonian<\/a> ruler Nabopolassar<\/a>, as well as the fellow Iranian Scythians<\/a> and Cimmerians<\/a>, and together they attacked the Assyrian Empire. The civil war ravaged the Assyrian Empire between 616 and 605 BC, thus freeing their respective peoples from three centuries of Assyrian rule. The unification of the Median tribes under king Deioces<\/a> in 728 BC led to the foundation of the Median Empire which, by 612 BC, controlled almost the entire territory of present-day Iran and eastern Anatolia<\/a>. This marked the end of the Kingdom of Urartu<\/a> as well, which was subsequently conquered and dissolved.<\/p>\n In 550 BC, Cyrus the Great<\/a>, the son of Mandane<\/a> and Cambyses I<\/a>, took over the Median Empire, and founded the Achaemenid Empire<\/a> by unifying other city-states. The conquest of Media was a result of what is called the Persian Revolt<\/a>. The brouhaha was initially triggered by the actions of the Median ruler Astyages<\/a>, and was quickly spread to other provinces, as they allied with the Persians. Later conquests under Cyrus and his successors expanded the empire to include Lydia<\/a>, Babylon<\/a>, Egypt<\/a>, parts of the Balkans<\/a> and Eastern Europe proper, as well as the lands to the west of the Indus<\/a> and Oxus<\/a> rivers.<\/p>\n 539 BC was the year in which Persian forces defeated the Babylonian army at Opis<\/a>, and marked the end of around four centuries of Mesopotamian domination of the region by conquering the Neo-Babylonian Empire<\/a>. Cyrus entered Babylon and presented himself as a traditional Mesopotamian monarch. Subsequent Achaemenid art and iconography reflect the influence of the new political reality in Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire included territories of modern-day Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan (Arran<\/a> and Shirvan<\/a>), Armenia, Georgia<\/a>, Turkey (Anatolia), much of the Black Sea<\/a> coastal regions, northeastern Greece<\/a> and southern Bulgaria<\/a> (Thrace<\/a>), northern Greece and North Macedonia<\/a> (Paeonia<\/a> and Macedon<\/a>), Iraq, Syria<\/a>, Lebanon<\/a>, Jordan<\/a>, Israel<\/a> and the Palestinian territories<\/a>, all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya<\/a>, Kuwait<\/a>, northern Saudi Arabia<\/a>, parts of the United Arab Emirates<\/a> and Oman<\/a>, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and much of Central Asia, making it the first world government and the largest empire the world had yet seen.<\/p>\n It is estimated that in 480 BC, 50 million people lived in the Achaemenid Empire. The empire at its peak ruled over 44% of the world’s population, the highest such figure for any empire in history.<\/p>\n The Achaemenid Empire is noted for the release of the Jewish exiles in Babylon<\/a>, building infrastructures such as the Royal Road and the Chapar<\/a> (postal service), and the use of an official language, Imperial Aramaic<\/a>, throughout its territories. The empire had a centralized, bureaucratic administration under the emperor, a large professional army, and civil services, inspiring similar developments in later empires.<\/p>\n Eventual conflict on the western borders began with the Ionian Revolt, which erupted into the Greco-Persian Wars<\/a> and continued through the first half of the fifth century BC, and ended with the withdrawal of the Achaemenids from all of the territories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe proper.<\/p>\n In 334 BC, Alexander the Great<\/a> invaded the Achaemenid Empire, defeating the last Achaemenid emperor, Darius III<\/a>, at the Battle of Issus<\/a>. Following the premature death of Alexander, Iran came under the control of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire<\/a>. In the middle of the second century BC, the Parthian Empire<\/a> rose to become the main power in Iran, and the century-long geopolitical arch-rivalry between the Romans and the Parthians began, culminating in the Roman\u2013Parthian Wars<\/a>. The Parthian Empire continued as a feudal monarchy for nearly five centuries, until 224 CE, when it was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire<\/a>. Together with their neighboring arch-rival, the Roman-Byzantines<\/a>, they made up the world’s two most dominant powers at the time, for over four centuries.<\/p>\n The Sasanians established an empire within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with their capital at Ctesiphon<\/a>. Late antiquity is considered one of Iran’s most influential periods, as under the Sasanians their influence reached the culture of ancient Rome (and through that as far as Western Europe), Africa, China, and India, and played a prominent role in the formation of the medieval art of both Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n Most of the era of the Sasanian Empire was overshadowed by the Roman\u2013Persian Wars<\/a>, which raged on the western borders at Anatolia, the Western Caucasus<\/a>, Mesopotamia, and the Levant<\/a>, for over 700 years. These wars ultimately exhausted both the Romans and the Sasanians and led to the defeat of both by the Muslim invasion.