what do ya know about the history of IRAN?

Answer 1

Iran is a country located in West Asia. Iran borders Armenia, Azerbaijan (including its Nakhichevan exclave), and Turkmenistan to the north, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, and Turkey and Iraq to the west. In addition, it borders the Persian Gulf, across which lie Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Shi'a Islam is the official state religion.

Throughout history, Iran has been of great geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia. Iran is a member and co-founder of the United Nations, the OIC, and OPEC. Iran is also significant in international politics on account of its large supply of petroleum. The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan and literally means "Land of the Aryans."

History
Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent.Iran has been inhabited by humans since pre-historic times and recent discoveries have begun to shed light upon what ancient culture was like in Iran, centuries before the earliest civilizations arose in nearby Mesopotamia.

The written history of Persia (Iran) begins around 3200 BCE with the Proto-Elamite civilization, followed by the Elamites. The arrival of the Aryans and the establishing of the Median dynasty culminated in the first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BCE), founded by Cyrus the Great. It eventually became the largest and most powerful empire in human history up until that point, ruling and administrating over most of the then known world

Alexander the great or also known in the Zoroastrian Middle Persian Arda Wiraz Nāmag as "the accursed Alexander" (due to his conquest of the Persian Empire and the destruction of its cities, including the capital Persepolis), conquered Persia in 333 BCE only to be followed shortly by two more vast and unified Persian empires that shaped the pre-Islamic identity of Iran and Central Asia: the Parthian (250 BCE– 226 CE) and Sassanid (226 – 650 CE) dynasties. The latter dynasties also defeated the Roman empire at the height of its power on several occasions.

The Silk Road, connecting Persia with China were significant not only for the development and flowering of the great civilizations of China, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India and Rome but also helped to lay the foundations of our modern world.

Before the Islamic conquest of Persia, Zoroastrianism was the national religion of the Sassanian Empire of Persia, and played an important role in the earlier Achaemenean and Parthian regimes. The Iranian Prophet Zoroaster is considered by numerous scholars as the founder of the earliest religion based on revealed scripture. Some scholars point to the fact that Judeo-Christianity and Islam owes a great debt to Zoroastrianism in regards to the introduction of eschatology, angelology and demonology, as well as Satan, (daēva), (Ahriman) as the ultimate agent of evil. Zoroastrianism is uniquely important in the history of religion because it is considered to be one of the first monotheistic religions, and also because of its formative links to both Western Abrahamic and Eastern dharmic religious traditions. Zoroastrian monotheism has had major influence on the religions of the middle eastern monotheisms in adaptations of such concepts as heavens, hells, judgement day and messianic figures. Nonetheless, claims of Zoroastrianism influencing ancient Jewish thought are disputed by some Jewish and Christian scholars, despite the various influencing elements being evident.

An important chapter of Irans history followed after roughly 600 years of conflict with the Roman Empire, when the war-exhausted Persians lost the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (632 CE) in Hilla, (present day Iraq). The Persian general Rostam Farrokhzād had been criticised for his decision to face the Arabs on their own ground, suggesting that the Persians could have prevailed if they had stayed on the opposite bank of the Euphrates. The first day of Battle ended with Persian advances and the Arab force appeared as though it would succumb to the much larger Sassanian army. In particular, the latter's elephants terrified the Arab cavalry. By the third day of battle, Arab veterans arrived on the scene and re-inforced the Arab army. In addition a clever trick whereby the Arab horses were decorated in costume succeeded in frightening the Persian elephants. When an Arab warrior succeeded in slaying the lead elephant, the rest fled into the rear, trampelling numerous Persian fighters. At dawn of the fourth day, a sandstorm broke out blowing sand in the Persian armies faces resulting in total disarray for the Sassanian army and paving way for the Islamic conquest of Persia.

After the conquest Persians began to look for ways in which they could remain Muslim but also define themselves as Persian and sought the "Persianisation" of Islam. Shia Islam, Irans state religion today, has an enormous amount of Persian influence in it. Meanwhile as Europe was in the dark ages, Persia and Persian scientists created an Islamic Golden Age, (see List of Iranian scientists and scholars) becoming the heart and mind of the World and was at this point of history the worlds scientific and cultural center with philosophers, scientists, engineers and historians contributing enormously to technology, science and medicine, leading directly to the renaissance. The late Middle Ages however brought many critical events in the region. From 1220, Persia was invaded and destroyed by wave after wave of calamity starting with the Mongol invasion, followed later by Tamerlane. During the Mongol period more than half of the population were killed and didn't reach its pre-Mongol levels until the 20th century.

