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Islamic Republic of Iran
جمهوری اسلامی ایران(
Persian) Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân
Iran is one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the
Elamites in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the
Medes in the seventh century BC and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when
Cyrus the Great founded the
Achaemenid Empire, one of the largest empires in
antiquity.
Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century BC, and it was subsequently divided into several
Hellenistic states. An Iranian rebellion established the
Parthian Empire in the third century BC, which was succeeded in the third century AD by the
Sasanian Empire.
Arab Muslims conquered the region in the seventh century AD, leading to its
Islamization. Iran became a major centre of
Islamic culture and learning, and its culture, language, and customs spread across the
Muslim world. A series of
native Iranian Muslim dynasties ruled the country until the
Seljuk and the
Mongol conquests of the 11th to 14th centuries. In the 16th century, the native
Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state with
TwelverShia Islam as the official religion, marking the beginning of modern Iranian history.
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),[22] meaning "the land of the
Persians".[23] "Persia" is the
Fars province in southwest Iran, also known as "Pârs".[24] The
Persian word "Fârs" (فارس), derived from the earlier form "Pârs" (پارس), which is in turn derived from Pârsâ (
Old Persian: 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to the province's historical importance,[25][26] the term "Persia" originated from this
region by the Greeks in around 550 BC,[27] and Westerners started to refer the entire country as "Persia",[28][29] until 1935, when
Reza Pahlavi requested the international community to refer to the country by its native and original name, Iran.[30][31] While the 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.[24] Today, both Iran and Persia are used in cultural contexts, while Iran remains mandatory in official state contexts.[32][33][34][35][36][37]
The earliest attested archaeological artifacts in Iran confirm human presence since the
Lower Palaeolithic.[42] Iran's
Neanderthal artifacts have been found mainly in the
Zagros region, at sites such as
Warwasi and
Yafteh.[43][44][45] From the tenth to the seventh millennium BC, early agricultural communities began to flourish in and around the Zagros region, including
Chogha Golan,[46][47]Chogha Bonut,[48][49] and
Chogha Mish.[50][51][52][53] The occupation of grouped hamlets in the area of
Susa ranges from 4395 to 3490 BC.[54] 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.[53][55][56]
During the
Bronze Age, the territory was home to several civilizations,[57][58] 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.[59] 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.[60][61]
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.
By the second millennium BC, the
ancient Iranian peoples arrived in Iran from the
Eurasian Steppe,[62] rivalling the native settlers of the region.[63][64] As the
Iranians dispersed into the wider area of
Greater Iran and beyond, the boundaries of modern Iran were dominated by
Median,
Persian, and
Parthian tribes. The Ancient Iranian history began with the
Elamites in the fourth millennium BC, in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of
Khuzestan and
Ilam Province. In the Old Elamite period (
Middle Bronze Age), Elam consisted of kingdoms on the
Iranian plateau, centered in
Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in
Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Elam was part of the early
urbanization of the Near East during the
Chalcolithic period.
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.[65][66] 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.[65]
The unification of the Median tribes under king
Deioces in 728 BC led to the foundation of the
Median Empire and their capital
Ecbatana, unifying Iran as a nation for the first time in 625 BC.[67] By 612 BC, the Medes Empire controlled almost the entire territory of present-day Iran and eastern
Anatolia.[68] This marked the end of the Kingdom of
Urartu, which was subsequently conquered and dissolved.[69][70]
In 550 BC,
Cyrus the Great took over the Median Empire, and founded the
Achaemenid Empire by unifying other city-states. The conquest of Media was a result of what is called the 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.[71][72]
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.[75] They and their neighbouring arch-rival, the
Roman-
Byzantines, were the world's two dominant powers for over four centuries.[76][77]
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,[78] their influence reached
ancient Rome (and through that as far as
Western Europe),[79][80]Africa,[81]China, and
India,[82] and played a prominent role in the formation of the mediaeval art of both
Europe and
Asia.[76][77]
In 750, the
Abbasids overthrew the
Umayyads.[94] Arabs Muslims and Persians of all strata made up the rebel army, which was united by the converted Persian Muslim,
Abu Muslim.[95][96][97] 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.[98]
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.[104][105] The Islamic Golden Age reached its peak by the 10th and 11th centuries, during which Iran was the main theatre of scientific activities.[106] The tenth century saw a mass migration of
Turkic tribes from
Central Asia into the Iranian Plateau.[107] Turkic tribesmen were first used in the Abbasid army as
mamluks (slave-warriors).[95] 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.[107] The Seljuks subsequently gave rise to the
Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia.[108][109] 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."[110] 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 Iran, such as in the cities of
Nishapur and
Tus.[111][112][113]
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 Iran, establishing the
Timurid Empire. In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of
Isfahan, killing 70,000 citizens.[114]
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 1722.
