History of Iran

IRAN

Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/[8] or /aɪˈræn/;[9] Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎, Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Western Asia.[10][11][12] The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in native use since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/).[9][13] Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.[14][15]
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 75 million.[10][16] It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in three spheres of Asia (West, Central, and South). Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power,[17][18] and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.[19]
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.[20] The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC.[2] They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslim conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the Persian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.
The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization. Iranian identity continued despite foreign rule in the ensuing centuries[21] and Persian culture was adopted also by the Ghaznavid,[22] Seljuk,[23][24] Ilkhanid[25] and Timurid[26] rulers. The emergence in 1501 of the Safavid dynasty,[3] which promoted Twelver Shia Islam[27] as the official religion of their empire, marked one of the most important turning points in Iranian and Muslim history.[28] The Persian Constitutional Revolution established the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy. Following a coup d'état instigated by the UK and US in 1953, Iran gradually became a more autocratic country. Growing dissent with foreign influence culminated during the Iranian Revolution which led to establishment of an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.[16][29]
Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader. Shia Islam is the official religion and Persian is the official language.

 Etymology

The name of Iran (ایران) is the Modern Persian derivative from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānā,, meaning "Land of the Aryans", first attested in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition.[31][32][33][34] The term Ērān is found to refer to Iran in a 3rd century Sassanid inscription, and the Parthian inscription that accompanies it uses the Parthian term "aryān" in reference to Iranians.[35] However historically Iran has been referred to as Persia or similar (La Perse, Persien, Perzië, etc.) by the Western world, mainly due to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis (Περσίς), meaning land of the Persians. In 1935 Rezā Shāh requested that the international community should refer to the country as Iran. Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and in 1959 both names were to be used interchangeably.[36] Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 the official name of the country has been the "Islamic Republic of Iran."
The historical and cultural wider usage of 'Iran'[37][38][39] should not be restricted to the modern state proper, as the latter which was called Irānshahr[40] or Irānzamīn (Greater Iran)[41] corresponded to territories of Iranian cultural or linguistic zones, and besides modern Iran, included portions of the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia

History

Early History
The earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran, like those excavated at the Kashafrud and Ganj Par sites, attest to a human presence in Iran since the Lower Paleolithic era.[42] Neanderthal artefacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic period have been found mainly in the Zagros region at sites such as Warwasi and Yafteh Cave.[43][44] Early agricultural communities began to flourish in Iran at around 8000 BC,[45][46] with settlements such as Chogha Bonut, Susa and Chogha Mish developing in the Zagros region.[47][48][49]
The emergence of Susa as a city is determined by C14 dating as early as 4395 BC,[50] well beyond the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia. There are dozens of pre-historic sites across the Iranian plateau pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC,[49][51][52] centuries before the earliest civilizations arose in nearby Mesopotamia.[53] During the Bronze age Iran was home to several civilisations such as Elam, Jiroft and Zayandeh Rud civilisations. Elam, the most prominent of these civilisations developed in the southwest of Iran alongside those in Mesopotamia. The development of writing in Elam in fourth millennium BC paralleled that in Sumer.[54] The Elamite kingdom continued its existence until the emergence of the Median and Achaemenid Empires.

Classical Era

Ruins of the Achaemenid palace of Persepolis, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site[55]
Main articles: Median Empire, Achaemenid Empire, Seleucid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sassanid Empire
During the second millenium BC, Proto-Iranian tribes arrived in Iran from the Eurasian steppes,[56] rivaling the native settlers of the country.[57][58] As these tribes dispersed into the wider area of Greater Iran and beyond, the boundaries of modern Iran were dominated by the Persian, Parthian and Median tribes. Soon after Zoroastrianism emerged as the main religion of the Iranian tribes.[59] The unification of the Median tribes under a single ruler in 728 BC led to the creation of a Median empire, which by 612 BC controlled the whole of Iran as well as eastern Anatolia.[60]
In 550 BC, Cyrus the Great from the state of Anshan took over the Median empire, and founded the Achaemenid empire by unifying other city states. The conquest of Media happened as a result of what is called the Persian revolt, which was initially triggered by the actions of the Median ruler Astyages, and quickly spread to other provinces, as they allied with the Persians. Later conquests under Cyrus and his successors expanded the empire to include Lydia, Babylon, Egypt and the lands to the west of the Indus an Oxus Rivers. Conflict on the western borders began with the famous Greco-Persian Wars which continued through the first half of the 5th century BC and ended with the Persian withdrawal from all of their European territories.[61] The empire had a centralised, bureaucratic administration under the Emperor and a large professional army and civil services, inspiring similar developments in later empires.[62]
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid Empire, defeating the last Achaemenid Emperor Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Following the premature death of Alexander, Iran came under the control of Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, Parthia rose to become the main power in Iran and continued as a feudal monarchy for nearly five centuries until 224 AD, when it was succeeded by the Sassanid Empire.[63] The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with the capital at Ctesiphon.[64] Most of the period of the Parthian and Sassanid Empires were overshadowed by the Roman-Persian Wars, which raged on their western borders for over 700 years. These wars exhausted both Romans and Sassanids,which arguably led to the defeat of both at the hands of the invading Muslim Arabs.

