History

Main article: History of Iran

Early history and the Median and Achaemenian Empires (3200 BCE ?330 BCE)

Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Persian Empire, and the author of "the world's oldest human rights declaration".^[9][10]

The Achaemenian Empire (559?30 BCE) at its greatest extent.

Main articles: Zayandeh Rud civilization, Jiroft civilization, Elam, Median Empire, and Achaemenid Empire

Dozens of pre-historic sites across the Iranian plateau point to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements, centuries before the earliest civilizations arose in nearby Mesopotamia.^[11]

The written history of Persia (Iran) begins around 3200 BCE with the Proto-Iranian civilization, followed by the Elamites. The arrival of the Aryans (Indo-Iranians) in the third and second millennium BCE and the establishing of the Median dynasty (728?50 BCE) culminated in the first Iranian Empire. The Medes are credited with the foundation of Iran as a nation and empire, the largest of its day, until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians leading to the Achaemenid Empire (648?30 BCE), founded by Cyrus the Great.

After Cyrus's death, his son Cambyses continued his father's work of conquest, making significant gains in Egypt. A power struggle followed Cambyses' death and, despite his tenuous connection to the royal line, Darius was declared king (ruled 522-486 BCE). He was to be arguably the greatest of the ancient Persian rulers.

While Darius's first capital was at Susa, he also initiated the construction of Persepolis. He then built a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a forerunner of the modern Suez Canal. It is during his reign that mention is first made of the Royal Road (shown on map), a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to Sardis with posting stations at regular intervals.

Under Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest and most powerful empire in human history up until that point, ruling over most of the known world.^[12] Their greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first global superpower.^[13][14][15]

2500 year-old relief in Apadana Hall.

The Arg-e Bam citadel, built before 500 BC.

The borders of the Persian empire stretched from the Indus and Oxus Rivers in the East to the Mediterranean Sea in the West, extending through Anatolia (modern day Turkey) and Egypt. But in 499 BCE, one of the cities along the cost of Anatolia, Miletus, ruled by a Greek tyrant named Aristagoras, staged a revolt and turned to the Athenians for aid. Until then the Persians had no plan or desire to go into Europe. Subsequently, an Athenian assault on a major Persian province culminated in the sacking and burning of the city of Sardis. It is this event that escalated into what is known as the Greco-Persian Wars, which included encounters such as the Battle of Thermopylae. In 494 BCE the Persians defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Lade, and the coast of Anatolia was once again peaceful.^[16]

Alexander of Macedon - referred to as "the accursed" in the Zoroastrian Middle Persian Book of Arda Viraz - invaded Achaemenid territory in 334 BCE, conclusively defeating the last Achaemenid Emperor Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE. In 330 BCE, Alexander occupied Persepolis (and according to legend, had it destroyed) and Pasargadae, leaving them and the rest of the Pars province in control of one of his officers before moving on northwards. In the same year, Alexander occupied in quick succession Aspardana (present day Isfahan), Ecbatana in Media (present day Hamadan), Hecatompylos in Hyrancia (present day Mazandaran), Susia in Parthia (in present day North Khorasan). He then turned southwards and occupied Prophtasia in Drangiana (present day Sistan). The next year, in 329 BCE, Alexander took the satrapy capitals at Kandahar in Arachosia, Kabura (Kabul), Bactra (Balkh) in Bactria, and finally Maracanda (Samarkand) in Sogdiana before leaving imperial territory in 328-327. In each of the former Achaemenid territories he installed his own officers as caretakers, which led to friction and ultimately to the partitioning of the former empire after Alexander's death. A reunification would not occur until 700 years later, under the Sassanids (see below). Unlike the diadochic Seleucids and the succeeding Arsacids, who used a vassalary system, the Sassanids - like the Achaemenids - had a system of governors (MP: shahrab) personally appointed by the Emperor and directed by the central government.

Third Iranian Empire: Parthian Empire (248 BCE ? 224 CE)

Coin of Phraates IV. The inscription reads: Benefactor Arsaces, civilized, friend of Greeks.

A second century BCE bust of a Parthian warrior from Nysa, capital of the Parthian homeland.