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.[125][126][127][125]
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
Caucasian khanates. However, they remained
subjects and vassals to the Zand king. It later quickly expanded to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran (except for the provinces of
Balochistan and
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.[128] The island of
Bahrain was also held for the Zands by the autonomous
Al-Mazkur sheikhdom of
Bushire.[129][130] 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 in 1794.
The weakening of Persia made it a victim of the colonial struggle between Russia and Britain known as the
Great Game.[139] Especially after the treaty of Turkmenchay, Russia was the dominant force in Iran,[140] while the Qajars would also play a role in several 'Great Game' battles such as the sieges of Herat in
1837 and
1856. As Iran shrank, many
South Caucasian and
North Caucasian Muslims moved towards Iran,[141][142] especially until the aftermath of the
Circassian genocide,[142] and the decades afterwards, while Iran's Armenians were encouraged to settle in the newly incorporated Russian territories,[143][144][145] 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.[146]
Between 1872 and 1905, protesters objected to the sale of
concessions to foreigners by Qajar monarchs
Naser-ed-Din and
Mozaffar-ed-Din, leading to the
Constitutional Revolution in 1905. The
first Iranian constitution and the first national parliament were founded in 1906, through the ongoing revolution. The Constitution included the official recognition of Iran's three religious minorities:
Christians,
Jews, and
Zoroastrians.[147] The struggle related to the constitutional movement was followed by the
Triumph of Tehran in 1909, when
Mohammad Ali Shah was forced to abdicate. In 1907, the
Anglo-Russian Convention divided Qajar Iran into influence zones, formalising many of the concessions. On the pretext of restoring order, the
Russians occupied northern Iran and
Tabriz and maintained a military presence in the region for years. But this did not end the civil uprisings and was soon followed by
Mirza Kuchik Khan's
Jungle Movement against both the Qajar monarchy and foreign invaders.
Apart from the rule of Agha Mohammad Khan, the Qajar rule is characterised as misrule.[107] The inability of
Qajar Iran's government to maintain the country's
sovereignty during and immediately after World War I led to the British-directed
1921 Persian coup d'état and
Reza Shah's establishment of the
Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Shah became
Prime Minister and was declared monarch in 1925.
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.[160]
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.[161] While the Shah increasingly modernised Iran and claimed to retain it as a fully
secular state,[162] arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police, the
SAVAK, were used for crushing political opposition.[163]
Ruhollah Khomeini, a radical Muslim cleric,[164] 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.[165]
Immediate uprisings against the new government began with the
1979 Kurdish rebellion, the
Khuzestan uprisings, and uprisings in
Sistan and Baluchestan. Over the next several years, these uprisings were
subdued violently. The new government began
purging the non-Islamist political opposition. Although both nationalists and Marxists had initially joined with Islamists to overthrow the Pahlavis, tens of thousands were executed.[170] 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 regime, including former prime minister
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda, were
executed.
