Events
Iran not Persia
anymoreThe Medes and the
Persians were united
in 633 BCE by Cyrus
the Great, leading to
the foundation of
the first Persian EmpirePersian Empire was overthrown
in 331 BCE by Alexander the GreatThe last empire of the Sassanids
(established in 33 CE) was
defeated by Muslim Arabs in 637 CE.In 1051 the Turks captured
control of the empire.In the late 14th century the
Mongols were replaced by the
Timurid dynasty.By the late 16th century,
with the rise of the
Safavids under Ismail
Safavi, Persia reemerged
with the same general
boundaries that exist today.The Safavids ruled until 1750,
and after a short interregnum
under Karim Khan Zand, the Qajar
dynasty assumed power, remaining
until the beginning of the 20th century.In 1906 the country adopted
its first imperial constitution.In 1921 Reza Khan, a Cossack
officer, staged a military coup
and became minister of war.Reza Khan becomes
Prime Minister in 1923Reza Khan assumes full power
over the country in 1925, is then
named Shah of the country.nationalization of the petroleum
industry in March 1951Dr. Mohammad
Mossadegh, leader
of the National Front,
became prime minister
in April 1951The shah assumed full control of the
government in 1963, when he began
a program of land reform and social
and economic modernization known
as the White Revolution.March 1975 the shah introduced
a single-party system1977 and 1978 demonstrations
against the shah and his secret
police (SAVAK) rose to crisis level.militant students occupied the U.S.
embassy and took 66 diplomats
hostage. The hostages were released
after 444 days of captivity in 1981Iran and Iraq enter warWar between Iran and Iraq endsIran begins nuclear programIran suspends uranium
enrichment programMassive protests against a seemingly
flawed presidential election leave
seven people killedKhomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic on April 1, 1979
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