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Iran: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Iran
The earliest known presence of hominins in Iran dates to around 800,000 years before the present, marking the region as a cradle of human history long before recorded empires. This deep prehistoric foundation set the stage for the development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago, with sites like Chogha Golan and Ganj Dareh witnessing the domestication of emmer wheat and goats respectively. By 4400 BC, the ancient city of Susa was already thriving, becoming a capital for the Elamite civilization and later the Achaemenid Empire. The Proto-Elamite script, found in the early third millennium BC, predates cuneiform and hints at a complex administrative system that was far ahead of its time. The western part of the Iranian plateau participated in the traditional ancient Near East with Elam, which existed from 3200 to 539 BC, alongside other peoples such as the Kassites, Mannaeans, and Gutians. The earliest Iranian peoples began to arrive from Central Asia in the 2nd millennium BCE, eventually leading to the Median dynasty, which ruled the earliest Iranian state. In 612 BC, Cyaxares and the Babylonian king Nabopolassar invaded Assyria and destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes later conquered and dissolved Urartu as well. Under Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenids defeated the Medes and established the Achaemenid Empire, the largest-ever Iranian state. Cyrus conquered the Lydian and Neo-Babylonian empires, creating an empire far larger than Assyria. His son, Cambyses II, conquered the last major power of the region, ancient Egypt, causing the collapse of its twenty-sixth dynasty. After the death of Cambyses II, Darius the Great ascended the throne by overthrowing the Achaemenid monarch Bardiya. Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building program at Persepolis. He improved the extensive road system, and during his reign the first recorded mentions are made of the Royal Road, a highway from Susa to Sardis. In 499 BC, Athens supported a revolt in Miletus, resulting in the sacking of Sardis. This led to the Greco-Persian Wars, which lasted the first half of the 5th century BC. In the First Persian invasion of Greece, Persian general Mardonius re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedon a full part of Persia. Darius' successor Xerxes I launched the Second Persian invasion of Greece. At a crucial moment in the war, about half of mainland Greece was overrun by the Persians, including territories to the north of the Isthmus of Corinth. This was reversed by a Greek victory following the battles of Plataea and Salamis, during which Persia lost its footholds in Europe, and withdrew from it. The empire entered a period of decline. From 334 BC to 331 BC, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III in the battles of Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, swiftly conquering the Achaemenid Empire by 331 BC. Alexander's empire collapsed after his death; his general, Seleucus I Nicator, tried to take control of Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia. His empire was the Seleucid Empire. The Arsacids of Parthia, initially Seleucid vassals, originated as leaders of the Iranian Parni tribe in the northeastern steppes. The Parthians gradually challenged Seleucid rule over Iran, eventually securing control through the 142 BC conquest of Babylonia. Although fighting continued, the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes in 129 BC marked the collapse of the Seleucid Empire, which then lingered on as a rump state in Syria until conquered by the Roman Empire in the 60s BC. The Parthian Empire endured for five centuries, but civil wars destabilized it. Parthian power evaporated when Ardashir I revolted against the Arsacids and killed their last ruler, Artabanus IV, in 224 AD. Ardashir established the Sasanian Empire, which ruled Iran and much of Near East before the Muslim conquests of the 7th century AD. At their zenith, the Sasanians controlled all of modern-day Iran and Iraq and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the Caucasus, the Levant, and parts of Central and South Asia. The strong economic conditions left by Parthians allowed the Sasanians to build a powerful and distinctive economic state whose reputation spread well beyond its political frontiers and time. The Sasanian Empire was characterized by a complex and centralized government bureaucracy and the revitalization of Zoroastrianism as a legitimizing and unifying ideal.
Common questions
When did the earliest known presence of hominins occur in Iran?
The earliest known presence of hominins in Iran dates to around 800,000 years before the present. This deep prehistoric foundation set the stage for the development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago. Sites like Chogha Golan and Ganj Dareh witnessed the domestication of emmer wheat and goats respectively.
Who founded the Achaemenid Empire and when did it fall?
Cyrus the Great established the Achaemenid Empire, which became the largest-ever Iranian state. The empire fell to Alexander the Great between 334 BC and 331 BC after the battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela. Alexander the Great defeated Darius III and swiftly conquered the Achaemenid Empire by 331 BC.
What year did the Islamic Revolution in Iran officially transition the country to an Islamic republic?
A referendum held on the 31st of March 1979 approved the transition from a monarchy to an Islamic republic. The vote passed with a massive margin of 99.31% and mandated the creation of an assembly to draft the new theocratic constitution. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became Supreme Leader in December 1979 following this transition.
Where is the highest point in Iran located and what is its elevation?
Mount Damavand is the highest point in Iran and the highest volcano in Asia. It stands at 5,610 meters within the Alborz mountain range. The mountain is located in the populous western Iran region which is the most mountainous part of the country.
How many provinces does Iran have and how are they governed?
Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces, each governed from a local center called the capital of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a governor-general who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to the approval of the cabinet. Each province operates from its largest local city as the administrative center.