On 4 November 1979, after the United States refused the extradition of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,
a group of Muslim students seized the US Embassy and
took 52 personnel and citizens hostage.[171] Attempts by the
Jimmy Carter administration to
negotiate the release of the hostages, and a failed
rescue attempt, helped with the falling popularity of Carter among US citizens. On Carter's final day in office, the last hostages were set free under the
Algiers Accords. As a result of the Iranian takeover of the American Embassy, the US and Iran severed diplomatic relations in April 1980, and the two countries have had no formal diplomatic relationship since that date.[172]
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.[173][174][175]
On September 22, 1980, Iraq
invaded the western Iranian province of Khuzestan, initiating the
Iran–Iraq War. Although the forces of
Saddam Hussein made several early advances, by mid-1982, the Iranian forces began to gain momentum, with successfully
driving the Iraqis back into Iraq, and regaining all lost territory by June 1982. After pushing Iraqi forces back to the pre-war border lines, Iran rejected
United Nations Security Council Resolution 514 and launched an invasion of Iraq, conquered Iraqi territory and captured cities such as
Basra. The subsequent Iranian offensive within Iraqi territory lasted for five years, with Iraq taking back the initiative and subsequently launching a series of major counter-offensives. The war continued until 1988, when the Iraqi army defeated the Iranian forces inside Iraq and pushed the remaining Iranian troops back across the border. Subsequently, Khomeini accepted
a truce mediated by the United Nations, with both sides withdraw to their pre-war borders. It was the longest
conventional war of the 20th century and the second longest war of this century after the
Vietnam War. The total Iranian casualties in the war were estimated to be 123,220–160,000
KIA, 60,711
MIA, and 11,000–16,000
civilians killed.[176][177]
Since 1990s
Following the Iran–Iraq War, in 1989,
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani concentrated on a pragmatic pro-business policy of rebuilding and strengthening the economy without making any dramatic break with the ideology of the revolution. In 1997, Rafsanjani was succeeded by moderate
reformistMohammad Khatami, whose government attempted, unsuccessfully, to make the country freer and more democratic.[178]
On 1 April 2024, Israel's air
strike on an Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital Damascus killed an important senior commander of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Brig Gen
Mohammad Reza Zahedi.[211] In retaliation for the Israeli strike, Iran
attacked Israel with over 300 drones and missiles on 13 April. However, the Iranian attack was mainly intercepted either outside Israeli airspace or over the country itself. It was the biggest missile attack in Iranian history, and its first ever direct attack on Israel.[212] It was followed by a retaliatory missile
strike by Israel on Isfahan, Iran on 19 April.[213]
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.[216] 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),[217] 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.[218] On average, an earthquake of magnitude seven on the
Richter scale occurs once every ten years.[219] Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the
2003 Bam earthquake.
Iran consists of the
Iranian Plateau, with the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and
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.[220]
The northern part of Iran is covered by the lush lowland
Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests, near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The eastern part consists mostly of
desert basins, such as the
Kavir Desert, which is the country's largest desert, and the
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.[221][222][223][224] 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.[225][226][227]
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.[228][229][230]
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.[247][248][249] Its salt cave, "Namakdan", is the largest salt cave in the world[250][251] and one of the world's longest caves.[252][253]
Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from
arid and
semi-arid, to
subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests.[254] 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).[255][256] 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".[257]
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.[258] Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F).[255] 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).[255]
Iran is divided into
five regions with
31 provinces (ostān, استان),[262] 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%.[263] Iran's population is concentrated in its western half, especially in the north, north-west and west.[264]
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.
