readable prose size was 15,600 words. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page
. (January 2024)
Islamic Republic of Iran
جمهوری اسلامی ایران(Persian) Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân
The term Iran("the land of the Aryans") derives from Middle PersianĒrān, first attested in a third-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam, with the accompanying Parthian inscription using Aryān, in reference to the Iranians.[16] The terms Ērān and Aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), both deriving from Proto-Iranian language*arya- (meaning "Aryan", i.e. "of the Iranians"),[16][17] recognised as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European language*ar-yo-, meaning "one who assembles (skilfully)".[18] According to Iranian mythology, the name comes from Iraj, a legendary king.[19]
Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West,[20][21] due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as Persís (Ancient Greek: Περσίς; from Old Persian𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿Pârsa),[22] meaning "land of the Persians".[23]
In 1935, Reza Pahlavi requested the international community refer to the country as Iran.[24][25] While Iranians had been calling their nation Iran since at least 1000 BC, this name change was only made so that the Western World would begin to refer to the country by the same name as its people.[26] Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains mandatory in official state contexts.[27][28][29][30][31][32]
The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran confirm human presence since the
Lower Palaeolithic.[37] Iran's Neanderthal artifacts have been found mainly in the Zagros region, at sites such as Warwasi and Yafteh.[38][39][40] From the tenth to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region, including Chogha Golan,[41][42]Chogha Bonut,[43][44] and Chogha Mish.[45][46][47][48] The occupation of grouped hamlets in the area of Susa ranges from 4395 to 3490 BC.[49] There are dozens of prehistoric sites across the Iranian Plateau, pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC.[48][50][51] During the Bronze Age, the territory was home to several civilizations,[52][53] including Elam, Jiroft, and Zayanderud. Elam, the most prominent of these, developed in the southwest alongside those in Mesopotamia, and continued its existence until the emergence of the Iranian empires. The advent of writing in Elam was parallelled to Sumer; the Elamite cuneiform developed beginning in the third millennium BC.[54]
Diverse artifacts from The Bronze Age, huge structures from the Iron Age and various sites dating back to the Sassanid, Parthian and Islamic eras indicated suitable conditions for human civilization over the past 8,000 years in Piranshahr.[55][56]
From the 34th to the 20th century BC, northwestern Iran was part of the
Kura-Araxes culture, which stretched into the neighbouring Caucasus and Anatolia. Since the earliest second millennium BC, Assyrians
settled in swaths of western Iran and incorporated the region into their territories.
From the late tenth to the late seventh century BC, the Iranian peoples, together with the "pre-Iranian" kingdoms, fell under the domination of the Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia.[60][61] Under king Cyaxares, the Medes and Persians entered into an alliance with Babylonian ruler Nabopolassar, as well as the fellow Iranian Scythians and Cimmerians, and together they attacked the Assyrian Empire. Civil war ravaged the Assyrian Empire between 616 and 605 BC, freeing their respective peoples from three centuries of Assyrian rule.[60] The unification of the Median tribes under king Deioces in 728 BC led to the foundation of the Median Empire and their capital Ecbatana, which by 612 BC, controlled almost the entire territory of present-day Iran and eastern Anatolia.[62] This marked the end of the Kingdom of Urartu, which was subsequently conquered and dissolved.[63][64]
In 550 BC,
Persian Revolt. Later conquests under Cyrus and his successors expanded the empire to include Lydia, Babylon, Egypt, parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as lands to the west of the Indus and Oxus rivers. In 539 BC Persian forces defeated the Babylonian army at Opis, marking the end of around four centuries of Mesopotamian domination of the region by conquering the Neo-Babylonian Empire.[65][66]
In the middle of the second century BC, the Parthian Empire rose to become the main power in Iran, and the century-long geopolitical arch-rivalry between the Romans and the Parthians began, culminating in the Roman–Parthian Wars. The Parthian Empire continued as a feudal monarchy for nearly five centuries, until 224 CE, when it was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire.[69] They and their neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman-Byzantines, were the world's two dominant powers for over four centuries.[70][71]
The Sasanians established an empire within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with their capital at Ctesiphon. Late antiquity is considered one of Iran's most influential periods, as under the Sasanians,[72] their influence reached ancient Rome (and through that as far as Western Europe),[73][74]Africa,[75]China, and India,[76] and played a prominent role in the formation of the mediaeval art of both Europe and Asia.[70][71]
In 750, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads.[88] Arabs Muslims and Persians of all strata made up the rebel army, which was united by the converted Persian Muslim, Abu Muslim.[89][90][91] In their struggle for power, society gradually became cosmopolitan. Persians and Turks began to replace Arabs in most fields. A hierarchy of officials emerged, a bureaucracy at first Persian and later Turkish which decreased Abbasid prestige and power for good.[92]
Tomb of Ferdowsi, a 10th-century AD Persian poet and the author of Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran.
Tomb of Saadi, an influential 13th-century AD Persian poet of the Mediaeval period.
The blossoming literature, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, astronomy and art became major elements in a new age for Iranian civilization, during a period known as the Islamic Golden Age.[98][99] The Islamic Golden Age reached its peak by the 10th and 11th centuries, during which Iran was the main theatre of scientific activities.[100] The tenth century saw a mass migration of Turkic tribes from Central Asia into the Iranian Plateau.[101] Turkic tribesmen were first used in the Abbasid army as mamluks (slave-warriors).[89] As a result, the Mamluks gained significant political power. In 999, large portions of Iran came briefly under the rule of the Ghaznavids, and longer subsequently under the Seljuk and Khwarezmian empires.[101] The Seljuks subsequently gave rise to the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia.[102][103] The result of the adoption and patronage of Persian culture by Turkish rulers was the development of a distinct Turco-Persian tradition.
