The Syria Vacuum- How Middle Eastern Ultranationalists view their countries' Georgraphic Heritage.

HISTORY IN THE NEWS

Dedicated to the background of contemporary events around the world. 

IN BRIEF: "Irredentism" (from Italian irredento, "unredeemed") is any position of a state advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. (Wikipedia)
 

THE FACTS: 

-Syria lies at the heart of the "Greater Syria" of Syrian nationalists and at the heart of the "Greater Iraq" of Iraqi nationalists. The southwestern corner of Syria is part of the Zionist vision of a "Greater Israel." Northern Syria would be included in a Greater Kurdistan or home country for the Kurds. An emirate, imagined by Al Qaeda (which recognizes no modern borders) would combine Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan.   

The maps below suggest the aspirations of extreme nationalists or "irridentists" in various Middle Eastern nations should the region erupt in serious, all-out conflict:





The Umayyad Caliphate (cira 700 AD)- The Syrian capital, Damascus, was the seat of the Umayyads, the first Islamic Caliphate. Some in Al Qaeda and Al Nusra would doubtless dream of seeing such a Caliphate spring once again from Syria but of course that would have to be a failed state, a Syria in ruins.
 

 

Greater Syria-  "Greater Syria" or "Bilad al-Sham." According to the wesbite, Geocurrents, "Advocates of a Greater Syria dream of uniting all of the historically Arabic-speaking lands of the eastern Mediterranean. The broadest claims, with the maximal ideological justifications, are advanced by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). The SSNP has designs on a vast territory, encompassing not just the lands of the eastern Mediterranean, but also all of Iraq and significant parts of Iran and Turkey."


 
The United Arab Republic was  a scheme more or less forced on Egyptian president Abdul Nasser in order to prevent a Communist takeover in Syria. It lasted from 1958 to 1961 before its collapse. The idea of unifying Syria with Egypt oddly coincides with the ancient Egyptian empire which stretched from Egypt, through Palestine to Syria.





Greater Iran-  For Iranian ultra-nationalists, Greater Iran would embrace all ethnically Iranian and Farsi-speaking peoples. It approximates the empire of the Persian Sassanids in 600 AD. A greater Iran which erased Israel and controlled all of Palestine would conform more or less to the Persian empire at its greatest extent in about 500 BC.



Greater Iraq- "Map of a Greater Iraq as envisioned by some Iraqi nationalists. The dark green represents contemporary Iraq. The medium green represents territory both claimed by Iraqi nationalists and held by Iraq such as Kuwait under Iraqi occupation, 1990-1991) or held in union by Iraq such as its federation with Joerdan, including Jordanian control over the West Bank during the 1950s. Light green represents territory claimed by Iraqi nationalists that was not held by Iraq" (Wikipedia)






Greater Israel- as it was conceived by the World Zionist Organization in 1918. This ancient historical conception includes southern Lebanon and southwestern Syria.






Greater Kurdistan- is only an idea. It has no home state. It is only the dream of Kursdish nationalists who would form a Kurdish nation out of the border region joining Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

The "Al Qaeda Caliphate" and its "Emirates": Map from an anti-Islamist website which has also appeared on the website for Foreign Policy: (http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/al_qaeda) : "The graphic above shows the governance areas for the caliphate that al Qaeda has claimed it is in the process of creating through the jihads of its branches. The exact boundaries of these areas are open to discussion, but the names and general territories are as described by al Qaeda". http://www.barenakedislam.com/2013/02/17/confidential-letter-from-al-qaeda-told-jihadists-in-mali-to-hide-their-global-caliphate-agenda/

IN HISTORY:
  

RELEVANT DATES:

IRAN'S PRESIDENT ROWHANI SENDS A MIXED MESSAGE AS HE IS SWORN INTO OFFICE,

HISTORY IN THE NEWS

Dedicated to the background of contemporary events around the world. 

IRAN




IN BRIEF: Moderate on dialogue with the West and armed with a cabinet of old reformers,  Rowhani is nevertheless tough on nuclear issues and has a record of crushing student protests in 1999.

IN THE NEWS: AS HE IS IS SWORN INTO OFFICE, IRAN'S NEW PRESIDENT HASSAN ROWHANI  ADOPTS A MODERATE AND CONCILIATORY TONE. THIS, IN THE WAKE OF FORMER PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD'S HECTORING AND VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST THE UNITED STATES, ISRAEL AND THE WEST. THE CLEAREST SIGN OF MODERATION HAS BEEN ROWHANI'S CHOICE OF CABINET, MOST OF WHOM SERVED WITH AN EARLIER MODERATE AND REFORMER, ONE TIME PRESIDENT RASFANJANI.  ROWHANI IS EMPHASIZING CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE WEST; NEVERTHELESS HE INSISTS THAT SANCTIONS (RECENTLY TIGHTENED YET AGAIN BY WASHINGTON) WILL NOT DETER IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM. AND ALSO, IN 1999, HE ORDERED THE CRUSHING BY FORCE OF STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS.


(see below for RELEVANT DATES for Hassan Rowhani taking office as president of Iran.)


THE FACTS: 

  -since 1907- Iran had prime ministers, an office which, after the revolution of 1979 existed alongside the new presidency until it was abolished in 1989 leaving the president the sole secular political authority.
-Prime Minister Mossadegh (1951-1953) was probably the greatest, most powerful and most independent head of state in Iranian history.
-Iran' first post-revolution election was held in 1980 and elected Bani  Sadr President.
-the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was the Iran's second elected president in 1981; he held two terms until 1985. 
1989- August - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, a reformer is sworn in as the new president.
1991- the 12 members of the Council of Guardians are given the role of choosing or disqualifying candidates for the presidential or the parliamentary elections.
1997- Rafsanjani is defeated in elections by Muhammed Khatemi, another reformer.
2009- after the June 12 presidential election, opposition reform candidate Ali Hosseini and others lead mass protests against Ahmadinejad's claim of victory in a massively rigged election. Security forces kill 30 and arrest 1,000. Iran blames the west, particularly Britain, for provoking the arrest.