Middle Ages (652–1501)

The prolonged Roman-Persian wars, as well as social conflict within the Empire opened the way for an Islamic invasion of Iran in the 7th century.[65][66] Initially defeated by the Rashidun Caliphate, Iran later came under the rule of their successors the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphates. The process of conversion of Iranians to Islam which followed was a prolonged and gradual process. Under the new Arab elite of the Rashidun and later Ummayad Caliphates Iranians, both Muslim (mawali) and non-Muslim (Dhimmi), were discriminated, being excluded from government and military, and having to pay a special tax.[67][68] In 750 the Abbasids succeeded in overthrowing the Ummayad Caliphate, mainly due to the support from dissatisfied Iranian mawali.[69] The mawali formed the majority of the rebel army, which was led by the Iranian general Abu Muslim.[70][71][72] After two centuries of Arab rule semi-independent and independent Iranian kingdoms (such as the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids) began to appear on the fringes of the declining Abbasid Caliphate. By the Samanid era in the 9th and 10th centuries Iran's efforts to regain its independence had been well solidified.[73]

Modern era (1501–)

In 1501 Shah Ismail I re-established Iranian political unity in the form of the Safavid Dynasty.[79] Ismail is also known for instigated a religious revolution in Iran, forcefully converting the predominantly Sunni population to the state religion of Shi'a Islam.[83] During the Safavid era Iran once again became a centre for high civilisation and wealth, peaking under the reign of Shah Abbas I.[28][80] Under his rule the state became highly centralized, the first attempts to modernize the military were made, and even a distinct style of architecture developed in his new capital at Isfahan. The Safavid era was an era of intense rivalry with the Sunni Ottoman Empire, leading to the Ottoman–Persian Wars.[80] However, following a slow decline the Safavid dynasty was instead ended by Pashtun rebels who besieged Isfahan and defeated Soltan Hosein in 1722.
In 1729 Nader Shah successfully drove out the Pashtuns from Isfahan. By 1735 Nader Shah had regained territory lost to the Ottomon and Russian Empires, and in 1738 staged a very profitable incursion into the Mughal Empire. His military successes on all fronts earned him the nickname "Napoleon of Persia" or "the second Alexander". Following a brief civil war sparked by Nader Shah's assassination Karim Khan came to power, giving himself the title Vakil e-Ra'aayaa (Representative of the People), bringing a period of relative peace and prosperity.[80]


Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Pahlavi, the last Shah and Empress of Iran
Another civil war ensued Karim Khan's death in 1779, out of which Aga Muhammad Khan emerged victorious, founding the Qajar Dynasty in 1794 and establishing Tehran as his capital. Qajar rulership was marked by its inadequate response to change and its failure to maintain Iranian territorial integrity and sovereignty, and is consequently characterised by over a century of misrule.[79] The Great Persian Famine of 1870–1871 is believed to have caused the death of 1.5 million persons, or 20–25% of Persia's population.[84] Whilst resisting efforts to be colonised, Iran suffered as a result of The Great Game, losing much of its territory in the Russo-Persian and the Anglo-Persian Wars. A series of protests took place in response to the sale of concessions to foreigners by Nasser al-Din Shah and Mozaffar ad-Din Shah between 1872 and 1905, the last of which resulted in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution and establishment of Iran's first national parliament (majles) in 1906. However, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah's son Mohammad Ali Shah wished to recover the power lost by his father, and so rescinded the constitution, bombed the majles building and abolished parliament in 1908. The struggle continued until 1911 when Mohammad Ali's forces were finally defeated.
In 1925 Reza Khan, Prime Minister of Iran and former general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, overthrew the weakening Qajar Dynasty and became Shah. An ardent nationalist, Reza Shah initiated policies of military, administrative and financial modernisation and centralization.[79] Industrialization, the construction of the Trans-Iranian Railway and the establishment of a national education system can be named as some of his reforms. However, in 1941 he had been forced to abdicate in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, by Britain and the USSR, who were both fearful of Reza Shah's nascent ties to Germany and in need of supply lines for the Allied war effort in the form of the new Trans-Iranian Railway.[85]
In 1951, after the assassination of prime minister Ali Razmara, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected prime minister by a parliamentary vote which was then ratified by the Shah. As prime minister, Mosaddegh became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized Iran's petroleum industry and oil reserves. In response, the British government, headed by Winston Churchill, embargoed Iranian oil and successfully enlisted the United States to join in a plot to depose the democratically elected government of Mosaddegh. In 1953 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized Operation Ajax. The operation was successful, and Mosaddegh was arrested on 19 August 1953. The coup was the first time the US had openly overthrown an elected, civilian government.[86]