The Supreme Leader ("Rahbar"), or
Leader of the Revolution[265] is the head of state and is responsible for delineation and supervision of policy.[266] The Iranian president has limited power compared to the Rahbar Khamenei.[267] The current longtime Rahbar is
Ali Khamenei.[268][269][270] Key ministers are selected with the Rahbar's agreement and he has the ultimate say on Iran's foreign policy.[267] The Rahbar is directly involved in ministerial appointments for Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs, as well as other top ministries after submission of candidates from the president.[271] Iran's regional policy is directly controlled by the office of the Rahbar with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. All of Iran's ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Corps, which directly reports to the Rahbar.[268] The Rahbar can also order laws to be amended.[272]Setad is estimated at $95 billion in 2013 by Reuters, accounts of which are secret even to the
Iranian parliament.[273][274]
The Rahbar is the
commander-in-chief of the
armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations, and has sole power to declare war or peace.[266] 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.[266]
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.[275] To date, the Assembly of Experts has not challenged any of the Rahbar's decisions nor attempted to dismiss him.[276] 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.[277] Many believe the Assembly of Experts has become a ceremonial body without any real power.[278][279][280] 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.[281] 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.[282] The Guardian Council can and has dismissed elected members of the Iranian parliament.[283][284]
After the Rahbar, the Constitution defines the
president of Iran as the highest state authority.[266][286] 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.[287] The President can only be re-elected for one term.[286]
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.[266] The procedures for presidential election and all other elections in Iran are outlined by the Rahbar.[288] 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.[289][290][270]
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.[291][292][293] The President supervises the
Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature.[294] Eight Vice Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty-two ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature.[295]
The legislature of Iran, known as the
Islamic Consultative Assembly, is a
unicameral body comprising 290 members elected for four-year terms.[296] 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.[297]
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
Judiciary.[298][299] The Council interprets the constitution and may veto the Parliament. If a law is deemed incompatible with the constitution or
Sharia (Islamic law), it is referred back to the Parliament for revision.[286] The
Expediency Council has the authority to mediate disputes between the Parliament and the Guardian Council, and serves as an advisory body to the Rahbar, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in the country.[300]Local city councils are elected by public vote to four-year terms.
The Rahbar appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor.[276] 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.[276]
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.[301]
The
Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by
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.[276] 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 Iranian 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.[302]
As of 2009[update], the government of Iran maintains diplomatic relations with 99 members of the United Nations,[303] but not with the
United States, and not with
Israel—a state which Iran has derecognised since the Revolution.[304] Among Muslim nations, Iran has an adversarial relationship with
Saudi Arabia due to different political and Islamic ideologies.[305]
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
percentage of citizens with military training.[322][323][324][325] The Basij, a
paramilitary volunteer militia within the IRGC, has over 20 million members, 600,000 members available for immediate call-up, 300,000 reservists, and a million that could be mobilized when necessary.[326][327][328][329] Faraja, the Iranian uniformed
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.[330] It ranks 13th globally in terms of overall military strength,[331] 7th in the number of active military personnel,[331] and 9th in the 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.[332][333][334] Iran is among the top 15 countries in terms of military budget.[335] In 2021, its military spending increased for the first time in four years, to $24.6 billion, 2.30% of the national GDP.[336] Funding for the IRGC accounted for 34% of Iran's total military spending in 2021.[337]
Since the
Iranian Revolution, Iran has grown its influence across and beyond the region.[369][370][371][372][373] It has built military forces with a wide network of state and none-state actors, starting with
Hezbollah in
Lebanon in 1982.[374][375][376] Since its establishment as a primary branch to the
Iranian Army, the
IRGC has been key to Iranian influence, through its
Quds Force.[377][378][379][380][381] The instability in Lebanon (from the 1980s),[382]Iraq (from 2003) [383] and
Yemen (from 2014) [384] 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,[385][386] and analysts have argued that Lebanon provides Iran access to the
Mediterranean Sea.[387][388] 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.[389][390][391]
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.[392][393][394][395] Since the
Iran-Iraq war in 1980s and the fall of
Saddam Hussein, Iran has shaped Iraq's politics.[396][397][398] 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.[399] This number is expected to grow to $20 billion in the coming years.[400][401]
In
Syria, Iran has supported President