IN HISTORY:
 
In 1951 Britian was still an influential power in Iran when am ultra nationialst prime minister, Mohammed Mossadiq, challenged the outside world by nationalizing Iran's oil production once and for all.

The dream of a new Iran died when the British and the CIA worked in concert to protect their oil interests by staging a coup, removing Mossadiq from power and then backing the young Shah Pahlavi, son of Reza, as their tool. When Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 and Iran fell under the iron rule of a clerical, Shia theocracy, British and all other foreign influence inside the country came to an end.

But so did all hopes of Democratic government as Iran was transformed into a theocracy, in which the president's power is limited and carefully circumscribed. He can open debate and influence policy, but all the important decisions are reserved by the Supreme Leader and the Council of Guardians.

Between 1989 and 2005, the moderate  presidencies of Rafsanjani and Khatemi saw a slow and difficult move toward reform.

The election of President Ahmadinejad in 2005 put an end to all tendencies toward reform within the government.

In June 2009, Ahmadinejad's re-election was met with mass demonstrations protesting widespread fraud. Security forces killed 30 and detained over 1,000 amid international protest while the government blamed the West, especially Britain for fomenting the the mass street gatherings. Leading opposition candidate Ali Hosseini periodically led the demonstrators. As Ahmadinejad swore in his new cabinet in August, a large number of opposition figures were publicly put on trial for organizing the protests.



RELEVANT DATES for Hassan Rowhani taking office as president of Iran.

CLERICAL IRAN- FIRST TENTATIVE REFORM

Islamic Revolution
1979- Rowhani helps organize Iran's military to stabilize country.
1980- Rowhani elected to Parliament.
1980-1983- Rowhani appointed to Supervisory Council where he has conflicts with Hashemi Rafsanjani whom he eventually replaces. But Khomeini reappoints Rasfanjani to SC.

1982-1989- Rowhani holds various high positions in the military for which he receives a high decoration.


Death of Khomeni
1989- Khomeini dies. After a power struggle, another cleric, Hashemi Rafsanjani becomes speaker of the Majlis and Ayatollah Khamenei replaces Khomeini.
1989-2005- Rowhani is first secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.


President Rafsanjani
1989- August - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani is sworn in as the new president.
1991- Rowhani appointed to the Expediency Council  

1993- Rafsanjani’s attempt at the creation of a mixed economy and low oil prices weaken the country’s economy.

Rasfanjani defeated by Khatemi
1997- Rafsanjani is defeated in elections by Muhammed Khatemi, a relative liberal. He brings liberal reforms to the political system.


1997-2005- Khatami President of Iran. 
1997-2005   Hassan Rowhani was Iran's lead nuclear negotiator during Khatami's 1997-2005 administration; he blamed the nezaam (ruling system) of the Islamic Republic for the failure to engage in direct talks with the US. "[Non-negotiation] was the decision and, thus, the US was set aside," he said. When asked directly if it was the US that had in fact taken the first step towards negotiation, Rowhani simply replied, "Yes." This contradicts the prevailing orthodoxy not only in the west, but the official line in Iran as well.-Guardian
1998- January- President Khatami, in an interview on CNN calls for a "a dialogue of civilizations" and expresses admiration for US political traditions. But findamental differences of policy remain unchanged.
1999- After Iran student protests, July 1999  Rowhani, as secretary of Supreme National Security Council, stated in a pro-government rally that "At dusk yesterday we received a decisive revolutionary order to crush mercilessly and monumentally any move of these opportunist elements wherever it may occur. From today our people shall witness how in the arena our law enforcement force . . . shall deal with these opportunists and riotous elements, if they simply dare to show their faces."^[48] and led the crackdown. (Wikipedia)

1999- Under Khatemi, Iran holds its first elections.
 
Reformers Win a Majority.

2000- reformers win a majority in the Majlis.

2001- Khatemi (re) elected president.

Iranian Nuclear Enrichment.
2003- 2005- Rownani is Iran's nuclear negotiator. In addition to building confidence, insisting on Iran's rights, reducing international pressures and the possibility of war, and preventing Iran's case from being reported to the UN Security Council, Iran succeeded in completing its nuclear fuel cycle and took groundbreaking steps.^{[14]:660–667} However, decisions made by the nuclear team under the leadership of Rowhani were criticized by certain circles in later years. (Wikipedia)  
2003-Sept- the IAEA asks that Iran prove it’s not developing a nuclear weapons program.

2004- April-September- radical, nationalist Shia militia leader, Moqtada al Sadr launches two rebellions, with Iranian support, against the US occupation.

2004- June- the IAEA criticizes Iran for its failure to cooperate with inspections.

November- the European Union gets Iran to agree to a deal to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.

AHMADINEJAD

President Ahmedinejad.

2005- Mahmoud Ahmedinejad wins the presidency, defeating Hashemi Rafsanjani.

August- Iran resumes converting uranium at Isfahan, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes. But the IAEA syas that Iran is violating the Non-proliferation treaty.
-after Ahmadinejad is elected, Rowhani, seeing little hope of working with the new president, resigns his post at Supereme Security Council.
2006- Rowhani elected from Tehran district to the Assembly of Experts.

2006- January- at its Natanz nuclear plant, Iran breaks seals placed on equipment by the IAEA.

February- As Iran resumes nuclear enrichment at Natanz, the IAEA votes to report the violations to the UN Security Council.

April- Iran claims to be enriching Uranium at natanz.

July 31- the UN Security Council demands that Iran suspend its nuclear activities.