After the fall of the Sasanian Empire in 651, the Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate adopted many Persian customs, especially the administrative and the court mannerisms. Arab provincial governors were either Persianized Arameans or ethnic Persians; Persian remained the official language of the caliphate until the adoption of Arabic toward the end of the 7th century. However, Iran was still not entirely under Arab control; the Daylam region was under the control of the Daylamites, Tabaristan was under Dabuyid and Paduspanid control, and Mount Damavand under Masmughan control. Arabs had invaded these regions several times but the regions' inaccessible terrain prevented a decisive result. The most prominent ruler of the Dabuyids, Farrukhan the Great, managed to hold his domains during his long struggle against the Arab general Yazid ibn al-Muhallab, who was defeated by a combined Daylamite, Dabuyid army and forced to retreat from Tabaristan. Anti-Umayyad insurrections were supported by non-Arab Islamic converts, who were resentful over being relegated to lower social standing. In 747, 750, one of these insurrections grew into the Abbasid revolution, in which descendants of Muhammad's uncle, Abbas, overthrew the Umayyads. The political authority of the Abbasid caliphs diminished over the course of the 9th and 10th centuries. This led to the establishment of several independent Iranian dynasties, the ousting of Arab rulers from their scattered bastions across the country, and an Iranian cultural renaissance. The period between the collapse of Abbasid authority and the conquest of Iran by the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century is referred to as the Iranian Intermezzo. The Iranian Intermezzo saw the rise and fall of several major and minor dynasties. Among the most important of these overlapping dynasties were the Tahirids in Khorasan, the Saffarids in Sistan, and the Samanids, originally at Bukhara. The Samanids eventually ruled an area from central Iran to Pakistan. By early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost control to the growing Iranian faction known as the Buyid dynasty. Since much of the Abbasid administration had been Persian, the Buyids were quietly able to assume real power in Baghdad. The Buyids were defeated in the mid-11th century by the Seljuq Turks, who continued to exert influence over the Abbasids. From the empire's inception, the Seljuk rulers minted coins with the title shahanshah in its Persian form, perhaps adopting it from the Buyids. The Seljuk Empire fractured after the death of Ahmad Sanjar in 1157. The Islamization of Iran was a long process. As Persian Muslims consolidated their rule, the Muslim population rose from approximately 40% in the mid-9th century to close to 90% by the end of the 11th century. Historian Seyyed Hossein Nasr suggests that the rapid increase in conversion was aided by the Persian nationality of the rulers. Although Persians adopted the religion of their conquerors, over the centuries they worked to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as Persianization. Arabs and Turks participated in this process. In the early 13th century, the Mongols reached Iran. Bukhara was conquered in 1220 and the Khwarazmian Empire was destroyed. During 1220, 21 Bukhara, Samarkand, Herat, Tus and Nishapur were razed, and the whole populations were slaughtered. Over the following decades, further conquests followed, culminating in the fall of Baghdad and end of the Abbasid Caliphate's rule in 1258. After the death of Möngke Khan, the Mongol Empire was fractured by civil war, both over the succession of the next Great Khan and between nomadic traditionalists and the new settled princes of China and the Middle East. Kublai Khan was eventually universally recognized, but the empire was irreversibly fragmented. In much of the southwest of the empire, including Iran, power fell to Hulegu Khan, who had been made a deputy there under Möngke Khan. Hulegu was accepted as a legitimate ruler in Iran and was legitimized through a fatwa issued by the Shia scholar Ali ibn Tawus al-Hilli. Iran experienced a cultural renaissance under Ilkhanid rule. Ghazan Khan converted to Islam in the late 13th century, turning the state further away from the other Mongol realms. After Ghazan's nephew Abu Said died in 1335, the Ilkhanate lapsed into civil war and was divided between several petty dynasties , most prominently the Jalayirids, Muzaffarids, Sarbadars and Kartids. The mid-14th-century Black Death killed about 30% of the country's population. Iran remained divided until the establishment of the Persianate Timurid dynasty in 1370. Its founder, Timur, hailed from a Turkified tribe of Mongols. He was born some 100 km south of Samarkand into a clan of the Barlas, a Turkicized tribe of Mongol descent. After establishing a power base in Transoxiana, Timur invaded Iran in 1381 and eventually conquered most of it. Timur's campaigns were known for their brutality; many people were slaughtered and several cities were destroyed. In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of Isfahan, killing 70,000 people. The Timurids maintained control of most of Iran until 1452, when they lost the bulk of it to the Qara Qoyunlu, who were conquered in turn by the Aq Qoyunlu 1468. Uzun Hasan and his successors were the masters of Iran until the rise of the Safavids.
