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Iran History Iran

 
 
Area : 636294  sq.mi - Population 68000000 hab.
Iran

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 Historical dates

550 BC: Cyrus II chased away the Medes and founded the Persian Empire.
330 BC: domination of Alexander the Great.
224 BC: the Sassanide Empire settle for close to half of the millenium.
642: arrival of the Arabs.
999: arrival of Seldjoukide Turks.
1501: rise of the first Shah, Isma'il I.
1925: Reza Khan founded the Pahlavi dynasty and set about modernising the country.
1941: Mohammed Reza took over power and, not ready to share it, decided to keep it for thirty eight years.
1979: Khomeyni toppled the Shah and instituted the Islamic Republic, under the protection of the militia of guardians of the revolution (pasdaran). People taken hostage at the American Embassy in Teheran for a long period
1980: beginning of the war with Iraq.
1989: death of Ayatollah Khomeyni. Rafsandjani became President.
1995: the United States unilaterally decreed a trade embargo, while Europe was less severe.
1997: Mohammad Khatami becames President. He is in favour of some political freedom.
End of 1998: disappearance and murder of several Iranian intellectuals.
June 2001: the Iranian President and reformer Mohammad Khatami was re-elected with 77% of the votes.
26 December 2003: an earthquake measuring about 6.5 on Richter's scale destroys the town of Bam in the south if Iran. It killed 41,000 people.
June 2005: the ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidential elections.