The Shah visits the Kharg petrochemical complex, 1970
After Operation Ajax, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's rule became increasingly autocratic. With American support, the Shah was able to rapidly modernize Iranian infrastructure, but he simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition with his intelligence agency, SAVAK. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became an active critic of the Shah's White Revolution and publicly denounced the government.
Khomeini was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964 Khomeini publicly criticized the United States government. The Shah was persuaded to send him into exile by General Hassan Pakravan. Khomeini was sent first to Turkey, then to Iraq and finally to France. While in exile, he continued to denounce the Shah.
The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution,[87][88][89] began in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations against the Shah.[90] After strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country and its economy, the Shah fled the country in January 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to Tehran. The Pahlavi dynasty collapsed ten days later, on 11 February, when Iran's military declared itself "neutral" after guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979, when Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so.[16][29] In parallel nation wide uprisings against the new regime erupted in Kordestan, Khuzestan, Balochistan and other areas, though were eventually subdued, with some lasting until late 1980.
In December 1979, the country approved a theocratic constitution, whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country. The speed and success of the revolution surprised many throughout the world,[91] as it had not been precipitated by a military defeat, a financial crisis, or a peasant rebellion.[92] Although both nationalists and Marxists joined with Islamic traditionalists to overthrow the Shah, tens of thousands were killed and executed by the Islamic regime afterward, and the revolution ultimately resulted in an Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran – United States relations deteriorated rapidly during the revolution. On 4 November 1979, a group of Iranian students seized US embassy personnel, labeling the embassy a "den of spies".[94] They accused its personnel of being CIA agents plotting to overthrow the revolutionary government, as the CIA had done to Mosaddegh in 1953. While the student ringleaders had not asked for permission from Khomeini to seize the embassy, Khomeini nonetheless supported the embassy takeover after hearing of its success.[95]
While most of the female and African American hostages were released within the first months,[95] the remaining 52 hostages were held for 444 days. Subsequent attempts by the Jimmy Carter administration to negotiate or rescue were unsuccessful. In January 1981 the hostages were set free according to the Algiers Accords.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to take advantage of what he perceived to be disorder in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and its unpopularity with Western governments. The once-strong Iranian military had been disbanded during the revolution. Saddam sought to expand Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf by acquiring territories that Iraq had claimed earlier from Iran during the Shah's rule. Of chief importance to Iraq was Khuzestan, which not only has a substantial Arab population, but boasted rich oil fields as well. On the unilateral behalf of the United Arab Emirates, the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs became objectives as well. On 22 September 1980 the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the Iran–Iraq War.
Although Saddam Hussein's forces made several early advances, by 1982, Iranian forces managed to push the Iraqi army back into Iraq. They soon aligned with the Iraqi Kurdish Rebellion of 1983 against Saddam. Khomeini sought to export his Islamic revolution westward into Iraq, especially on the majority Shia Arabs living in the country. The war then continued for six more years until 1988, when Khomeini, in his words, "drank the cup of poison" and accepted a truce mediated by the UN. The total Iranian casualties of the war were estimated to be anywhere between 500,000 and 1,000,000; with more than 100,000 Iranians being victims of Iraq's chemical weapons.[96][verification needed] Almost all relevant international agencies have confirmed that Saddam engaged in chemical warfare to blunt Iranian human wave attacks; these agencies unanimously confirmed that Iran never used chemical weapons during the war.[97][98][99][verification needed]
Following the Iran–Iraq War President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his administration concentrated on a pragmatic pro-business policy of rebuilding and strengthening the economy without making any dramatic break with the ideology of the revolution. Rafsanjani served until 1997 when he was succeeded by the moderate reformist Mohammad Khatami. During his two terms as president, Khatami advocated freedom of expression, tolerance and civil society, constructive diplomatic relations with other states including European Union and Asian governments, and an economic policy that supported free market and foreign investment. However, Khatami is widely regarded as having been unsuccessful in achieving his goal of making Iran more free and democratic.[100]
In the 2005 presidential elections, Iran made yet another change in political direction, when conservative populist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected over Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.[101] A significant challenge to Ahmadinejad's political power, and the foundations of the Islamic Republic itself occurred during the 2009 Iranian presidential election that was held on 12 June 2009,[102] the tenth presidential election to be held in the country.[103] The Interior Ministry, announced incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won the election with 62.63% receiving 24.5 million votes, while Mir-Hossein Mousavi had come in second place with 13.2 million votes 33.75%.[104][105] There were large irregularities in the results, invoking the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, whose participants involved millions of Iranians in every Iranian city and around the world