The Iron Fist of the Shahs
The Safavid Empire, founded by Ismail I, is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history. While Safavid Iran predated the concept of the nation-state as such, it established the basis for the modern state of Iran. The Safavid dynastic period was one of the most important Iranian history, as it reunified Iran as a cohesive entity under native rule and established Shia Islam as the official religion. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722, and experienced a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736. The Safavid state had a complex bureaucratic system of checks and balances, which ensured transparency and prevented fraud. However, this system was intended not to equalize power between branches of government, but to ensure total power of the shah. Legitimized by his bloodline as a sayyid, or descendant of Muhammad, the shah monitored the actions of government officials through reports provided by the superintendent of each department. Jean Chardin, French merchant and eventual ambassador to Iran, wrote that the Safavid shahs ruled their land with an iron fist and often in a despotic manner. Complex rivalries in the region of Khorasan led to the Afghan Hotak dynasty invading Iran. In 1722, this conflict led to the collapse of the Safavid Empire after the siege of Isfahan. The brief interlude between 1722 and the rise of the Qajar dynasty in 1789, 1796 was marked by widespread political turmoil in Iran and several rival attempts to establish power over the country. The Safavids failed to regain power and the Hotaks failed to establish control. The rival Afsharid and Zand dynasties were established by Nader Shah and Karim Khan, respectively. Nader Shah has been described as the last great Asiatic military conqueror, and compared by some historians to Napoleon and Alexander the Great. His numerous campaigns created a great empire that, at its maximum extent, briefly encompassed all or part of modern-day Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Oman, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the North Caucasus, and the Persian Gulf. However, his military spending had a ruinous effect on the Iranian economy. Nader Shah's death was followed by a period of anarchy in Iran as rival army commanders fought for power. Nader's own family, the Afsharids, lost all but a small domain in Khorasan. The Zand family seized control of much of Iran in the 1750s. The Zand rulers never proclaimed themselves to be shahs, but as regents of Iran. They first staked their claim to power on behalf of the Safavid puppet Ismail III and then on behalf of the Iranian people. The Qajar dynasty gradually increased in power as they clashed with the Afsharids and the Zands for control of the land, culminating in Agha Mohammad Shah proclaiming himself ruler in 1789. Agha Mohammad defeated the Zand dynasty in 1794 and was officially crowned in 1796. Shortly thereafter, he captured and deposed the Afsharid Shahrokh Shah, reunifying Iran under a single ruler. In the 19th century, Iran lost significant territories in the Caucasus to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars. Meanwhile, Britain became involved in southern Iran to counter Russia's presence in the north, which posed a threat to British India. Amid this struggle for power, drought, shifting agricultural priorities, and poor governance culminated in the Great Persian Famine of 1870, 1871. While the death toll is unknown, the famine killed a significant portion of Iran's population; between several hundred thousand and four million Iranians are believed to have died as a result. The Persian Constitutional Revolution between 1905 and 1911 led to the establishment of an Iranian parliament. After the 1921 coup d'état, the Qajar dynasty was replaced with the Pahlavi dynasty. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah, who established an authoritarian government that valued nationalism, militarism, secularism and anti-communism combined with strict censorship and state propaganda. Reza Shah introduced many socio-economic reforms, reorganizing the army, government administration, and finances. Reza Shah ruled for almost 16 years until 1941, when he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. To his supporters, his reign brought law and order, discipline, central authority, and modern amenities , schools, trains, buses, radios, cinemas, and telephones. However, his reign has been characterized as a corrupt police state which provided only surface level modernization. Due in part to Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the Iranian government expected Germany to win the war and establish a powerful force on the Russian-Iranian border. Iran rejected British and Soviet demands to expel German residents from its borders. In response, the two Allies invaded in August 1941 and easily overwhelmed the weak Iranian army in Operation Countenance. Iran became the major conduit of Allied Lend-Lease aid to the Soviet Union. The purpose was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure Allied supply lines through the Persian Corridor. Iran remained officially neutral. Reza Shah was deposed during the subsequent occupation and replaced with his young son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. At the 1943 Tehran Conference, the Allied Big Three, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, issued the Tehran Declaration to guarantee the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. In 1951, under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, the Iranian parliament voted to nationalize the British-owned oil industry, leading to the Abadan Crisis. Despite British pressure, including an economic blockade, nationalization continued. Mosaddegh was removed from power in 1952 but was quickly re-appointed by the Shah, due to a popular uprising in support of the premier. He forced the Shah into a brief exile in August 1953 after a failed military coup by Imperial Guard Colonel Nematollah Nassiri. On the 19th of August, a successful coup was headed by retired army general Fazlollah Zahedi, aided by the US and the British, known as Operation Ajax and Operation Boot to the respective agencies. The coup, with a black propaganda campaign against Mosaddegh, forced Mosaddegh from office. Mosaddegh was arrested and tried for treason. Found guilty, Mosaddegh had his sentence reduced to house arrest on his family estate while his foreign minister, Hossein Fatemi, was executed. Zahedi succeeded him as prime minister and suppressed opposition to the Shah, specifically from the National Front and the communist Tudeh Party. From that time until the revolution, Iran was ruled as an autocracy under the Shah, with strong American support. Iran initiated economic, social, agrarian, and administrative reforms to modernize the country, which became known as the White Revolution. Many Islamic leaders criticized these initiatives, and the land reform had mixed results. By 1978, the Shah had become wildly unpopular among the Iranian people. Daily demonstrations destabilized the region, and the Shah established martial law to curb opposition. When hundreds of thousands of protestors persisted, security forces opened fire on the crowds in an incident that became known as Black Friday.