From 1219 to 1221, under the Khwarazmian Empire, Iran suffered
a devastating invasion by the Mongol Empire. According to Steven R. Ward, "Mongol violence and depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian Plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century."[104] Most modern historians either outright dismiss or are highly skeptical of such statistics and deem them to be exaggerations by Muslim chroniclers of that era. Indeed, as far as the Iranian plateau was concerned, the bulk of the Mongol onslaught and battles were in the northeast of what is modern-day Iran, such as in the cities of Nishapur and Tus.[105][106][107]
Following the fracture of the Mongol Empire in 1256,
Hulagu Khan established the Ilkhanate Empire in Iran. In 1357, the capital Tabriz was occupied by the Golden Horde khan Jani Beg and the centralised power collapsed, resulting in the emergence of rivalling dynasties. In 1370, yet another conqueror, Timur, took control over Persia, establishing the Timurid Empire. In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of Isfahan, reportedly killing 70,000 citizens.[108]
The relationship between the Safavids and the West begins with the presence of the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf from the 16th century, oscillating between alliances and open war between the 17th and 18th century. The Safavid era saw the start of mass integration from
Caucasian populations and their mass resettlement within the heartlands of Iran. In 1588, Abbas the Great came to the throne during a troubled period. Under his leadership, Iran developed the ghilman system where thousands of Circassian, Georgian, and Armenian slave-soldiers joined the civil administration and the military. With the help of these newly created layers in Iranian society, Abbas eclipsed the power of the Qizilbash in the civil administration, the royal house, and the military. Abbas was a great builder and moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, making the city the pinnacle of Safavid architecture. Tabriz was returned to Iran after 18 years of Ottoman rule. In his later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, Abbas became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded. Following a gradual decline in the late 1600s and the early 1700s, which was caused by internal conflicts, the continuous wars with the Ottomans, and the foreign interference (most notably Russian), the Safavid rule was ended by the Pashtun rebels who besieged Isfahan and defeated Soltan Hoseyn
In 1729, Nader Shah successfully drove out and conquered the Pashtun invaders. He took back the annexed Caucasian territories which were divided among the Ottoman and Russian authorities by the ongoing chaos in Iran. During the reign of Nader Shah, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sasanian Empire, reestablishing Iranian hegemony over the Caucasus, as well as other major parts of west and central Asia, and briefly possessing arguably the most powerful empire at the time.[118][119][120][118]
Nader Shah
campaigns in the Northern Caucasus against then revolting Lezgins. The assassination of Nader Shah sparked a brief period of civil war and turmoil, after which Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty came to power in 1750.[104]
Compared to its preceding dynasties, the geopolitical reach of the Zand dynasty was limited. Many of the Iranian territories in the Caucasus gained de facto autonomy and were locally ruled through
Khorasan) as well as parts of Iraq. The lands of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were controlled by khanates which were de jure part of the Zand realm, but the region was de facto autonomous.[121] The island of Bahrain was also held for the Zands by the autonomous Al-Mazkur sheikhdom of Bushire.[122][123] The reign of its most important ruler, Karim Khan, was marked by prosperity and peace. With his capital in Shiraz, arts and architecture flourished, with some themes in architecture being revived from the nearby sites of the Achaemenid and Sasanian era's of pre-Islamic Iran. Another civil war ensued after the death of Karim Khan in 1779, out of which Agha Mohammad Khan emerged, founding the Qajar Empire
The weakening of Persia made it a victim of the colonial struggle between Russia and Britain known as the
1856. As Iran shrank, many South Caucasian and North Caucasian Muslims moved towards Iran,[134][135] especially until the aftermath of the Circassian genocide,[135] and the decades afterwards, while Iran's Armenians were encouraged to settle in the newly incorporated Russian territories,[136][137][138] causing significant demographic shifts. Around 1.5 million people—20 to 25% of the population of Iran—died as a result of the Great Famine of 1870–1872.[139]
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company), prevent a German advance on Baku's oil fields, and limit German influence in Iran. Following the invasion, on 16 September 1941 Reza Shah abdicated and was replaced by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.[147][148][149]
In 1951, Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran. Mosaddegh became enormously popular after he nationalized the oil industry, which had been largely controlled by foreign interests. He worked to weaken the monarchy until he was removed in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état—initially an Anglo-American covert operation that marked the first time the US had participated in an overthrow of a foreign government during the Cold War.[153]
After the coup, the Shah became increasingly autocratic and sultanistic, and Iran entered a decades-long phase of controversially close relations with the United States and other foreign governments.[154] While the Shah increasingly modernised Iran and claimed to retain it as a fully secular state,[155] arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police, the SAVAK, were used for crushing political opposition.[156]
Ruhollah Khomeini, a radical Muslim cleric,[157] became a critic of the Shah's reforms known as the White Revolution. Khomeini publicly denounced the government and was imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964, he was eventually sent into exile.
Due to the 1973 spike in oil prices, the economy was flooded with foreign currency, causing inflation. By 1974, Iran was experiencing a double-digit inflation rate, and despite many large projects to modernise the country, corruption was rampant. By 1975 and 1976, a recession increased unemployment, especially among millions of youths who had migrated to the cities looking for construction jobs during the boom years of the early 1970s. By the late 1970s, many of these people opposed the Shah's regime and began protesting against it.[158]
Immediate nationwide uprisings against the new government began with the
purging the non-Islamist political opposition, as well as Islamists who were not considered radical enough. Although both nationalists and Marxists had initially joined with Islamists to overthrow the Shah, tens of thousands were executed.[163] Following Khomeini's order to purge the new government of any remaining officials still loyal to Pahlavi, many former ministers and officials in Pahlavi's government, including former prime minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda, were executed
The Cultural Revolution began in 1980, with threats to close universities which did not conform to Islamization demands from the new government. All universities were closed down in 1980, and reopened in 1983.[165][166][167]
2019–20 Iranian protests started on 15 November in Ahvaz, spreading across the country within hours, after the government announced increases in fuel prices of up to 300%.[184] A week-long total Internet shutdown marked one of the most severe Internet blackouts in any country, and in the bloodiest governmental crackdown of the protestors in the history of Islamic Republic;[185] tens of thousands were arrested and hundreds were killed within a few days according to multiple international observers, including Amnesty International.[186]
On 3 January 2020, the revolutionary guard's general,
Iran has an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi).[4] It is the fourth-largest country entirely in Asia and the second-largest in West Asia.[211] It lies between latitudes 24° and 40° N, and longitudes 44° and 64° E. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia (35 km or 22 mi), the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan (179 km or 111 mi),[212] and the Republic of Azerbaijan (611 km or 380 mi); to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan (992 km or 616 mi); to the east by Afghanistan (936 km or 582 mi) and Pakistan (909 km or 565 mi); to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Iraq (1,458 km or 906 mi) and Turkey (499 km or 310 mi).
