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Islamic Republic
of Iran
Population 68,017,900
Capital City Tehran (8.2 mil) metro (11.7 mil)
Currency Iranian Rial (IRR)
Languages Persian (58%), Turkic (26%), others
Religions Shi'a Muslim (89%), Sunni Muslim (9%)
Iran
Timeline
-
559
- 332BC The Achaemenian Dynasty & the Great Persian Empire. The Persian
Empire became the dominant world power for over two centuries
-
550BC
Cyrus the Great established the First World Empire
-
525BC
Persians conquer Egypt
-
332
BC Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and Persia
-
323-141
BC - The Seleucid Dynasty was established by one of Alexander's generals
-
247
BC-224 AD - The Parthians conquered the Seleucids
-
224
- 642 The Sasanian Dynasty
-
570
- The Prophet Mohammad was born
-
632
- The Prophet Mohammad died and his teachings were compiled into the Koran,
the holy book of Islam
-
642
- 1220 The Arab Caliphate
-
1220
- Mongol Era when Persia conquered by Gangis Khan
-
1271
- Marco Polo journeyed through Persia en route to China
-
1295
- Ghazan Khan became the first Mongol leader to convert to Islam
-
1501-1524
- Safavid Dynasty started by Shah Ismail I who united all of Persia under
Iranian leadership
-
1795
- Qajar Dynasty
-
1851-1906
- The Qajars lost central Asian provinces to the Russians and were forced to
give up all claims on Afghanistan to Great Britain
-
1925-1940
- Pahlavi Dynasty
-
1979
- The Shah was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution ending 2,500 years of
monarchy
-
July
29, 1980 - The Islamic Revolution
http://worldatlas.com
Iran
is one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations. The history of Iran
covers thousands of years.
There
are records of numerous ancient and technologically advanced civilizations on
the Iranian plateau before the arrival of Aryan tribes from the north, many of
whom are still unknown to historians today. Archeological findings place
knowledge of Persian prehistory at middle paleolithic times (100,000 years ago).
The earliest sedentary cultures date from 18,000-14,000 years ago. In 6000 BCE
the world saw a fairly sophisticated agricultural society and proto-urban
population centers. The south-western part of Iran was part of the Fertile
Crescent where most of humanity's first major crops were grown. 7000 year old
jars of wine excavated in the Zagros Mountains and ruins of 7000 year old
settlements such as Sialk are further testament to this.
Many
dynasties have ruled Persia throughout the ages. Scholars and archeologists are
only beginning to discover the scope of the independent, non-Semitic Elamite
Empire and Jiroft civilizations 5000 years ago.
At
the end of second millennium, the Aryan nomads from central Asia settled in
Persia. These are some of the civilizations in Iran before the Aryans: Neolithic
civilizations, Teppe Sialk, Shahr-e Sukhteh, Marlik civilization, Luristan
civilization, Mannaeans civilization, Kingdom of Jiroft, Elamite kingdom.
The
ancient nation of Iran was historically known to the West as Persia until March
21, 1935. The name was used in the West due to the ancient Greek name for Iran,
Persis. Persia is used to describe the nation of Iran, its people, or its
ancient empire. The Persians have called their country Iran / Iranshahr since
the Sassanian period.
The
name Persia comes from a region in the south of Iran, called Fars or Pars in the
Persian language. Persis is the Hellenized form of Pars, based on which other
European nations termed it Persia. Eratosthenes however does make mention of the
word "Iran" in his writings. This region was the core of the original
Persian Empire. Westerners referred to the state as Persia until March 21, 1935,
when Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call the
country by its native name, Iran, which means Land of the Aryans but because of
some Persian scholars' protests the government announced in 1959 that both
Persia and Iran could be used.
Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy
was overthrown and the shah was forced into exile.
Mohammad Reza
Shah
There was much opposition
against the Mohammad Reza Shah, and how he used the secret police, the Savak, to
control the country. Strong Shi'i opposition against the Shah, and the country
came close to a situation of civil war. The opposition was lead by Ayatollah
Khomeini, who lived in exile in Iraq and later in France. His message was
distributed through music cassettes, which were smuggled into Iran in small
numbers, and then duplicated, and spread all around the country. This was the
beginning of Iranian revolution. On January 16 1979, the Shah left Iran. Shapour
Bakhtiar became the new prime minister with the help of Supreme Army Councils
but he couldn't control the situation in the country anymore.
Iranian
Rally for Ayatollah Khomeini
Ayatollah Khomeini
returned to Iran on February 1. Ten days later Bakhtiar went into hiding,
eventually to find exile in Paris.
Ayatollah
Khomeini
founder
of Islamic Republic
Conservative
clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate
political authority nominally vested in a learned religious scholar.
Iranian
Students scaling the wall at the U.S. Embassy
Iranian-US
relations have been strained since a group of Iranian students seized the US
Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979.