The Revolution and the War
The protests against the Shah grew to include more than 10% of the country; it is rare for revolutions to involve even 1% of a country's population. Frustration with the Shah was so great that even secular and leftist groups supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, despite sharing none of his political positions. Under increasing pressure, the Shah eventually fled Iran, charging the interim Regency Council with his duties until a new government was formed. Shapour Bakhtiar, the head of the Council, invited Khomeini to return from exile. However, upon return, Khomeini pledged to defeat the interim government led by Bakhtiar and claimed to support free democratic elections. Violence broke out between the two factions, ultimately leading Bakhtiar to flee Iran in disguise. On the 31st of March 1979, a referendum was held on whether to transition from a government of monarchy to an Islamic republic. The referendum was approved by a massive margin of 99.31%. It mandated the creation of an assembly to draft the new theocratic constitution, whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader in December 1979. Iran's modernizing, capitalist economy was replaced by populist Islamic economic and cultural policies. Industries were nationalized, laws and schools Islamized, and Western influence restricted. The shah, now out of power, went to the US to seek cancer treatment after other countries denied him entry. Supporters of the revolution feared that this was a step toward a coup to reinstate the Shah's reign. On the 4th of November 1979, Iranian students seized US embassy personnel, labeling the embassy a den of spies. 52 hostages were held for 444 days until January 1981. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein attempted to take advantage of the disorder of the revolution, the weakness of the Iranian military and the revolution's antagonism against Western governments. On the 22nd of September 1980, the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the Iran, Iraq War. The attack took revolutionary Iran by surprise. Although Hussein's forces made early advances, Iranian forces pushed the Iraqi army back into Iraq by 1982. Khomeini sought to export the revolution westward into Iraq, especially to the country's Shi'a Arab majority. The war continued until 1988, when Khomeini drank the cup of poison and accepted a truce mediated by the UN. The war, which ended in a stalemate in 1988, killed approximately 500,000 people. During the war, Saddam extensively used chemical weapons against Iranians. On his deathbed in 1989, Khomeini appointed a 25-man Constitutional Reform Council which named Ali Khamenei as the next Supreme Leader, and made changes to Iran's constitution. While Khamenei lacked Khomeini's charisma and clerical standing, he developed a network of supporters within the armed forces and its economically powerful religious foundations. President Akbar Rafsanjani concentrated on a pro-business policy of rebuilding the economy, without breaking with the ideology of the revolution. He supported a free market, favoring privatization of state industries and a moderate position internationally. In 1997, Rafsanjani was succeeded by moderate reformist Mohammad Khatami, whose government advocated freedom of expression, constructive diplomatic relations with Asia and the EU, and policy that supported a free market and foreign investment. The 2005 presidential election brought conservative populist and nationalist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. He was known for his hardline views, nuclearization, and hostility towards Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UK, US and other states. He was the first president to be summoned by the parliament to answer questions regarding his presidency. In 2013, centrist and reformist Hassan Rouhani was elected president. He encouraged personal freedom, access to information, and improved women's rights. He improved diplomatic relations through exchanging conciliatory letters. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was reached in Vienna in 2015, between Iran, the P5+1 and the EU. The negotiations centered around ending the economic sanctions in exchange for Iran's restriction in producing enriched uranium. In 2018, the US under President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and new sanctions were imposed. This nulled the economic provisions and brought Iran to nuclear threshold status. In 2020, IRGC general Qasem Soleimani, the 2nd-most powerful person in Iran, was assassinated by the US, heightening tensions between them. Iran retaliated against US airbases in Iraq, the largest ballistic missile attack ever on Americans; 110 sustained brain injuries. On the 8th of January, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, killing 176 civilians and leading to nation-wide protests. An international investigation led to the government admitting to the shootdown by a surface-to-air missile. Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi lost a presidential bid in 2017, but ran again in 2021, succeeding Rouhani. During Raisi's term, Iran intensified uranium enrichment, hindered international inspections, joined SCO and BRICS, supported the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and restored relations with Saudi Arabia. In April 2024, the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed an IRGC commander. Iran retaliated with UAVs, cruise and ballistic missiles; 9 hit Israel. It was the largest drone strike in history, biggest missile attack in Iranian history, its first ever direct attack on Israel and the first time since 1991 that Israel was directly attacked by a state. In May 2024, Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash, and Iran held a presidential election, when reformist and former Minister of Health, Masoud Pezeshkian, was elected. In October, Iran launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan. Israel struck Iranian military sites. In May 2025, Iran's government ordered mass deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees living in Iran. The weakening of Iran's key allies and proxies since 2023 left Iran's government weakened and isolated. In early 2025, Iran was rapidly advancing its nuclear program. Analysts warned such activity exceeded any plausible civilian justification. Iran and the US entered negotiations for a new nuclear agreement, but progress stalled. In June, IAEA found Iran non-compliant with its nuclear obligations; in response, Iran announced activation of a new enrichment facility. On the 13th of June 2025, Israel launched strikes across Iran, targeting nuclear facilities and killing top members of Iran's military leadership. Iran retaliated with missile strikes, and hostilities resulted in direct conflict between them. On the 22nd of June, the US struck the Iranian nuclear facilities; Iran attacked US bases in Qatar as a result. On the 24th of June, Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire after insistence from the US. Since December 2025, Iran has experienced mass demonstrations across cities calling for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, sparked by frustration over the economic crisis. Iran International estimates that at least 12,000 protesters had been killed amidst the internet blackout, as government security forces escalated their use of lethal force against demonstrators. Estimates suggested that at least 16,500 people had been killed and approximately 330,000 injured in the 2026 Iran massacres.