Aug. 31- the deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment activities.

Dec 23- the UN security council approves the impostion of sanctions on Iran in nuclear.

Technology and trade. Iran continues enriching uranium.

Iran Continues Uranian Enrichment.

2007-April- Ahmedinejad announces increased, industrial scale of uranium production. IAEA says that Iran has 1,300 centrifuges.

May- IAEA declares that Iran would need only 3-8 years to produce a nuclear weapon.

Many Opposition Candidates Barred from Parliamentary Elections.

2008 -parliamentary elections return a 2/3 majority of conservatives, with many reform candidates barred from running. Moderate conservatives embarrassed by Ahmedinejad also win seats.

Khamenei Contradicts Ahmadinejad's Welcome to Obama

2009- February- On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad claims he would welcome open and respectful talks with the US.
March- Ayatollah Khameini tells anti-US rally that Obama is merely prolonging the old Bush policy.

Protesters Shot Demonstrating against massive fraud in Ahmadinejad's Election Victory.
2009- after the June 12 presidential election, opposition candidates Ali Hosseini and others lead mass protests against Ahmadinejad's claim of victory in a mssively rigged election. Security forces kill 3o and arrest 1,000. Iran blames the west, particularly Britain, for provoking the arrest

The West Tightens Sanctions over Uranium Enrichment.

2011 November - A report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA says Iran is carrying out research that can only be used to develop a nuclear bomb trigger. Iran rejects the findings as politically motivated.
2012 September - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly report says Iran has doubled production capacity at Fordo nuclear site and "significantly hampered" IAEA ability to inspect Parchin military site.
--EU countries announce further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, focusing on banks, trade and crucial gas imports.

Khamenei Refuses Direct Talks on Nuclear Program.
2013 February - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismisses US offer of one-to-one talks on Tehran's nuclear programme

2013 April - Iran says it has begun operations at two uranium mines and a uranium ore-processing plant, furthering its capacity to produce nuclear material. This comes a few days after talks with the West in Kazakhstan fail to make progress.
2013- 16 June- Hassan Rowhani wins presidential elections. 

HISTORY OF IRAN

Iran- 1890-2003

It was the weakness of the Qajar Shahs that opened the way for direct British intervention in Persia. In the mid-nineteenth century the Qajars' heavy borrowing from European powers and the consequent debts encouraged those powers, especially Britain, to take direct control of the matter. The point of etnry was the southern coastline where Britain had naval supremacy. Britain's grand strategy at the time was to protect its colony in India from southward Russian exppansion. To this end Britain had to counter Russia in Afghanistan as well as in Persia. As Russia took more terriory along Persia's northern border, extending its influence into Persia itself, the British replied, in 1892, by giving Persia a loan it couldn;t refuse and then seizing the customs duties in southern Persian seaports as collateral,

In 1907, Britain and Russia agreed to respective zones of influence within Persia, Russia claiming the northern half of the country and Britain the southeast, adjacent to its Indian colony of Balluchistan.

The discovery of oil in the years 1900 to 1910 only intensified British and Russian competition for influence in Persia but the prospect of domestically generated wealth also ignited a strong current of Persian nationalism which burns to this day. With British support, the new constitionalist movement pressured Mossafar al-Din Shah to create a national assembly, which, however, foundered in 1907, in part, due to Russian subversion.

The only thing to survive, it seemed, was the British-dominated Anglo Persian Oil company. With the first World War British supremacy was complete, the Russian revolution having led to the withdrawal of Russian influence in Persia. Now, Britian's Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, saw Persia as the final link in the chain of British colonial power from India to Iraq, to the Mediterranean.

In 1919, a failing Persian ecomomy made it easy for Britain to make Persia a formal British Protectorate. Events today, involving the UN and Iraq were foreshadowed when Persia bridled at the severe resitriction of its influence in peace settlements at the end of the war. Tehran was further threatened when neighbouring Iraq became a British League of nations mandate. And in 1920, the Brtisih in Iraq violently suppressed a Sha-led rebellion in Iraq's south- a region seen by Iran's Shia majority as a sister in spirit.

When, in 1921, the British backed a coup, deposing the Shah in favour of an army officer, Reza Phalavi, they got more than they bargained for. Cleverly, the Reza Pahlavi made himself the new Shah, seized on Iran's new oil-fueled nationalism by renegotiating all foreign oil contracts, incuding that with Anglo-Persian Oil, in Persia's favour. He made a cult celebrating ancient Persian rulers, history and symbols as the spiritual basis for the modern state and empowered his country by playing off foreign rivals, against one another. Finally, he renamed Persia Iran, in memory of its founding Aryan people. In 1925, he made Iran once and for all independent. In 1951 Britian was still an influential power in Iran when am ultra-nationist prime minister, Mohammed Mossadiq, challenged the outside world by nationalzing Iran's oil production once and for all.

The dream of a new Iran died when the British and the CIA worked in concert to protect their oil interests by staging a coup, removing Mossadiq from power and then backing the young Shah Pahlavi, son of Reza, as their tool. When Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 and Iran fell under the iron rule of a clerical, Shia theocracy, British and all other foreign influence inside the country came to an end.

When the British returned to the region in 2003 by taking part in the American invasion of neighbouring Iraq and occupying Iraq's Shia south , it could only bring back bad memories of the British-led repression of a Shia-led revolt there in 1920.- And the patrolling of British ships in the Persian Gulf could only recall Britain's naval supremacy in Persian waters in the 19th century.



In August of 2005, Iran resumed converting uranium at Isfahan, insisting it was for peaceful purposes. But the IAEA declared that Iran was violating the Non-proliferation treaty. In January, 2006, Iran further dug in its heels by breaking seals placed on equipment by the IAEA on the Natanz nuclear power plant. After further violations, on July 31, the UN Security Council demanded that Iran suspend its nuclear activities. After Iran ignored an August 31 deadline, the UN approved the imposition of sanctions on
December 23.