Iran is in a seismically active area.[213] On average, an earthquake of magnitude seven on the Richter scale occurs once every ten years.[214] Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the 2003 Bam earthquake.
Iran consists of the
Khuzestan. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaus. The populous western part is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus, Zagros, and Alborz, the last containing Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is also the highest mountain in Asia west of the Hindu Kush.[215]
The northern part of Iran is covered by the lush lowland
Lut Desert, as well as some salt lakes. The Lut Desert is the hottest recorded spot on the Earth's surface according to NASA, with 70.7 °C recorded in 2005.[216][217][218][219] The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where the country borders the mouth of the Arvand river. Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along the remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman.[220][221][222]
Iranian islands are mainly located in the Persian Gulf. Iran has 102 islands in Urmia Lake, 427 in Aras River, several in Anzali Lagoon, Ashurade Island in the Caspian Sea, Sheytan Island in the Oman Sea and several other inland islands. Iran also has an uninhabited island at the far end of the Gulf of Oman, near the Pakistani border. A small number of Iranian islands can be visited by tourists, as most are in the possession of the military or wildlife protection, and entry to them is generally prohibited or requires a permit.[223][224][225]
Kish island, as a free trade zone, is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and luxury hotels. Qeshm is the largest island in Iran, and a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2016.[242][243][244] Its salt cave, "Namakdan", is the largest salt cave in the world[245][246] and one of the world's longest caves.[247][248]
Climate
Main article:
Climate of Iran
Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from arid and semi-arid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests.[249] On the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain), temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84.2 °F).[250][251] 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. Gary Lewis, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran, has said that "Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today".[252]
To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with freezing 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.[253] Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F).[250] The southern coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (5.3 to 14.0 in).[250]
Iran is divided into five regions with 31 provinces (ostān, استان),[257] each governed by an appointed governor. The provinces are divided into counties, and subdivided into districts and sub-districts.
The country has one of the highest urban growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002, the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 60%.[258] Iran's population is concentrated in its western half, especially in the north, north-west and west.[259]
Tehran, with a population of around 8.8 million (2016 census), is Iran's capital and largest city. The country's second most populous city, Mashhad, has a population of around 3.3 million (2016 census), and is capital of the province of Razavi Khorasan. Isfahan has a population of around 2.2 million (2016 census) and is Iran's third most populous city. It is the capital of Isfahan province and was also the third capital of the Safavid Empire.
armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations, and has sole power to declare war or peace.[261] The heads of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces, and six of the twelve members of the Guardian Council are directly appointed by the Rahbar.[261]
The Assembly of Experts is responsible for electing the Rahbar, and has the power to dismiss him on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem.[270] To date, the Assembly of Experts has not challenged any of the Rahbar's decisions nor attempted to dismiss him.[271] The previous head of the judicial system, Sadeq Larijani, appointed by the Rahbar, said that it is illegal for the Assembly of Experts to supervise the Rahbar.[272] Many believe the Assembly of Experts has become a ceremonial body without any real power.[273][274][275] There have been instances when the current Rahbar publicly criticised members of the Assembly of Experts, resulting in their arrest and dismissal.
Presidential candidates and parliamentary candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council (all members of which are directly or indirectly appointed by the Leader) or the Leader before running to ensure their allegiance.[276] The Leader very rarely does the vetting himself directly but has the power to do so, in which case additional approval of the Guardian Council would not be needed. The Leader can also revert the decisions of the Guardian Council.[277] The Guardian Council can and has dismissed elected members of the Iranian parliament.[278][279]
After the Rahbar, the Constitution defines the president of Iran as the highest state authority.[261][281] The President is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years, but is required to gain the Leader's official approval before being sworn in before the Parliament (Majlis). The Leader also has the power to dismiss the elected president.[282] The President can only be re-elected for one term.[281]
The President is responsible for the implementation of the constitution, and for the exercise of executive powers in implementing the decrees and general policies as outlined by the Rahbar, except for matters directly related to the Rahbar, which has the final say.[261] The procedures for presidential election and all other elections in Iran are outlined by the Rahbar.[283] The President functions as the executive of affairs such as signing treaties and other international agreements, and administering national planning, budget, and state employment affairs, all as approved by the Rahbar.[284][285][265]
The President appoints the ministers, subject to the approval of the Parliament, as well as the approval of the Rahbar, who can dismiss or reinstate any of the ministers at any time.
Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature.[289] Eight Vice Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty-two ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature.[290]
The legislature of Iran, known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, is a unicameral body comprising 290 members elected for four-year terms.[291] It drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All parliamentary candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council.[292]
The Guardian Council comprises twelve jurists, including six appointed by the Rahbar. Others are elected by the Parliament, from among the jurists nominated by the Head of the
The Rahbar appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor.[271] 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 offences, such as crimes against national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed.[271]
The Chief Justice is the head of the judicial system and is responsible for its administration and supervision. He is also the highest judge of the Supreme Court of Iran. The Chief Justice nominates some candidates for serving as minister of justice, and then the President select one of them. The Chief Justice can serve for two five-year terms.[296]
The
clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving laypeople. The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Rahbar. The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.[271]
The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms.
