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Islamic Republic of Iran
جمهوری اسلامی ایران(
Persian) Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân
Iran is one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the
Elamites in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified as a state by the
Medes in the seventh century BC and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when
Cyrus the Great founded the
Achaemenid Empire, one of the largest and most powerful empires in
ancient history.
Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century BC, subsequently dividing Iran into several
Hellenistic states. An Iranian rebellion established the
Parthian Empire in the third century BC, which was succeeded in the third century AD by the
Sasanian Empire.
Muslims conquered the region in the seventh century AD, leading to Iran's
Islamization. Iran became a major centre of
Islamic culture and learning, and its culture, language, and customs spread across the
Muslim world. A series of
native Iranian Muslim dynasties ruled the country until the
Seljuk and the
Mongol conquests of the 11th to 14th centuries. In the 16th century, the native
Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state with
TwelverShia Islam as the
official religion, marking the beginning of modern Iranian history.
The term Iran("the land of the Aryans") derives from
Middle PersianĒrān, first attested in a third-century inscription at
Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying
Parthian inscription using Aryān, in reference to the
Iranians.[14] The terms Ērān and Aryān are oblique plural forms of
gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), both deriving from
Proto-Iranian language*arya- (meaning "
Aryan", i.e. "of the Iranians"),[14][15] recognised as a derivative of
Proto-Indo-European language*ar-yo-, meaning "one who assembles (skilfully)".[16] According to
Iranian mythology, the name comes from
Iraj, a legendary king.[17]
Historically, Iran has been referred to as "Persia" by
the West, due to the writings of
Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as "Persís" (
Ancient Greek: Περσίς), meaning "the land of the
Persians".[18][19][20][21] "Persia" is the
Fars province in southwest Iran, the country's 4th largest province, also known as "Pârs".[22][23] The
Persian word "Fârs" (فارس), derived from the earlier form "Pârs" (پارس), which is in turn derived from Pârsâ (
Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to the Fars' historical importance,[24][25] the term "Persia" originated from
this province by the Greeks in around 550 BC,[26] and Westerners started to refer the entire country as "Persia",[27][28] until 1935, when
Reza Pahlavi requested the international community to refer to the country by its native and original name, Iran.[29][30] While the Iranians had been calling their nation Iran since at least 1000 BC and possibly earlier, this name change was made so that the
Western World would begin to refer to the country by the same name as its people.[22] Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains mandatory in official state contexts.[31][32][33][34][35][36]
The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran confirm human presence since the
Lower Palaeolithic.[41] Iran's
Neanderthal artifacts have been found mainly in the
Zagros region, at sites such as
Warwasi and
Yafteh.[42][43][44] From the tenth to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region, including
Chogha Golan,[45][46]Chogha Bonut,[47][48] and
Chogha Mish.[49][50][51][52] The occupation of grouped hamlets in the area of
Susa ranges from 4395 to 3490 BC.[53] 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.[52][54][55]
During the
Bronze Age, the territory was home to several Iranian civilizations,[56][57] including
Elam,
Jiroft, and
Zayanderud. Elam, the most prominent of these, developed in the southwest alongside those in
Mesopotamia, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Iranian empires. The advent of writing in Elam was parallelled to
Sumer; the
Elamite cuneiform developed beginning in the third millennium BC.[58] Diverse artifacts from The Bronze Age, huge structures from the Iron Age and various sites dating back to the Sassanid, Parthian and Islamic eras indicated suitable conditions for human civilization over the past 8,000 years in
Piranshahr.[59][60]
From the 34th to the 20th century BC, northwestern Iran was part of the
Kura-Araxes culture, which stretched into the neighbouring
Caucasus and
Anatolia.
From the late tenth to the late seventh century BC, the Iranian peoples, together with the pre-Iranian kingdoms, fell under the domination of the
Assyrian Empire, based in northern
Mesopotamia.[64][65] Under king
Cyaxares, the Medes and Persians entered into an alliance with
Babylonian ruler
Nabopolassar, as well as the fellow Iranian
Scythians and
Cimmerians, and together they attacked the
Assyrians. Civil war ravaged the Assyrian Empire between 616 and 605 BC, freeing their respective peoples from three centuries of Assyrian rule.[64]
The frequent interference of the Assyrians in
Zagros led to the process of unifying the Median tribes by
Deioces in 728 BC, the foundation of the
Median Empire and their capital
Ecbatana, unifying Iran as a nation and
state for the first time in 625 BC.[66] By 612 BC, the Medes overthrow the declining
Assyrian Empire in alliance with the Babylonians.[67] This marked the end of the
Kingdom of Urartu, which was subsequently conquered and dissolved.[68][69]
In 550 BC,
Cyrus the Great defeated the last Median king,
Astyages during the
Medo-Persian conflict, conquering Median territories and establishing the
Achaemenid Empire by unifying other city-states. Later conquests under Cyrus and his successors expanded the empire to include
Lydia,
Babylon,
Egypt, parts of the
Balkans and
Eastern Europe, as well as lands to the west of the
Indus and
Oxus rivers. In 539 BC Persian forces defeated the Babylonian army at
Opis, marking the end of around four centuries of Mesopotamian domination of the region by conquering the
Neo-Babylonian Empire.[70][71]
In 518 BC,
Persepolis was founded by
Darius the Great as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire which, at its greatest extent, was the largest empire the world had yet seen,[71] and it ruled over 44% of the world's population.[72] The Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized bureaucratic administration, its multicultural policy, building complex infrastructure such as
road systems and an
organized postal system, the use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of
a large, professional army. Its advancements inspired the implementation of similar styles of governance by later empires.[73] In 334 BC,
Alexander the Great defeated the last Achaemenid king,
Darius III, at the
Battle of Issus, and burned down Persepolis. Following the
premature death of Alexander in 323 BC, Iran fell under the control of the
Seleucid Empire, and divided into several
Hellenistic states.
Iran remained under the Seleucid occupation until 250–247 BC, when the native
Parthians, led by
Arsaces I,
liberated the region of
Parthia in northeast Iran, and rebelled against the
Seleucids, founding the
Parthian Empire. Parthians 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–Parthian Wars.
Mithridates I greatly expanded the empire by seizing
Media and
Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the
Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day
Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the
Silk Road trade route between the
Roman Empire in the
Mediterranean Basin and the
Han dynasty of
China, became a center of trade and commerce. As the Parthians expanded westward, they came into conflict with the
Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late
Roman Republic. The Romans and Parthians competed with each other to establish the
kings of Armenia as their
subordinate clients.
After nearly five centuries of Parthian rule, frequent civil wars between Parthian contenders to the throne proved more dangerous to the Empire's stability than foreign invasion. Parthian power evaporated when
Ardashir I, the Persian ruler of
Istakhr, killed the last Parthian ruler,
Artabanus IV, and founded the
Sasanian Empire in 224 AD. Sassanids and their neighbouring arch-rival, the
Roman-
Byzantines, were the world's two dominant powers for over four centuries.[74][75] The
Sasanians established an empire within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with their capital at
Ctesiphon. Late antiquity is considered one of Iran's most influential periods, as under the Sasanians,[76] their influence reached
ancient Rome (and through that as far as
Western Europe),[77][78]Africa,[79]China, and
India,[80] and played a prominent role in the formation of the mediaeval art of both
Europe and
Asia.[74][75] The period of Sasanian rule was a high point in Iranian history, characterized by a complex and centralized government bureaucracy, and revitalized
Zoroastrianism as a legitimizing and unifying force of their rule.[81]
In 750, the
Abbasids overthrew the
Umayyads.[93] Arabs Muslims and Persians of all strata made up the rebel army, which was united by the converted Persian Muslim,
Abu Muslim.[94][95][96] In their struggle for power, society gradually became cosmopolitan. Persians and Turks began to replace Arabs in most fields. A hierarchy of officials emerged, a bureaucracy at first Persian and later
Turkish which decreased Abbasid prestige and power for good.[97]
The blossoming
literature,
philosophy,
mathematics,
medicine,
astronomy and
art became major elements in a new age for Iranian civilization, during a period known as the
Islamic Golden Age.[103][104] The Islamic Golden Age reached its peak by the 10th and 11th centuries, during which Iran was the main theatre of scientific activities.[105] The tenth century saw a mass migration of
Turkic tribes from
Central Asia to Iran.[106] Turkic tribesmen were first used in the Abbasid army as
mamluks (slave-warriors).[94] As a result, the
Mamluks gained significant political power. In 999, large portions of Iran briefly occupied by the
Ghaznavids, and longer subsequently under the
Seljuk and
Khwarezmian empires.[106] The Seljuks subsequently gave rise to the
Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia.[107][108] The result of the adoption and patronage of Iranian culture by Turkish rulers was the development of a distinct
Turco-Persian tradition.