In February-March, 2007 after further Iranian intransigence over its uranium enrichment the international committee took further measures. It is now suspected that Iran had in fact lost a game of brinksmanship in the nuclear negotiations and may have seized the British sailors as a distraction, if not to save face. A further humiliation may have been the American capture of 5 Iranian Revolutionary Guard members.

Iran extended its defiance to the international community in April, 2007, announcing a massive expansion of its nuclear program with the IAEA estimating that Iran could make a nuclear explosive in three to eight years. Despite Iran's grudging assent to some nuclear inspections, the United States responded by tightening sanctions in October. But American intelligence sent a coontradictory message that Iran's nuclear weapons development had been overestimated.

The new year, 2008, saw a visit to Iraq by Ahmadinejad where he signed agreements to help rebuild the shattered country. The clerics in Terhan, meanwhile, kept a firm grip on power with a 2/3 majority of conservatives returned in parliamentary elections with many reform candidates disqualified from running. In the spring, the UN tightened sanctions on Iran while the IAEA insisted Iran was concealing parts of its nuclear program. Throughout the summer, Iran defied incentives and sanctions from Europe and the United States as it pressed ahead with what many believe is a nuclear weapons program.


A false warming in relations ensued in November as Ahmedinejad congratulated Barak Obama's election as US President. Indeed, in March, 2009 Supreme Leader Khamenei accused Obama of continuing the old Bush policy toward Teheran. However, there might have been a faint gesture to the contrary when Iran released US-Iranian journalist Roxana Sabiri, recently imprisoned for spying.


In June, Ahmadinejad's presidential election victory was met with mass demonstrations protesting widespread fraud. Security forces killed 30 and detained over 1,000 amid international protest while the government blamed the West, especially Britain for fomenting the the mass street gatherings. Leading opposition candidate Ali Hosseini periodically led the demonstrators. As Ahmadinejad swore in his new cabinet in August, a large number of opposition figures were publicly put on trial for organizing the protests.


In September 2009, the focus turned to construction of a uranium plant in Qom which the regime insisted was for peaceful purposes while it tested missiles that could reach US installations in the Persian Gulf as well as Israel. In November, Mohammed El Baredei pressured Iran to accept an offer by western nations to help it enriich uranium abroad. In Teheran, meanwhile, thousands broke a ban on demonstrations by gathering to protest the 30th anniversary of the hostage-taking at the US embassy during the Iranian Revolution.


The end of the year sees the death of the Grand Ayatollah Montazzeri, an important reformist member of Iran's clergy. Demonstrations commemorating the Grand Ayatollah are again met with  violence by the government with eight killed. The crackdown continues in January 2010 with two arrrested in the June demonstrations put to death and others from the continuing demonsrtrations at the end of 2009 put on trial. A prominent physics professor is mysteriously murdered in a bomb blast, with opposition groups claiming he had supported one of their candidates in the June elections.

In February 2010, Iran attempts to show good intentions, claiming it is ready to send unranium abroad for enrichment for non-military purposes and Washington asks Iranian officials to match their words with actions. However tensions continue as the US claims to have evidence that Iran is sending arms to the Taliban and Iran announces another successful series of missile tests. In May Teheran follows through with its February commitment ageeing to ship uranium to Turkey or Brazil for enrichment but US officials remain skeptical that it will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In June words are backed up by force as the UN Security Council brings down a fourth round of sanctions agains Iran, tightening the arms embargo and financial restrictions.

The focus shifts to human rights in July 2010 with international protest as an Iranian court sentences a woman charged with adultery and murder to death by stoning. Later in the month Brazil offers her asylum.

Iran claims significant progress in it nuclear program in August as its Bushehr nuclear plant is loaded with fuel, with Russia agreeing to provide more fuel in theory bringing the program closer to weapons capability. In September Washington, after perceiving that Iran's nuclear fuel swap and with Turkey and the latter's financial assistance are helping Iran to avoid sanctions, orders Turkey to desist with a threat to cancel a major arms deal.

IRAN- 1560-1907-
The British were able to build on commercial links with Persia ever since the establishment of a British overland trade route in 1561. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Britain further established factories in Persia at Bushire and at Basra, respectively on the east side and at the head of the Persian Gulf (not far from where the British sailors were seised by Iran in 2007) British attention was more forcefully turned to Persia in 1798 by Napoleon's Egyptian campaign by which the French hoped to challenge British dominance in India and the Indian ocean. Britian's first step in protecting India was to induce Persia to attack Afghanistan which was trying to establish its own empire in the region.

In the same year, Persia's modern histroy began with the rise to power of the Qajar Shahs whose long decline would, for more than a century, be accompanied by the increasing influence of foreign powers, particularly Britain. In 1800, Britian ratified an alliance with Persia by which Persia and India were assured mutual protection from outside powers such as Russia and France. This, of course was more to English than Persian advantage. In 1806, France responded to the British initiative by signing an agreement with Persia and sending a mission to train the Persian army. In 1814, at the wane of the Napoleonic wars, the victorious Brtisih responded in turn by signing an Anglo-Persian pact which forced Persia to abolish any treaties with European powers hostile to Britain.

Britain further flexed its muscles in the region by controlling neighbouring Afghanistan and when the Persians asserted a historic claim to the east Persian city of Herat, Britain stopped them, retaking it on behalf of the Afghans. British resolve around Persia increased after Russia seized control of the Caspian Sea and regions to the east and to the west in Persia's northern marches.