Since the time of the 1979 Revolution, Iran's foreign relations have often been portrayed as being based on two strategic principles: eliminating outside influences in its region and pursuing extensive diplomatic contacts with developing and non-aligned countries.[297]
As of 2009[update], the government of Iran maintains diplomatic relations with 99 members of the United Nations,[298] but not with the United States, and not with Israel—a state which Iran's government has derecognised since the 1979 Revolution.[299] Among Muslim nations, Iran has an adversarial relationship with Saudi Arabia due to different political and Islamic ideologies.[300]
The Iranian military is organized under a unified structure, the
Law Enforcement Force (Faraja), which serves an analogous function to a gendarme. While the regular army protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC is mandated to ensure the integrity of the Islamic Republic, principally against foreign interference, coups, and internal riots.[311]Since 1925, it is mandatory for all male citizen aged 18 to serve around 14 months in the Iranian Army or the IRGC.[312][313][314][315]
Iran has over 610,000 active troops and around 350,000 reservists, totalling nearly 1 million trained military personnel, one of the world's highest
police force
, has over 260,000 active personnel. Most statistical organizations do not include the Basij and Faraja in their ratings report.
Excluding the Basij and Faraja, Iran has been identified as a major military power, owing it to the size and capabilities of its armed forces. It possess the world's 14th strongest military.
Army Aviation fleet in the Middle East.[326][327][328] Iran is among the top 15 countries in terms of military budget.[329] In 2021, its military spending increased for the first time in four years, to $24.6 billion, 2.30% of the national GDP.[330] Funding for the IRGC accounted for 34% of Iran's total military spending in 2021.[331]
Since the Revolution, to overcome foreign embargoes, Iran has developed a domestic military industry capable of producing indigenous
Since the Iranian Revolution, Iran has grown its influence across and beyond the region.[364][365][366][367][368] It has built military forces with a wide network of state and none-state actors, starting with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982.[369][370][371] Since its establishment as a primary branch to the Iranian Army, the IRGC has been key to Iranian influence, through its Quds Force.[372][373][374][375][376] The instability in Lebanon (from the 1980s),[377]Iraq (from 2003) [378] and Yemen (from 2014) [379] have allowed Iran to build strong alliances and foothold beyond its borders. Iran has a prominent influence in the social services, education, economy and the politics of Lebanon,[380][381] and analysts have argued that Lebanon provides Iran access to the Mediterranean Sea.[382][383] Hezbollah's strategic successes against Israel, such as its symbolic victory during the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, elevated Iran's influence in Levant and strengthened its appeal across the Arab World.[384][385][386]
Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the arrival of ISIS in the mid-2010s, Iran has financed and trained militia groups in Iraq, including the PMF.[387][388][389][390] Since the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iran has shaped Iraq's politics.[391][392][393] Following Iraq's struggle against the ISIS in 2014, companies linked to the IRGC such as Khatam al-Anbiya, started to build roads, power plants, hotels and businesses in Iraq, creating an economic corridor worth around $9 billion before COVID-19.[394] This number is expected to grow to $20 billion in the coming years.[395][396]
In Syria, Iran has supported President Bashar al-Assad,[384][409][410][411] with the two countries being long-standing allies.[412][384] Iran has provided significant military and economic support to Assad's government,[409][413] and as a result, it has a considerable foothold in Syria.[414][415] Iran have long supported the anti-Israel fronts in North Africa in countries like Algeria and Tunisia, embracing Hamas in part to help undermine the popularity of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in North Africa.[416] Iran's support of Hamas emerged more clearly in later years.[417][418][419][420] According to US intelligence officials, Iran does not have full control over these state and none state groups.[421]
UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman has reported discrimination against several ethnic minorities in Iran.[429] A group of UN experts in 2022 urged Iran to stop "systematic persecution" of religious minorities, adding that members of the Baháʼí Faith were arrested, barred from universities, or had their homes demolished.[430][431]
Censorship in Iran is ranked among the most extreme worldwide.[432][433][434] Iran also has strict regulations when it comes to internet censorship,[435] with the government and the IRGC persistently blocking social media and other websites.[436][437][438] In January 2021, Iranian authorities added Signal to the list of blocked social media platforms, which included Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and YouTube. They carried out arbitrary arrests for social media postings deemed "counter-revolutionary" or "un-Islamic".[439]
Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures.[440] In 2022, Iran's nominal GDP was $352.2 billion, while its nominal GDP per capita was $4,110.[441] The service sector contributes the largest percentage of the GDP, followed by industry (mining and manufacturing) and agriculture.[442]
The
trade unions other than the Islamic labour councils, which are subject to the approval of employers and the security services.[443] The minimum wage in June 2013 was 487 million rials a month ($134).[444] Unemployment has remained above 10% since 1997, and the unemployment rate for women is almost double that of the men.[444]
In 2006, about 45% of the government's budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, and 31% from taxes and fees.
cut subsidies gradually and replace them with targeted social assistance. The objective is to move towards free market prices in a five-year period and increase productivity and social justice.[449]
Iran has leading manufacturing industries in the fields of automobile manufacture, transportation, construction materials, home appliances, food and agricultural goods, armaments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and petrochemicals in the Middle East.
sanctions against Iran have damaged the economy.[453] In 2015, Iran and the P5+1 reached a deal on the nuclear programme that removed the main sanctions pertaining to Iran's nuclear programme by 2016.[454] The United States under Trump administration, withdraw from the deal on May 8, 2018, causing the return of sanctions and the resumption of uranium enrichment in Iran. Various countries, international organizations, and U.S. scholars have expressed regret or criticized the withdrawal, while U.S. conservatives
Iran's tourism had constantly been growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching nearly 9 million visitors in 2019, the world's third fastest-growing tourism destination before the pandemic.[458][459] Iran's tourism experienced a growth of 48.5% in 2023, attracting over 5.2 million visitors, but 37% lower compared to the pre-COVID statistics in 2019.[460] Over 400,000 visitors were motivated by trade, medical treatment and pilgrimage.[461][462][463] In September and October 2023, Iran achieved a positive balance compared to the same period in 2019.[460] Alongside the capital, the most popular tourist destinations are Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.[464] Iran is fast emerging as a preferred destination for medical tourism.[465][466]
1.8 million visitors from West Asia travelled to Iran in the first seven months of 2023, a 31% growth compared to the same period in 2022. This growth surpassed that of Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.[467]
Domestic tourism in Iran is one of the largest in the world, with the Iranian tourists spent $33.3 billion in 2021.[468][469][470][471] Iran projects investment of over $32 billion in the country's tourism sector and targets 20 million tourists by 2026.[472]
Roughly one-third of Iran's total surface area is suited for farmland, but because of poor soil and lack of adequate water distribution, only 12% of the total land area is under cultivation. Less than one-third of the cultivated area is
farms are small, less than 25 acres (10 hectares), and are not economically viable, which has contributed to the wide-scale urbanization. In addition to water scarcity and areas of poor soil, seed is of low quality and farming techniques are antiquated.[475][476]
From 2008 to 2009, Iran leaped to 28th place from 69th in annual industrial production growth rate.
