Short answers, pulled from the story.
Iranian architecture, also called Persian architecture, is the architecture of Iran and parts of West Asia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Its history dates back at least 5,000 years, with examples spread from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Arthur Pope, an American historian and archaeologist, argued that the supreme Iranian art has always been its architecture, in both the pre-Islamic and post-Islamic periods. He praised its feeling for form and scale, its inventiveness in vault and dome construction, and its genius for decoration.
Mohammad Karim Pirnia categorized traditional Iranian architecture into six styles, or sabk: the Parsian and Parthian styles on the Zoroastrian side, and the Khorasani, Razi, Azari, and Isfahani styles in the Islamic period. The Isfahani style spanned the Safavid, Afsharid, Zand, and Qajar eras from the 16th century onward.
The four-iwan plan arranges four large iwans around a central courtyard. It arose at the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan, where four iwans were erected around the courtyard in the early 12th century, and it quickly spread to mosques such as those of Ardestan and Zavareh.
The distinct feature of Persian domes is the use of colourful tiles covering the exterior much like the interior, which separates them from domes of the Christian world or the Ottoman and Mughal empires. Reflecting the sun, the blue domes of Isfahan looked like glittering turquoise gems and could be seen from miles away by travelers on the Silk Road.
Abbas I made Isfahan his capital and built a new planned district near the Zayandeh River centered on the Maidan-e Shah, or Naqsh-e Jahan square, laid out between 1590 and 1602. Around it stand the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, the Shah Mosque, and the Ali Qapu palace gateway.
The Dome of Soltaniyeh, built between 1302 and 1312 in Zanjan during the Ilkhanate period, measures 50 meters in height and 25 meters in diameter. It was the third largest and the tallest masonry dome ever erected, built as a thin double shell reinforced by arches between the layers.