Persia was finally and effectively hemmed in on the east when she tried again to seize Herat in 1856. The British declared war, forcing Persia to recognize Afghan indepence in 1857. Heavy borrowing by the Qajar Shahs further weakened Persia, leaving it increasingly to the mercy of British and Russian territorial ambitions. Russia, after all, was looking for a southeen Port and Britain wanted both Afghanistan and Persia as buffers to protect her Indian colony from Russian expansion. By poviding loans and development, Brtiain gained further control over Persia The discovery of oil in Persia, which hadn't the means to exploit it, put an end to any vestige of autonomy. But if foreign, mostly British, interests won concessions on Persian oil, the new resource also sparked intense nationalism. With nationalism came pressures for parliamentary government, granted by the Shah in 1907.

CROSS-CENTURY SUMMARY: The history of Iran can be seen, if figuratively, as a series of successive movements of liberation, each with a claim to Iranian, or 'Aryan' identity on the Iranian plateau: an identity defended from misrule from within and from ambitons without: an identity seen to be dinstinct from the Graeco-Romans and Arabs to the west, the peoples of India to the East and the Mongols and Turks to the north. Hence, we have the Medes rescuing the peoples of the plateau from the Assyrians, the Achaeminids releasing Iran from the Medes, the Parthians rescuing it from the Achaeminids, the Achaeminids crumbling before the Greek Seleucids, the native Parthians throwing out the Seleucids and then holding back the Roman Empire for four centuries. Pressures from within and without caused the Parthian rule to collapse and be replaced, again from within, by the Sassanids. Pressure by Byzantium and by Islamic conquest from Arabia ended Sassinid rule and Iran is further subjected to domination by the Mongols and Turks in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 16th century a Persian, if Islamic revival was brought about by the Safavids whose adoption of Shiism in the face of a Sunni majority in the Islamic world, would contribute to the revivial of an Iranian exceptionalism. Safavid rule is seen to represent the apogee of Persian culture. It ended in the early eighteenth century when it was supplanted by an Afghan dynasty. The late eighteenth century saw a brief revival under the Zands. The Qajars who succeeded them were the last traditional Persian dynasty.

The weakness of the Qajars throughout the 19th and early 20th century led to Persia's subjugation by foreign territorial and colonial interests. It seems inevitable that Iran would sooner or later attempt to rescue and to defend an ancient sense of identity dating back to the expulsion of the Assyrians by the Medes from the Iranian plateau. The assertion and revivial of 'Iran' arrrived rather paradoxically with a British-backed coup overthrowing the Qajars. The new Shah Pahlavi turned on his colonialist allies and created a new Iranian nationalism which recalaimed its pre-Islamic history. The discovery of oil and its gradual nationalization gave economic power to a reborn Iranian identity. With history and oil wealth being recovered, the replacement of the Pahalvi dynasty with a Shia revolution restored the religious component.
Meanwhile, Israeli, American and British foreign policy and the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq have only served to strengthen the Iranian revivial and to encourage Iran's intransigence in its pursuit of neculear dominance in the region.

TIMELINE AND CHRONOLOGY FOR THE HISTORY OF IRAN, 2000 BC- 2013

TIMELINE AND CHRONOLOGY FOR THE HISTORY OF IRAN:

For modern material, THANKS TO: BBC Timeline for Iran
and-  http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/12/02/f-iran-timeline.html#2013
and- http://timelines.ws/countries/IRAN_B.HTML

THE ARYANS

2000 BC- Indo Iranians migrate from southern Russia. Median and Iranian tribes settle on the Iranian plateau.

2000- 750 BC- Iranian tribes and city states.

THE MEDIANS

650 BC- the Median clan provides the Iranians with independence from the Assyrians.

650-559 BC- The Median Empire.

CYRUS THE GREAT.- THE ACHAEMINIDS.

559 BC- Cyrus the Great leads a Persian revolt against the Medes.

500-330 BC- the Persian Achaeminid Empire expands from Iran to Egypt.
550 BC- Cyrus moves against Astyages, king  of the Medes and takes Ecbatana.

546 BC –The Persians capture the Lydian capital of Sardis and take Anatolia.
539 BC- Cyrus defeats Belshazzar, king of Babylon at Opis.

530-522- BC Cambyses, son of Cyrus takes Egypt, Libya and part of Nubia.

521-486- BC- Darius the Great extends the empire as far as the Aegean and Macedonia; and in the east as far as the Indus. He developes a sophisticated Imperial administration based on the Assyrian model.

513 BC- Darius the Great invades southern Russia and fails to defeat the Scythians.

THE GREEK-PERSIAN WARS.

512- BC Darius the Great takes Thrace.
500 BC- persian empire stretches from the Hellespont south to Egypt and east to the Indus.

490- Darius the Great invades Greece. He is defeated at Marathon.

480- Darius the Great’s army is defeated at Thermopylae; his navy is destroyed at Salamis.

404-343 BC- Egypt is independent from Persia.

ALEXANDER AND THE SELEUCIDS

323-330 BC- conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander of Macedon.

312-63 BC- the Seleucid Empire covers most of the Middle East, save for Egypt.

PARTHIA

248 BC- the Parthians revolt and take Iran back from the Greek Seleucids.

248 BC- 224 AD- the Parthians maintain an empire in Iran.

171-138 BC- Mithridates I of Iran.

53 BC - Parthia defeats Rome at the Battle of Carrhae.

216-277 AD- Mani founds the Manichaean belief in Iran.

THE SASSINIDS

224- 651 AD- Sassanid Empire in Iran.

239-272- Emperor of Iran- Shapur I.

259- Shapur defeats the Romans, captures Valerian.

440-552- Hephthalite Huns penetrate Iran and India.

531-579- Khosrow I Anusharvan, Sassanid emperor of Iran.
-Byzantine Emperor Justinian at war with Persia.

591-628- Khosrow II Parviz, Sassanid emperor of Iran.

