Iran History

History

Persia or contemporary Iran has very long and rich history.

In the sixth century B.C. Iran's first empire the Achaemenid Empire was already established. It had an absolute monarch centralized rule a highly developed system of administration aspirations of world rule and a culture that was uniquely Persian even as it borrowed absorbed and transformed elements from other cultures and civilizations.

Although Alexander the Great brought the Achaemenid Empire to an end in 330 B.C. under the Sassanids (A.D. 224-642) Iran once again became the center of an empire and a great civilization.

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and the shah was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority nominally vested in a learned religious scholar. Iranian-US relations have been strained since a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. 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 have floundered as conservative politicians have prevented reform measures from being enacted, increased repressive measures, and consolidated their control over the government.