Geography

Iran is the eighteenth largest country in the world, with an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi).[19] Its area roughly equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or somewhat more than the US state of Alaska.[108] Iran lies between latitudes 24° and 40° N, and longitudes 44° and 64° E. Its borders are with Azerbaijan (611 km/380 mi (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave (179 km/111 mi ))[109] and Armenia (35 km/22 mi) to the north-west; the Caspian Sea to the north; Turkmenistan (992 km/616 mi) to the north-east; Pakistan (909 km/565 mi) and Afghanistan (936 km/582 mi) to the east; Turkey (499 km/310 mi) and Iraq (1,458 km/906 mi) to the west; and finally the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south.

Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, is located in Amol County, Mazanderan.
Iran consists of the Iranian Plateau with the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan Province. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaux from one another. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus, Zagros and Alborz Mountains; the last contains Iran's highest point, Mount Damavand at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest mountain on the Eurasian landmass west of the Hindu Kush.[110]
The northern part of Iran is covered by dense rain forests called Shomal or the Jungles of Iran. The eastern part consists mostly of desert basins such as the Dasht-e Kavir, Iran's largest desert, in the north-central portion of the country, and the Dasht-e Lut, in the east, as well as some salt lakes. This is because the mountain ranges are too high for rain clouds to reach these regions. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran borders the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab (or the Arvand Rūd) river. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

Climate

Iran's climate ranges from arid or semiarid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid for the rest of the year. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84.2 °F).[111][112] 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.
To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with below zero 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.[112] Average summer temperatures exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F). The coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in southern Iran have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (5.3 to 14.0 in).[112]
Fauna

 Largest cities or towns of Iran

Rank City name Province Pop. Rank City name Province Pop.


1    Tehran Tehran 8,778,535[121] 11 Urmia West Azerbaijan 662,734 Isfahan

2   Mashhad  Razavi Khorasan  2,567,243 12 Kerman Kerman 621,374
3 Isfahan Esfahan 1,755,382 13 Zahedan Sistan and Baluchestan 594,683
4 Tabriz East Azerbaijan 1,657,967 14 Arak Markazi 480,560
5 Karaj Alborz 1,459,755 15 Hamadan Hamadan 479,640
6 Shiraz Fars 1,287,423 16 Sanandaj Kordestan 446,760
7 Qom Qom 1,071,503 17 Yazd Yazd 432,194
8 Ahwaz Khuzestan 1,068,908 18 Ardabil Ardabil 418,262
9 Rasht Gilan 863,470 19 Bandar Abbas Hormozgan 379,301
10 Kermanshah Kermanshah 828,313 20 Zanjan Zanjan 376,284

Culture

The culture of Iran is a mix of ancient pre-Islamic culture and Islamic culture. Iranian culture has long been a predominant culture of the region, with Persian considered the language of intellectuals during much of the 2nd millennium, and the language of religion and the populace before that.
The Sassanid era was an important and influential historical period in Iran as Iranian culture influenced China, India and Roman civilization considerably,[122] and so influenced as far as Western Europe and Africa.[123] This influence played a prominent role in the formation of both Asiatic and European medieval art.[124] This influence carried forward to the Islamic world. Much of what later became known as Islamic learning, such as philology, literature, jurisprudence, philosophy, medicine, architecture and the sciences were based on some of the practises taken from the Sassanid Persians to the broader Muslim world.[125][126][127]
Since the Islamization of Iran, Islamic rituals have penetrated the Iranian culture. The most noticeable of them is the commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali: every year on the Day of Ashura, most Iranians, including Armenians and Zoroastrians, participate in mourning for the martyrs of the battle of Karbala. Daily life in modern Iran is closely interwoven with Shia Islam and the country's art, literature, and architecture are an ever-present reminder of its deep national tradition and of a broader literary culture.[127][128]
The Iranian New Year (Nowruz) is an ancient tradition celebrated on 21 March to mark the beginning of spring in Iran. It is also celebrated in Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and previously also in Georgia and Armenia. It is also celebrated by the Iraqi and Anatolian Kurds.[129] Nowruz was registered on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity[130] and described as the Persian New Year[131][132][133][134] by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2009.

