I.R. IRAN Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Shakib Marghi

A long, long time ago... Persia was the largest empire in the world from 500's-300's BCE. Unified land based empire, as opposed to the naval oriented Greek city-states. Zoroastrianism is the popular religion at the time. Alexander the Great conquers Persia and Greece, but his empire falls apart after he dies. The Persian part of his Empire becomes Parthia. Sometime later the Sassanids take power in Persia, and become archrivals of the Roman Empire from CE. Zoroastrianism becomes the state religion, while Christianity becomes the religion of the Roman Empire.

Ancient Persia

A long time ago... The Sassanids fall to the Arabs in 651CE, Islam is spread throughout Persia, while Persians flee with their culture to Transoxiana. Several kingdoms claim sovereignty over Persia, but they are all weak and don't last long. Turks move establish the Seljuk Sultanate across the middle east and central Asia. The Khwarezm Shahdom makes Persians strong again. It starts from central Asia and conquers former Persian lands. A Khwarezmian governor kills Genghis Khan's diplomats in 1218 CE and then the Mongols attack in 1220 CE. 90% of the population is massacred as a result of the Mongol invasion. Central Asian cities are destroyed, and a Persian state is nonexistent. The Mongol lands are broken up into Khanates, and in 1382 CE Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) comes from central Asia and takes over the Khanate that ruled over Persia.

Khwaremian Empire

Now we're getting somewhere The Timurid Empire falls apart because it's too big, and it is split up into many chunks. In 1501 CE Ismail conquers Persia and establishes the Safavid Empire. Shi'a Islam is made the mandatory state religion. Everyone is forced to convert. This unifies the country and takes Persian Muslims out of the rule of the Ottoman Sultan (the leader of the Sunnis) The Safavids become neighbors with the Ottomans, but the Ottomans are stronger than everyone at the time. The Safavid Empire falls in 1722, when Afghan armies take over the capital. Nobody really rules Persia for some time.

Isfahan, Safavid Capital

Getting close... The Qajars come into power in Persia is relatively untouched by colonial powers in comparison to its neighbors. The royal aristocracy indulges in many luxuries, so they go broke. They also lose northern Persia to Russia. Public anger towards the Qajars for selling all of Persia's resources to the UK for very little money. In 1906 CE, Majles is established. In 1921 CE, Reza Khan enacts a military takeover and rises to power as the Shah. The Pahlavi dynasty begins.

Super close now... Persia's name is changed to Iran. Reza Pahlavi attempts to modernize Persia, and reforms its army. He also builds infrastructure and brings Persia out of its centuries long economic depression. USSR and the UK invade Iran in World War II because Iran was neutral and not giving them access to railroads. Reza Pahlavi was sent into exile by the British, and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was put in charge of Iran.

So close you can feel it... Mohammad Reza was forced to cede power to the Prime Minister in a revolution for democracy in the years following World War II. Dr. Mohammed Mosaddeq became the Prime Minister of Iran. Mosaddeq was overthrown by a CIA backed coupe. Mohammad Reza Shah was put back in power and resentment towards both him and the west grew. In 1979, the Islamic revolution turned the government into a theocracy, and Shariah Law was put into action. Ayatollah Khomeini took power. In 1980, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran with the support of Arab and Western countries such as the USA. The international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds. The war ended as a tie in 1988, but millions of Iranians died in the process.

What a long, strange trip it's been Khomeini died in 1989, but his Prime Minister Mousavi was denied power in favor of President Ayatollah Khamenei. The position of Prime Minister was abolished and a presidency was put into place. Ayatollah Rafsanjani was the President from Ayatollah Khatami was the president from During that time, he attempted to make several liberal reforms(liberal for Iran) including civil society and promoting rule of law. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becomes president in In 2009, there were protests regarding election fraud. Voters claimed that Ahmadinejad should not have been re-elected. The rest is in the future.

Sources Abrahamian, Ervand, A History of Modern Iran, Cambridge, 2008, p.171 Hiltermann, Joost (January 17, 2003). "America Didn't Seem to Mind Poison Gas". International Herald Tribune. Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam, Mark Bowden, p. 127 Arthur Cotterell, From Aristotle to Zoroaster: An A-to-Z Companion to the Classical World. 1998, p.344–345, Free Press Hildinger, Erik. Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700, Sarpedon Publishers, William Bayne Fisher. Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press, 1993, p Nikki R. Keddie. "The Iranian Power Structure and Social Change : An Overview", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1. (Jan., 1971), p. 4. Fisher, W.B.; Jackson, P.; Lockhart, L.; Boyle, J.A. : The Cambridge History of Iran, p. 55.