From 1219 to 1221, under the
Khwarazmian Empire, Iran suffered
a devastating invasion by the
Mongol Empire. 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."[109] Most modern historians either outright dismiss or are highly skeptical of such statistics and deem them to be exaggerations by Muslim chroniclers of that era. Indeed, as far as Iran was concerned, the bulk of the Mongol onslaught and battles were in the northeast Iran, such as in the cities of
Nishapur and
Tus.[110][111][112]
Following the fracture of the Mongol Empire in 1256,
Hulagu Khan established the
Ilkhanate Empire in Iran. In 1357, the capital
Tabriz was occupied by the
Golden Horde khan
Jani Beg and the centralised power collapsed, resulting in the emergence of rivalling dynasties. In 1370, yet another conqueror,
Timur, took control over Iran, establishing the
Timurid Empire. In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of
Isfahan, killing 70,000 citizens.[113]
By the 1500s,
Ismail I established the
Safavid Empire,[114][115] and chose
Tabriz as his capital.[106] Beginning with
Azerbaijan, he extended his authority over the Iranian territories, and established an intermittent Iranian hegemony over large parts of
Greater Iran.[116] The Safavids, along with the
Ottomans and
Mughals, were the creators of a period in history known as the "
Gunpowder empires", three early modern Muslim empires which flourished from mid-16th to the early 18th century. Iran was predominantly
Sunni,[117] but Ismail instigated
a forced conversion to the
Shia branch, marking one of the most important turning points in the
history of Islam, and the beginning of modern Iranian history.[118][119][115][120][121] As a result, Iran is the only official Shia nation today, with it holding an absolute majority in Iran and the
Republic of Azerbaijan.[122][123]
The relationship between the Safavids and the West begins with the presence of the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf from the 16th century, oscillating between alliances and open war between the 17th and 18th century. The Safavid era saw the start of mass integration from
Caucasian populations and their mass resettlement within the heartlands of Iran. In 1588,
Abbas the Great came to the throne during a troubled period. Under his leadership, Iran developed the
ghilman system where thousands of
Circassian,
Georgian, and
Armenian slave-soldiers joined the civil administration and the military. As a result, the Iranian-Armenian community is the largest of Iran's national minorities today, and the largest
Christian religious minority.[124]
With the help of these newly created layers in Iranian society, Abbas eclipsed the power of the Qizilbash in the civil administration, the royal house, and the military. He relocated the capital from
Qazvin to
Isfahan, making the city the pinnacle of Safavid architecture. During his rule,
Tabriz was returned to Iran after 18 years of
Ottoman rule. In Abbas' later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, he became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded. 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 Russian), the Safavid rule was ended by the
Pashtun rebels who besieged Isfahan and defeated
Soltan Hoseyn in 1722.
In 1729,
Nader Shah Afshar successfully drove out and conquered the Pashtun invaders. He took back the annexed Caucasian territories which
were divided among the Ottoman and
Russian authorities by the ongoing chaos in Iran. During the reign of Nader, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sasanian Empire, reestablishing Iranian hegemony over the
Caucasus, as well as other major parts of
west and
central Asia, and briefly possessing arguably the most powerful empire at the time.[125][126][127][125]
At its height it controlled modern-day Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and parts of Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Oman and the North Caucasus (Dagestan).
Nader
invaded India and sacked Delhi by the late 1730s. His army had easily defeated the
Mughals at the
Battle of Karnal and eventually captured the Mughal capital in the aftermath of the battle. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the "
Napoleon of Iran", "the Sword of Iran", and "the Second
Alexander".[128][129]Joseph Stalin used to read about Nader and admired him, calling him, along with
Ivan the Terrible, "a teacher".[130] Starting from a young age,
Napoleon Bonaparte also used to read about and admire Nader. Napoleon considered himself the new Nader, and he himself was later called "European Nader Shah".[131]
Nader's territorial expansion and military successes declined following the final
campaigns in the Northern Caucasus against then revolting
Lezgins. Nader became increasingly cruel as a result of his illness and his desire to extort more and more tax money to pay for his military campaigns. Revolts broke out and Nader crushed them ruthlessly, building towers from his victims' skulls in imitation of his hero Timur.[132][133] After his assassination in 1747, most of Nader's empire was divided between the
Zands,
Durranis,
Georgians, and the
Caucasian khanates, while the Afsharid rule was limited to a small local state in
Khorasan. His death sparked a brief period of civil war and turmoil, after which
Karim Khan Zand came to power in 1750.[109]
Compared to its preceding dynasties, the geopolitical reach of the Zands was limited. Many of the Iranian territories in the Caucasus gained de facto autonomy and were locally ruled through
Caucasian khanates. However, they remained
subjects and vassals to the Zand kingdom. It later quickly expanded to include much of Iran (except for the provinces of
Balochistan and
Khorasan) as well as parts of modern
Iraq. The lands of present-day
Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and
Georgia were controlled by khanates which were
de jure part of the Zand rule, but the region was
de facto autonomous.[134] The island of
Bahrain was also held for the Zands by the autonomous
Al-Mazkur sheikhdom of
Bushehr.[135][136]
The reign of its most important ruler,
Karim Khan, was marked by prosperity and peace. With his capital in
Shiraz, arts and architecture flourished in the city, with some themes in architecture being revived from the nearby sites of the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods. Following the death of Karim Khan in 1779, Iran went into decline due to civil war amongst members of the Zand dynasty. Its final ruler,
Lotf Ali Khan, was eventually executed by
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar in 1794.
The Qajars took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing
Lotf 'Ali Khan, and founding the
Qajar Empire. In 1795, following the disobedience of the
Georgian subjects and their
alliance with the Russians, the Qajars captured
Tbilisi at the
Battle of Krtsanisi, and drove the Russians out of the Caucasus, re-establishing Iranian
suzerainty over the region. In 1796,
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar seized
Mashhad with ease, and ended the Afsharid rule once and for all. He was formally crowned as king and chose
Tehran as his capital, where it still stands today. His reign is noted for the return of a centralized and unified Iran. He had a cruel and rapacious behavior, while at the same time, he was also viewed as a pragmatic, calculating, and shrewd military and political leader.[137][138] The Russo-Iranian wars of
1804–1813 and
1826–1828 resulted in large territorial losses for Iran in the Caucasus, comprising all of the
South Caucasus and
Dagestan.[126] As a result of the 19th-century Russo-Iranian wars, the Russians took over Iran's integral territories in the region (comprising modern-day Dagestan,
Georgia,
Armenia, and
Republic of Azerbaijan), which was confirmed per the treaties of
Gulistan and
Turkmenchay.[127][139][140][141][142][143][144][145]
The weakening of Iran made it a victim of the colonial struggle between Russia and Britain known as the
Great Game.[146] Especially after the treaty of Turkmenchay, Russia was the dominant force in Iran,[147] while the Qajars would also play a role in several 'Great Game' battles such as the sieges of Herat in
1837 and
1856. As Iran shrank, many
South Caucasian and
North Caucasian Muslims moved towards Iran,[148][149] especially until the aftermath of the
Circassian genocide,[149] and the decades afterwards, while Iran's Armenians were encouraged to settle in the newly incorporated Russian territories,[150][151][152] causing significant demographic shifts. Around 1.5 million people—20 to 25% of the population of Iran—died as a result of the
Great Famine of 1870–1872.[153]
Between 1872 and 1905, protesters objected to the sale of
concessions to foreigners by Qajar monarchs
Naser-ed-Din and
Mozaffar-ed-Din, leading to the
Constitutional Revolution in 1905. The
first Iranian constitution and the first national parliament were founded in 1906, through the ongoing revolution. The Constitution included the official recognition of Iran's three religious minorities:
Christians,
Jews, and
Zoroastrians.[154] The struggle related to the constitutional movement was followed by the
Triumph of Tehran in 1909, when
Mohammad Ali was forced to abdicate. The event ended the period in Iranian history known as the
minor tyranny. The revolution was the first of its kind in the Islamic world, earlier than the revolution of the
Young Turks in 1908. It opened the way for the modern era in Iran, and debate in a burgeoning press. Many groups fought to shape the course of the revolution. The old order, which Naser al-Din had struggled for so long to sustain, was finally replaced by new institutions. In 1907, the
Anglo-Russian Convention divided Iran into influence zones, formalising many of the concessions. On the pretext of restoring order, the
Russians occupied northern Iran and
Tabriz and maintained a military presence in the region for years. But this did not end the civil uprisings and was soon followed by
Mirza Kuchik Khan's
Jungle Movement against both the Qajar monarchy and foreign invaders.