petrochemical industries. As of 2011, some 66 Iranian industrial companies are carrying out projects in 27 countries.[478] Iran exported over $20 billion worth of technical and engineering services over 2001–2011. The availability of local raw materials, rich mineral reserves, experienced manpower have all played crucial role in winning the bids.[479] 45% of large industrial firms are located in Tehran, and almost half of these workers work for the government.[480] The Iranian retail industry is largely in the hands of cooperatives, many of them government-sponsored, and of independent retailers in the bazaars. The bulk of food sales occur at street markets, where the Chief Statistics Bureau sets the prices.[481] Iran's main exports are to Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Syria, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Venezuela, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.[482][483] Iran's automotive industry is the second most active industry of the country, after its oil and gas industry.[484]Iran Khodro is the largest car manufacturer in the Middle East, and ITMCO is biggest tractor manufacturer. Iran is the 12th largest automaker in the world
. Construction is one of the most important sectors in Iran accounting for 20–50% of the total private investment.
Iran is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries.[485] Iran's oil and gas industry is the most active industry of the country.[484] Iran has the fourth largest reserves of oil and second largest reserves of gas in the world.
Iran manufactures 60–70% of its industrial equipment domestically.[486][487][488] Iran has become self-sufficient in designing, building and operating dams and power plants. Iran is one of the six countries in the world that manufacture gas- and steam-powered turbines.[489]
Iran's domestic
consumer electronic market was estimated at $7.3 billion in 2008 ($8.2 billion in 2010), with 47% market share for computer hardware, 28% Audio/Video and 25% mobile phone.[490][491]
In 2011 Iran had 173,000 kilometres (107,000 mi) of roads, of which 73% were paved.[492] In 2008 there were nearly 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.[493]
Dozens of cities have airports that serve passenger and cargo planes. Iran Air, the national airline, was founded in 1962 and operated domestic and international flights. All large cities have mass transit systems using buses, and several private companies provide bus services between cities.
Transport in Iran is inexpensive because of
smuggling to neighbouring countries and air pollution. In 2008, more than one million people worked in the transportation sector, accounting for 9% of GDP.[499]
gas reserves, with 33.6 trillion cubic metres,[501] and the third largest natural gas production. It also ranks fourth in oil reserves with an estimated 153,600,000,000 barrels.[502][503] It is OPEC's second largest oil exporter. Despite this, Iran spent $4 billion on fuel imports as of 2005 due to a lack of domestic refining capacity.[504] Oil industry output averaged 4 million barrels per day (640,000 m3/d) in 2005, compared with the peak of six million barrels per day reached in 1974.[505]
In 2004, a large share of
Iran's natural gas reserves were untapped. The addition of new hydroelectric stations and the streamlining of conventional coal and oil-fired stations increased installed capacity to 33,000 megawatts. Of that amount, about 75% was based on natural gas, 18% on oil, and 7% on hydroelectric power. In 2004, Iran opened its first wind-powered and geothermal plants, and the first solar thermal plant was to come online in 2009. Iran is the world's third country to have developed GTL technology.[506]
Iran has made considerable advances in science and technology, despite international sanctions during the past 30 years. In recent years, the growth in Iran's scientific output is reported to be the fastest in the world. In the biomedical sciences, Iran's Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics has a UNESCO chair in biology.[509] In late 2006, Iranian scientists successfully cloned a sheep at the Royan Research Center in Tehran.[510]Stem cell research in Iran is among the top 10 in the world.[511] Iran ranks 15th in the world in nanotechnologies.[512][513][514] Iranian scientists outside Iran have also made some major contributions to science. In 1960, Ali Javan co-invented the first gas laser, and fuzzy set theory was introduced by Lotfi A. Zadeh.[515] Iranian cardiologist Tofigh Mussivand invented and developed the first artificial cardiac pump, the precursor of the artificial heart. Furthering research and treatment of diabetes, the HbA1c was discovered by Samuel Rahbar. A substantial number of papers in string theory are published in Iran.[516] In August 2014, Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman, as well as the first Iranian, to receive the Fields Medal, the highest prize in mathematics.[517]
Iran has increased its publication output nearly tenfold from 1996 through 2004, and has been ranked first in terms of output growth rate, followed by China.[518] According to a study by SCImago in 2012, Iran would rank fourth in the world in terms of research output by 2018, if the current trend persists.[519]
Education in Iran is highly centralised. K–12 is supervised by the Ministry of Education, and higher education is under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Technology. According to UNESCO, Iran's literacy rate among people aged 15 years and older was 85.54% as of 2016, with men (90.35%) being significantly more educated than women (80.79%).[521] According to this report, Iranian government expenditure on education amounts to around 4% of the GDP.