<\/p>\n Throughout the Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian eras, several offshoots of the Iranian dynasties established eponymous branches in Anatolia and the Caucasus, including the Pontic Kingdom<\/a>, the Mihranids<\/a>, and the Arsacid dynasties of Armenia, Iberia (Georgia), and Caucasian Albania (present-day Republic of Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan<\/a>).<\/p>\n The prolonged Byzantine\u2013Sasanian wars<\/a>, most importantly the climactic war of 602\u2013628, as well as the social conflict within the Sasanian Empire, opened the way for an Arab invasion of Iran in the seventh century<\/a>. The empire was initially defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate<\/a>, which was succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate<\/a>, followed by the Abbasid Caliphate<\/a>. A prolonged and gradual process of state-imposed Islamization followed, which targeted Iran’s then Zoroastrian majority and included religious persecution, demolition of libraries and fire temples, a special tax penalty (“jizya”), and language shift.<\/p>\n In 750, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads, notably by the support from the “mawali” (converted Iranians). The mawali formed the majority of the rebel army, which was led by converted Iranian general Abu Muslim<\/a>. The arrival of the Abbasid Caliphs saw a relative revival of Iranian culture and influence, as the role of the old Arab aristocracy was partially replaced by a Muslim Iranian bureaucracy.<\/p>\n After two centuries of Arab rule, semi-independent and independent Iranian kingdoms\u2014including the Tahirids<\/a>, Saffarids<\/a>, Samanids<\/a>, and Buyids<\/a>\u2014began to appear on the fringes of the declining Abbasid Caliphate. By the Samanid era in the ninth and 10th centuries, the efforts of Iranians to regain their independence had been well solidified.<\/p>\n The blossoming literature<\/a>, philosophy<\/a>, mathematics, medicine<\/a>, astronomy and art<\/a> of Iran became major elements in the formation of a new age for the Iranian civilization, during a period known as the Islamic Golden Age. The Islamic Golden Age reached its peak by the 10th and 11th centuries, during which Iran was the main theater of scientific activities. After the 10th century, Persian, alongside Arabic, was used for scientific, medical, philosophical, arithmetical, historical, and musical works, and renowned Iranian writers\u2014such as Tusi<\/a>, Avicenna<\/a>, Qotb-od-Din Shirazi<\/a>, and Biruni<\/a>\u2014had major contributions in scientific writing. Among Iran’s famous medieval scientists, Al-Khwarizmi<\/a> (whose name was Latinized as Algoritmi) gave a significant role in the development of the Arabic numerals and algebra through his 9th-century work On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals that is globally adopted as the modern numerical system.<\/p>\n The cultural revival that began in the Abbasid period led to a resurfacing of the Iranian national identity; thus, the attempts of Arabization never succeeded in Iran. The Shu’ubiyya<\/a> movement became a catalyst for Iranians to regain independence in their relations with the Arab invaders. The most notable effect of this movement was the continuation of the Persian language attested to the works of the epic poet Ferdowsi<\/a>, now considered the most prominent figure in Iranian literature.<\/p>\n The 10th century saw a mass migration of Turkic tribes from Central Asia into the Iranian Plateau. Turkic tribesmen were first used in the Abbasid army as mamluks (slave-warriors), replacing Iranian and Arab elements within the army. As a result, the Mamluks gained a significant political power. In 999, large portions of Iran came briefly under the rule of the Ghaznavids<\/a>, whose rulers were of mamluk Turkic origin, and longer subsequently under the Seljuk<\/a> and Khwarezmian<\/a> empires. These dynasties had been Persianized, and had adopted Persian models of administration and rulership. The Seljuks subsequently gave rise to the Sultanate of Rum<\/a> in Anatolia, while taking their thoroughly Persianized identity with them. The result of the adoption and patronage of Iranian culture by Turkish rulers was the development of a distinct Turko-Persian tradition.<\/p>\n From 1219 to 1221, under the Khwarazmian Empire, Iran suffered a devastating invasion by the Mongol army<\/a> of Genghis Khan.<\/a> According to Steven R. Ward, “Mongol violence and depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian Plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran’s population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century.”