Apart from the rule of Agha Mohammad Khan, the Qajar rule is characterised as misrule.[106] The inability of
Qajar government to maintain the country's
sovereignty during and immediately after World War I led to the British-directed
1921 Persian coup d'état and
Reza Pahlavi's establishment of the
Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Pahlavi became
Prime Minister and was declared monarch in 1925.
In 1951,
Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected
Prime Minister of Iran. Mosaddegh became enormously popular after he
nationalized the oil industry, which had been largely controlled by foreign interests. He worked to weaken the monarchy until he was removed in the
1953 Iranian coup d'état—an Anglo-American covert operation that marked the first time the US had participated in an overthrow of a foreign government during the
Cold War.[167] After the
coup, Pahlavi aligned Iran with the
Western Bloc and cultivated a close relationship with the United States to consolidate his power as an authoritarian ruler, relying heavily on American support amidst the
Cold War.
The Grand AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini first came to political prominence in 1963, when he led opposition to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his
White Revolution. Khomeini was arrested in 1963 after declaring Mohammad Reza a "wretched miserable man" who had "embarked on the [path toward] destruction of Islam in Iran."[168] Three days of major riots throughout Iran followed, with 15,000 killed by the police.[169] Khomeini was released after eight months of house arrest and continued his agitation, condemning Iran's close cooperation with Israel and its
capitulations, or extension of
diplomatic immunity, to American government personnel in Iran. In November 1964, Khomeini was re-arrested and
sent into exile (Turkey, Iraq and France) where he remained for 15 years.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became increasingly
autocratic and
sultanistic, and Iran entered a decades-long phase of controversially close relations with the United States and other western governments.[170] While Mohammad Reza increasingly modernised Iran and claimed to retain it as a fully
secular state,[171] arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police, the
SAVAK, were used for crushing political opposition.[172]
Due to the
1973 oil crisis, the economy was flooded with foreign currency, causing
inflation. By 1974, Iran was experiencing a double-digit inflation rate, and despite many large projects to modernise the country,
corruption was rampant. By 1975 and 1976, a
recession increased unemployment, especially among millions of youths who had migrated to the cities looking for construction jobs during the boom years of the early 1970s. By the late 1970s, many of these people opposed the Pahlavi's regime and began protesting against it.[173]
As major ideological and political tensions persisted between Pahlavi and Khomeini, demonstrations began in October 1977, eventually developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included elements of
secularism and
Islamism.[174] In August 1978, the deaths of between 377 and 470 people in the
Cinema Rex fire—came to serve as a catalyst for the revolutionary movement across Iran, with nation-wide strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the entire country and its economy for the remainder of that year.[175][176][177] After
a year of strikes and
demonstrations, on 16 January 1979,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled to the United States, and
Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile in February 1979, forming a new government.[178] Several thousand of Iranians gathered to greet him as he landed in the capital city
Tehran.[179]
Following the
March 1979 referendum, in which 98% of Iranian voters approved the country's shift to an
Islamic republic, the new government began efforts to draft the
Constitution, and Ayatollah Khomeini emerged as the
Supreme Leader of Iran in December 1979. Following Khomeini's order to purge the new government of any remaining officials still loyal to Pahlavi, many former ministers and officials in Pahlavi's regime, including former prime minister
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda, were
executed.[180] After the
aftermath of the revolution, Iran began to back
Shia militancy around the world in an attempt to combat
Sunni influence and establish Iranian dominance within the
Muslim world, ultimately aiming to achieve an Iranian-led Shia political order.
On 4 November 1979, after the United States refused the extradition of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,
a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy and took 53 American personnel and citizens hostage, initiating the
Iran hostage crisis.[181] Attempts by the
Jimmy Carter administration to
negotiate the release of the hostages, and a failed
rescue attempt, helped with the falling popularity of Carter among US citizens. On Carter's final day in office, the last hostages were set free under the
Algiers Accords. As a result of the Iranian takeover of the American Embassy, the US and Iran severed diplomatic relations in April 1980, and the two countries have had no formal diplomatic relationship since that date.[182] The crisis is considered a pivotal episode in the history of
Iran–United States relations.
The
Cultural Revolution began in 1980, with threats to close universities which did not conform to Islamization demands from the new government. All universities were closed down in 1980, and reopened in 1983.[183][184][185]
On September 22, 1980, Iraq invaded the western Iranian province of
Khuzestan, initiating the
Iran–Iraq War. While the Iraqi leadership had hoped to take advantage of
Iran's post-revolutionary chaos and expected a decisive victory in the face of a severely weakened Iran, the Iraqi military only made progress for three months, and by December 1980, the forces of
Saddam Hussein had stalled. By mid-1982, the Iranian forces began to gain momentum, with successfully
driving the Iraqis back into Iraq, and regaining all lost territory by June 1982. After pushing Iraqi forces back to the pre-war border lines, Iran rejected
United Nations Security Council Resolution 514 and launched an invasion of Iraq, conquered Iraqi territory and captured cities such as
Basra. The subsequent Iranian offensive within Iraqi territory lasted for five years, with Iraq taking back the initiative and subsequently launching a series of major counter-offensives. 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, Iran accepted
a truce mediated by the United Nations, with both sides withdraw to their pre-war borders. It was the longest
conventional war of the 20th century and the second longest war of this century after the
Vietnam War. The total Iranian casualties in the war were estimated to be 123,220–160,000
KIA, 60,711
MIA, and 11,000–16,000
civilians killed.[186][187] Since the downfall of Saddam Hussein, Iran has shaped Iraq's politics, and
the relationship between the two countries has warmed immensely.[188][189][190] Significant military assistance has been provided by Iran to Iraq, resulting in Iran holding a large amount of influence in Iraqi government and soil. Iraq is also heavily dependent on the more stable and developed Iran for its energy needs, so a stable Iraq is an interest for Iran, foreign policy wise.[191][192][193]
Since 1990s
Following the Iran–Iraq War, in 1989,
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani concentrated on a pragmatic pro-business policy of rebuilding and strengthening the economy without making any dramatic break with the ideology of the revolution. In 1997, Rafsanjani was succeeded by moderate
reformistMohammad Khatami, whose government attempted, unsuccessfully, to make the country freer and more democratic.[194]
On 1 April 2024,
Israel's airstrike on an Iranian
consulate building, adjacent to the country's
embassy in
Damascus, killed a senior commander of the
IRGC, Brig. Gen
Mohammad Reza Zahedi.[217][218][219] In retaliation, Iran launched
Operation True Promise, a major attack directly on Israel with
UAVs,
cruise and
ballistic missiles on 13 April 2024.[220][221] Several countries in the West Asia closed their airspaces a few hours before the operation.[222][223][224] The American, British, French and Jordanian air forces and navy helped Israel to shoot down the Iranian drones.[225][225][226] At least nine missiles hit Israel, mainly the
Nevatim and
Ramon airbases.[227][228][229] It was the largest drone strike in history,[230] intended to overwhelm anti-aircraft defenses, the biggest missile attack in Iranian history,[231] and its first ever direct attack on Israel.[232][233] It was also the first time
since 1991 that Israel was directly attacked by a state force.[234] It followed by an limited Israeli-suspected
MAVstrike within Iran on 18 April 2024.[235][236] The tit for tat occurred at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, amid the ongoing
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Iran has an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi).[4] It is the
sixth-largest country entirely in Asia and the second-largest in West Asia.[239] It lies between latitudes
24° and
40° N, and longitudes
44° and
64° E. It is bordered to the northwest by
Armenia (35 km or 22 mi), the Azeri exclave of
Nakhchivan (179 km or 111 mi),[240] 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).