Main articles: Parthian Empire and Seleucid Empire

Parthia was led by the Arsacid dynasty, who reunited and ruled over the Iranian plateau, after defeating the Greek Seleucid Empire, beginning in the late third century BCE, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 150 BCE and 224 CE. These were the third native dynasty of ancient Iran (Persia) and lasted five centuries.

Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east, limiting Rome's expansion beyond Cappadocia (central Anatolia). By using a heavily-armed and armored cataphract cavalry, and lightly armed but highly-mobile mounted archers, the Parthians "held their own against Rome for almost 300 years".^[17] Rome's acclaimed general Mark Antony led a disastrous campaign against the Parthians in 36 BCE in which he lost 32,000 men. By the time of Roman emperor Augustus, Rome and Parthia were settling some of their differences through diplomacy. By this time, Parthia had acquired an assortment of golden eagles, the cherished standards of Rome's legions, captured from Mark Antony, and Crassus, who suffered "a disastrous defeat" at Carrhae in 53 BCE.^[18]

Parthian remains display classically Greek influences in some instances and retain their oriental mode in others, a clear expression of "the cultural diversity that characterized Parthian art and life".^[19] The Parthians were innovators of many architecture designs such as that of Ctesiphon, which later on "influenced European Romanesque architecture".^[20]

Fourth Iranian Empire: Sassanid Empire (224 ?651 CE)

Main articles: Sassanid Empire and Sassanid Art

Bust of Shapur II the Great displays the craftsmanship commanded by Sassanid artisans.

The end of the Parthian Empire came in 224 CE, when the empire was loosely organized and the last king was defeated by Ardashir I, one of the empire's vassals. Ardashir I then went on to create the Sassanid Empire. Soon he started reforming the country both economically and militarily.

The Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent.

The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with their capital at Ctesiphon, and called their empire Erânshahr (or Iranshahr, "Dominion of the Aryans", i.e. of Iranians).^[21]

During their reign, Sassanid battles with the Roman Empire caused such pessimism in Rome that the historian Cassius Dio wrote:

^[22]

The Romans suffered repeated losses particularly by Ardashir I, Shapur I, and Shapur II.^[23] During this period the religion of Mithraism as restructured by Prophet Zoroaster, was practiced throughout the Roman Empire and became particularly popular among Roman Soldiers.^[24][25]

Under the Sassanids, Persia expanded relations with China, the arts, music, and architecture greatly flourished, and centers such as the School of Nisibis and Academy of Gundishapur became world renowned centers of science and scholarship.

After roughly six hundred years of confrontation and rivalry with the Roman Empire, raids from the Arab peninsula began attacking the Sassanin and Byzantine frontiers in which a war-exhausted Persia was defeated in the Battle of al-Qâdisiyah, paving way for the Islamic conquest of Persia.

From the fall of the Sassanid Dynasty to the Safavid Empire (652-1501 AD)

Main articles: Ilkhanate, Timurid dynasty, Mongol Empire, Khwarezmian Empire, Seljuk dynasty, Buyid Dynasty, and Ghaznavid Empire

A Latin copy of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine, which was the standard medical text in Europe for seven centuries.

Hakīm Abol-Qāsem Ferdowsi (935?020) is perhaps the most revered Persian poet. He was the author of the national epic of Iran Shāhnāma, and credited with preserving the Persian language.

After the Islamic conquest of Persia, Persia was annexed into the Arab Umayyad Caliphate. But the Islamization of Iran was to yield deep transformations within the cultural, scientific, and political structure of Iran's society: The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine and art became major elements of the newly-forming Muslim civilization. Inheriting a heritage of thousands of years of civilization, and being at the "crossroads of the major cultural highways",^[26] contributed to Persia emerging as what culminated into the "Islamic Golden Age".

It was the Persian general Abu Moslem, who expelled the Umayyads from Damascus and helped the Abbasid caliphs to conquer Baghdad. The Abbasid caliphs frequently chose their "wazirs" (viziers) among Persians, and Persian governors acquired a certain amount of local autonomy. Thus in 822 AD, the governor of Khorasan, Tahir, proclaimed his independence and founded a new Persian dynasty of Tahirids. And by the Samanid era, Persia's efforts to regain its independence had been well solidified.^[27] Attempts of Arabization thus never succeeded in Iran, and movements such as the Shuubiyah became catalysts for Persians to regain their independence in their relations with the Arab invaders.