<\/p>\n Following the fracture of the Mongol Empire in 1256, Hulagu Khan<\/a>, grandson of Genghis Khan, established the Ilkhanate<\/a> in Iran. In 1370, yet another conqueror, Timur<\/a>, followed the example of Hulagu, establishing the Timurid Empire<\/a> which lasted for another 156 years.<\/p>\n In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of Isfahan<\/a>, reportedly killing 70,000 citizens. The Ilkhans and the Timurids soon came to adopt the ways and customs of the Iranians, surrounding themselves with a culture that was distinctively Iranian.<\/p>\n By the 1500s, Ismail I<\/a> of Ardabil<\/a> established the Safavid Empire<\/a>, with his capital at Tabriz.<\/p>\n Beginning with Azerbaijan<\/a>, he subsequently extended his authority over all of the Iranian territories, and established an intermittent Iranian hegemony over the vast relative regions, reasserting the Iranian identity within large parts of Greater Iran. Iran was predominantly Sunni<\/a>, but Ismail instigated a forced conversion<\/a> to the Shia<\/a> branch of Islam, spreading throughout the Safavid territories in the Caucasus, Iran, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. As a result, modern-day Iran is the only official Shia nation of the world, with it holding an absolute majority in Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan<\/a>, having there the first and the second highest number of Shia inhabitants by population percentage in the world. Meanwhile, the centuries-long geopolitical and ideological rivalry between Safavid Iran and the neighboring Ottoman Empire<\/a> led to numerous Ottoman\u2013Iranian wars<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Safavid era peaked in the reign of Abbas I (1587\u20131629)<\/a>, surpassing their Turkish arch-rivals in strength, and making Iran a leading science and art hub in western Eurasia.<\/p>\n The Safavid era saw the start of mass integration from Caucasian populations<\/a> into new layers of the society of Iran, as well as mass resettlement of them within the heartlands of Iran, playing a pivotal role in the history of Iran for centuries onwards. Following a gradual decline in the late 1600s and the early 1700s, which was caused by internal conflicts, the continuous wars with the Ottomans, and the foreign interference (most notably the Russian interference), the Safavid rule was ended by the Pashtun rebels<\/a> who besieged Isfahan and defeated Sultan Husayn<\/a> in 1722.<\/p>\n In 1729, Nader Shah<\/a>, a chieftain and military genius from Khorasan<\/a>, successfully drove out and conquered the Pashtun invaders. He subsequently took back the annexed Caucasian territories which were divided among the Ottoman and Russian authoritie<\/a>s by the ongoing chaos in Iran. During the reign of Nader Shah, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sasanian Empire, reestablishing the Iranian hegemony all over the Caucasus, as well as other major parts of the west and central Asia, and briefly possessing what was arguably the most powerful empire at the time.<\/p>\n Nader Shah invaded India<\/a> and sacked far off Delhi by the late 1730s. His territorial expansion, as well as his military successes, went into a decline following the final campaigns in the Northern Caucasus<\/a> against then revolting Lezgins<\/a>. The assassination of Nader Shah sparked a brief period of civil war and turmoil, after which Karim Khan<\/a> of the Zand dynasty<\/a> came to power in 1750, bringing a period of relative peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n Compared to its preceding dynasties, the geopolitical reach of the Zand dynasty was limited. Many of the Iranian territories in the Caucasus gained de facto autonomy, and were locally ruled through various Caucasian khanates<\/a>. However, despite the self-ruling, they all remained subjects and vassals to the Zand king. Another civil war ensued after the death of Karim Khan in 1779, out of which Agha Mohammad Khan<\/a> emerged, founding the Qajar dynasty<\/a> in 1794.<\/p>\n In 1795, following the disobedience of the Georgian subjects<\/a> and their alliance with the Russians<\/a>, the Qajars captured Tbilisi<\/a> by the Battle of Krtsanisi<\/a>, and drove the Russians out of the entire Caucasus, reestablishing the Iranian suzerainty over the region.<\/p>\n The Russo-Iranian wars of 1804\u20131813<\/a> and 1826\u20131828<\/a> resulted in large irrevocable territorial losses for Iran in the Caucasus, comprising all of Transcaucasia<\/a> and Dagestan<\/a>, which made part of the very concept of Iran for centuries, and thus substantial gains for the neighboring Russian Empire.<\/p>\n As a result of the 19th-century Russo-Iranian wars, the Russians took over the Caucasus, and Iran irrevocably lost control over its integral territories in the region (comprising modern-day Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and Republic of Azerbaijan), which got confirmed per the treaties of Gulistan<\/a> and Turkmenchay<\/a>. The area to the north of Aras River<\/a>, among which the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia are located, were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia in the course of the 19th century.