Iran is in a seismically active area.[241] On average, an earthquake of magnitude seven on the
Richter scale occurs once every ten years.[242] Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the
2003 Bam earthquake.
Iran consists of the
Iranian Plateau. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape is dominated by rugged
mountain ranges that separate various
basins or
plateaus. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the
Caucasus,
Zagros, and
Alborz, the last containing
Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest volcano in Asia. Iran's mountains have impacted both political and the economic history of the country for several centuries.
The northern part of Iran is covered by the lush lowland
Caspian Hyrcanian forests, near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The eastern part consists mostly of
desert basins, such as the
Kavir Desert, which is the country's largest desert, and the
Lut Desert, as well as some
salt lakes. The Lut Desert is the hottest recorded spot on the Earth's surface according to
NASA, with 70.7 °C recorded in 2005.[243][244][245][246] 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. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the
Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman.[247][248][249]
Iranian islands are mainly located in the
Persian Gulf. Iran has 102 islands in
Urmia Lake, 427 in
Aras River, several in
Anzali Lagoon,
Ashurade Island in the
Caspian Sea, Sheytan Island in the
Oman Sea and several other inland islands. Iran also has an uninhabited island at the far end of the
Gulf of Oman, near the
Pakistani border. A small number of Iranian islands can be visited by tourists, as most are in the possession of the military or wildlife protection, and entry to them is generally prohibited or requires a permit.[250][251][252]
Kish island, as a
free trade zone, is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and luxury hotels.
Qeshm is the largest island in Iran, and a
UNESCO Global Geopark since 2016.[269][270][271] Its salt cave, Namakdan, is the largest salt cave in the world[272][273] and one of the world's longest caves.[274][275]
Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from
arid and
semi-arid, to
subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests.[276] On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain), temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84.2 °F).[277][278] Annual precipitation is 680 mm (26.8 in) in the eastern part of the plain and more than 1,700 mm (66.9 in) in the western part. Gary Lewis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran, has said that "
Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today".[279]
To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with freezing average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The eastern and central basins are arid, with less than 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain and have occasional deserts.[280] Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F).[277] The southern coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (5.3 to 14.0 in).[277]
More than one-tenth of the country is
forested, which are declared national.[283] About 120 million hectares of forests and fields are government-owned for national exploitation.[284][285] The most extensive forest is on the mountain slopes rising from the Caspian Sea, with stands of
oak,
ash,
elm,
cypress, and other valuable trees. On the plateau proper, areas of scrub oak appear on the best-watered mountain slopes, and villagers cultivate orchards and grow the plane tree, poplar,
willow,
walnut,
beech,
maple, and
mulberry. Wild
plants and
shrubs spring from the barren land in the spring and afford pasturage, but the summer sun burns them away. According to
FAO reports, the major types of forests in Iran and their respective areas are:[286]
Iran's forests can be divided into five vegetation regions:
Hyrcanian region (
Caspian) which forms the green belt of the north side of the country. The
Turan region, which are mainly scattered in the center of Iran.
Zagros region, which mainly contains oak forests in the west of the country. The
Persian Gulf region, which is scattered in the southern coastal belt.
Arasbarani region, which contains rare and unique species. More than 8,200
plant species are grown in Iran. The land covered by Iran's natural flora is four times that of the Europe's.[288]
Iran is divided into
five regions with
31 provinces (ostān, استان),[294] each governed by an appointed governor. The provinces are divided into
counties, and subdivided into
districts and sub-districts.
The country has one of the highest urban growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002, the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 60%.[295] Iran's population is concentrated in its western half, especially in the north, north-west and west.[296]
Tehran, with a population of around 8.8 million (2016 census), is Iran's capital and largest city. The country's second most populous city,
Mashhad, has a population of around 3.3 million (2016 census), and is capital of the province of
Razavi Khorasan.
Isfahan has a population of around 2.2 million (2016 census) and is Iran's third most populous city. It is the capital of
Isfahan province and was also the third capital of the
Safavid Empire.
The Supreme Leader ("Rahbar"), or Leader of the Revolution[297] is the head of state and is responsible for delineation and supervision of policy.[298] The president has limited power compared to the Rahbar.[299] The current longtime Rahbar is
Ali Khamenei.[300][301][302] Key ministers are selected with the Rahbar's agreement and he has the ultimate say on Iran's foreign policy.[299] The Rahbar is directly involved in ministerial appointments for Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs, as well as other top ministries after submission of candidates from the president.[303]
Iran's regional policy is directly controlled by the office of the Rahbar with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. All of Iran's ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Corps, which directly reports to the Rahbar.[300] The Rahbar can also order laws to be amended.[304]Setad is estimated at $95 billion in 2013 by Reuters, accounts of which are secret even to the
parliament.[305][306]
The Rahbar is the
commander-in-chief of the
armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations, and has sole power to declare war or peace.[298] The heads of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces, and six of the twelve members of the
Guardian Council are directly appointed by the Rahbar.[298]
The
Assembly of Experts is responsible for electing the Rahbar, and has the power to dismiss him on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem.[307] To date, the Assembly of Experts has not challenged any of the Rahbar's decisions nor attempted to dismiss him.[308] The previous head of the judicial system,
Sadeq Larijani, appointed by the Rahbar, said that it is illegal for the Assembly of Experts to supervise the Rahbar.[309] Many believe the Assembly of Experts has become a ceremonial body without any real power.[310][311][312]
After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the
president as the highest state authority.[298][314] The President is elected by
universal suffrage for a term of four years, but is required to gain the Leader's official approval before being sworn in before the Parliament. The Leader also has the power to dismiss the elected president.[315] The President can only be re-elected for one term.[314]
The President is responsible for the implementation of the constitution, and for the exercise of executive powers in implementing the decrees and general policies as outlined by the Rahbar, except for matters directly related to the Rahbar, which has the final say.[298] The procedures for presidential election and all other elections in Iran are outlined by the Rahbar.[316] The President functions as the executive of affairs such as signing treaties and other international agreements, and administering national planning, budget, and state employment affairs, all as approved by the Rahbar.[317][318][302]
The President appoints the ministers, subject to the approval of the Parliament, as well as the approval of the Rahbar, who can dismiss or reinstate any of the ministers at any time.[319][320][321] The President supervises the
Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature.[322] Eight Vice Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty-two ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature.[323]
Presidential candidates and parliamentary candidates must be approved by the 12-member
Guardian Council (all members of which are directly or indirectly appointed by the Leader) or the Leader before running to ensure their allegiance.[324] The Leader very rarely does the vetting himself directly but has the power to do so, in which case additional approval of the Guardian Council would not be needed. The Leader can also revert the decisions of the Guardian Council.[325] The Guardian Council can and has dismissed elected members of the parliament.[326][327]
The
Supreme Leader selects the secretary of the Supreme council, and the decisions of the Council are effective after the confirmation by the
Supreme Leader. The SNSC also formulates the country's nuclear policy, and would become effective if they are confirmed by the Supreme Leader.[334][335]
The legislature of Iran, known as the
Islamic Consultative Assembly, is a
unicameral body comprising 290 members elected for four-year terms.[336] It drafts legislation, ratifies international
treaties, and approves the national budget. All parliamentary candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council.[337]
The Guardian Council comprises twelve jurists, including six appointed by the Rahbar. Others are elected by the Parliament, from among the jurists nominated by the Head of the
Judiciary.[338][339] The Council interprets the constitution and may veto the Parliament. If a law is deemed incompatible with the constitution or
Sharia (Islamic law), it is referred back to the Parliament for revision.[314] The
Expediency Council has the authority to mediate disputes between the Parliament and the Guardian Council, and serves as an advisory body to the Rahbar, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in the country.[340]Local city councils are elected by public vote to four-year terms.