Language and literature

Geographic distribution of the Modern Iranian languages: Persian (green), Pashto (purple) and Kurdish (turquoise), Lurish (red), Baloch (Yellow), as well as smaller communities of other Iranian languages
Article 15 of the Iranian constitution states that the "Official language (of Iran)... is Persian...[and]... the use of regional and tribal languages in the press and mass media, as well as for teaching of their literature in schools, is allowed in addition to Persian." Persian serves as a lingua franca in Iran and most publications and broadcastings are in this language.
Next to Persian, there are many publications and broadcastings in other relatively popular languages of Iran such as Azerbaijani, Kurdish and even in less popular ones such as Arabic and Armenian. Many languages originated in Iran, but Persian is the most used language. Persian belongs to the Iranian branch of the family of Indo-European languages. The oldest records in Old Persian date to the Achaemenid Empire,[135] and examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
In the late 8th century, Persian was highly Arabized and written in a modified Arabic script. This caused a movement supporting the revival of Persian. An important event of this revival was the writing of the Shahname by Ferdowsi (Persian: Epic of Kings), Iran's national epic, which is said to have been written entirely in native Persian. This gave rise to a strong reassertion of Iranian national identity, and is in part credited for the continued existence of Persian as a separate language.

Government and politics

Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution. Accordingly, it is the duty of the Islamic government to furnish all citizens with equal and appropriate opportunities, to provide them with work, and to satisfy their essential needs, so that the course of their progress may be assured.[151]
The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The Leader of the Revolution (commonly called "Supreme Leader" in the US and the UK) is responsible for delineation and supervision of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[152] The Supreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war or peace.[152]
The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of the Guardian Council are appointed by the Supreme Leader.[152] The Assembly of Experts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem.[153] The Assembly of Experts is responsible for supervising the Supreme Leader in the performance of legal duties.
After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the President of Iran as the highest state authority.[152][154] The President is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years and can only be re-elected for one term.[154][dubious – discuss] Presidential candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council prior to running in order to ensure their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution.[155]
The President is responsible for the implementation of the Constitution and for the exercise of executive powers, except for matters directly related to the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all matters.[152] The President appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature.[156] Eight Vice-Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty two ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature.[157] Unlike many other states, the executive branch in Iran does not control the armed forces. Although the President appoints the Ministers of Intelligence and Defense, it is customary for the President to obtain explicit approval from the Supreme Leader for these two ministers before presenting them to the legislature for a vote of confidence. Iran's current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was first elected in a run-off poll in the 2005 presidential elections and re-elected in the 2009 presidential elections.


Iran's complex and unusual political system combines elements of a modern Islamic theocracy with democracy.
As of 2012, the legislature of Iran (known in English as the Islamic Consultative Assembly) is a unicameral body.[158] Before the Iranian Revolution, the legislature was bicameral, but the upper house was removed under the new constitution. The Majlis of Iran comprises 290 members elected for four-year terms.[158] The Majlis drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All Majlis candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council.[159]
The Guardian Council comprises twelve jurists including six appointed by the Supreme Leader. The others are elected by the Parliament from among the jurists nominated by the Head of the Judiciary.[160][161] The Council interprets the constitution and may veto Parliament. If a law is deemed incompatible with the constitution or Sharia (Islamic law), it is referred back to Parliament for revision.[154] In a controversial exercise of its authority, the Council has drawn upon a narrow interpretation of Iran's constitution to veto parliamentary candidates. The Expediency Council has the authority to mediate disputes between Parliament and the Guardian Council, and serves as an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in the country.[162]


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University
The Supreme Leader appoints the head of Iran's judiciary, who in turn appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor.[163] 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 offenses, including crimes against national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed.[163] The Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving lay people. The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.[163]
The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms. As with the presidential and parliamentary elections, the Guardian Council determines candidates' eligibility.[163] The Assembly elects the Supreme Leader and has the constitutional authority to remove the Supreme Leader from power at any time.[163] It has not challenged any of the Supreme Leader's decisions.[163]
Local city councils are elected by public vote to four-year terms in all cities and villages of Iran. According to article seven of Iran's Constitution, these local councils together with the Parliament are "decision-making and administrative organs of the State". This section of the constitution was not implemented until 1999 when the first local council elections were held across the country. Councils have many different responsibilities including electing mayors, supervising the activities of municipalities; studying, planning, co-ordinating and implementing of social, cultural, educational, health, economic, and welfare requirements of their constituencies.
.