<\/p>\n As Iran shrank, many Transcaucasian and North Caucasian<\/a> Muslims moved towards Iran, especially until the aftermath of the Circassian Genocide<\/a>, and the decades afterwards, while Iran’s Armenians were encouraged to settle in the newly incorporated Russian territories, causing significant demographic shifts.<\/p>\n Around 1.5 million people\u201420 to 25% of the population of Iran\u2014died as a result of the Great Famine of 1870\u20131871.<\/p>\n Between 1872 and 1905, a series of protests took place in response to the sale of concessions to foreigners by Qajar monarchs Naser-ed-Din<\/a> and Mozaffar-ed-Din<\/a>, and led to the Constitutional Revolution in 1905<\/a>. The first Iranian constitution<\/a> and the first national parliament of Iran were founded in 1906, through the ongoing revolution. The Constitution included the official recognition of Iran’s three religious minorities, namely Christians<\/a>, Jews<\/a>, and Zoroastrians, which has remained a basis in the legislation of Iran since then. The struggle related to the constitutional movement was followed by the Triumph of Tehran in 1909<\/a>, when Mohammad Ali Shah<\/a> was defeated and forced to abdicate. On the pretext of restoring order, the Russians occupied northern Iran in 1911 and maintained a military presence in the region for years to come. But this did not put an end to the civil uprisings and was soon followed by Mirza Kuchik Khan’s<\/a> Jungle Movem<\/a>ent against both the Qajar monarchy and foreign invaders.<\/p>\n Despite Iran’s neutrality during World War I<\/a>, the Ottoman, Russian and British empires occupied the territory of western Iran and fought the Persian Campaign<\/a> before fully withdrawing their forces in 1921. At least 2 million Persian civilians died either directly in the fighting, the Ottoman perpetrated anti-Christian genocides<\/a> or the war induced famine of 1917-1919<\/a>. A large number of Iranian Assyrian<\/a> and Iranian Armenian Christians<\/a>, as well as those Muslims who tried to protect them, were victims of mass murders committed by the invading Ottoman troops, notably in and around Khoy<\/a>, Maku<\/a>, Salmas<\/a>, and Urmia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apart from the rule of Agha Mohammad Khan, the Qajar rule<\/a> is characterized as a century of misrule. The inability of Qajar Iran’s government to maintain the country’s sovereignty during and immediately after World War I led to the British directed 1921 Persian coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a> and Reza Shah’s<\/a> establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty<\/a>. Reza Shah, became the new Prime Minister of Iran and was declared the new monarch in 1925.<\/p>\n In the midst of World War II, in June 1941, Nazi Germany broke the Molotov\u2013Ribbentrop Pact<\/a> and invaded the Soviet Union<\/a>, Iran’s northern neighbor. The Soviets quickly allied themselves with the Allied countries<\/a> and in July and August, 1941 the British demanded that the Iranian government expel all Germans from Iran. Reza Shah refused to expel the Germans and on 25 August 1941, the British and Soviets launched a surprise invasion<\/a> and Reza Shah’s government quickly surrendered. The invasion’s strategic purpose was to secure a supply line to the USSR (later named the Persian Corridor<\/a>), secure the oil fields and Abadan Refinery<\/a> (of the UK-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company<\/a>), and limit German influence in Iran. Following the invasion, on 16 September 1941 Reza Shah abdicated and was replaced by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi<\/a>, his 21 year old son.<\/p>\n During the rest of World War II, Iran became a major conduit for British and American aid to the Soviet Union<\/a> and an avenue through which over 120,000 Polish refugee<\/a>s and Polish Armed Forces<\/a> fled the Axis advance. At the 1943 Tehran Conference<\/a>, the Allied “Big Three”\u2014Joseph Stalin<\/a>, Franklin D. Roosevelt<\/a>, and Winston Churchill<\/a>\u2014issued the Tehran Declaration to guarantee the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, at the end of the war, Soviet troops remained in Iran and established two puppet states in north-western Iran, namely the People’s Government of Azerbaijan<\/a> and the Republic of Mahabad<\/a>.<\/p>\n This led to the Iran crisis of 1946, one of the first confrontations<\/a> of the Cold War<\/a>, which ended after oil concessions were promised to the USSR and Soviet forces withdrew from Iran proper in May 1946. The two puppet states were soon overthrown and the oil concessions were later revoked.