The Supreme Leader appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor.[308] There are several types of courts, including public courts that deal with civil and criminal cases, and
revolutionary courts which deal with certain categories of offences, such as crimes against
national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed.[308]
The Chief Justice is the head of the judicial system and is responsible for its administration and supervision. He is also the highest judge of the
Supreme Court of Iran. The Chief Justice nominates some candidates for serving as minister of justice, and then the President select one of them. The Chief Justice can serve for two five-year terms.[341]
The
Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by
clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving
laypeople. The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Rahbar. The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.[308] The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms.
Iran maintains diplomatic relations with
165 countries, but not with the
United States, and not with
Israel—a state which Iran has derecognised since 1979.[342]
Russia is a key trading partner of Iran, especially in regard to the former's excess oil reserves.[356][357] Both nations share a close economic and military alliance, and are subject to heavy sanctions by most Western nations.[358][359][360][361] Iran is the only country in Western Asia that has been invited to join the
Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Russia-based international treaty organization that parallels
NATO.[362]
Relations between Iran and
China is strong both bilaterally and economically. They have developed a friendly, economic and strategic relationship. In March 2021, Iran and China signed a
25-year cooperation agreement that will strengthen the relations between the two countries and would include "political, strategic and economic" components.[363]Iran-China relations dates back to at least 200 BC and possibly earlier.[364][365]
Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has a good relationship with both
North and
South Korea.[366]
Iran has over 610,000 active troops and around 350,000 reservists, totalling over 1 million trained military personnel, one of the world's highest
percentage of citizens with military training.[372][373][374][375] The Basij, a
paramilitary volunteer militia within the IRGC, has over 20 million members, 600,000 members available for immediate call-up, 300,000 reservists, and a million that could be mobilized when necessary.[376][377][378][379] Faraja, the Iranian uniformed
police force, has over 260,000 active personnel. Most statistical organizations do not include the Basij and Faraja in their ratings report.
Excluding the Basij and Faraja, Iran has been identified as a major military power, owing it to the size and capabilities of its armed forces. It possesses the world's 14th strongest military.[380] It ranks 13th globally in terms of overall military strength,[381] 7th in the number of active military personnel,[381] and 9th in the size of both its ground force and armoured force. Iran's armed forces are the largest in
West Asia and comprise the greatest
Army Aviation fleet in the
Middle East.[382][383][384] Iran is among the top 15 countries in terms of military budget.[385] In 2021, its military spending increased for the first time in four years, to $24.6 billion, 2.30% of the national GDP.[386] Funding for the IRGC accounted for 34% of Iran's total military spending in 2021.[387]
In 2018, however, the
United States withdrew from the deal under the
Trump administration, and intended to re-impose sanctions on Iran. This decision was met with resistance by Iran and the other members of the P5+1.[423][424][425][426] A year later, Iran began decreasing its compliance.[427] By 2020, Iran announced that it would no longer observe any limit set by the agreement.[428][429] Progress since then has brought Iran to the
nuclear threshold status.[430][431][432] As of November 2023, Iran has uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile content, close to weapon grade.[433][434][435][436] Some analysts already regard the country as a de facto nuclear power.[437][438][439][440]
Since the
Iranian Revolution, Iran has grown its influence across and beyond the region.[446][447][448][449][450] It has built military forces with a wide network of state and none-state actors, starting with
Hezbollah in
Lebanon in 1982.[451][452][453] Since its establishment as a primary branch to the
Iranian Army, the
IRGC has been key to Iranian influence, through its
Quds Force.[454][455][456][457][458] The instability in Lebanon (from the 1980s),[459]Iraq (from 2003) [460] and
Yemen (from 2014) [461] have allowed Iran to build strong alliances and foothold beyond its borders. Iran has a prominent influence in the social services, education, economy and the politics of Lebanon,[462][463] and analysts have argued that Lebanon provides Iran access to the
Mediterranean Sea.[464][465] Hezbollah's strategic successes against Israel, such as its symbolic victory during the
2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, elevated Iran's influence in
Levant and strengthened its appeal across the
Muslim World.[466][467][468]
Since the
US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the arrival of
ISIS in the mid-2010s, Iran has financed and trained militia groups in Iraq, including the
PMF.[469][470][471][472] Since the
Iran-Iraq war in 1980s and the fall of
Saddam Hussein, Iran has shaped Iraq's politics.[473][474][475] Following Iraq's struggle against the ISIS in 2014, companies linked to the IRGC such as
Khatam al-Anbiya, started to build roads, power plants, hotels and businesses in Iraq, creating an economic corridor worth around $9 billion before
COVID-19.[476] This number is expected to grow to $20 billion in the coming years.[477][478]
In
Syria, Iran has supported President
Bashar al-Assad,[466][494][495][496] with the two countries being long-standing allies.[497][466] Iran has provided significant military and economic support to Assad's government,[494][498] and as a result, it has a considerable foothold in Syria.[499][500] Iran have long supported the anti-Israel fronts in
North Africa in countries like
Algeria and
Tunisia, embracing
Hamas in part to help undermine the popularity of the
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in North Africa.[501] Iran's support of Hamas emerged more clearly in later years.[502][503][504][505] According to US intelligence officials, Iran does not have full control over these state and none state groups.[506]
UN Special Rapporteur
Javaid Rehman has reported discrimination against several ethnic minorities in Iran.[514] A group of
UN experts in 2022 urged Iran to stop "systematic persecution" of religious minorities, adding that members of the
Baháʼí Faith were arrested, barred from universities, or had their homes demolished.[515][516]
The
2017–18 Iranian protests swept across the country in response to the economic and political situation.[521] It was formally confirmed that thousands of protesters were arrested.[522]
The
2019–20 Iranian protests started on 15 November in
Ahvaz, and spread across the country after the government announced increases in fuel prices of up to 300%.[523] A
week-long total Internet shutdown marked one of the most severe Internet blackouts in any country, and the bloodiest governmental crackdown of the protestors.[524] Tens of thousands were arrested and hundreds were killed within a few days according to multiple international observers, including
Amnesty International.[525]
Censorship in Iran is ranked among the most extreme worldwide.[532][533][534] Iran also has strict regulations when it comes to
internet censorship,[535] with the government persistently blocking
social media and other websites.[536][537][538] In January 2021, Iranian authorities added Signal to the list of blocked social media platforms, which included
Facebook,
Telegram,
Twitter and
YouTube.