The Geography of Survival
Iran has an area of 1,648,195 square kilometers. It is the sixth-largest country entirely in Asia and the second-largest in West Asia. It lies between latitudes 24° and 40° N and longitudes 44° and 64° E. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan, and the Republic of Azerbaijan; to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Iraq and Turkey. Iran is in a seismically active area. On average, an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or higher occurs once every ten years. Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the 2003 Bam earthquake. Iran consists mostly of the Iranian Plateau, with its southwestern region on the Arabian plate. It is one of the world's most mountainous countries; its landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate basins or plateaus. The populous western Iran is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus, Zagros, and Alborz. Mount Damavand is the highest point, at 5,610 meters, which is the highest volcano in Asia. Iran's mountains have impacted its politics and economics for centuries. Northern Iran is covered by the lush lowland Caspian Hyrcanian forests, near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The east consists mostly of desert basins, such as the Kavir Desert, which is the country's largest desert, and the Lut Desert, as well as salt lakes. The Lut Desert is the hottest recorded spot on the Earth's surface, with 70.7 °C recorded in 2005. Large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian and at the north end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran 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 Gulf of Oman. Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from arid and semi-arid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and northern forests. On the north edge of Iran, temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 40 °C. Annual precipitation is 200 to 600 millimeters in the eastern plains and more than 1,000 millimeters in the west. The UN Resident Coordinator for Iran has said that Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today. To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin have lower temperatures and severe winters, with freezing average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The east and central basins are arid, with less than 200 millimeters of rain and have occasional deserts. Average summer temperatures may reach 50 °C. 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 100 to 400 millimeters. Nearly 60% of Iran is mountainous, and less than 10% is forested. About 120 million hectares of forests and fields are government-owned for national exploitation. Iran's forests can be divided into five vegetation regions: the Hyrcanian region which forms the green belt of the north side of Iran; the Turan region, which are mainly scattered in the center of Iran; the Zagros region, which mainly contains oak forests in the west; the Persian Gulf region, which is scattered in the southern coastal belt; the Arasbarani region, which contains rare and unique species. More than 8,200 plant species are grown. The land covered by natural flora is four times that of Europe's. There are over 200 protected areas to preserve biodiversity and wildlife, with over 30 being the national parks. Iran's living fauna includes 34 bat species, Indian grey mongoose, small Indian mongoose, golden jackal, Indian wolf, foxes, striped hyena, leopard, Eurasian lynx, brown bear and Asian black bear. Ungulate species include wild boar, urial, Armenian mouflon, red deer, and goitered gazelle. The critically endangered Asiatic cheetah survives only in Iran. Iran lost all its Asiatic lions and the extinct Caspian tigers by the early 20th century. Domestic ungulates are represented by sheep, goat, cattle, horse, water buffalo, donkey and camel. Iran is home to more than 570 bird species like pheasant, partridge, stork, eagles and falcons. Roughly one-third of Iran's surface area is suitable for farmland. Only 12% of the total land area is under cultivation, and less than one-third of the cultivated area is irrigated. The rest is devoted to dryland farming. Some 92% of agricultural products depend on water. The western and northwestern portions of the country have the most fertile soils. Iran's food security index stands at around 96 percent. 3% of Iran's land area is used for grazing and fodder production. Most of the grazing is done on mostly semi-dry rangeland in mountain areas and on areas surrounding the large deserts of central Iran. Progressive government efforts and incentives during the 1990s improved agricultural productivity, helping Iran toward its goal of reestablishing national self-sufficiency in food production. Access to the water resources remains a critical issue for the nation's future stability and economic growth.
