Iran is the largest and most populous country in Southwest Asia. The nation possesses abundant petroleum resources and is also important because of its rapidly developing economy and strategic location. Iran shares a long land border with the USSR on the north; with a coastline 3,180 km (1,976 mi) long, it commands navigation on the PERSIAN GULF, the Strait of HORMUZ, and the Gulf of Oman in the south; Iran also shares borders with Turkey and Iraq on the west and with Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. The country was known to the West as Persia, from the ancient Greek name Persis, but in 1935 the Iranian government requested use of the older and correct name, Iran, meaning "Land of the Aryans." Iran was an independent monarchy for more than 2,500 years until 1979. In that year the shah of Iran, MUHAMMAD REZA SHAH PAHLAVI, was deposed and an Islamic republic was declared.
The population of Iran is ethnically complex, and minority groups staunchly defend their provincial separatism and seek autonomy in local affairs. About two-thirds of the total population is descended from Aryan tribes who migrated to Iran from central Asia in the 17th century BC. The remaining one-third is composed mostly of Turks and Arabs, as well as small minorities of Armenians and Jews. The largest Aryan group are Persians, or Farsi, who constitute 63% of the total population and live mainly in the central plateau. Also of Aryan origin are the Gilani and Mazandarani, who live on the northern edge of the plateau and around the shores of the Caspian Sea. Many of Iran's important ethnic minorities (although also of Aryan descent) are nomadic and have strongly resisted culture change, with some even demanding separate nations; these groups include the KURDS, who live mainly in the northern Zagros Mountains; the BAKHTIARI and Lurs, who live in the southern half of the Zagros Mountains; and the BALUCHI, who live in southeast Iran along the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The largest Turkic-speaking group are the Azerbaijani, who live along the Soviet border in northwestern Iran. Arabs predominate in oil-rich Khuzestan province and along the Persian Gulf; and Armenians and Jews are concentrated in urban areas.
The official language is Persian, or Farsi, an INDO-EUROPEAN language written in the Arabic script. The dialect of the Persians is considered standard and is quite unlike that spoken by the Gilani and Mazandarani. Related to Persian but different enough to be considered separate languages are Kurdish, Luri, and Baluchi. Azerbaijani is the most widely used of the Turkic languages, which belong to the URAL-ALTAIC LANGUAGE group. Arabic, a Semitic language, is widely spoken in Khuzestan province.
About 98% of all Iranians are Muslims; 93% are SHIITES, or members of the Shia sect of Islam. Iran is the world's center of Shiite Islam, and it is the official state religion. Most of the ethnic minorities, however, including Kurds, Baluchi, Turks, and Arabs, are SUNNITES, or members of the Sunni sect of Islam. Leadership of the Shiites rests with a priestly class of mullahs, whose leaders have great political influence and include about 400 ayatollahs, or "holy ones." Since the 1979 revolution, even the most secular Iranians have been forced to adhere to strict Islamic codes of behavior. The principal minority religions are BAHA'I, ZOROASTRIANISM, and Christianity (notably the NESTORIAN CHURCH). Baha'is have been severely persecuted by the government since the revolution.
Large areas of Iran are uninhabited. The population is concentrated along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, the Atrek River valley in the northeast, the Karun River valley and Tigris-Euphrates delta in the southwest, and the mountain valleys of the northwest. The largest urban center is TEHRAN, the capital, which has grown rapidly in recent decades. Other large urban centers are ISFAHAN, SHIRAZ, and TABRIZ. MASHHAD and QUM are important Shiite religious centers.
HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
Many dynasties and empires have ruled Persia, which at times has been at the center of vast empires extending through much of the Middle East. The modern Persian state traces its beginnings to CYRUS THE GREAT, who became the first of the ACHAEMENID emperors in 549 BC. In 330 BC, Persia became part of Alexander the Great's empire. It was subsequently part of the SELEUCID kingdom and then, beginning in 250 BC, of the Parthian empire. In AD c.224 the Parthian ARSACID dynasty was overthrown by the SASSANIANS, a Persian dynasty that ruled until the Arab conquest, which was completed in 641. The Arabs introduced Islam and incorporated Persia into the dominions of the caliphs. In the 11th and 12th centuries the country came under the rule of the SELJUK Turks, who laid down the administrative and economic structure that persisted until the 20th century. Persia was overrun by the MONGOLS under GENGHIS KHAN in the 13th century and by TIMUR in the late 14th century.
In the 16th century, after a long period of disunity, Shah Ismail (r. 1502-24) founded the Safavid dynasty, which restored Persia as a political entity and established Shiism as the national religion. The greatest Safavid ruler was Shah ABBAS I, who reconquered (1603-23) substantial territories from the Ottoman Empire. The Afghans overthrew the Safavids in 1722, but Persian independence was restored (1736) by the despotic Nadir Shah. His Afshar dynasty was followed (1750) by the Zand dynasty, which was overthrown in 1794 by the Qajars (Kajars), who held the throne until 1925.