U.S.
President Jimmy Carter immediately applied economic and diplomatic pressure on
Iran: oil imports from Iran were ended on November 12, 1979, a number of
Iranians in the U.S. were expelled (some of whom were unrelated to the crisis or
the new Iranian government), and around USD 8 billion of Iranian assets in the
U.S. were frozen on November 14, 1979.
The
Students held hostage 66 diplomats and citizens of the United States inside the
U.S. embassy in Tehran. During the crisis, some hostages were released, but 52
were held until the end.
After
the presidential elections in 1980 negotiations
between the U.S. and Iran resulted in the "Algiers
Accords" of January 19, 1981, committing Iran to free the hostages
immediately. Essential to the Algiers Accords and reportedly a non-negotiable
requirement of Iran that the Carter Administration reluctantly conceded was
Point I: Non-Intervention in Iranian Affairs. It reads "The United States
pledges that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not
to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's
internal affairs." Other provisions of the Algiers Accords were the
unfreezing of 8 billion dollars worth of Iranian assets and immunity from
lawsuits Iran might have faced.
U.S.
Hostages
On
January 20, 1981, twenty minutes after President Reagan's inaugural address, the
hostages were formally released into U.S. custody, having spent 444 days in
captivity. The hostages were flown to Algeria as a symbolic gesture for the help
of that government in resolving the crisis, where former President Carter,
acting as an emissary for the Reagan administration, received them.
During
1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded
into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military
forces between 1987-1988.
Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism
for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to
US economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement.
Following the elections of a reformist president and Majlis in the late 1990s,
attempts to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction
floundered as conservative politicians prevented reform measures from being
enacted, increased repressive measures, and made electoral gains against
reformers. Parliamentary elections in 2004 and the August 2005 inauguration of a
conservative stalwart as president, completed the reconsolidation of
conservative power in Iran's government.
Credit : CIA Factbook
,Wikipedia
H.E. Dr. Ahmadi
Nejad, President of Islamic Republic of Iran
Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadi
Nejad was born in 1956 in the village of Aradan in the city of Garmsar. He moved
and stayed in Tehran together with his family while he was still one-year old
and completed his primary as well as his low and high secondary education there.
In 1975, he successfully passed the university entrance exam with high marks and
started his academic studies on the subject of civil engineering in the Science
and Technology University in Tehran.
In 1986, he continued his studies at MS level in the same university. In 1989,
he became a member of the Board of Civil Engineering Faculty of the Science and
Technology University. In 1997, he managed to obtain his Ph.D. on transportation
engineering and planning from the Science and Technology University.
Dr. Ahmadi Nejad is familiar with English language. During the years when he was
teaching in the university, he wrote many scientific papers and engaged in
scientific research in various fields. During the same period, he also
supervised the theses of tens of students at MS and Ph.D. levels on different
subjects of civil engineering, road and transportation as well as construction
management.
While still a student, Dr. Ahmadi Nejad engaged in political activities by
attending religious and political meetings before the Islamic Revolution. With
the victory of the Islamic Revolution, he became a founder and also a member of
the Islamic Association of Students in the Science and Technology University.
During the war imposed on Iran, Dr. Ahmadi Nejad was actively present as a
member of the volunteer forces (Basij) in different parts and divisions of the
battlefronts particularly in the war engineering division until the end of the
war.
Dr. Ahmadi Nejad is married and has three children- two sons and one daughter.
Career Background:
- Governor of Maku
- Governor of Khoy
- Advisor to the Governor General of Kordistan Province
- Advisor for cultural affairs to the Minister of Culture and Higher Education
(1993)
- Governor General of Ardabil Province (1993-1997)
- Member of the Board of Civil Engineering Faculty of the Science and Technology
University (since 1989 till present date)
- Tehran Mayor (2003-2005)
- He was elected by the Iranian people as the President during the 9th
presidential election on June 24, 2005.
In addition to his academic and scientific pursuits as well as his executive
positions, Dr. Ahmadi Nejad has engaged in the following careers and activities
as well:
- Journalism; writing various political, social, cultural and economic articles,
- In the same career, he also held the position of managing director of
Hamshahri newspaper and launched various affiliated periodicals including
Neighborhood Hamshahri published and distributed in 22 areas of the city of
Tehran, Hamshahri for Passengers, Diplomatic Hamshahri, Youth Hamshahri, Monthly
Hamshahri and also extra pages attached to the Hamshahri newspaper for thinkers,
students, etc.
- Founding and working as a member of Iran Tunnel Society,
- Working as a member of Iran Civil Engineering Society,
- Working as a member of the first central council of the Islamic Association of
Students in the Science and Technology University,
- Working as a member of the first central council of the Union of Islamic
Associations of University and Higher Education Institutes in Iran.
Credit:CIA
Fact Book President
of Iran Website
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