<\/p>\n In 1951, Mohammad Mosaddegh<\/a> was appointed as the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n He became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized Iran’s petroleum industry and oil reserves. He was deposed in the 1953 Iranian coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a>, an Anglo-American covert operation that marked the first time the United States had participated in the overthrow of a foreign government during the Cold War.<\/p>\n After the coup, the Shah became increasingly autocratic and sultanistic, and Iran entered a phase of decades-long controversial close relations with the United States and some other foreign governments. While the Shah increasingly modernized Iran and claimed to retain it as a fully secular state, arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police, the SAVAK<\/a>, were used to crush all forms of political opposition.<\/p>\n Ruhollah Khomeini<\/a>, a radical Muslim cleric, became an active critic of the Shah’s far-reaching series of reforms known as the White Revolution<\/a>. Khomeini publicly denounced the government, and was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964, he refused to apologize, and was eventually sent into exile.<\/p>\n Due to the 1973 spike in oil prices<\/a>, the economy of Iran was flooded with foreign currency, which caused inflation. By 1974, the economy of Iran was experiencing double digit inflation, and despite the many large projects to modernize the country, corruption was rampant and caused large amounts of waste. By 1975 and 1976, an economic recession led to increased unemployment, especially among millions of youths who had migrated to the cities of Iran looking for construction jobs during the boom years of the early 1970s. By the late 1970s, many of these people opposed the Shah’s regime and began to organize and join the protests against it.<\/p>\n The 1979 Revolution<\/a>, later known as the Islamic Revolution, began in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations against the Shah. After a year of strikes and demonstrations paralyzing the country and its economy, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled to the United States, and Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to Tehran in February 1979, forming a new government.<\/p>\n After holding a referendum, Iran officially became an Islamic republic in April 1979. A second referendum in December 1979 approved a theocratic constitution.<\/p>\n The immediate nationwide uprisings against the new government began with the 1979 Kurdish rebellion<\/a> and the Khuzestan uprisings<\/a>, along with the uprisings in Sistan and Baluchestan<\/a> and other areas. Over the next several years, these uprisings were subdued in a violent manner by the new Islamic government<\/a>. The new government began purging itself of the non-Islamist political opposition, as well as of those Islamists who were not considered radical enough. Although both nationalists and Marxists had initially joined with Islamists to overthrow the Shah, tens of thousands were executed by the new regime afterwards. Many former ministers and officials in the Shah’s government, including former prime minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda<\/a>, were executed following Khomeini’s order to purge the new government of any remaining officials still loyal to the exiled Shah<\/a>.<\/p>\n On 4 November 1979, a group of Muslim students<\/a> seized the United States Embassy<\/a> and took the embassy with 52 personnel and citizens hostage, after the United States refused to extradite Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to Iran, where his execution was all but assured.<\/p>\n Attempts by the Jimmy Carter<\/a> administration to negotiate for the release of the hostages<\/a>, and a failed rescue attempt<\/a>, helped force Carter out of office and brought Ronald Reagan to power. On Jimmy Carter’s final day in office, the last hostages were finally set free as a result of the Algiers Accords<\/a>. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left the United States for Egypt, where he died of complications from cancer only months later, on 27 July 1980.<\/p>\n The Cultural Revolution<\/a> began in 1980, with an initial closure of universities for three years, in order to perform an inspection and clean up in the cultural policy of the education and training system.<\/p>\n On 22 September 1980, the Iraqi army invaded the western Iranian province of Khuzestan, launching the Iran\u2013Iraq War<\/a>. Although the forces of Saddam Hussein made several early advances, by mid 1982, the Iranian forces successfully managed to drive the Iraqi army back into Iraq. In July 1982, with Iraq thrown on the defensive, the regime of Iran took the decision to invade Iraq and conducted countless offensives in a bid to conquer Iraqi territory and capture cities, such as Basra.<\/p>\n The war continued until 1988 when the Iraqi army defeated the Iranian forces inside Iraq and pushed the remaining Iranian troops back across the border. Subsequently, Khomeini accepted a truce mediated by the United Nations<\/a>. The total Iranian casualties in the war were estimated to be 123,220\u2013160,000 KIA, 60,711 MIA, and 11,000\u201316,000 civilians killed.