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.[540] The service sector contributes the largest percentage of the GDP, followed by industry (
mining and manufacturing) and
agriculture.[541]
The
Central Bank of Iran is responsible for developing and maintaining the
Iranian rial, the country's
currency. The government does not recognise
trade unions other than the
Islamic labour councils, which are subject to the approval of employers and the security services.[542] Unemployment has remained above 10% since 1997, and the unemployment rate for women is almost double that of the men.[543]
In 2006, about 45% of the government's budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, and 31% from taxes and fees.[544] Iranian
budget deficits have been a chronic problem, mostly due to
large-scale state subsidies, that include foodstuffs and especially petrol, totalling more than $84 billion in 2008 for the energy sector alone.[545][546] 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.[547]
Iran's tourism had constantly been growing before the
COVID-19 pandemic, reaching nearly 9 million foreign visitors in 2019, the world's third fastest-growing tourism destination before the pandemic.[556][557] In 2021 and 2022, Iran's tourism industry grew 40% for two years in a row, expanding the sector's share to 4.7% of country's national economy.[558] In September and October 2023, Iran achieved a positive balance compared to the same period in 2019.[559] Iran's tourism experienced a growth of 48.5% in 2023, attracting over 5.2 million visitors.[559]
97.7% of all tourist visits in Iran are for leisure purposes, while 2.3% are for business, indicating the country's strong appeal as a tourist destination.[560] Alongside the capital, the most popular tourist destinations are
Isfahan,
Shiraz and
Mashhad.[561] Iran is fast emerging as a preferred destination for
medical tourism.[562][563]
Travels from other Western Asian countries to Iran grow 31% in the first seven months of 2023, surpassing that of
Bahrain,
Kuwait,
Iraq, and
Saudi Arabia.[564]Domestic tourism in Iran is one of the largest in the world, with the Iranian tourists spent $33.3 billion in 2021.[565][566][567][568] Iran projects investment of over $32 billion in the tourism sector by 2026.[569]
Roughly one-third of Iran's total surface area is suited for farmland. Only 12% of the total land area is under cultivation (arable land, orchards and vineyards) but less than one-third of the cultivated area is
irrigated; the rest is devoted to
dryland farming. Some 92 percent of agricultural products depend on water.[570] The western and northwestern portions of the country have the most fertile soils. Iran's
food security index stands at around 96 percent.[571][572][573] 3% of the total land area is used for
grazing and fodder production. Most of the grazing is done on mostly semi-dry rangeland in mountain areas and on areas surrounding the large deserts of Central Iran. Progressive government efforts and incentives during the 1990s, improved agricultural productivity, helping Iran toward its goal of reestablishing national self-sufficiency in food production.
Iran is globally ranked 16th in car manufacturing, ahead of the
UK,
Italy, and Russia.[574][575] It has outputted 1.188 million cars in 2023, a 12% growth compared to the previous years. Iran has exported various cars to countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Belarus. From 2008 to 2009, Iran leaped to 28th place from 69th in annual industrial production growth rate.[576] Iranian
contractors have been awarded several foreign tender contracts in different fields of construction of
dams,
bridges, roads,
buildings,
railroads,
power generation, and
gas, oil and
petrochemical industries. As of 2011, some 66 Iranian industrial companies are carrying out projects in 27 countries.[577] Iran exported over $20 billion worth of technical and engineering services over 2001–2011. The availability of local raw materials,
rich mineral reserves, experienced manpower have all played crucial role in winning the bids.[578]
Iran is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries.[584] Iran's oil and gas industry is the most active industry of the country.[583]
Iran manufactures 60–70% of its industrial equipment domestically.[585][586][587] Iran has become self-sufficient in designing, building and operating dams and power plants. Iran is one of the six countries in the world that manufacture gas- and steam-powered turbines.[588]
In 2011 Iran had 173,000 kilometres (107,000 mi) of roads, of which 73% were paved.[589] In 2008 there were nearly 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.[590]The Tehran Metro is the largest metro system in the Middle East.[591][592] It carries more than 3 million passengers a day. In 2018, 820 million trips were made on Tehran Metro.[593][594] Trains operate on 11,106 km (6,942 mi) of track.[595] The country's major port of entry is
Bandar-Abbas on the
Strait of Hormuz. After arriving in Iran, imported goods are distributed throughout the country by trucks and freight trains. The
Tehran–
Bandar-Abbas railroad connects Bandar-Abbas to the railroad system of Central Asia via Tehran and
Mashhad. Other major ports include
Bandar e-Anzali and
Bandar e-Torkeman on the
Caspian Sea and
Khorramshahr and
Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni on the
Persian Gulf.
Dozens of cities have airports that serve passenger and cargo planes.
Iran Air, the national airline, was founded in 1962 and operated domestic and international flights. All large cities have mass transit systems using buses, and several private companies provide bus services between cities. Over a million people worked in the transportation sector, accounting for 9% of GDP.[596]
Iran has the world's second largest proved
gas reserves, with 33.6 trillion
cubic metres,[598] and the
third largest natural gas production. It also ranks third in
oil reserves with an estimated 209,000,000,000 barrels.[599] It is
OPEC's second largest oil exporter. Oil industry output averaged 4 million barrels per day (640,000 m3/d) in 2005, compared with the peak of six million barrels per day reached in 1974.[600] Iran's oil and gas reserves are estimated at 1.2 trillion barrels.[601]
The addition of new
hydroelectric stations and the streamlining of conventional coal and oil-fired stations increased installed capacity to 33,000 megawatts. Of that amount, about 75% was based on natural gas, 18% on oil, and 7% on hydroelectric power. In 2004, Iran opened its first wind-powered and geothermal plants, and the first
solar thermal plant was to come online in 2009. Iran is the world's third country to have developed
GTL technology.[602]
In 2019, Iran discovered a new oil field in the country's south with over 50 billion barrels of crude.[605][606][607][608][609][610] In April 2024, The
NIOC discovered giant shale oil deposits in 10 different locations, added more than 2.6 billion barrels of oil to Iran's crude oil and natural gas reserves.[611][612][613][614]
Education, science, technology and telecommunications
Iran has made considerable advances in science and technology, despite international sanctions. In recent years, the growth in Iran's scientific output is reported to be the fastest in the world. In the biomedical sciences, Iran's
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics has a
UNESCO chair in biology.[615] In late 2006,
Iranian scientists successfully
cloned a sheep at the Royan Research Center in Tehran.[616]Stem cell research in Iran is among the top 10 in the world.[617] Iran ranks 15th in the world in
nanotechnologies.[618][619][620] Iranian scientists outside Iran have also made some major contributions to science. In 1960,
Ali Javan co-invented the first
gas laser, and
fuzzy set theory was introduced by
Lotfi A. Zadeh.[621] Iranian cardiologist
Tofigh Mussivand invented and developed the first artificial cardiac pump, the precursor of the
artificial heart. Furthering research and treatment of diabetes, the
HbA1c was discovered by
Samuel Rahbar. A substantial number of papers in
string theory are published in Iran.[622] In August 2014, Iranian mathematician
Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman, as well as the first Iranian, to receive the
Fields Medal, the highest prize in mathematics.[623]
Iran has increased its publication output nearly tenfold from 1996 through 2004, and has been ranked first in terms of output growth rate, followed by China.[624] According to a study by
SCImago in 2012, Iran would rank fourth in the world in terms of research output by 2018, if the current trend persists.[625]
Education in Iran is highly centralised.
K–12 is supervised by the
Ministry of Education, and higher education is under the supervision of the
Ministry of Science and Technology. According to
UNESCO, Iran's literacy rate among people aged 15 years and older was 85.54% as of 2016, with men (90.35%) being significantly more educated than women (80.79%).[627] According to this report, Iranian government expenditure on education amounts to around 4% of the GDP.
The requirement to enter into higher education is to have a
high school diploma and pass the
Iranian University Entrance Exam (the konkur). Many students do a 1–2-year course of
pre-university (piš-dānešgāh).[628] Iran's higher education is sanctioned by different levels of diplomas, including an
associate degree (kārdāni; also known as fowq e diplom) delivered in two years, a
bachelor's degree (kāršenāsi; also known as lisāns) delivered in four years, and a
master's degree (kāršenāsi e aršad) delivered in two years, after which another exam allows the candidate to pursue a doctoral programme (
PhD; known as doktorā).[629]
On January 28, 2024, Iran successfully launched three indigenous satellites, The Mahda, Kayan and Hatef,[644] into orbit using the
Simorgh carrier rocket.[645][646] It was the first time in country's history that it simultaneously sent three satellites into space.[647][648] The three satellites are designed for testing advanced satellite subsystems, space-based positioning technology, and narrowband communication.[649]
On February 29, 2024, Iran launched its domestically developed imaging satellite, Pars 1, from Russia into orbit.[650][651] This was done for the second time since August 2022, when Russia launched another Iranian remote-sensing,
The Khayyam satellite, into orbit from
Kazakhstan, reflecting deep scientific cooperation between the two countries.[652][653]
Iran's telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the
Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). As of 2020, 70 million Iranians use high-speed mobile internet. Iran is among the first five countries which have had a growth rate of over 20 percent and the highest level of development in telecommunication.[655] Iran has been awarded the UNESCO special certificate for providing telecommunication services to rural areas.
