Iran's+history

=Home= Iran's History

**A timeline of historical events in Iran, up to the year 2000 (1) **

 * 550-330 BC** - Achaemenid dynasty rules the first Persian Empire.
 * 330** - Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire.
 * 140 BC - 224 AD -** Persia become part of the Parthian Empire, ruled by the Arsacid dynasty.
 * 224-651 AD** - Sassanid dynasty rules Persian Empire; Zoroastrianism is the dominant religion.

  [|Continue reading on the BBC]
 * Islam entering Persia**
 * 636** - An arab invasion brings the end of the Sassanid dynasty and the start of an Islamic rule.
 * 9th-13th century** - Decline of Islamic Caliphate; rise of Seljuk Turk dynasties.
 * 1220** - Invasion by Mongol forces of Genghis Khan.
 * 1501** - Shah Ismail I becomes first ruler of Islamic Safavid dynasty. Shi'i Islam declared official religion.
 * 1639** - Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin (or Treaty of Zuhab) ends about 150 years of war against Ottoman Empire.
 * 1736 **- Nadir Shah becomes monarch; end of Safavid dynasty.
 * 1828** - Iran cedes control of Caucasus to Russia after second Russo-Persian war.
 * 1907** - Constitution which limits the absolutist powers of rulers is introduced..
 * 1914-1918** - In spite of declaring neutrality Iran becomes a scene of heavy fighting in WW1.
 * 1921** February - Military commander Reza Khan seizes power.
 * 1923** - Reza Khan becomes prime minister.
 * 1925 **December - Parliament votes to make Reza Khan ruler.
 * 1926** April - Reza Khan crowned Reza Shah Pahlavi
 * 1935 - Official name changed from Persia to Iran.**

1979 Revolution



 * 1941** - The Shah replaced by his son after his pro-Axis allegiance led to the Russian occupation of Iran.
 * 1950 ** - Ali Razmara becomes prime minister - assassinated nine months later. Succeeded by Mohammad Mossadeq, nationalist.
 * 1951 -** Oil industry nationalized. Britain imposes an embargo and a blockade, halting oil exports and hitting the economy. A power struggle between the Shah and Mossadeq ensues and the Shah flees the country in August 1953.
 * 1953** August - Mossadeq is overthrown in a coup engineered by the British and American intelligence services. General Fazlollah Zahedi is proclaimed as prime minister and the Shah returns.
 * Campaign to modernise **
 * 1963** January - The Shah embarks on a campaign to modernise and westernise the country. The "White Revolution" is launched - a programme of land reform and social/economic modernization. The Shah grows dependent on the secret police for controlling the opposition.
 * 1978** September - Riots, strikes and demonstrations. Martial law is imposed.

Ayatollah Khomeini
Shah exiled, Khomeini returns 
 * Born 1902, died 1989
 * Exiled under Shah 1964-79
 * Supreme leader 1979-89
 * [|1979: Exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Ira] n
 * 1979** January - The Shah and family are forced into exile.
 * 1979** November - 52 Americans taken hostage by Islamic militants inside the US embassy. They demand the extradition of the Shah, who at the time was in the US for medical treatment, to face trial in Iran.
 * 1979** 1 February - Islamic fundamentalist Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 14 years in exile.
 * 1979** 1 April - The Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed.
 * 1980** January - **Abolhasan Bani-Sadr** elected the first President of the Islamic Republic. His government begins work on a major nationalization programme.
 * //Iran-Iraq war //**
 * 1980** 22 September - **Start of Iran-Iraq** war which lasts for eight years.
 * 1981** January - American hostages released after 444 days captive

