Country in SW Asia, bounded N by Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan; E by Afghanistan and Pakistan; S and SW by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf; W by Iraq; and NW by Turkey.
government
The constitution, which came into effect on the overthrow of the shah in 1979, provides for a president elected by universal suffrage and a single-chamber legislature, the Majlis (Islamic Consultative Assembly), consisting of 270 members, similarly elected. The president and the assembly serve a four-year term. All legislation passed by the assembly must be sent to the Shura-E-Nigahban (Council of Guardians), consisting of six religious and six secular lawyers, to ensure that it complies with the constitution and Islamic precepts. There is also a 83-member Majlis-E-Khobregan (Council of Experts), composed entirely of clerics and elected to decide issues such as succession to the position of Wali Faqih (religious leader), who, as spiritual leader, has overall authority. The president is the executive head of government but, like the assembly, ultimately subject to the will of the religious leader. Although a number of political parties exist, Iran is fundamentally a one-party state, the Islamic Republican Part
y having been founded 1978 to bring about the Islamic revolution.
history
The name Iran is derived from the Aryan tribes, including the Medes and Persians, who overran Persia (see Persia, ancient) from 1600 BC.
Cyrus the Great, who seized the Median throne 550, formed an empire including Babylonia, Syria, and Asia Minor, to which Egypt, Thrace, and Macedonia were later added. It was conquered by Alexander the Great 334–328, then passed to his general Seleucus (c. 358–280) and his descendants, until overrun in the 3rd century BC by the Parthians. The Parthian dynasty was overthrown AD 226 by Ardashir, founder of the Sassanian Empire.
During 633–41 Persia was conquered for Islam by the Arabs and then in 1037–55 came under the Seljuk Turks. Their empire broke up in the 12th century and was conquered in the 13th by the Mongols. After 1334 Persia was again divided until its conquest by Tamerlane in the 1380s. A period of violent disorder in the later 15th century was ended by the accession of the Safavid dynasty, who ruled 1499–1736 but were deposed by the great warrior Nadir Shah (ruled 1736–47), whose death was followed by instability until the accession of the Qajar dynasty (1794–1925).
During the 18th century Persia was threatened by Russian expansion, culminating in the loss of Georgia 1801 and a large part of Armenia 1828. Persian claims on Herat, Afghanistan, led to war with Britain 1856–57. Revolutions 1905 and 1909 resulted in the establishment of a parliamentary regime. During World War I the country was occupied by British and Russian forces. An officer, Col Reza Khan, was made minister of war following a coup 1921, and was crowned shah 1925; this allowed him to carry out a massive program of modernization.
after World War II
During World War II, Iran, as it had become known, was occupied by British, US, and Soviet troops until 1946. Anti-British and anti-American feeling grew, and in 1951 the newly elected prime minister, Dr Mohammed Mossadegh, obtained legislative approval for the nationalization of Iran's largely foreign-owned petroleum industry. With US connivance, he was deposed in a 1953 coup, and the dispute over nationalization was settled the following year when oil-drilling concessions were granted to a consortium of eight companies. The shah took complete control of the government, and Iran enjoyed a period of political stability and economic growth 1965–77, based on oil revenue.
Iranian revolution
By 1975 the shah had introduced a one-party system, based on the Rastakhis (Iran National Resurgence Party), but opposition to his regime was growing. The most effective opposition came from the religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who campaigned from exile in France, demanding a return to the principles of Islam. Pressure on the shah became so great that in 1979 he left the country, leaving the way open for Khomeini to return as head of a 15-member Islamic Revolutionary Council.
Islamic republic
Iran was declared an Islamic republic, and a new constitution, based on Islamic principles, was adopted. Relations with the US were badly affected when a group of Iranian students took 63 Americans hostage at the US embassy in Tehran, demanding that the shah return to face trial. Even the death of the shah, in Egypt 1980, did little to resolve the crisis, which ended when all the hostages were released Jan 1981.
Iran–Iraq War
In its early years several rifts developed within the new Islamic government. Externally, the war with Iraq, which broke out 1980 after a border dispute, continued with considerable loss of life on both sides. Meanwhile, Islamic law was becoming stricter, with amputation as the penalty for theft and flogging for minor sexual offenses. By 1985 the failure to end the Iran–Iraq War and the harshness of the Islamic codes were increasing opposition to Khomeini's regime but his position remained secure. The intervention of the US Navy to conduct convoys through the Gulf 1987–88 resulted in confrontations that proved costly for Iranian forces. Iraq gained the initiative on the battlefield, aided by its use of chemical weapons. By 1987 both sides in the war had increased the scale of their operations, each apparently believing that outright victory was possible. In Aug 1988, under heavy domestic and international pressure, Iran accepted the provisions for a United Nations-sponsored cease-fire. Full diplomatic relatio
ns with the UK were restored Dec 1988, but the issuing of a death threat to the author Salman Rushdie caused a severance March 1989.
rebuilding the economy
Khomeini's death in June 1989 provoked a power struggle between hard-line revolutionaries and so-called pragmatists who recognized a need for trade and cooperation with the West. Revelations in 1989 that Iran had negotiated secret oil sales to Israel reflected Iran's need for hard currency to rebuild its economy as well as a desire to counter Iraq. Struggle for succession began, ending with the confirmation of the former speaker of the Majlis, Hashemi Rafsanjani, as president with increased powers. Despite his reputation for moderation and pragmatism, Iran's relations with the West were slow to improve. In Aug 1990 Iran accepted Iraq's generous peace terms, which virtually gave back everything it had claimed at the start of the Iran–Iraq War. During the Kurdish refugee crisis that followed the Gulf War, Iran took in nearly 1 million Kurds, accusing the US and relief agencies of their neglect. Iran also condemned the Middle East peace conference held in Spain Nov 1991.
In the May 1992 elections, supporters of Rafsanjani claimed a majority win, constituting a major setback for Iran's Islamic militants. In 1993 Rafsanjani was himself reelected, but with a reduced majority.
A republic in the Middle East; Iran was the core of the ancient Persian Empire and was known as Persia until 1935; rich in oil; Also called: Persia. + prikaži više

1. An empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC; Also called: Persian Empire.
2. City in Iowa (USA); zip code 51563. + prikaži više