Iran Iranians are majority Persian – as opposed to Arab They are Shia as opposed to Sunni

US intervention In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh is elected Prime Minister and nationalizes oil industry In 1953, President Eisenhower approves a US and British- supported coup

The Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi assumes control Modernizes infrastructure and tries to improve lives for women Increasingly autocratic and unpopular

Rise of Khomeini Strikes and demonstrations begin in 1978 and the Shah flees in January 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile and the country approves a theocratic Constitution in December 1979

Seizure of US embassy Iranian students seize the US embassy and hold 66 American diplomats hostage from November 1979 to January 1981 Carter launches ill-fated rescue attempt (doomed by sand storm) Hostages released when frozen Iranian assets were returned US appears weak, indecisive

Afghanistan Irregularly dominated by the British from , Afghanistan is still a largely tribal society especially in the rural regions The Pashtun dominate the Southern part of Afghanistan and the Northern part of Pakistan One of the poorest nations in the world

Soviet invasion In 1978 a Marxist government assumes control with support from the Soviets. The US begins to support rural, socially conservative opponents and by 1979 the government is overthrown December 1979, Soviets invade with 100,000 troops to back up their Marxist allies

US response US begins to support variety of groups that opposed Soviet invasion, some of those people will later be part of the Taliban The non-centralized Mujahideen based out of Pakistan, with support from Pakistani intilligence The Soviets will lose about 15,000 dead but will kill between 600,000 to 1 million Afghans

Post-Soviet Afghanistan Soviets withdraw in 1989 but leave behind a Afghan government that will last three more years against the fractured Mujahideen As fighting against the Soviet-backed government continues, the US withdraws its support The Taliban emerge as the strongest of the Mujahideen groups

Rise of Taliban By 2000, the Taliban have seized 95 percent of the country Women are banned from working, girls from attending school Movie theaters were closed and music was banned Osama Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan in 1996 and begins operating al Qaeda training camps