Persia's first encompassing Shi'a Islamic state was established under the Safavid dynasty in 1501. The decline of the Safavid state in the 17th century increasingly turned Persia into an arena for rising rival colonial powers such as Imperial Russia and the British Empire that wielded great political influence in Tehran under the Qajarid dynasty. Iran however, managed to maintain its sovereignty and was never colonized, making it unique in the region. With the rise of modernization in the late 19th century, desire for change led to the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911. In 1921, Reza Shah Pahlavi staged a coup against the weakened Qajar dynasty. A supporter of modernization, Reza Shah initiated the development of modern industry, railroads, and establishment of a national education system, but his autocratic rule and unbalanced social reforms created discontent among many Iranians.

During World War II, Britain and the USSR invaded Iran from August 25 to September 17, 1941, to stop an Axis-supported coup and secure Iran's oil resources supply. The Allies of World War II forced the shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom they hoped would be more supportive. In 1951, an eccentric pro-democratic nationalist, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh rose to prominence in Iran and was elected its first Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, Mossadegh alarmed the West by his nationalization of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which controlled all of the country's oil reserves. Britain immediately put an embargo on Iran. British Intelligence Service approached the United States under Harry S. Truman to join them in Operation Ajax, a coup against Mossadegh. Truman was categorically unwilling to join Britain but his successor, Dwight Eisenhower was persuaded to join them when the issue of the potential threat of the Communist Tudeh Party of Iran coming to power was brought up with allegations that Mossadegh himself might even be pro-Soviet (an assertion that was never found to be true). The Shah at first attempted to formally dismiss Mossadegh, but this backfired and Mossadegh convinced the Shah to flee to Baghdad.

Regardless of this setback, the covert operation soon went into full swing. Protests broke out across the nation. Anti- and pro-monarchy protestors violently clashed in the streets, leaving almost 300 dead. The operation was successful in inciting pro-Shah sentiment in the country, and within days of its commencement, pro-Shah tanks stormed the capital and bombarded the Prime Minister's residence. Mossadegh surrendered, and was arrested on August 19, 1953. He was tried for treason, and sentenced to three years in prison. To many Iranians who supported the democratically elected Mossadegh and supported the nationalization of the oil industry, seeing the British/American involvement in the return of the Shah planted a seed of distrust that to this day affects the relationship between the countries.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was then reinstated as Shah. His rule became increasingly autocratic in the following years and soon Iran became a model police state. With strong support from the US and UK, the Shah further modernized Iranian industry, but simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition with his intelligence agency, SAVAK. Past governments have criticized the West and in particular the US for support of the repressive Shah.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established an Islamic republic in Iran in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.In the 1970s, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gained popularity among Iranians. Islamists, communists and democrats staged the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The Shah fled the country again, after which Khomeini eventually succeeded in taking power and establishing an Islamic republic. The new system instated conservative Islamic laws and unprecedented levels of direct clerical rule. Relations with the US were severely strained in 1979, after Iranian students seized US embassy personnel labeling the embassy the "Den of Spies" and accused its personnel of being CIA agents trying to overthrow the revolutionary government. Khomeini did not stop the students from holding U.S. embassaries hostage and instead encouraged it, a move which only increased his popularity. Despite attempts made by the administration of US President Jimmy Carter at negotiation and rescusing the hostages through such methods as Operation Eagle Claw, Iran refused to release them and even threatened to put the hostages on trial for espionage. After 444 days, the hostages were finally released.

Meanwhile, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to take advantage of what he perceived to be disorder in the wake of the Iranian revolution. Of particular interest was that the once-strong Iranian military had been disbanded during the revolution. With the Shah out of power, Saddam had far-reaching ambitions to assert himself as the new strong man of the Middle East and planned a full-scale invasion of Iran, boasting that his forces could reach the capital within three days. So, on September 22, 1980, Saddam's army invaded southwest Iran taking the country completely by surprise. The destructive Iran-Iraq War called "Saddām's al-Qādisiyyah" in Iraq, and the "Imposed war" in Iran, lasted from 1980 to 1988. Tens of thousands of Iranian civilians and military personnel were killed when Iraq used chemical weapons in its warfare. Iraq was morally and financially backed by Egypt, the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, the United States (beginning in 1983), France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, the People's Republic of China (which also sold weapons to Iran), the Soviet Union, and the Warsaw Pact states. All of these countries provided intelligence, chemicals for biological weapons and other assistance to the Iraqis. Iran's prinicpal allies during the war were Syria, Libya, and North Korea