The requirement to enter into higher education is to have a
pre-university (piš-dānešgāh).[522] Iran's higher education is sanctioned by different levels of diplomas, including an associate degree (kārdāni; also known as fowq e diplom) delivered in two years, a bachelor's degree (kāršenāsi; also known as lisāns) delivered in four years, and a master's degree (kāršenāsi e aršad) delivered in two years, after which another exam allows the candidate to pursue a doctoral programme (PhD; known as doktorā).[523]
On January 28, 2024, Iran successfully launched three indigenous satellites, The Mahda, Kayan and Hatef,[538] into orbit using the Simorgh carrier rocket.[539][540] It was the first time in country's history that it simultaneously sent three satellites into space.[541][542] The three satellites are designed for testing advanced satellite subsystems, space-based positioning technology, and narrowband communication.[543]
On February 29, 2024, Iran launched its domestically developed imaging satellite, Pars 1, from Russia into orbit.[544][545] This was done for the second time since August 2022, when Russia launched another Iranian remote-sensing, The Khayyam satellite, into orbit from Kazakhstan, reflecting deep scientific cooperation between the two countries.[546][547]
Iran's telecommunications industry is almost entirely state-owned, dominated by the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI). Fixed-line penetration in 2004 was relatively well-developed by regional standards, at 22 lines per 100 people, compared with Egypt with 14. Iran had more than one mobile phone per inhabitant by 2012.[549]
As of 2020, 70 million Iranians use high-speed mobile internet. Iran is among the first five countries which have had a growth rate of over 20 percent and the highest level of development in telecommunication.[550] Iran has been awarded the UNESCO special certificate for providing telecommunication services to rural areas. By the end of 2009, Iran's telecom market was the fourth-largest market in the region at $9.2 billion.[551]
Population of Iranian provinces and counties in 2021.
Iran's population grew rapidly from about 19 million in 1956 to about 85 million by February 2023.[552] However, Iran's fertility rate has dropped dramatically, from 6.5 children born per woman to about 1.7 two decades later,[553][554][555] leading to a population growth rate of about 1.39% as of 2018.[556] Due to its young population, studies project that the growth will continue to slow until it stabilises around 105 million by 2050.[557][558][559]
Iran hosts one of the largest refugee populations, with almost one million,[560] mostly from Afghanistan and Iraq.[561] According to estimates, about five million Iranian citizens have emigrated to other countries, mostly since the 1979 Revolution.[562][563]
According to the
social security, covering retirement, unemployment, old age, disability, accidents, calamities, health and medical treatment and care services.[564] This is covered by tax revenues and income derived from public contributions.[565]
The majority of the population speaks Persian, the official language of the country.[3] Others include speakers of several other Iranian languages within the greater Indo-European family and languages belonging to some other ethnicities living in Iran.
The
several distinct varieties of Persian are spoken. Southern Iran also houses the Luri and Lari
Arabs in Khuzestan, and the wider group of Iranian Arabs. Circassian was also once widely spoken by the large Circassian minority, but, due to assimilation, no sizable number of Circassians speak the language anymore.[567][568][569][570]
Percentages of spoken language continue to be a point of debate, most notably regarding the largest and second largest ethnicities in Iran, the Persians and
Ethnic group composition remains a point of debate, mainly regarding the largest and second largest ethnic groups, the Persians and Azerbaijanis, due to the lack of Iranian state censuses based on ethnicity.
The Library of Congress issued slightly different estimates: 65% Persians (including Mazenderanis, Gilaks, and the Talysh), 16% Azerbaijanis, 7% Kurds, 6% Lurs, 2% Baloch, 1% Turkic tribal groups (including Qashqai and Turkmens), and non-Iranian, non-Turkic groups (including Armenians, Georgians, Assyrians, Circassians, and Arabs) less than 3%.[572][4][573]
The healthcare sector's market value in Iran was almost US$24 billion in 2002.
The country faces the common problem of other
Primary Health Care Network. As a result, child and maternal mortality rates have fallen significantly, and life expectancy at birth has risen. Iran's medical knowledge rank is 17th globally, and 1st in the Middle East and North Africa. In terms of medical science production index, Iran ranks 16th in the world.[579]
The art of Iran encompasses many disciplines, including
Scythian style.[607] The Achaemenids borrowed heavily from the art of their neighbouring civilizations,[608] but produced a synthesis of a unique style.[609] Greek iconography was imported by the Seleucids, followed by the recombination of Hellenistic and earlier Near Eastern elements in the art of the Parthians.[610]
By the time of the Sasanians, Iranian art came across a general renaissance.[611] During the Middle Ages, Sasanian art played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian mediaeval art.[612][613][614][615]
The Safavid era is known as the Golden Age of Iranian art.[616]Safavid art exerted noticeable influences upon the neighbouring Ottomans, the Mughals, and the Deccans, and was also influential through its fashion and garden architecture on 11th–17th-century Europe.
Iran's contemporary art traces its origins to the time of Kamal-ol-molk,[618] a prominent realist painter at the court of the Qajar dynasty who affected the norms of painting and adopted a naturalistic style that would compete with photographic works. A new Iranian school of fine art was established by Kamal-ol-Molk in 1928,[618] and was followed by the so-called "coffeehouse" style of painting.
Iran's avant-garde modernists emerged by the arrival of new western influences during World War II.[618] The vibrant contemporary art scene originates in the late 1940s, and Tehran's first modern art gallery, Apadana, was opened in September 1949 by painters Mahmud Javadipur, Hosein Kazemi, and Hushang Ajudani.[619] The new movements received official encouragement by the mid-1950s,[618] which led to the emergence of artists such as Marcos Grigorian.[620]
Neyshabour, Mashhad, Kashan, Isfahan, Nain and Qom are characterized by their specific weaving techniques and use of high-quality materials, colours and patterns. Hand-woven Persian rugs and carpets have been regarded as objects of high artistic and utilitarian value and prestige since the first time they were mentioned by ancient Greek
Iran has known dance in the forms of music, play, drama or religious rituals since at least the 6th millennium BC. Artifacts with pictures of dancers were found in many archaeological prehistoric sites.[638] Genres of dance in Iran vary depending on the area, culture, and language of the local people, and can range from sophisticated reconstructions of refined court dances to energetic folk dances.[639] Each group, region, and historical epoch has specific dance styles associated with it. The earliest researched dance from historic Iran is a dance worshipping Mithra. Ancient Persian dance was significantly researched by Greek historian from Herodotus. Iran was occupied by foreign powers, causing a slow disappearance of heritage dance traditions. The Qajar dynasty had an important influence on Persian dance. In this period, a style of dance began to be called "classical Persian dance". Dancers performed artistic dances in the court of the king for entertainment purposes such as coronations, marriage celebrations, and Norouz celebrations. In the 20th century, the music came to be orchestrated and dance movement and costuming gained a modernistic orientation to the West. In 1928, ballet came to Iran and impacted dance performance.[citation needed]
Storytelling has an significant presence in Iranian folklore and culture.[649][650] In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts[649] and in public theatres.[649][651] A minstrel was referred to by the Parthians as gōsān, and by the Sasanians as huniyāgar.[649][652] Since the Safavid Empire, storytellers and poetry readers appeared at coffeehouses.[649][653] After the Iranian Revolution, it took until 1985 to found the MCHTH (Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts),[654] a now heavily centralized organization, supervising all kinds of cultural activities. It held the first scientific meeting on anthropology and folklore in 1990.[655]
Iran's first symphony orchestra, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, was founded by Qolam-Hoseyn Minbashian in 1933. By the late 1940s, Ruhollah Khaleqi founded the country's first national music society and established the School of National Music in 1949.[663]
The oldest Iranian initiation of theatre can be traced to ancient epic ceremonial theatres such as Sug-e Siāvuš ("mourning of Siāvaš"), as well as dances and theatre narrations of Iranian mythological tales reported by Herodotus and Xenophon.