Bashar al-Assad,[389][417][418][419] with the two countries being long-standing allies.[420][389] Iran has provided significant military and economic support to Assad's government,[417][421] and as a result, it has a considerable foothold in Syria.[422][423] 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.[424] Iran's support of Hamas emerged more clearly in later years.[425][426][427][428] According to US intelligence officials, Iran does not have full control over these state and none state groups.[429]
UN Special Rapporteur
Javaid Rehman has reported discrimination against several ethnic minorities in Iran.[437] 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.[438][439]
The
2017–18 Iranian protests swept across the country in response to the economic and political situation.[444] The scale of protests and the number of people participating were significant,[445] and it was formally confirmed that thousands of protesters were arrested.[446] The
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%.[447] 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;[448] tens of thousands were arrested and hundreds were killed within a few days according to multiple international observers, including
Amnesty International.[449]
Censorship in Iran is ranked among the most extreme worldwide.[456][457][458] Iran also has strict regulations when it comes to
internet censorship,[459] with the government and the IRGC persistently blocking
social media and other websites.[460][461][462] 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".[463]
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.[464] In 2022, Iran's nominal GDP was $352.2 billion, while its nominal GDP per capita was $4,110.[465] The service sector contributes the largest percentage of the GDP, followed by industry (
mining and manufacturing) and
agriculture.[466]
The
Central Bank of Iran is responsible for developing and maintaining the
Iranian rial, the country's
currency. 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.[467] The minimum wage in June 2013 was 487 million rials a month ($134).[468] Unemployment has remained above 10% since 1997, and the unemployment rate for women is almost double that of the men.[468]
In 2006, about 45% of the government's budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, and 31% from taxes and fees.[469] As of 2007[update], Iran had earned $70 billion in
foreign-exchange reserves, mostly (80%) from crude oil exports.[470] Iranian
budget deficits have been a chronic problem, mostly due to
large-scale state subsidies, that include foodstuffs and especially petrol, totalling more than $84 billion in 2008 for the energy sector alone.[471][472] In 2010, the
economic reform plan was approved by parliament to
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.[473]
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.[482][483] 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.[484] Over 400,000 visitors were motivated by trade, medical treatment and pilgrimage.[485][486][487] In September and October 2023, Iran achieved a positive balance compared to the same period in 2019.[484] Alongside the capital, the most popular tourist destinations are
Isfahan,
Shiraz and
Mashhad.[488] Iran is fast emerging as a preferred destination for
medical tourism.[489][490]
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.[491]
Domestic tourism in Iran is one of the largest in the world, with the Iranian tourists spent $33.3 billion in 2021.[492][493][494][495] Iran projects investment of over $32 billion in the country's tourism sector and targets 20 million tourists by 2026.[496]
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
irrigated; the rest is devoted to
dryland farming. Some 92 percent of agricultural products depend on water.[497] The western and northwestern portions of the country have the most fertile soils. Iran's
food security index stands at around 96 percent.[498] At the end of the 20th century, agricultural activities accounted for about one-fifth of Iran's
GDP and employed a comparable proportion of the
workforce. Most
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.[499][500]
Iran is globally ranked 16th in car manufacturing, ahead of the
UK,
Italy, and Russia.[501][502] It has outputted 1.188 million cars in 2023, a 12% growth compared to the previous years. Iran has exported various cars to countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Belarus. From 2008 to 2009, Iran leaped to 28th place from 69th in annual industrial production growth rate.[503] Iranian
contractors have been awarded several foreign tender contracts in different fields of construction of
dams,
bridges, roads,
buildings,
railroads,
power generation, and
gas, oil and
petrochemical industries. As of 2011, some 66 Iranian industrial companies are carrying out projects in 27 countries.[504] 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.[505] 45% of large industrial firms are located in
Tehran, and almost half of these workers work for the government.[506] 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.[507] 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.[508][509] Iran's automotive industry is the second most active industry of the country, after its oil and gas industry.[510]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.[511] Iran's oil and gas industry is the most active industry of the country.[510] 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.[512][513][514] 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.[515]
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.[516][517]
In 2011 Iran had 173,000 kilometres (107,000 mi) of roads, of which 73% were paved.[518] In 2008 there were nearly 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants.[519]The Tehran Metro is the largest metro system in the Middle East.[520][521] It carries more than 3 million passengers a day. In 2018, 820 million trips were made on Tehran Metro.[522][523] Trains operate on 11,106 km (6,942 mi) of track.[524] The country's major port of entry is
Bandar-Abbas on the
Strait of Hormuz. After arriving in Iran, imported goods are distributed throughout the country by trucks and freight trains. The
Tehran–
Bandar-Abbas railroad connects Bandar-Abbas to the railroad system of Central Asia via Tehran and
Mashhad. Other major ports include
Bandar e-Anzali and
Bandar e-Torkeman on the
Caspian Sea and
Khorramshahr and
Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni on the
Persian Gulf.