The cultural revival of the post-Abbasid period led to a resurfacing of Persian national identity. The resulting cultural movement reached its peak during the ninth and tenth centuries. The most notable effect of the movement was the continuation of the Persian language, the language of the Persians and the official language of Iran to the present day. Ferdowsi, Iran's greatest epic poet, is regarded today as the most important figure in maintaining the Persian language.

During this period, hundreds of scholars and scientists vastly contributed to technology, science and medicine, later influencing the rise of European science during the Renaissance.^[28] The movement continued well into the eleventh century, when Mahmud-a Ghaznavi founded a vast empire, with its capital at Isfahan and Ghazna. Their successors, the Seljuks, asserted their domination from the Mediterranean Sea to Central Asia. As with their predecessors, the divan of the empire was in the hands of Persian viziers, who founded the Nizamiyya.

In 1218, the eastern Khwarazmid provinces of Transoxiana and Khorasan suffered a devastating invasion by Genghis Khan. During this period more than half of Persia's population were killed^[29], turning the streets of Persian cities like Neishabur into "rivers of blood", as the severed heads of men, women, and children were "neatly stacked into carefully constructed pyramids around which the carcasses of the city's dogs and cats were placed".^[30] In a letter to King Louis IX of France, Holaku, one of the Genghis Khan's grandsons, alone took responsibility for 200,000 deaths in his raids of Persia and the Caliphate.^[31] He was followed by yet another conqueror, Tamerlane, who established his capital in Samarkand.

The waves of devastation prevented many cities such as Neishabur from reaching their pre-invasion population levels until the twentieth century, eight centuries later.^[32] But both Holaku, Timur and their successors soon came to adopt the ways and customs of that which they had conquered, chosing to surround themselves with a culture that was distinctively Persian.

The birth of modern Iran: Rise of the Safavid Empire (1501 ?1920)

Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty (1501 to 1736).

Naghsh-i Jahan Square was one of the many monuments built in the Safavid era. It was the largest city square in the world at the time of its construction.

Main articles: Safavid Empire, Qajar dynasty, Afsharid dynasty, and Zand dynasty

Persia's first encompassing Shi'a Islamic state was established under the Safavid dynasty in 1501 by Shah Ismail I. The Safavid dynasty soon became a major political power and promoted the flow of bilateral state contacts. The Safavid peak was during the rule of "Shah Abbas The Great"^[33]. The Shah swiftly moved to defeat the Uzbeks, Ottomans, and Portuguese, bringing a flow of prosperity into Iranian cities.

The capable Qajar chancellor Amir Kabir established Iran's first modern college system, among other modernizing reforms.

The Safavids moved their capital from Tabriz to Qazvin and then to Isfahan where their patronage for the arts propelled Persia into one of its most aesthetically productive eras. Under their rule, the state became highly centralized, the first attempts to modernize the military were made, and even a distinct style of architecture developed.

The defeat of Shah Sultan Hossein by Afghan rebels marked the start of the downfall of the Safavid era in 1722. One year after the last Safavid monarch lost his throne in 1735, Nader Shah successfully drove out the Afghan rebels from Isfahan and established the Afsharid dynasty. He then staged an incursion into India in 1738 securing the Peacock throne, Koh-i-Noor, and Darya-ye Noor among other royal treasures. His rule did not last long however, and he was assassinated in 1747.

The Mashad based Afshar dynasty was succeeded by the Zand dynasty in 1750, founded by Karim Khan, who established his capital at Shiraz. His rule brought a period of relative peace and renewed prosperity. The dynasty however did not last more than three generations, and Aga Muhammad Khan supported by the betrayal of the young Zand king's chancellor, executed him, and founded his new capital in Tehran, marking the dawn of the Qajar dynasty in 1794. His successors however gradually transformed Iran into an arena for the rising colonial powers of Imperial Russia and the British Empire, which wielded great political influence in Tehran under the subsequent Qajarid kings. Yet in spite of The Great Game, Iran managed to maintain her sovereignty and was never colonized, unlike neighboring states in the region.