614-616- Sassanids conquer Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt.

627- Dastagird, the Sassanid city of palaces is sacked by the Byzantines.

ISLAM
635- Sassanids defeated by Muslim invaders.

636-651- the Muslim Arab conquest of Persia.
637- Muslims take Ctesiophon and Mesopotamia.
641- eastern Muslims under Said ibn Wakkas take Ecbatana.
645- eastern Muslims control the Persian Gulf.
652- eastern Muslims take Khorasan.

819-1062- Persia ruled by the Sunni Saminids, winning favour with the Abassids because of Shia Buyid rule of Baghdad.
-the Saminids restore elements of pre-Islamic Iranian culture, creating a sense of Persian nationalism.
1020- Mahmud of Ghazni, an East Afghanistan Turkic warlord and mercenary for the Abbasid Muslims, secedes to form his own dynasty.

1000, circa-- the Turks invade, making several states in Iran.

THE MONGOLS
1219- under Gengis Khan, the Mongol invasions reach the Caspian Sea.

1225- Mongol conquest of Iran.
1234- Hulagu, grandson of Gengis Khan conquerss the Persian Assassins at Alamut.
1258- the Mongols take Baghdad and rule Mesopotamia until 1337.

1335- the rule of the Ilkhanid Mongols collapses in Iran.

-mid-1300s- extreme instability in Iran and Iraq

TAMERLANE

1381-1387- Persia conquered by Tamerlane.

1405-1506- a dwlindling empire of Tamurlane's successors in eastern Iran.

1405-47- Tamerlane's son, Shah Rukh rules from Herat.

THE SAFAVIDS

1501-1524- Shah Ismail founds the Iranian Safavid dynasty and establishes Shiism as the relgion of Persia.

1514- the Seljuk Turk Selim the Great defeats the Persians at Caldiran.

1524- Persiams conquer Baghdad.

1561- English begin overland trade with Persia.

1588-1629- Shah Abbas I- Safavid emperor of Iran.

-Abbas hires two Englaishmen to reorganize tribal fighters into a national army.

-Abbas takes Baghdad back from the Ottomans and recovers Armenian territories.

-Abbas starts a Persian revivial. Culture flourishes. He makes Shiism the state reglion- ends religious tolerance. Poer is given to the clergy.

-Shah Abbas drives the Portugeuse from the Pesian Gulf and begins trade with Great Britain.

1629- death fo Shah Abbas.

1638 -Persia fights religious wars with the Ottoman Turks who take baghdad.

1722- thr Afghans ovethrow the weak Shah Hussein.

THE AFSHARS

1736- Nadir Shah expels the Afghans and establishes the Afshar dynasty.

1738- Nadir Shah invades and loots India.

THE ZANDS

1750-1794- the Zand Dynasty of Karim Khan- the capital is moved to Shiraz where a spectacular building program follows.

-peace and prosperity under the Zand dynasty.

1763- British establish a factory at Bushire

1770- British establish a factory at Basra

THE QAJARS

1794- the tyrant Aga Muhammad Khan.overthrows the Zands and establishes the Qajar Dynasty.

1797- Khan is assassinated.

1794-1925- the Qajar dynasty is a period of decline in which Persia sowly loses territory as Russia along with European nations exercise increasing influence.

1797-1834- Under Fath Ali Shah Persia is forced to give up the Causacus to Russia.

1798- The Brtish, to protect India, induce Persia to attack Afghanistan.

1798- Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, intended to open a trade route to the Indian Ocean and the east- gets the attention of the British.

1800-Governor of Bombay sends an Indian messenger and British enviy, Sir John Malcom to the Shah. A Persian-British treaty is signed assuring the mutual protection of India and Persia.

1804- Persia at war with Russia.

1806- Napoleon sends a diplomatic mission to Iran, worrying the British. As a result, France sends a mission to train the Persian army.

1814- Formal Anglo-Persian treaty. Persia must cancel all treaties with European powers hostile to Britain.

-Herat is taken by the Afghans. After Persia tries to reclaim the city, the British intervene on behalf of Afghainistan.

1826-1828- Russo-Persian war. The Russian fleet wins control of the Caspian.

1856- Persians take Herat. Britain declares war on Persia.

1857- Persia is forced by the British to recognize Afghan independence.

-Britain and Russia start to compete over Persia; Britain is also concerned to protect its Indian possessions with Persia and Afghanistan as buffers against Russia.

-Russia takes Tiflis and Tashkent, west of Caspian.

-heavy borrowing from European powers by the Qajar Shahs leads to indebtedness and foreign intervention.

-Britain sees the opportunity of colonizing Persia from its southern coastline.

-1864- British complete the Persian section of the Britain-India telegraph line.

1864- Russia moves into Turkestan and takes Tashkent, east of Caspian..

1892- Britain gives Persia a loan, seizing its customs duties in the port cities as collateral.

1896- assassination of Nasiruddin Shah.

THE DISCOVERY OF OIL AND THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPE

1900-1910- the discovery of oil in Persia results in intense rivalry between Russia and Great Britain.

1901- New Zeander WK D’Arcy gets an oil concession in Iran.

1905- nationalist revolution begins in Persia.

1906- Mozaffar al-Din Shah concedes a constitution under pressure from constitutionalists and with the encouragement of the British ambassador. This limits concessions to foreign companies.

1907- the Anglo-Russian agreement divides Persia into northern Russian, neutral center and British southern spheres of influence. Islamic traditionalists launch violent protests.

1907- Constitutional revolution under Shah Muzzafar al Din Qajar provides an elected assembly (Majlis)

1909- the Russians crush Persia’s constitutionalist movement.

-Anglo-Persian Oil Company founded.

1911- The constitution fails along with the assembly.

1914- World War I- Turkish, Russian and British troops operate in Persia against German influence- despite Persian neutrality.