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.
Iran has the world's second largest proved
gas reserves, with 33.6 trillion
cubic metres,[527] and the
third largest natural gas production. It also ranks fourth in
oil reserves with an estimated 153,600,000,000 barrels.[528][529] 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.[530] 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.[531]
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.[532]
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.[535] In late 2006,
Iranian scientists successfully
cloned a sheep at the Royan Research Center in Tehran.[536]Stem cell research in Iran is among the top 10 in the world.[537] Iran ranks 15th in the world in
nanotechnologies.[538][539][540] 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.[541] 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.[542] 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.[543]
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.[544] 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.[545]
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%).[547] 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
high school diploma and pass the
Iranian University Entrance Exam (the konkur). Many students do a 1–2-year course of
pre-university (piš-dānešgāh).[548] 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).[549]
On January 28, 2024, Iran successfully launched three indigenous satellites, The Mahda, Kayan and Hatef,[564] into orbit using the
Simorgh carrier rocket.[565][566] It was the first time in country's history that it simultaneously sent three satellites into space.[567][568] The three satellites are designed for testing advanced satellite subsystems, space-based positioning technology, and narrowband communication.[569]
On February 29, 2024, Iran launched its domestically developed imaging satellite, Pars 1, from Russia into orbit.[570][571] 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.[572][573]
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.[575]
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.[576] 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.[577]
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.[578] However, Iran's
fertility rate has dropped dramatically, from 6.5 children born per woman to about 1.7 two decades later,[579][580][581] leading to a population growth rate of about 1.39% as of 2018.[582] Due to its young population, studies project that the growth will continue to slow until it stabilises around 105 million by 2050.[583][584][585]
Iran hosts one of the largest
refugee populations, with almost one million,[586] mostly from
Afghanistan and
Iraq.[587] According to estimates, about five million Iranian citizens have emigrated to other countries, mostly since the 1979 Revolution.[588][589]
According to the
Iranian Constitution, the government is required to provide every citizen with access to
social security, covering retirement, unemployment, old age,
disability, accidents, calamities, health and medical treatment and care services.[590] This is covered by
tax revenues and income derived from public contributions.[591]
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
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%.[598][4][599]
Healthcare is provided by the public-governmental system, the private sector, and
NGOs.[601] The healthcare sector's market value in Iran was almost US$24 billion in 2002.
The country faces the common problem of other
young demographic nations in the region, which is keeping pace with growth of an already huge demand for various public services. An anticipated increase in the population growth rate will increase the need for
public health infrastructures and services.[602] Total health spending was equivalent to 6% of GDP in Iran in 2017. About 90% of Iranians have some form of
health insurance.[603] Iran is also the only country with a
legal organ trade.[604] Iran has been able to extend public health
preventive services through the establishment of an extensive
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.[605]
The art of Iran encompasses many disciplines, including
stonemasonry,
metalworking,
pottery,
painting, and
calligraphy. Iranian works of art show a great variety in style, in different regions and periods.[633] The art of the Medes has been theoretically attributed to the
Scythian style.[634] The Achaemenids borrowed heavily from the art of their neighbouring civilizations,[635] but produced a synthesis of a unique style.[636] Greek iconography was imported by the
Seleucids, followed by the recombination of
Hellenistic and earlier Near Eastern elements in the
art of the Parthians.[637]
By the time of the Sasanians, Iranian art came across a general renaissance.[638] During the Middle Ages, Sasanian art played a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asian mediaeval art.[639][640][641][642]
The Safavid era is known as the Golden Age of Iranian art.[643]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,[644] 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,[644] 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.[644] 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.[645] The new movements received official encouragement by the mid-1950s,[644] which led to the emergence of artists such as
Marcos Grigorian.[646]
The history of architecture in Iran goes back to the seventh millennium BC,[648] with
an eclectic architecture remaining at sites such as
Persepolis and
Pasargadae. The Iranians made early use of
mathematics,
geometry and
astronomy in their architecture, yielding a tradition with both great structural and aesthetic variety.[649] The guiding
motif of Iranian architecture is its cosmic symbolism.[650] Iran ranks seventh among
UNESCO's list of countries with the most archaeological ruins and attractions from antiquity.[651] Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, from a variety of traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it developed a recognizable style distinct from other regions of the Muslim world. Its virtues are "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in
vault and
dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivalled in any other architecture".[652]
Iran's carpet-weaving has its origins in the
Bronze Age and is one of the most distinguished manifestations of Iranian art. Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, producing three-quarters of the world's output and having a share of 30% of export markets.[653][654] In 2010, the "traditional skills of carpet weaving" in
Fars Province and
Kashan were inscribed to the
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.[655][656][657] Carpet weaving is an essential part of
Persian culture and
Iranian art. Within the group of
Oriental rugs produced by the countries of the "rug belt", the Persian carpet stands out by the variety and elaborateness of its manifold designs. Carpets woven in towns and regional centres like
Tabriz,
Kerman,
Ravar,
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 writers.