<\/p>\n Following the Iran\u2013Iraq War, in 1989, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani<\/a> and his administration concentrated on a pragmatic pro-business policy of rebuilding and strengthening the economy without making any dramatic break with the ideology of the revolution<\/a>. In 1997, Rafsanjani was succeeded by moderate reformist Mohammad Khatami<\/a>, whose government attempted, unsuccessfully, to make the country more free and democratic.<\/p>\n The 2005 presidential election<\/a> brought conservative populist candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad<\/a>, to power. By the time of the 2009 Iranian presidential election<\/a>, the Interior Ministry announced incumbent President Ahmadinejad had won 62.63% of the vote, while Mir-Hossein Mousavi<\/a> had come in second place with 33.75%. The election results were widely disputed, and resulted in widespread protests<\/a>, both within Iran and in major cities outside the country, and the creation of the Iranian Green Movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hassan Rouhani<\/a> was elected as the president on 15 June 2013, defeating Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf<\/a> and four other candidates. The electoral victory of Rouhani relatively improved the relations of Iran with other countries.<\/p>\n The 2017\u201318 Iranian protests<\/a> swept across the country against the government and its longtime Supreme Leader in response to the economic and political situation. The scale of protests throughout the country and the number of people participating were significant, and it was formally confirmed that thousands of protesters were arrested. The 2019\u201320 Iranian protests<\/a> started on 15 November in Ahvaz<\/a>, spreading across the country within hours, after the government announced increases in the fuel price of up to 300%.<\/p>\n A week-long total Internet shutdow<\/a>n throughout the country marked one of the most severe Internet blackouts in any country, and according to international observers, tens of thousands were arrested and hundreds were killed within a few days.<\/p>\n On 3 January 2020, the revolutionary guard’s general, Qasem Soleimani<\/a>, was assassinated by the United States in Iraq<\/a>, which considerably heightened the existing tensions between the two countries<\/a>. Three days after, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<\/a> launched a retaliatory attack on US forces in Iraq<\/a> and shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752<\/a>, killing 176 civilians and leading to nation-wide protests<\/a>. An international investigation led to the government admitting to the shootdown of the plane by a surface-to-air missile after three days of denial, calling it a “human error”.<\/p>\n Iran has an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi). It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia (35 km or 22 mi), the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan<\/a> (179 km or 111 mi), and the Republic of Azerbaijan (611 km or 380 mi); to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan (992 km or 616 mi); to the east by Afghanistan (936 km or 582 mi) and Pakistan (909 km or 565 mi); to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Iraq (1,458 km or 906 mi) and Turkey (499 km or 310 mi).<\/p>\n Iran consists of the Iranian Plateau<\/a>, with the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan<\/a>. It is one of the world’s most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus<\/a>, Zagros<\/a>, and Alborz<\/a>, the last containing Mount Damavand<\/a>, Iran’s highest point at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest mountain in Asia west of the Hindu Kush<\/a>.<\/p>\n The northern part of Iran is covered by the lush lowland Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests<\/a>, located near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea.<\/p>\n The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins, such as the Kavir Desert<\/a>, which is the country’s largest desert, and the Lut Desert<\/a>, as well as some salt lakes.<\/p>\n The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where the country borders the mouth of the Arvand river<\/a>. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n Iran’s economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. In 2017, GDP was $427.7 billion or $20,000 at PPP per capita. Iran is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. In the early 21st century, the service sector contributed the largest percentage of the GDP, followed by industry (mining and manufacturing) and agriculture.<\/p>\n The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran<\/a> is responsible for developing and maintaining the Iranian rial<\/a>, which serves as the country’s currency.