Persia suffered several wars with Imperial Russia during the Qajar era, resulting in Persia losing almost half of its territories to Imperial Russia and the British Empire via the treaties of Gulistan, Turkmenchay, and Akhal. Repeated foreign intervention and a corrupt and weakened Qajar rule led to various protests, which by the end of the Qajar period resulted in Persia's constitutional revoltuion establishing the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy.

From the Pahlavi era to the Iranian Revolution (1921 ?1979)

Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, former Iranian prime minister, was overthrown in a CIA-backed coup in 1953.

Main articles: Pahlavi dynasty and Iranian Constitutional Revolution

With the rise of modernization and encroachment of stronger Western powers in the late nineteenth century came the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911. Reformers hoped the constitution would strengthen Iran against Imperial Russia and Britain by centralizing and modernizing it. Ultimately the constitution became law, but its provisions were seldom followed during most of its history.

In 1921, Cossack army officer Reza Khan (known as Reza Shah after assuming the throne) staged a coup against the weakened Qajar dynasty. An autocrat and supporter of modernization, Reza Shah initiated the development of modern industry, railroads, and establishment of a national education system. Reza Shah sought to balance the influence of Russia and Britain by seeking out assistance and technology from European powers traditionally not involved in Iranian affairs, but when World War II started his closeness to Germany alarmed allied powers Russia and Britain, Germany's enemies.

In summer of 1941 Britain and the USSR invaded Iran to prevent Iran from allying with the Axis powers. The Allies occupied Iran, securing a supply line to Russia, Iran's petroleum infrastructure, and forced the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1951, a nationalist politician, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh rose to prominence in Iran and was elected Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, Mossadegh became enormously popular in Iran by nationalizing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later British Petroleum, BP) which controlled the country's oil reserves. In response, Britain embargoed Iranian oil and began plotting to depose Mossadegh. Members of the British Intelligence Service invited the United States to join them, convincing U.S. President Eisenhower that Mossadegh was reliant on the Tudeh (Communist) Party to stay in power. In 1953, President Eisenhower authorized Operation Ajax, and the CIA took the lead in overthrowing Mossadegh and supporting a U.S.-friendly monarch; and for which the U.S. Government apologized in 2000.^[34]

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, overthrown in the 1979 Iranian revolution, with Farah Pahlavi, former Empress of Iran.

The CIA faced many setbacks, but the covert operation soon went into full swing, conducted from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran under the leadership of Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. Iranians were hired to protest Mossadegh and fight pro-Mossadegh demonstrators. Anti- and pro-monarchy protestors violently clashed in the streets, leaving almost three hundred dead. The operation was successful in triggering a coup, and within days, pro-Shah tanks stormed the capital and bombarded the Prime Minister's residence. Mossadegh surrendered, and was arrested on 19 August 1953. He was tried for treason, and sentenced to three years in prison.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi returned to power greatly strengthened and his rule became increasingly autocratic in the following years. With strong support from the U.S. and U.K., the Shah further modernized Iranian industry, but simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition with his intelligence agency, SAVAK. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became an active critic of the Shah's White Revolution and publicly denounced the government. Khomeini, who was popular in religious circles, was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964, Khomeini publicly criticized the United States government. The Shah was persuaded to send him into exile by General Hassan Pakravan. Khomeini was sent first to Turkey, then to Iraq and finally to France. While in exile, he continued to denounce the Shah.

Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War (1979 ?1988)

Main articles: Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq War

The Iranian Revolution (also known as the Islamic Revolution,^[35][36][37]) was the revolution that transformed Iran from a monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic.^[38]

Although some might argue that the revolution is still ongoing, its time span can be said to have begun in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations,^[39] and concluded with the approval of the new theocratic Constitution ?whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country ?in December 1979. In between, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi left the country for exile in January 1979 after strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country, and on February 1, 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran to a greeting of several million Iranians.^[40] The final collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty occurred shortly after on February 11 when Iran's military declared itself "neutral" after guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979 when Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so.^[41]

The revolution was unique for the surprise it created throughout the world:^[42] it lacked many of the customary causes of revolution ?defeat at war, a financial crisis, peasant rebellion, or disgruntled military;^[43] produced profound change at great speed;^[44] overthrew a regime thought to be heavily protected by a lavishly financed army and security services;^[45][46] and replaced an ancient monarchy with a theocracy based on Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (or velayat-e faqih). Its outcome, an Islamic Republic "under the guidance of an 80-year-old exiled religious scholar from Qom," was, as one scholar put it, "clearly an occurrence that had to be explained.?quot;^[47]

Not so unique but more intense is the dispute over the revolution's results. For some it was a era of heroism and sacrifice that brought forth nothing less than the nucleus of a world Islamic state, "a perfect model of splendid, humane, and divine life?for all the peoples of the world."^[48] At the other extreme some Iranians explain the revolution as a time when "for a few years we all lost our minds,"^[49] and did damage to Iran's economy and world prestige from which it has yet to recover.^[50][51]

Iran's relations with the United States became deeply antagonistic following the revolution. On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized US embassy personnel labeling the embassy a "den of spies"^[52] and accused its personnel of being CIA agents plotting to overthrow the revolutionary government, as the CIA had done to Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953. Khomeini supported the embassy takeover.^{[citation needed]}. Women, African Americans and one hostage diagnosed with multiple sclerosis were soon released, the remaining 52 were held for 444 days. The students demanded the handover of the shah in exchange for the hostages, and following the Shah's death in the summer of 1980, that the hostages be put on trial for espionage. Subsequently attempts by the U.S. administration to negotiate or rescue were unsuccessful until January 1981 when the Algiers declaration was agreed upon. The U.S. promised (among other things) in the accord to release Iranian assets that had been frozen, but as of 2007 those assets still remain frozen.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, leader of the Islamic revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Donald Rumsfeld meeting Saddam Hussein on 19 December - 20 December 1983. Rumsfeld visited again on 24 March 1984; the same day the UN released a report that Iraq had used mustard gas and tabun nerve agent against Iranian troops.

Meanwhile, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to take advantage of what he perceived to be disorder in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and its unpopularity with Western governments. The once-strong Iranian military had been disbanded during the revolution, and with the Shah ousted, Hussein had ambitions to position himself as the new strong man of the Middle East. He also sought to expand Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf by acquiring territories that Iraq had claimed earlier from Iran during the Shah's rule. Of chief importance to Iraq was Khuzestan which not only boasted a substantial Arab population, but rich oil fields as well. On the unilateral behalf of the United Arab Emirates, the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs became objectives as well. With these ambitions in mind, Hussein planned a full-scale assault on Iran, boasting that his forces could reach the capital within three days. On September 22, 1980 the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the Iran-Iraq War. The attack took revolutionary Iran completely by surprise.

Although Saddam Hussein's forces made several early advances, by 1982, Iranian forces managed to push the Iraqi army back into Iraq. Khomeini sought to export his Islamic revolution westward into Iraq, especially on the majority Shi'a Arabs living in the country. The war then continued for six more years until 1988, when Khomeini, in his words, "drank the cup of poison" and accepted a truce mediated by the United Nations.

Tens of thousands of Iranian civilians and military personnel were killed when Iraq used chemical weapons in its warfare. Iraq was financially backed by Egypt, the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact states, the United States (beginning in 1983), France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and the People's Republic of China (which also sold weapons to Iran). All of these countries provided intelligence, agents for chemical weapons as well as other forms of military assistance to Saddam Hussein. Iran's principal allies during the war were Syria, Libya, and North Korea.

With more than 100,000 Iranian victims^[53] of Iraq's chemical weapons during the eight-year war, Iran is the world's second-most afflicted country by weapons of mass destruction?second only to Japan. The total Iranian casualties of the war were estimated to be anywhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000. Almost all relevant international agencies have confirmed that Saddam engaged in chemical warfare to blunt Iranian human wave attacks, while unanimously announcing that Iran never used chemical weapons during the war.^{[54][55][56][57]}