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.[664] 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.[665] 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]
The
Cyrus Cylinder, which is known as "the first charter of
human rights", is often seen as a reflection of the questions and thoughts expressed by
Zoroaster and developed in Zoroastrian schools of the Achaemenid era.[666][667] The earliest tenets of Zoroastrian schools are part of the extant scriptures of the Zoroastrian religion in
Avestan. Among them are treatises such as the Zatspram,
Shkand-gumanik Vizar, and
Denkard, as well as older passages of the Avesta and the
Gathas.[668] Contemporary Iranian philosophy has been limited in its scope by intellectual repression.[669]Scholars Pavilion is a monument donated by Iran to the
United Nations Office at Vienna. The monument architecture is Persian
Achaemenid architecture, with the statues of Iranian mediaeval scholars,
Omar Khayyam,
Al-Biruni,
Rhazes and
Avicenna inside the pavilion.[670]
Storytelling has an significant presence in Iranian folklore and culture.[675][676] In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts[675] and in public theatres.[675][677] A minstrel was referred to by the
Parthians as
gōsān, and by the
Sasanians as huniyāgar.[675][678] Since the
Safavid Empire, storytellers and poetry readers appeared at coffeehouses.[675][679] After the
Iranian Revolution, it took until 1985 to found the
MCHTH (Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts),[680] a now heavily centralized organization, supervising all kinds of cultural activities. It held the first scientific meeting on anthropology and folklore in 1990.[681]
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.[689]
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).[695]
Before the Iranian Revolution, the Iranian national stage had become a famous performing scene for known international artists and troupes,[696] with the
Roudaki Hall of Tehran constructed to function as the national stage for
opera and
ballet. The hall is home to the
Tehran Symphony Orchestra, the Tehran Opera Orchestra, and the
Iranian National Ballet Company, and was officially renamed Vahdat Hall after the Revolution.
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.[698] 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.[699]
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.[701][702]
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.[703]
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.[704] 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.[705] 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.[706][707]
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).[746]
In Iranian culture, tea is widely consumed.[750][751] Iran is the world's seventh major tea producer.[752] One of Iran's most popular desserts is the
falude.[753] There is also the popular saffron ice cream, known as Bastani Sonnati ("traditional ice cream"),[754] which is sometimes accompanied with
carrot juice.[755] Iran is also famous for its
caviar.[756]
Being a mountainous country, Iran is a venue for
skiing,
snowboarding,
hiking,
rock climbing,[760] and
mountain climbing.[761][762] It is home to several ski resorts, the most famous being
Tochal,
Dizin, and
Shemshak.[763] 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.[764]
Football is the most popular sport in Iran, with the
men's national team having won the
Asian Cup on three occasions. The men's national team ranks first in Asia and 22nd in the world according to the
FIFA World Rankings (as of September 2021[update]).[768] 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.[769]
In 2016, Iran made global headlines for international female champions boycotting tournaments in Iran in chess (U.S. Woman Grandmaster
Nazí Paikidze)[773][774] and in shooting (Indian world champion
Heena Sidhu),[775] 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.[776] 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,[777] and ranks as one of the few most prestigious museums globally in terms of volume, diversity and quality of its monuments.[778]
Since the Iranian Revolution, Iran's largest media corporation is the
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).[494] 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.[784][785]
According to Internet World Stats, as of 2017[update], around 69.1% of the population are Internet users.[786] 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.[787] 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.[788] 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.[786] 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.[789][787]
The exact date of the emergence of
weaving in Iran is not yet known, but it is likely to coincide with the emergence of
civilization.