-Winston Churchill, Lord of the Admiralty, buys 55 per cent of the Anglo Persian oil company.

1917- Russian influence in Persia lapses with the Russian Revolution. Britain withdraws her troops but struggles to maintain a presence.

THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE

-collapse of the Ottoman Empire leaves Britain the dominant power in the region.

-Persians angry that Persia is not given room to state its case in peace negotiations at the end of the WW I.

-Persia is threatened when Iraq becomes a British League of Nations mandate.

-Lord Curzon sees in Persia an opportunity to link British influence from India to Iraq.

1919- British subsidies support the collapsed Iranian economy. In that year Iran becomes a British protectorate under the Anglo-Persian agreement which the majlis refuses to ratify. The agreement includes British officers and advisers for the Persian army and government, a large loan to pay for them, and British development of transport and communications.

-the U.S. and France fear that the Anglo-Persian Agreement will curtail opportunities for those countries inside Persia, giving the British a monopoly. Lord Curzon says the presence of American advisers would have to be approved by Britain. Hence, US advisers in the region supported the aims of Persian nationalism.

-1920- internal opposition to the Anglo-Persian agreement results in Persia turning toward the the U.S. (which was increasingly interested in Persian oil). The U.S. responds by objecting to the unfairness of the British monopoly on Persian oil and negotiations are commenced for for Amercan insyead of British aid, development and advisers.

-however, the US does not favour displacing Britain outright, since it sees the British as a bulwark against Russia and Communism.

THE FIRST COUP: PAHLAVI'S BRITISH-BACKED TAKEOVER

1921- a British-backed coup by an officer, Reza Pahlavi overthrows the government of Fathullah Gillani. Pahlavi gets the Majlis to depose the Qajar dynasty and make him Shah.
Pahlavi was "an ex-ranker reputedly picked by the British to take over the cluntry because of his commanding height in a vulture where tall men inspire fear." - Felipe Fernandez-Armesto- Millennium.
-Iranian intellectuals push for secularism, seeing Attatutk's Turkey as a possible model.
-Pahlavi's policy of secularization is radical, tearing down  traditional and medieval neighbourhoods and promoting fast, cheap modern development.
-Pahlavi makes himself Shah.

-Pahlavi exploits Bolshevik fear of the British to get Russia to withdraw completely. He then drives out British and Russian-supported separatist movements.

-Reza Shah Pahlavi creates a strong, centralized government, renegotiates oil concessions given to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and reforms the economy, getting more control over foreign companies and making them pay more in taxes and royalties. He plays Germany off against Britian and Russia.

-the Shah also makes a public cult of Iran’s ancient Achaemenid, Sassinid and Parthian history.
-Pahlavi renames Persia "Iran" or "Land of the Aryans."

RELIGIOUS REACTION
-Pahlavi promotes Islam for as long as he needs the support of the religious establishment. He then attempts to curb their influence, depriving them of their privileges.

-the paganism of Shah Pahlavi's nationalism his contempt for Islam causes a religious reaction which will grow over the years.
 
PAHLAVI, INDEPENDENCE, REVIVAL

1925- Iran becomes independent from Britain and Russia.

1928- Reza Shah sets up the Bank of Iran to oppose the British Imperial Bank.

1933- Shah Pahlavi changes the name of Perisa to Iran, derived from “Aryan”.

-Pahlavi cancels the concession of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

-Pahliavi’s independence policy is ratified by the League of Nations.

-Iran’s gradual modenization begins to be decried by the Shia clergy.

THE SECOND COUP, BACKED BY THE US, BRITAIN AND RUSSIA.

1941- Opposed to Iran’s neutrality in the war with Germany, Britain and Russia occupy Iran and depose Pahlavi in favour of his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. US, Russian and British advisers all try to influence Iranian policy toward respective national ends.

-US military advisers arrive and US army units help transport military equipment on the Trans-Iranian railroad.

-US advisers are accepted in all key financial departments of government. US adviser Millspaugh was made director general of finances, for November 1942 and May, 1943. The Full Powers law gave him financial control that was almost absolute. He favoured private enterprise over government corporations.

1942-43- US advisers more or less run the Iranian army. Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf reorganizes internal security along American lines.

1944- US Adviser Millspaugh excites popular protest by attempting to fire the head of the Iranian National Bank. Millspaugh resigns, most of his attempts at reform having failed.

-popular sentiment rises against the British interests and presence in Iran.

THE U.S. AND POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT.

-theUS takes the lead in stabilizing Iran.

1948- Iran puts forward a 7-year economic plan heavily influenced by Max W. Thornburg, a US oil executive and adviser, whose Overseas Consultants Inc. is instrumental in drafting it. There are no recommendations for land reform or political or social reform, only technological advance. State ownership is blamed for all social and economic ills.

-the 7-year economic plan is passed by the majlis.

-1951- the 7-Year Economic Plan fails; its government administrators are universally blamed for failures of implementation. Overseas Consultants' contract is terminated. The existing social status quo will remain the basis for all Washington's future US planning for Iran's economy.

PRIME MINISTER MOSSADEGH

-1951- March- Britain negotiates for a high share of oil royalties, US ambassador Henry Grady backs Iranian nationalists, since the US doesn't want to see Britain getting a competitive deal on Iranian oil. However, the US will come to side with Britain in seeing nationalist Prime Minister MOssadegh as a fanatic.

1951- Mossdegh travels to the US to ask the Truman administration for a loan. Washington refuses his request, having now swung round to join the British in opposing nationalization of Iranian oil.

- Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadiq, a nationalist, nationalizes the Anglo-Iranian oil company.

- Britain protests, stopping oil exports. The Majlis votes Mussadiq emergency powers.

-the US supports British attempts to arrange a world-wide boycott of Iranian oil.