Iran-Iraq War
US imposes sanctions 
 * Iraq invades Iran in 1980
 * Early Iraqi gains reversed, resulting in stalemate
 * Cease-fire signed in 1988
 * Casualties (est): 1m (Iran), 250,000-500,000 (Iraq)
 * [|Witness: 30th anniversary of Iran-Iraq War]
 * 1980** - Iraq invades Iran
 * 1981 -** Bani-Sadr is dismissed.
 * 1985** - After the US and Soviet Union halted arms supplies, the US attempted to win the release of hostages in Lebanon by offering secret arms deals, this would later become known as the Iran-Contra affair.
 * 1988 A**n Iran Air Airbus are mistakenly shot down by the USS Vincennes - crew and 290 passengers killed..
 * Ceasefire **
 * 1988** - Iran accepts a ceasefire agreement with Iraq after UN negotiations in Geneve.
 * 1989** - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani new president.
 * 1989** - The US releases 567 million dollars of frozen Iranian assets.
 * 1990** //- A major earthquake strikes Iran, killing approximately 40,000 people.//
 * 1990** - Iran remains neutral following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
 * 1990** - Iran and Iraq resume diplomatic ties.
 * 1995** - US imposes oil and trade sanctions over Iran's alleged sponsorship of "terrorism", seeking to acquire nuclear arms and hostility to the Middle East process. Iran denies the charges.

Mohammad Khatami
<span class="cross-head" style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; font-family: Arial,Helmet,Freesans,sans-serif; font-size: 1.231em;">Student protests
 * 1997** May - Mohammad Khatami wins the presidential election with 70% of the vote, beating the conservative ruling elite.
 * 1998** September - Iran deploys thousands of troops on its border with Afghanistan after the Taleban admits killing eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist in Mazar-e Sharif.
 * 1999** July - Pro-democracy students at Tehran University demonstrate following the closure of the reformist newspaper 'Salam'. Clashes with security forces lead to six days of rioting and the arrest of more than 1,000 students.
 * 2000** February - Majlis elections. Liberals and supporters of Khatami wrest control of parliament from conservatives for the first time.
 * 2000** April - The judiciary, following the adoption of a new press law, bans the publication of 16 reformist newspapers.
 * 2000** May - Inauguration of the Sixth parliament.

The following is the introduction of the book, explaining quite the bit about the historical context in which the book was written.
===="In the second millenium B.C., while the Elam nation was developing a civilization alongside Babylon, Indo-European invaders gave their name to the immense Iranian plateau where they settled. The word “Iran” was derived from “Aryana Vaejo,” which means “The origin of the Aryans.” These people were semi-nomads whose descendants were Medes and the Persians. The Medes founded the first Iranian nation in the seventh century B.B; it was latter destroyed by Cyrus the Great. He established what became one of the largest empires of the ancient world, the Persian Empire, in the sixth century B.C. Iran was referred to as Persia – its Greek name – until 1935 when Reza Shah, the father of the last Shah of Iran, asked everyone to call the country Iran.====

====Iran was rich. Because of its wealth and its geographic location, it invited attacks: From Alexander the Great, from its Arab neighbors to the west, from Turkish and Mongolian conquerors, Iran was often subject to foreign domination. Yet the Persian language and culture withstood these invasions. The invaders assimilated into this strong culture, and in some way they became Iranians themselves.====

====In the twentieth century, Iran entered a new phase. Reza Shah decided to modernize and westernize the country, but meanwhile a fresh source of wealth was discovered: oil. And with the oil came another invasion. The West, particularly Great Britain, wielded a strong influence on the Iranian economy. During the Second World War, the British, Soviets, and Americans asked Reza Shah to ally himself with them against Germany. But Reza Shah, who sympathized with the Germans, declared Iran a neutral zone. So the Allies invaded and occupied Iran. Reza Shah was sent into exile and was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Lahlavi, who was known simply as the Shah.====

====In 1951, Mohammed Mossadeq, then prime minister of Iran, nationalized the oil industry. In retaliation, Great Britain organized an embargo on all exports of oil from Iran. In 1953, the CIA, with the help of British intelligence, organized a coup against him. Mossadeq was overthrown and the Shah, who had earlier escaped from the country, returned to power. The Shah stayed on the throne until 1979, when he fled Iran to escape the Islamic revolution.====

====Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has loved more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth. This is why writing Persepolis was so important to me. I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists. I also don’t want those Iranians who lost their lives in prison defending freedom, who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under various repressive regimes, or who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland to be forgotten.====