The Theocracy and the Shadow State
The Supreme Leader, the Rahbar, the Leader of the Revolution or Supreme Leadership Authority, is the head of state and is responsible for supervision of policy. The president has limited power compared to the Rahbar. Key ministers are selected with the Rahbars agreement, who has the ultimate say on foreign policy. The Rahbar is directly involved in ministerial appointments for defense, intelligence and foreign affairs, and other top ministries after submission of candidates from the president. The Rahbar directly controls regional policy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasks limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. Ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Force, which reports to the Rahbar. The Rahbar can order laws to be amended. The Setad, a state-owned enterprise under the Rahbar, was valued at $95bn in 2013, accounts of which are secret even to the parliament. The Rahbar is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, controls military intelligence and security operations, and has the sole power to declare war or peace. The Rahbar also appoints the heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, commanders of the police and military, and members of the Guardian Council. The President is the second-highest-ranking official after the Rahbar, who holds the ultimate authority. 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. To date, the Assembly of Experts has not challenged any of the Rahbars decisions nor attempted to dismiss him. The previous head of the judicial system, Sadiq Larijani, appointed by the Rahbar, said that it is illegal for the Assembly of Experts to supervise the Rahbar. Many believe the Assembly of Experts has become a ceremonial body without any real power. In February 2025, The New York Times reported that according to Karim Sadjadpour, an expert on Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, there exists in the Islamic Republic of Iran two parallel systems. One which is ruled by the military and intelligence forces, who report to the Rahbar, and who oversee the nuclear programme and regional proxies and are tasked with repression, hostage taking and assassinations. The other ruled by diplomats and politicians who are authorized to speak to Western media and officials and have minimal knowledge of Iran's nuclear programme. The political system is based on the country's constitution. According to International IDEA's Global State of Democracy Indices and Democracy Tracker, Iran performs in the low range on overall democratic measures, with particular weaknesses in gender equality, freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of expression. Furthermore, Iran was ranked 158th in electoral democracy for year 2024 according to V-Dem Democracy Indices and was an electoral autocracy in the Regimes of the World classification. Juan José Linz wrote in 2000 the Iranian regime combines the ideological bent of totalitarianism with the limited pluralism of authoritarianism. The president is head of government and the second-highest-ranking authority after the Supreme Leader. The president is elected by universal suffrage for 4 years. Before elections, nominees to become a presidential candidate must be approved by the Guardian Council. The council's members are chosen by the Leader, with the Leader having the power to dismiss the president. The president can only be re-elected for one term. The president is the chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, and has the power to declare a state of emergency after passage by the parliament. 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, who has the final say. 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. The president appoints ministers, subject to the approval of the Parliament and the Rahbar, who can dismiss or reinstate any minister. The president supervises the Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature. Eight vice presidents serve under the president, as well as a cabinet of 22 ministers, all appointed by the president. Presidential and parliamentary candidates must be approved by the 12-member Guardian Council, all members of which are appointed by the Leader, or the Leader before running to ensure their allegiance. The Leader rarely does the vetting, but has the power to do so, in which case additional approval of the Guardian Council is not needed. The Leader can revert the decisions of the Guardian Council. The constitution gives the council three mandates: veto power over legislation passed by the parliament, supervision of elections and approving or disqualifying candidates seeking to run in local, parliamentary, presidential, or Assembly of Experts elections. The council can nullify a law based on two accounts: being against sharia, or being against the constitution. The Supreme National Security Council is at the top of the foreign policy decisions process. The council was formed during the 1989 Iranian constitutional referendum for the protection and support of national interests, the revolution, territorial integrity and national sovereignty. It is mandated by Article 176 of the Constitution to be presided over by the president. The leader selects the secretary of the Supreme Council, and the council's decisions are effective after the leader confirms them. The SNSC formulates nuclear policy and would become effective if the Leader confirms them. The legislature, known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Iranian Parliament or Majles, is a unicameral body comprising 290 members elected for four years. It drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All parliamentary candidates and legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council can dismiss elected members of the parliament. The parliament has no legal status without the Guardian Council, and the Council holds absolute veto power over legislation. The Expediency Discernment Council has the authority to mediate disputes between Parliament and the Guardian Council. It serves as an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, making it one of Iran's most powerful governing bodies. The Parliament has 207 constituencies, including the 5 reserved seats for religious minorities. The remaining 202 are territorial, covering one or more of Iran's counties. Iran uses the sharia law, based on Ja'fari school, as its legal system, with elements of civil law. The Supreme Leader appoints the head of the Supreme Court and chief public prosecutor. There are several types of courts, including public courts that deal with civil and criminal cases, and revolutionary courts, which deal with certain offenses, such as crimes against national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed. The Chief Justice heads the judicial system and is responsible for its administration and supervision. He is the highest judge of the Supreme Court of Iran. The Chief Justice nominates candidates to serve as minister of justice, and the president selects one. The Chief Justice can serve for two five-year terms. The Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has 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. Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces, each governed from a local centre, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a governor-general, who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to the approval of the cabinet.