During the 19th century Iran came under increasing pressure from Russia in the north and from Britain, which was pushing westward from India and northward from the Persian Gulf. The Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 divided the country into a Russian zone of influence, a British zone, and a neutral zone. In 1908 petroleum was discovered. The decadent Qajar dynasty was unable to save the country from a state of virtual civil war and from foreign domination until the emergence of a strong leader in REZA SHAH PAHLAVI after World War I. The Majlis (parliament) elevated him to the throne in 1925. He reorganized the military forces, restored internal order, broke the power of the reactionary Shiite clergy, developed new industries, and revised the legal system.
In 1941 joint British-Soviet pressure forced the abdication of the allegedly pro-German Reza Shah. He was succeeded by his 22-year-old son, MUHAMMAD REZA SHAH PAHLAVI. In the early 1950s the power of the new shah was challenged by the nationalist leader Muhammad MOSADDEQ, who tried to take over the government and nationalized the oil industry, previously controlled by foreign interests. The shah was forced to flee the country briefly in 1953, but he returned shortly with strong backing from the Western powers; Mosaddeq was subsequently convicted of treason, and the shah emerged as a powerful and determined ruler. In 1954 a new arrangement with a consortium of Western oil companies was negotiated, giving Iran 50% of all profits (raised to 55% in 1970).
In 1963 the shah inaugurated an ambitious program of modernization (including land reform, emancipation of women, and rapid industrialization) known as the White Revolution. The reforms were too much for some and not enough for others and were accompanied by corruption and widespread social dislocation. As opposition grew, particularly among the clergy, order was kept by the army and the secret police, known as Savak.
During 1977 and 1978, however, tensions increased and opposition from both the left and right erupted into street rioting. In November 1978 the shah placed Iran under military rule. Opposition continued, however, led from Paris by the exiled Islamic fundamentalist Ayatollah Ruhollah KHOMEINI. On Jan. 6, 1979, the shah lifted military rule, and a few days later he left the country. Khomeini returned to a tumultuous welcome on February 1, and on February 12, Iran was proclaimed an Islamic republic. Hundreds of the shah's supporters and alleged members of Savak were arrested, tried, and executed. Khomeini initiated policies to reverse the Westernization of Iran, and a new constitution was overwhelmingly approved at the end of the year, establishing a parliamentary form of government with an elected president and a unicameral parliament, the Sharia (Islamic law) as the basis of the legal system; and a council of guardians dominated by religious leaders. The constitution vested supreme authority in a faghi (supreme religious guide) and made Khomeini faghi for life.
The new regime was antagonistic toward the United States because of the latter's longtime support of the shah. The seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and its personnel by military students in November 1979 precipitated a prolonged international crisis that finally ended with the release of the hostages in January 1981. Meanwhile, in 1980, a border dispute with Iraq erupted into war when Iraqi troops invaded Iran and temporarily gained control of Iran's oil-producing centers in Khuzestan. Although Iranian forces later recaptured the occupied territory, the war continued until 1988, when Iraq and Iran agreed to a cease-fire. Khomeini skillfully used both the hostage crisis and the war with Iraq to unify the country behind him.
Abolhassan BANI-SADR, a moderate who was elected president in January 1980, found his powers increasingly circumscribed by the fundamentalist clerics who held a majority in parliament. In June 1981 he was dismissed. His successor, Muhammad Ali Rajai, was assassinated later that year as the People's Mudjahedeen (a group of socialist Islamic guerrillas) and other opponents of the revolutionary government turned increasingly to violence. Hojatolislam Ali Khamenei was elected president in 1981 and reelected in 1985.
Iran's revolutionary government continued to enjoy widespread domestic support despite shortages of food and foreign exchange and political repression. It became increasingly isolated in the international community, however, partly due to its links to HEZBOLLAH and other terrorist groups and activities. Signs of differences among the nation's political leaders emerged, particularly after the late 1986 revelations of U.S. arms sales to Iran in the so-called IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR. In 1988, Khomeini reluctantly accepted a United Nations-mediated cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq War. In 1987, he encouraged hard-liners by offering $5 million for the death of Salman RUSHDIE, author of a book considered offensive to Muslims, and forced the resignation of Hussein Ali Montazeri, who had been designated his successor in 1985.
After Khomeini's death, on July 3, 1989, the Council of Experts elected Khamenei to succeed him as Iran's supreme religious leader. Hashemi RAFSANJANI, the speaker of parliament, became president after July 1989 elections in which voters also approved constitutional amendments abolishing the post of prime minister and strengthening the presidency. Soon after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Iraq agreed to return to Iran all prisoners and territory taken during the Iran-Iraq war; the two nations restored diplomatic ties in September. Iran remained neutral during the 1991 PERSIAN GULF WAR and moved to improve relations with Western Europe and the Arab world and to reassert itself as a regional power.