Population of Iranian provinces and counties in 2021
Iran's population grew rapidly from about 19 million in 1956 to about 85 million by February 2023.[656] However, Iran's
fertility rate has dropped dramatically, from 6.5 children born per woman to about 1.7 two decades later,[657][658][659] leading to a population growth rate of about 1.39% as of 2018.[660] Due to its young population, studies project that the growth will continue to slow until it stabilises around 105 million by 2050.[661][662][663]
Iran hosts one of the largest
refugee populations, with almost one million,[664] mostly from
Afghanistan and
Iraq.[665] According to the
Iranian Constitution, the government is required to provide every citizen with access to
social security, covering retirement, unemployment, old age,
disability, accidents, calamities, health and medical treatment and care services.[666] This is covered by
tax revenues and income derived from public contributions.[667]
The majority of the population speaks
Persian, the
official language of the country.[3] Others include speakers of several other
Iranian languages within the greater
Indo-European family and languages belonging to some other ethnicities living in Iran.
The
Library of Congress issued slightly different estimates: 65% Persians (including Mazenderanis, Gilaks, and the Talysh), 16% Azerbaijanis, 7% Kurds, 6% Lurs, 2% Baloch, 1% Turkic tribal groups (including
Qashqai and
Turkmens), and non-Iranian, non-Turkic groups (including Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, and Arabs) less than 3%.[674][4][675]
Healthcare is provided by the public-governmental system, the private sector, and
NGOs.[677]
The country faces the common problem of other
young demographic nations in the region, which is keeping pace with growth of an already huge demand for various public services. An anticipated increase in the population growth rate will increase the need for
public health infrastructures and services.[678] About 90% of Iranians have some form of
health insurance.[679]
Iran is the only country in the world with a
legal organ trade.[680] Iran has been able to extend public health
preventive services through the establishment of an extensive
Primary Health Care Network. As a result, child and maternal mortality rates have fallen significantly, and life expectancy at birth has risen. Iran's medical knowledge rank is 17th globally, and 1st in the Middle East and North Africa. In terms of medical science production index, Iran ranks 16th in the world.[681] Iran is fast emerging as a preferred destination for
medical tourism.[562][563]
The art of Iran encompasses many disciplines, including
stonemasonry,
metalworking,
pottery,
painting, and
calligraphy. Iranian works of art show a great variety in style, in different regions and periods.[707] The art of the Medes has been theoretically attributed to the
Scythian style.[708] The Achaemenids borrowed heavily from the art of their neighbouring civilizations,[709] but produced a synthesis of a unique style.[710] Greek iconography was imported by the
Seleucids, followed by the recombination of
Hellenistic and earlier Near Eastern elements in the
art of the Parthians.[711]
By the time of the Sasanians, Iranian art came across a general renaissance.[712] During the Middle Ages, Sasanian art played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian mediaeval art.[713][714][715][716]
The Safavid era is known as the Golden Age of Iranian art.[717]Safavid art exerted noticeable influences upon the neighbouring
Ottomans, the
Mughals, and the
Deccans, and was also influential through its fashion and garden architecture on 11th–17th-century Europe.
Iran's
contemporary art traces its origins to the time of
Kamal-ol-molk,[718] a prominent
realist painter at the court of the
Qajar Empire who affected the norms of painting and adopted a naturalistic style that would compete with photographic works. A new Iranian school of fine art was established by Kamal-ol-Molk in 1928,[718] and was followed by the so-called "coffeehouse" style of painting.
Iran's
avant-garde modernists emerged by the arrival of new western influences during World War II.[718] The vibrant contemporary art scene originates in the late 1940s, and Tehran's first modern art gallery, Apadana, was opened in September 1949 by painters Mahmud Javadipur, Hosein Kazemi, and Hushang Ajudani.[719] The new movements received official encouragement by the mid-1950s,[718] which led to the emergence of artists such as
Marcos Grigorian.[720]
The history of architecture in Iran goes back to the seventh millennium BC,[722] with
an eclectic architecture remaining at sites such as
Persepolis and
Pasargadae. The Iranians made early use of
mathematics,
geometry and
astronomy in their architecture, yielding a tradition with both great structural and aesthetic variety.[723] The guiding
motif of Iranian architecture is its cosmic symbolism.[724] Iran ranks seventh among
UNESCO's list of countries with the most archaeological ruins and attractions from antiquity.[725] Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience.
Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it developed a recognizable style distinct from other regions of the Muslim world. Its virtues are "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in
vault and
dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivalled in any other architecture".[726]
Iran's carpet-weaving has its origins in the
Bronze Age and is one of the most distinguished manifestations of Iranian art. Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, producing three-quarters of the world's output and having a share of 30% of export markets.[727][728] In 2010, the "traditional skills of carpet weaving" in
Fars Province and
Kashan were inscribed to the
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.[729][730][731] Carpet weaving is an essential part of
Persian culture and
Iranian art. Within the group of
Oriental rugs produced by the countries of the "rug belt", the Persian carpet stands out by the variety and elaborateness of its manifold designs.
Carpets woven in towns and regional centres like
Tabriz,
Kerman,
Ravar,
Neyshabour,
Mashhad,
Kashan,
Isfahan,
Nain and
Qom are characterized by their specific weaving techniques and use of high-quality materials, colours and patterns. Hand-woven Persian rugs and carpets have been regarded as objects of high artistic and utilitarian value and prestige since the first time they were mentioned by
ancient Greek writers.
Iran has known dance in the forms of music, play, drama or religious rituals since at least the 6th millennium BC. Artifacts with pictures of dancers were found in many archaeological prehistoric sites.[738] Genres of dance in Iran vary depending on the area, culture, and language of the local people, and can range from sophisticated reconstructions of refined court dances to energetic
folk dances.[739] Each group, region, and historical epoch has specific dance styles associated with it. The earliest researched dance from historic Iran is a dance worshipping Mithra. Ancient Persian dance was significantly researched by Greek historian from
Herodotus. Iran was occupied by foreign powers, causing a slow disappearance of heritage dance traditions.
The Qajar period had an important influence on Persian dance. In this period, a style of dance began to be called "
classical Persian dance". Dancers performed artistic dances in the court of the king for entertainment purposes such as coronations, marriage celebrations, and
Norouz celebrations. In the 20th century, the music came to be orchestrated and dance movement and costuming gained a modernistic orientation to the West.
The
Cyrus Cylinder is often seen as a reflection of the questions and thoughts expressed by
Zoroaster and developed in Zoroastrian schools of the Achaemenid era.[740][741] The earliest tenets of Zoroastrian schools are part of the extant scriptures of the Zoroastrian religion in
Avestan. Among them are treatises such as the Zatspram,
Shkand-gumanik Vizar, and
Denkard, as well as older passages of the Avesta and the
Gathas.[742] Contemporary Iranian philosophy has been limited in its scope by intellectual repression.[743]Scholars Pavilion is a monument donated by Iran to the
United Nations Office at Vienna. The monument architecture is Persian
Achaemenid architecture, with the statues of Iranian mediaeval scholars,
Omar Khayyam,
Al-Biruni,
Rhazes and
Avicenna inside the pavilion.[744]
Storytelling has an significant presence in Iranian folklore and culture.[749][750] In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts[749] and in public theatres.[749][751] A minstrel was referred to by the
Parthians as
gōsān, and by the
Sasanians as huniyāgar.[749][752] Since the
Safavid Empire, storytellers and poetry readers appeared at coffeehouses.[749][753] After the
Iranian Revolution, it took until 1985 to found the
MCHTH (Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts),[754] a now heavily centralized organization, supervising all kinds of cultural activities. It held the first scientific meeting on anthropology and folklore in 1990.[755]
Iran's first symphony orchestra, the
Tehran Symphony Orchestra, was founded by Qolam-Hoseyn Minbashian in 1933. By the late 1940s,
Ruhollah Khaleqi founded the country's first national music society and established the School of National Music in 1949.[763]
The oldest Iranian initiation of theatre can be traced to ancient epic ceremonial theatres such as Sug-e Siāvuš ("mourning of
Siāvaš"), as well as dances and theatre narrations of Iranian mythological tales reported by
Herodotus and
Xenophon.