Although Saddam's forces made several early advances, the people of Iran began rallying around Khomeini as he urged all Iranians to defend their country and religion against Saddam's secular Ba'athist regime. By 1982, Iranian forces managed to push the Iraqi army back into Iraq. Khomeini refused a cease-fire from Saddam demanding huge reparation payments and an end to his rule and that he be tried for warcrimes and crimes against humanity. He also 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 in 1988, Khomeini, in his words, "drank the cup of poison" and accepted a truce mediated by the United Nations. The total Iranian casualties of the war were estimated to be anywhere between 500,000 to 1,000,000. With the fall of Saddam's regime in Iraq in April 2003 and his capture in December, Iran announced it had sent its own indictment against Saddam to Iraq's government, with the list of complaints including the use of chemical weapons. Although Iran itself also possessed chemical weapons, it never used them during the war.

The struggle between reformists and conservatives continues today through electoral politics, and was a central focus in the Iranian presidential election of 2005, which resulted in the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since then, there has been an increase in tensions between Iran and the US. It is asserted by some that the US is pursuing an anti-Iran campaign in the world media in attempts to cast disfavor toward Iran, such as reporting concerns it has regarding Iran's nuclear program or support by Iran to insurgents in Iraq. Many anti-American political commentators in the Middle East assert that Washington's stance on Iran is more governed by the latter's oil reserves and pressure from the Zionist lobby in the US who hope to establish free rein for Israel in the region and who see Iran (as they saw Saddam) as an obstacle to this plan.

Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and as such has the legal right to use and research nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Members of the UN Security Council, in particular Russia and China, oppose any military action. Significantly, Iran was recently elected vice-chair on the UN Disarmament Commission. Recently, Iran announced it is researching the construction of a P2 centrifuge, which is a more efficient technology to enrich uranium for energy. Despite the U.S and Iran being at odds with each other, both governments promote exchanges between their people in numerous fields such as film, art, philosophy and astronomy

Answer 2

It was known as Persia up until 1959....I will save you the ancient history lesson, because you asked specifically for Iran....

Iran has traditionally been a Shia and Sufi country (both are sects of Islam), although there are still Zoroastrians (the ancient Persian religon) living there. Iran had very good relations with the US and the Western World up until 1979, when The Shah was removed from power and Ayatollah Kohmeni took power. The US and the Shah if Iran were such good friends, the US gave him 4 Navy Cruisers, several F-4 jets, and even a US Treasury printing Press so they could print their own American money (it was the only such press to ever leave the country).

In 1979, the Islamic Revolution turned Iran into a fundamentalist Islamic state, which took over 100 hostages at the US embassy in Tehran. Diplomatic relations between the US and Iran have been almost non existant ever since.

Answer 3

Formally known as Ariana and Persian which were used to describe the region which is today known as the Iranian plateau.
The written history of Persia (Iran) begins around 3200 BCE with the Proto-Elamite civilization, followed by the Elamites. The Achaemenid Empire (648–330 BCE), founded by Cyrus the Great became the largest and most powerful empire in human history.
The Silk Road, connecting Persia with China significantly helped to lay the foundations of our modern world. Also helped to develop The great civilizations of China, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India and Rome.From the 9th to the11th century, Persia was the heart and mind of the Islamic Golden Age. Avicenna (Ibn-Sina) was the greatest of the medieval Islamic and Persian physician. An important chapter of Iran's history came after600 years of conflict with the Roman Empire, when the Persians lost the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (632 CE) in Hilla, (present day Iraq).

Answer 4

It was the origin of the Persian Empire before the Egiptians (5000 years ago), then become part of the Greek Empire(900 AC), then part of the Mongol Empire (1200 DC). After that was part of the Otoman Empire (until 1800s'), then become part of the British Empire and have their independence in 1970's.

Answer 5

Iran and Iraq is the same country, right ? I think Iran is in english and Iraq is in french. I don't like that country because they put gay people in jail.

Answer 6

One common mistake many people make is that Iranians aren't Arabs, they are Persian.