Iran's traditional theatrical genres include Baqqāl-bāzi ("grocer play", a form of slapstick comedy), Ruhowzi (or Taxt-howzi, comedy performed over a courtyard pool covered with boards), Siāh-bāzi (in which the central comedian appears in blackface), Sāye-bāzi (shadow play), Xeyme-šab-bāzi (marionette), and Arusak-bāzi (puppetry), and Ta'zie (religious tragedy plays).[669]
Before the 1979 Revolution, the Iranian national stage had become a famous performing scene for known international artists and troupes,
, and was officially renamed Vahdat Hall after the Revolution.
Cinema and animation
Main articles:
History of Iranian animation
A third-millennium BC earthen goblet discovered at the Burnt City in southeastern Iran depicts what could be the world's oldest example of animation.[672] The earliest attested Iranian examples of visual representations, however, are traced back to the bas-reliefs of Persepolis, the ritual centre of the Achaemenid Empire.[673]
Iran's animation industry began by the 1950s and was followed by the establishment of the influential Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in January 1965.[675][676]
With the screening of the films Qeysar and The Cow, directed by Masoud Kimiai and Dariush Mehrjui respectively in 1969, alternative films set out to establish their status in the film industry and Bahram Beyzai's Downpour and Nasser Taghvai's Tranquility in the Presence of Others followed soon. Attempts to organise a film festival, which had begun in 1954 within the framework of the Golrizan Festival, resulted in the festival of Sepas in 1969. The endeavours also resulted in the formation of Tehran's World Film Festival in 1973.[677]
After the Revolution of 1979, and following the
Cultural Revolution, a new age emerged in Iranian cinema, starting with Long Live! by Khosrow Sinai and followed by many other directors, such as Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi. Kiarostami, an acclaimed Iranian director, planted Iran firmly on the map of world cinema when he won the Palme d'Or for Taste of Cherry in 1997.[678] The continuous presence of Iranian films in prestigious international festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Berlin International Film Festival, attracted world attention to Iranian masterpieces.[679] In 2006, six Iranian films represented Iranian cinema at the Berlin International Film Festival. Critics considered this a remarkable event in the history of Iranian cinema.[680][681]
Lunar Islamic public holidays include Tasua (Muharram 9), Ashura (Muharram 10), Arba'een (Safar 20), the death of Muhammad (Safar 28), the death of Ali al-Ridha (Safar 29 or 30), the birthday of Muhammad (Rabi-al-Awwal 17), the death of Fatimah (Jumada-al-Thani 3), the birthday of Ali (Rajab 13), Muhammad's first revelation (Rajab 27), the birthday of Muhammad al-Mahdi (Sha'ban 15), the death of Ali (Ramadan 21), Eid al-Fitr (Shawwal 1–2), the death of Ja'far al-Sadiq (Shawwal 25), Eid al-Qurban (Zulhijja 10), and Eid al-Qadir (Zulhijja 18).[720]
Being a mountainous country, Iran is a venue for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing,[734] and mountain climbing.[735][736] It is home to several ski resorts, the most famous being Tochal, Dizin, and Shemshak.[737] The resort of Tochal, located in the Alborz mountain rage, is the world's fifth-highest ski resort (3,730 m or 12,238 ft at its highest station). Dizin is the largest Iranian ski resort, and its officially granted the title by FIS to administer official and international competitions.[738]
FIFA World Rankings (as of September 2021[update]).[742] The Azadi Stadium in Tehran is the largest association football stadium in Western Asia and on the list of top-20 best stadiums in the world.[743]
In 2016, Iran made global headlines for international female champions boycotting tournaments in Iran in chess (U.S. Woman Grandmaster Nazí Paikidze)[747][748] and in shooting (Indian world champion Heena Sidhu),[749] as they refused to enter a country where they would be forced to wear a hijab.
The National Museum of Iran in Tehran is the country's most important cultural institution.[750] As the first and biggest museum in Iran, the institution includes the Museum of Ancient Iran and the Museum of the Islamic Era. The National Museum is the world's most important museum in terms of preservation, display and research of archaeological collections of Iran,[751] and ranks as one of the few most prestigious museums globally in terms of volume, diversity and quality of its monuments.[752]
Since the 1979 Revolution, Iran's largest media corporation is the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).[470] Despite the restrictions on non-domestic television, about 65% of the residents of Tehran and about 30 to 40% of residents outside the capital access worldwide television channels through satellite dishes, although observers state that the figures are likely to be higher.[758][759]
According to Internet World Stats, as of 2017[update], around 69.1% of the population are Internet users.[760] Iran ranks 17th among countries by number of Internet users. Google Search is Iran's most widely used search engine and Instagram is the most popular online social networking service.[761] Direct access to many worldwide mainstream websites has been blocked in Iran, including Facebook, which has been blocked since 2009 due to the organization of anti-governmental protests on the website.[762] However, as of 2017[update], Facebook has around 40 million subscribers based in Iran (48.8% of the population) who use virtual private networks and proxy servers to access the website.[760] About 90% of Iran's e-commerce takes place on the Iranian online store Digikala, which has around 750,000 visitors per day and is the most visited online store in the Middle East.[763][761]
animals' skin and hair as clothing, while others propose Hushang.[764] Ferdowsi considers Tahmuras to be a kind of textile initiator in Iran. The clothing of ancient Iran took an advanced form, and the fabric and colour of clothing became very important. Depending on the social status, eminence, climate of the region and the season, Persian clothing during the Achaemenian period took various forms. This clothing, in addition to being functional, had an aesthetic role.[764]
ISBN 978-90-04-18148-9. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2015. The official motto of Iran is [the] Takbir ('God is the Greatest' or 'God is Great'). Transliteration Allahu Akbar. As referred to in art. 18 of the constitution of Iran (1979). The de facto
motto however is: 'Independence, freedom, the Islamic Republic.'