The Shadow War and the Economy
Iran maintains diplomatic relations with 165 countries, but not the United States and Israel, a state which Iran derecognised in 1979. Iran has an adversarial relationship with Saudi Arabia due to different political ideologies. Iran and Turkey have been involved in modern proxy conflicts such as in Syria, Libya, and the South Caucasus. However, they have shared common interests, such as the issue of Kurdish separatism and the Qatar diplomatic crisis. Iran has a close and strong relationship with Tajikistan. Iran also has a strong relationship with Pakistan sharing common interests, such as the issue of Baloch separatism. Iran formed the Axis of Resistance, a coalition of actors committed to countering the influence of the United States and Israel in the region. It most notably includes the Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islamic Resistance and Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, and the Houthi movement in Yemen. It sometimes includes Hamas and a variety of other Palestinian militant groups. Iran has deep economic relations and alliance with Iraq, Lebanon, and did with Syria, which was described as Iran's closest ally. In December 2024, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, a close ally of Iran, was a severe setback for the political influence of Iran in the region. Russia is a key trading partner, especially in regard to its excess oil reserves. Both share a close economic and military alliance and are subject to heavy sanctions by Western nations. Iran is the only country in Western Asia that has been invited to join the CSTO, the Russia-based international treaty organization that parallels NATO. Relations between Iran and China are strong economically; they have developed a friendly, economic and strategic relationship. In 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year cooperation agreement that will strengthen the relations between the two countries and would include political, strategic and economic components. Iran-China relations dates back to at least 200 BC and possibly earlier. Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has a good relationship with both North and South Korea. Iran is a member of dozens of international organizations, including the G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, NAM, IDB, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, OIC, OPEC, WHO, and the UN, and currently has observer status at the WTO. The military is organised under a unified structure, the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, which includes the Ground Forces, Air Defence Force, Air Force, and Navy; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which consists of the Ground Forces, Aerospace Force, Navy, Quds Force, and Basij; and the Police Command, which serves an analogous function to a gendarme. While the IRIAF protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC is mandated to ensure the integrity of the Republic against foreign interference, coups, and internal riots. In 2019, the United States under President Donald Trump officially labeled the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization. It is the first time that an element of a foreign state was designated as a terrorist organization. Since 1925, all male citizens aged 18 must serve around 14 months in the IRIAF or IRGC. Iran has over 610,000 active troops and around 350,000 reservists, which is at least over 1 million military personnel, one of the world's highest percentage of citizens with military training. The Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia within the IRGC, has over 20 million members, 600,000 available for immediate call-up, 300,000 reservists, and a million that could be mobilised when necessary. Faraja, the Iranian uniformed police force, has over 260,000 active personnel. Most statistical organizations do not include the Basij and Faraja in their rating reports. Iran ranks 7th in the number of active military personnel and 9th in size of both its ground force and armoured force. Iran's armed forces are the largest in West Asia and comprise the greatest Army Aviation fleet in the Middle East. Iran is among the top 15 countries in terms of military budget. In 2021, its military spending increased for the first time in four years, to $24.6 billion, 2.3% of the national GDP. Funding for the IRGC accounted for 34% of Iran's total military spending in 2021. Since the Islamic revolution, to overcome foreign embargoes, Iran has developed a domestic military industry capable of producing indigenous tanks, armoured personnel carriers, missiles, submarines, missile destroyer, radar systems, helicopters, naval vessels, and fighter planes. Official announcements have highlighted the development of advanced weaponry, particularly in rocketry. Consequently, Iran has the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East and is only the 5th country in the world with hypersonic missile technology. Iran designs and produces a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles. It is one of the world's five countries with cyberwarfare capabilities and is identified as one of the most active players in the international cyber arena. Following Russia's purchase of Iranian drones during the Russo-Ukrainian war, in November 2023, the IRIAF finalized arrangements to acquire Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, air defense and missile systems. The Iranian Navy has had joint exercises with Russia and China. Iran's nuclear program dates back to the 1950s. Iran revived it after the Islamic revolution, and its extensive nuclear fuel cycle, including enrichment capabilities, became the subject of intense international negotiations and sanctions. Many countries have expressed concern Iran could divert civilian nuclear technology into a weapons program. In 2015, Iran and the P5+1 agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan on Action, aiming to end economic sanctions in exchange for restriction in producing enriched uranium. In 2018, however, the US withdrew from the deal under the Trump administration and reimposed sanctions. This was met with resistance by Iran and other members of the P5+1. A year later, Iran began decreasing its compliance. By 2020, Iran announced it would no longer observe any limit set by the agreement. Progress since then has brought Iran to the nuclear threshold status. In 2025, Iran had uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile content, close to weapon grade. Some analysts already regard Iran as a de facto nuclear power. Iran's significant influence and foothold was sometimes characterized as the Dawn of A New Persian Empire. Some analysts associated the Iranian influence to the nation's proud national legacy, empire and history. After the revolution, Iran grew its influence across and beyond the region. It built military forces with a wide network of state and none-state actors, starting with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982. The IRGC was key to Iranian influence, through its Quds Force. The instability in Lebanon from the 1980s, Iraq from 2003 and Yemen from 2014 allowed Iran to build strong alliances and footholds beyond its borders. Iran had a prominent influence in the social services, education, economy and politics of Lebanon, and Lebanon provides Iran access to the Mediterranean Sea. Hezbollah's strategic successes against Israel, such as its symbolic victory during the 2006 Israel, Hezbollah War, elevated Iran's influence in the Levant and strengthened its appeal across the Muslim world. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the arrival of ISIS in the mid-2010s, Iran financed and trained militia groups in Iraq. After the Iran-Iraq war and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iran shaped Iraq's politics. Following Iraq's struggle against 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. During Yemen's civil war Iran provided military support to the Houthis, a Zaydi Shia movement fighting Yemen's Sunni government since 2004, which gained significant power. Iran has considerable influence in Afghanistan through militant groups such as Fatemiyoun Division and Hezbollah Afghanistan and also in Pakistan through militant groups such as Zainabiyoun Brigade and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan. In Syria, Iran supported President Bashar al-Assad; the two countries were long-standing allies. Iran provided significant military and economic support to Assad's government, so had a considerable foothold in Syria. Iran has long supported organizations in North Africa in countries like Algeria and Tunisia. Iran embraced Hamas in part to help undermine the popularity of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Iran's support of Hamas emerged more clearly in later years. According to US intelligence, Iran does not have full control over these state and non-state groups. The Iranian government has been denounced by various international organizations and governments for violating human rights. The government has frequently persecuted and arrested critics of the government. Iranian law does not recognise sexual orientations. Sexual activity between members of the same sex is illegal and is punishable by death. Capital punishment is a legal punishment, and according to the BBC, Iran carries out more executions than any other country, except China. UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman has reported discrimination against several ethnic minorities in Iran. A group of UN experts in 2022 urged Iran to stop systematic persecution of religious minorities, adding that members of the Bahá'í Faith were arrested, barred from universities, or had their homes demolished. In 2024, a UN Special Rapporteur investigation concluded that Iran committed genocide against its political and religious minorities during 1981, 1982 massacres and 1988 mass executions. Censorship is ranked among the most extreme worldwide. Iran has strict internet censorship, with the government persistently blocking social media and other sites. Since January 2021, authorities have blocked several social media platforms. The 2006 election results were widely disputed, resulting in protests. The 2017, 18 Iranian protests swept across the country in response to the economic and political situation. It was formally confirmed that thousands of protesters were arrested. The 2019, 20 Iranian protests started on the 15th of November in Ahvaz, and spread across the country after the government announced increases in fuel prices of up to 300%. A week-long total Internet shutdown marked one of the most severe Internet blackouts in any country, and the bloodiest governmental crackdown of the protestors. Tens of thousands were arrested and hundreds were killed within a few days according to multiple international observers, including Amnesty International. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On the 8th of January 2020, the Boeing 737, 800 flying the route was shot down by the IRGC shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 occupants on board and leading to protests. An international investigation led to the government admitting to the shootdown, calling it a human error. Further protests against the government began on the 16th of September 2022 after a woman named Mahsa Amini died in police custody following her arrest by the Guidance Patrol, known commonly as the morality police. Government crackdown on the protests have been described by the UN to be crimes against humanity. Iran has the world's 19th largest economy by PPP. It is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. Services contribute the largest percentage of GDP, followed by industry and agriculture. Iran Investment Monthly Turquoise Partners April 2012 Retrieved the 24th of July 2012. The economy is characterised by its hydrocarbon sector, manufacturing and financial services. With 10% of the world's oil reserves and 15% of gas reserves, Iran is an energy superpower. Over 40 industries are directly involved in the Tehran Stock Exchange. Tehran is the economic powerhouse of Iran. About 30% of Iran's public-sector workforce and 45% of its large industrial firms are located there, and half those firms' employees work for government. The Central Bank of Iran is responsible for developing and maintaining the currency: the Iranian rial. The government does not recognise trade unions other than the Islamic labour councils, which are subject to the approval of employers and the security services. Iran was the first country to introduce a national basic income in Autumn 2010. Unemployment was 9% in 2022. Budget deficits have been a chronic problem, mostly due to large state subsidies, that include foodstuffs and especially petrol, totaling $100 billion in 2022 for energy alone. In 2010, the economic reform plan was to cut subsidies gradually and replace them with targeted social assistance. The objective is to move towards free market prices and increase productivity and social justice. The administration continues reform, and indicates it will diversify the oil-reliant economy. Iran has developed a biotechnology, nanotechnology, and pharmaceutical industry. The government is privatising industries. Iran has leading manufacturing industries in automobile manufacture, transportation, construction materials, home appliances, food and agricultural goods, armaments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and petrochemicals in the Middle East. It is among the world's top five producers of apricots, cherries, cucumbers and gherkins, dates, figs, pistachios, quinces, walnuts, Kiwifruit and watermelons. International sanctions against Iran have damaged the economy. Iran is one of three countries that has not ratified the Paris Agreement to limit climate change, although academics say it would be good for the country. Iran suffers from high inflation and especially surging food prices. A major contributing factor is the involvement of the IRGC in the economy, particularly in the agriculture and food sectors but also due to significant spending on the Axis of Resistance which increase the public deficit. Tourism had been rapidly growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching nearly 9 million foreign visitors in 2019, the world's third fastest-growing tourism destination. In 2022 it expanded its share to 5% of the economy. Iran's tourism experienced a growth of 43% in 2023, attracting 6 million foreign tourists. The government ended visa requirements for 60 countries in 2023. 98% of visits are for leisure, while 2% are for business, indicating the country's appeal as a tourist destination. Alongside the capital, the most popular tourist destinations are Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad. Sightseeing and excursions in Iran Tehran Times the 28th of September 2010 Retrieved the 22nd of March 2011. Travellers from other West Asian countries grew 31% in the first seven months of 2023. Domestic tourism is one of the world's largest; Iranian tourists spent $33bn in 2021. Iran projects investment of $32 billion in the tourism sector by 2026.