<\/p>\n The government does not recognize trade unions other than the Islamic labor councils, which are subject to the approval of employers and the security services. The minimum wage in June 2013 was 487 million rials a month ($134). Unemployment has remained above 10% since 1997, and the unemployment rate for women is almost double that of the men.<\/p>\n In 2006, about 45% of the government’s budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, and 31% came from taxes and fees. As of 2007, Iran had earned $70 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, mostly (80%) from crude oil exports. Iranian budget deficits have been a chronic problem, mostly due to large-scale state subsidies<\/a>, that include foodstuffs and especially gasoline, totaling more than $84 billion in 2008 for the energy sector alone. In 2010, the economic reform plan was approved by parliament to cut subsidies gradually and replace them with targeted social assistance. The objective is to move towards free market prices in a five-year period and increase productivity and social justice.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Sasanian-Empire-300x223.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Reza-Pahlavi-237x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Ali-Khamenei-Current-Supreme-Leader-191x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Prehistory:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Cave-Painting-in-Doushe-Cave-Lorstan-Iran-8th-Millennium-BC-300x204.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Elamite-Cuneiform-111x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Classical Antiquity:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Greater-Iran-300x208.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Bas-Relief-of-United-Medes-and-Persians-at-Persepolis-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Achaemenid-Empire-300x157.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Tomb-of-Cyrus-the-Great-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Taq-Kasra-from-the-Sasanian-Era-300x174.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Medieval Period:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Abbasid-Caliphate-300x183.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mu\u1e25ammad-ibn-M\u016bs\u0101-al-Khw\u0101rizm\u012b-153x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Timurid-Empire-300x176.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Early Modern Period:<\/h3>\n
Safavids:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Shah-Ismail-I-of-Persia-234x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Shah-Abbas-I-of-Iran-202x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Afsharids:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Nader-Shah-Afshar-250x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Zands:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Khan-Qajar-188x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Qajars:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Territory-Lost-to-Russia-300x230.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/The-First-National-Iranian-Parliament-300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Reza-Shah-205x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Pahlavi Dynasty:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Reza-Pahlavi-at-21-Years-293x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Location-of-the-Azerbaijan-Peoples-Government-and-Republic-of-Mahabad-281x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1951\u20131978: Mosaddegh and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Mosaddegh-218x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Reza-Pahlavi-and-the-Imperial-Family-1967-300x236.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Ruhollah-Khomeini-223x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1979 Islamic Revolution to Present:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Ruhollah-Khomeinis-Return-to-Iran-From-Exile-1-February-1979-228x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Iranian-Students-Invade-the-US-Embassy-300x223.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Iranian-Soldier-Iran\u2013Iraq-War-300x206.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/The-Green-Movements-Silent-Demonstration-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/The-2017\u201318-Iranian-Protests-300x233.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Topographic-Map-of-Iran-300x280.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mount-Damavand-300x183.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Caspian-Hyrcanian-Mixed-Forest-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Kavir-Desert-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Central-Bank-of-the-Islamic-Republic-of-Irans-Markazi-Tower-201x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>
![](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Iranian-Oil-Refining.jpg\"){kind=link}