Iran's traditional theatrical genres include Baqqāl-bāzi ("grocer play", a form of slapstick comedy), Ruhowzi (or Taxt-howzi, comedy performed over a courtyard pool covered with boards), Siāh-bāzi (in which the central comedian appears in blackface), Sāye-bāzi (
shadow play), Xeyme-šab-bāzi (
marionette), and Arusak-bāzi (
puppetry), and
Ta'zie (religious tragedy plays).[769]
A third-millennium BC earthen goblet discovered at the
Burnt City in southeastern Iran depicts what could be the world's oldest example of animation.[771] The earliest attested Iranian examples of visual representations, however, are traced back to the bas-reliefs of Persepolis, the ritual centre of the
Achaemenid Empire.[772]
Iran's animation industry began by the 1950s and was followed by the establishment of the influential
Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in January 1965.[774][775]
With the screening of the films Qeysar and The Cow, directed by
Masoud Kimiai and
Dariush Mehrjui respectively in 1969, alternative films set out to establish their status in the film industry and
Bahram Beyzai's Downpour and
Nasser Taghvai's Tranquility in the Presence of Others followed soon. Attempts to organise a film festival, which had begun in 1954 within the framework of the Golrizan Festival, resulted in the festival of Sepas in 1969. The endeavours also resulted in the formation of Tehran's World Film Festival in 1973.[776]
After the Revolution and following the
Cultural Revolution, a new age emerged in Iranian cinema, starting with Long Live! by
Khosrow Sinai and followed by many other directors, such as
Abbas Kiarostami and
Jafar Panahi. Kiarostami, an acclaimed Iranian director, planted Iran firmly on the map of world cinema when he won the Palme d'Or for Taste of Cherry in 1997.[777] The continuous presence of Iranian films in prestigious international festivals, such as the
Cannes Film Festival, the
Venice Film Festival, and the
Berlin International Film Festival, attracted world attention to Iranian masterpieces.[778] In 2006, six Iranian films represented Iranian cinema at the Berlin International Film Festival. Critics considered this a remarkable event in the history of Iranian cinema.[779][780]
Lunar Islamic public holidays include Tasua (
Muharram 9), Ashura (
Muharram 10), Arba'een (
Safar 20), the death of Muhammad (
Safar 28), the death of Ali al-Ridha (
Safar 29 or 30), the birthday of Muhammad (
Rabi-al-Awwal 17), the death of Fatimah (
Jumada-al-Thani 3), the birthday of Ali (
Rajab 13), Muhammad's first revelation (
Rajab 27), the birthday of Muhammad al-Mahdi (
Sha'ban 15), the death of Ali (
Ramadan 21), Eid al-Fitr (
Shawwal 1–2), the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq (
Shawwal 25), Eid al-Qurban (
Zulhijja 10), and Eid al-Qadir (
Zulhijja 18).[822]
Being a mountainous country, Iran is a venue for
skiing,
snowboarding,
hiking,
rock climbing,[837] and
mountain climbing.[838][839] It is home to several ski resorts, the most famous being
Tochal,
Dizin, and
Shemshak.[840] The resort of Tochal, located in the
Alborz mountain rage, is the world's fifth-highest ski resort (3,730 m or 12,238 ft at its highest station). Dizin is the largest Iranian ski resort, and its officially granted the title by
FIS to administer official and international competitions.[841]
Football is the most popular sport in Iran, with the
men's national team having won the
Asian Cup on three occasions. The men's national team ranks first in Asia and 22nd in the world according to the
FIFA World Rankings (as of September 2021[update]).[845] The
Azadi Stadium in Tehran is the largest association football stadium in
Western Asia and on the list of top-20 best stadiums in the world.[846]
In 2016, Iran made global headlines for international female champions boycotting tournaments in Iran in chess (U.S. Woman Grandmaster
Nazí Paikidze)[850][851] and in shooting (Indian world champion
Heena Sidhu),[852] as they refused to enter a country where they would be forced to wear a
hijab.
The National Museum of Iran in
Tehran is the country's most important cultural institution.[853] As the first and biggest museum in Iran, the institution includes the
Museum of Ancient Iran and the
Museum of the Islamic Era. The National Museum is the world's most important museum in terms of preservation, display and research of archaeological collections of Iran,[854] and ranks as one of the few most prestigious museums globally in terms of volume, diversity and quality of its monuments.[855]
Iran's largest media corporation is the
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).[567] Despite the restrictions on non-domestic television, about 65% of the residents of Tehran and about 30 to 40% of residents outside the capital access worldwide television channels through
satellite dishes, although observers state that the figures are likely to be higher.[861][862]
According to Internet World Stats, as of 2017[update], around 69.1% of the population are Internet users.[863] Iran ranks 17th among
countries by number of Internet users.
Google Search is Iran's most widely used search engine and
Instagram is the most popular online
social networking service.[864] Direct access to many worldwide mainstream websites has been blocked in Iran, including
Facebook, which has been blocked since 2009 due to the organization of anti-governmental protests on the website.[865] However, as of 2017[update], Facebook has around 40 million subscribers based in Iran (48.8% of the population) who use
virtual private networks and
proxy servers to access the website.[863] About 90% of Iran's
e-commerce takes place on the Iranian online store Digikala, which has around 750,000 visitors per day and is the most visited online store in the Middle East.[866][864]
The exact date of the emergence of
weaving in Iran is not yet known, but it is likely to coincide with the emergence of
civilization.
Ferdowsi and many historians have considered
Keyumars to be first to use
animals' skin and hair as clothing, while others propose
Hushang.[867] Ferdowsi considers
Tahmuras to be a kind of
textile initiator in Iran. The clothing of ancient Iran took an advanced form, and the fabric and colour of clothing became very important. Depending on the social status, eminence, climate of the region and the season,
Persian clothing during the Achaemenian period took various forms. This clothing, in addition to being functional, had an aesthetic role.[867]
^Laroche. 1957. Proto-Iranian *arya- descends from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *ar-yo-, a yo-adjective to a root *ar "to assemble skillfully", present in Greek harma "chariot", Greek aristos, (as in "
aristocracy"), Latin ars "art", etc.
^A. Fishman, Joshua (2010). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: Disciplinary and Regional Perspectives (Volume 1).
Oxford University Press. p. 266.
ISBN978-0-19-537492-6. " "Iran" and "Persia" are synonymous" The former has always been used by the Iranian speaking peoples themselves, while the latter has served as the international name of the country in various languages
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^Frye, Richard Nelson (October 1962). "Reitzenstein and Qumrân Revisited by an Iranian". The Harvard Theological Review. 55 (4): 261–268.
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S2CID162213219. I use the term Iran in an historical context [...] Persia would be used for the modern state, more or less equivalent to "western Iran". I use the term "Greater Iran" to mean what I suspect most Classicists and ancient historians really mean by their use of Persia – that which was within the political boundaries of States ruled by Iranians.
^Richard Frye (2012).
Persia (RLE Iran A). Routledge. p. 13.
ISBN978-1-136-84154-5. Retrieved 21 June 2013. This 'greater Iran' included and still includes part of the Caucasus Mountains, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq; for Kurds, Baluchis, Afghans, Tajiks, Ossetes, and other smaller groups are Iranians
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^Kevorkian, Raymond (2011).
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ISBN978-0-85773-020-6. Retrieved 18 June 2016. 'In retaliation, we killed the Armenians of Khoy, and I gave the order to massacre the Armenians of Maku.'... Without distorting the facts, one can affirm that the centuries-old Armenian presence in the regions of Urmia, Salmast, Qaradagh, and Maku had been dealt a blow from which it would never recover.
^Yeghiayan, Vartkes, ed. (1991). British Foreign Office Dossiers on Turkish War Criminals. American Armenian International College. ...Assyrians who were killed in Khoy, some 700 Armenian residents of Khoy were also massacred at the same time, June 1918.
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