^"Iran – Languages". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
^Laroche. 1957. Proto-Iranian *arya- descends from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *ar-yo-, a yo-adjective to a root *ar "to assemble skillfully", present in Greek harma "chariot", Greek aristos, (as in "aristocracy"), Latin ars "art", etc.
. " "Iran" and "Persia" are synonymous" The former has always been used by the Iranian speaking peoples themselves, while the latter has served as the international name of the country in various languages
^PersiaArchived 15 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica, "The term Persia was used for centuries... [because] use of the name was gradually extended by the ancient Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranian plateau."
^Richard N. Frye (20 October 2007). interview by Asieh Namdar. CNN. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. I spent all my life working in Iran, and as you know I don't mean Iran of today, I mean Greater Iran, the Iran which in the past, extended all the way from China to borders of Hungary and from other Mongolia to Mesopotamia
. I use the term Iran in an historical context [...] Persia would be used for the modern state, more or less equivalent to "western Iran". I use the term "Greater Iran" to mean what I suspect most Classicists and ancient historians really mean by their use of Persia – that which was within the political boundaries of States ruled by Iranians.
. Retrieved 21 June 2013. This 'greater Iran' included and still includes part of the Caucasus Mountains, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iraq; for Kurds, Baluchis, Afghans, Tajiks, Ossetes, and other smaller groups are Iranians
^"Emergence of Agriculture in the Foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran", by Simone Riehl, Mohsen Zeidi, Nicholas J. Conard – University of Tübingen, publication 10 May 2013
^Hole, Frank (20 July 2004). "NEOLITHIC AGE IN IRAN". Encyclopedia Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
^Afary, Janet; Peter William Avery; Khosrow Mostofi. "Iran (Ethnic Groups)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
^"Cyrus the Great". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2018. In the Bible (e.g., Ezra 1:1–4), Cyrus is famous for freeing the Jewish captives in Babylonia and allowing them to return to their homeland.
^Jakobsson, Jens (2004). "Seleucid Empire". Iran Chamber Society. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
from the original on 28 March 2024, retrieved 20 June 2017, Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name 'Iran' disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or 'Iranian lands', which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations.
^Bury, J.B. (1958). History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian, Part 1. Courier Corporation. pp. 90–92.
. Repaying its debt, Sasanian art exported its forms and motives eastward into India, Turkestan, and China, westward into Syria, Asia Minor, Constantinople, the Balkans, Egypt, and Spain.
. The Golden age of Islam [...] attributable, in no small measure, to the vital participation of Persian men of letters, philosophers, theologians, grammarians, mathematicians, musicians, astronomers, geographers, and physicians
^Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties? RM Savory, Iran under the Safavids (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.
, Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name 'Iran' disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or 'Iranian lands', which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations.
^ abА. Г. Булатова. Лакцы (XIX — нач. XX вв.). Историко-этнографические очерки. — Махачкала, 2000.
^"Griboedov not only extended protection to those Caucasian captives who sought to go home but actively promoted the return of even those who did not volunteer. Large numbers of Georgian and Armenian captives had lived in Iran since 1804 or as far back as 1795." Fisher, William Bayne; Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Hambly, Gavin; Melville, Charles. The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press – 1991. p. 339
. Retrieved 18 June 2016. By January, Ottoman regulars and cavalry detachments associated with the old Hamidiye had seized the towns of Urmia, Khoy, and Salmas. Demonstrations of resistance by local Christians, comprising Armenians, Nestorians, Syriacs, and Assyrians, led Ottoman forces to massacre civilians and torch villages throughout the border region of Iran.
. Retrieved 18 June 2016. 'In retaliation, we killed the Armenians of Khoy, and I gave the order to massacre the Armenians of Maku.'... Without distorting the facts, one can affirm that the centuries-old Armenian presence in the regions of Urmia, Salmast, Qaradagh, and Maku had been dealt a blow from which it would never recover.
^Yeghiayan, Vartkes, ed. (1991). British Foreign Office Dossiers on Turkish War Criminals. American Armenian International College. ...Assyrians who were killed in Khoy, some 700 Armenian residents of Khoy were also massacred at the same time, June 1918.
^Leonhardt, David (26 September 2022). "Iran's Ferocious Dissent". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
^U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2005. Unpublished work tables for estimating Iran's mortality. Washington, D.C.:
Population Division, International Programs Center
^J. Harmatta in "History of Civilizations of Central Asia", Chapter 14, The Emergence of Indo-Iranians: The Indo-Iranian Languages, ed. by A. H. Dani & V.N. Masson, 1999, p. 357
^Carr, Brian; Mahalingam, Indira (2009). "Morals and Society in Zoroastrian Philosophy" in "Persian Philosophy". In Kreyenbroek, Philip G. (ed.). Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. Routledge.
^Carr, Brian; Mahalingam, Indira (2009). "The Origins of Zoroastrian Philosophy" in "Persian Philosophy". In Boyce, Mary (ed.). Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy. Routledge.
^"Call for Safe Yearend Celebration". Financial Tribune. 12 March 2017. The ancient tradition has transformed over time from a simple bonfire to the use of firecrackers...
Tohidi, Nayareh (2009). "Ethnicity and Religious Minority Politics in Iran". In Gheissari, Ali (ed.). Contemporary Iran: Economy, Society, Politics. Oxford University Press.