Ferdowsi and many historians have considered
Keyumars to be first to use
animals' skin and hair as clothing, while others propose
Hushang.[790] 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.[790]
^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.
^A. Fishman, Joshua (2010). Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity: Disciplinary and Regional Perspectives (Volume 1).
Oxford University Press. p. 266.
ISBN978-0-19-537492-6. " "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
^Lewis, Geoffrey (1984). "The naming of names". British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin. 11 (2): 121–124.
doi:
10.1080/13530198408705394.
^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
^Frye, Richard Nelson (October 1962). "Reitzenstein and Qumrân Revisited by an Iranian". The Harvard Theological Review. 55 (4): 261–268.
doi:
10.1017/S0017816000007926.
JSTOR1508723.
S2CID162213219. 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.
^Richard Frye (2012).
Persia (RLE Iran A). Routledge. p. 13.
ISBN978-1-136-84154-5. 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
^Farrokh, Kaveh. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War.
ISBN1-84603-108-7
^"Iran". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from
the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
^"Iran". Merriam-Webster.
Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
^J. D. Vigne; J. Peters; D. Helmer (2002). First Steps of Animal Domestication, Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Council of Archaeozoology. Oxbow Books, Limited.
ISBN978-1-84217-121-9.
^"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.
^
abJeffreys, Elizabeth; Haarer, Fiona K. (2006). Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies: London, 21–26 August, 2006, Volume 1. Ashgate Publishing. p. 29.
ISBN978-0-7546-5740-8.
^Sarkhosh Curtis, Vesta; Stewart, Sarah (2005),
Birth of the Persian Empire: The Idea of Iran, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 108,
ISBN978-1-84511-062-8,
archived 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.
^George Liska (1998). Expanding Realism: The Historical Dimension of World Politics. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Incorporated. p. 170.
ISBN978-0-8476-8680-3.
^Richard G. Hovannisian; Georges Sabagh (1998).
The Persian Presence in the Islamic World. Cambridge University Press. p. 7.
ISBN978-0-521-59185-0. 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.
^Sarkhosh Curtis, Vesta; Stewart, Sarah (2005),
Birth of the Persian Empire: The Idea of Iran, London: I.B. Tauris, p. 108,
ISBN978-1-84511-062-8, 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.
^Mansoori, Firooz (2008). "17". Studies in History, Language and Culture of Azerbaijan (in Persian). Tehran: Hazar-e Kerman. p. 245.
ISBN978-600-90271-1-8.
^
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
^Gingeras, Ryan (2016).
Fall of the Sultanate: The Great War and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1908–1922. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p. 166.
ISBN978-0-19-166358-1. 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.
^Kevorkian, Raymond (2011).
The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. I.B. Tauris. p. 710.
ISBN978-0-85773-020-6. 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.
^Guffey, Robert A. (2009). Saudi-Iranian Relations Since the Fall of Saddam: Rivalry, Cooperation and Implication for US Policy. RAND Corporation.
ISBN978-0-8330-4657-4.
^Ali, Mohanad Hage (30 January 2024). "Hezbollahʼs Intervention in the Syrian Conflict". Power Points Defining the Syria-Hezbollah Relationship: 8–13.
JSTORresrep20960.6.
^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
^Ardalan, Nader;
Bakhtiar, Laleh. (2000). The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture. University of Chicago Press.
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^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.
^Nasr, S.H.; Aminrazavi, M. (2008). An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia: From Zoroaster to Omar Khayyam. I.B. Tauris.
ISBN978-1-84511-541-8.
^Ayatollahy, Hamidreza (2006). "Philosophy in Contemporary Iran". Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia. 62 (2/4): 811–816.
JSTOR40419494.
^"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...
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