-the British and the Americans fear a non-Communist nationalist movement as an even greater danger than Iranian Communism.
-rumours are rife of a British invasion.

-at the UN, Mossadiq insists on Iran’s right to ownership of its oil

-US President Truman sends an envoy to Mossadiq but doesn't get any compromise on the nationalization of Iranian oil.

-US, Great Britain and other western nations begin to boycott Iran.

1953- after a struggle with Mossadiq over control of the Defense Ministry, an attempt by the Shah to dismiss Mossadiq is protested by nationalist riots, the Shah leaves Iran.

-however, the army remains in support of the Shah.

-June, 1953- under pressure of international isolation, Mossadiq's coalition crumbles.

THE THIRD COUP: BRITAIN AND THE US PUT AN END TO MOSSADIQ

-the British engineer a plan for Mossadiq's removal. It is simplified in the US by Kermit Roosevelt who then passes it on to Allen Dulles of the CIA. When it is approved by Eisenhower, Roosevelt goes to Iran to put the plan into operation through local contacts.

-the CIA, especially aware of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi as an asset against Communism, works with Monarchist officers bringing about the overthrows and arrest of Mossadiq and the return of the Shah. Mossadiq is sentenced to two years in prison.

-the CIA helps to organize mass, paid demonstrations to welcome back the Shah.

-the United States immediately supplies a$45 million emergency loan.

-with the deterioration of relations with Britain, Iran becomes more and more of a US client state. Traditionalist clergy and the poor are increasingly wary of modernization and US influence.

-the US has replaced Britain as the main foreign power in Iran.

SHAH MOHAMMED REZA PAHLAVI HEADS A US-BACKED GOVERNMENT.
-power is concentrated in the hands of the Shah, weakening the parliament and prime minister.

1954- the Shah offers oil concessions to an international consortium which includes the US and Britain. Of the American members, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of California, the Gulf Oil Coroporation, the Texas Oil Company and Socony-Mobil each get 8 per cent. These five, later gave up 1 per cent each to US 'independents'. The total is a US investment of 40%.

-Iran joins the Baghdad Pact which links Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Britain.

1950s- Iran, with US help launches its own nuclear program.

1960- the U.S. has become a net importer of oil.

REACTION TO THE 'WHITE REVOLUTION' INSPIRES MUSLIM REVIVAL  
1963- the Shah's "White Revolution' land reform reduces the power of the landlords. It also expropriates religious endowments.
-in the holy city of Qom, Seminarians demonstrating against the White Revolution expropriations are shot by police.
-a group of Mullahs begins to preach against the regime spawning a movement which will culminate in the 1979 Muslim revolution.

PAHLAVI’S TYRANNY

-repressing the secular and clerical opposition and the landed aristocracy, the Shah sets up a police state to pave the way for capitalism. The oil cartel of the 1970s makes Iran wealthy.

-with police repression, only clerical networks remain active. Meanwhile mass urban migration creates a stratun of urban power.

THE REGIME CRUMBLES

1970- protests build against the Shah’s regime.
1971- Shah Reza Pahlavi "shared the antique monarch's dream to 'ride in triumph through Persepolis' and reputedly spent a hundred million dollars celebrating the glories of the empire of Cyrus the Great, revivified, he believed- in his own times and person..." Felipe Fernandez-Armesto- Millennium.
-the oil boom supports the Shah's secularization and modernization projects and the Iranian military.  

-U.S. oil production peaks and begins to decline.

-1972- the US accepts Shah Reza Phalavi as the main local power protecting the Persian gulf and agrees to sell Iran any non-nuclear weapons. The US already has colonies of technical advisers in Iran.

1972-73- the Shah is alert to arguments of ecologists that the US was using up the world's oil reserves oil too fast because oil is under priced. He is also aware that raw materials and commodities such as farm products are rising in price. The Shah therefore works on leaders of other oil-exporting Middle-Eastern countries to slow the production of oil thus rising the price. Opposition to the state of Israel provides additional incentive.

1975- Iran is the single largest purchaser of military equipment from the US.

-although Iraq appears to be moving toward becoming a regional, if not a world power, it is in fact heavily dependent on the US.

-the Carter administration, although critical of Iran on human rights still prefers the Shah to any truly popular government as a bulwark against the Soviet Union

1977- a protest movement begins under the guidance of Ruholla Khomeini from exile in Najaf.

1978- The US State Department of Human Rights, with its aggressive critique of Iran, undermines the Shah's authority.

-the heavy presence of foreign advisors and technicians and Iran's own technological backwardness lead many to feel that it is becoming an instrument of the United States. Many workers and merchants forced out by competition of technologically sophisticated state industries.

1978- an alliance of Marxists and radical Shia clerics overthrows the Pahlavi regime.

-anti-monarchist Shapur Bakhtiar becomes Prime Minister but the clergy mistrust him.

1979- January- the Shah goes into exile.

-attempts to set up a constitutional government fail.

-Prime Minister Bakhtiar is replaced by Mehdi Bazargan.
-cleric Hassan Rowhani's role foments dissent against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his association with key figures in the development of Iranian revolutionary ideology, such as Ali Shariati and Mehdi Bazargan. The Shah's notorious intelligence service, SAVAK, was discovered after the revolution to have been monitoring Rowhani.

1979- April- after several attempts at a Monarchist coup are made, Iran is proclaimed an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.

-the US recognizes the Khomeini regime- but is blamed for supporting the Shah. Mass denunciations of the US follow. But the regime simultaneously denounces the Soviet Union.

-US diplomats in Tehran try to form links with the new regime but are rebuffed.

-Iran suspends its nuclear energy program.

-the Khomeini regime begins to give support to the Afghan Mujehadeen.
-November- a new constitution gives control of the the country to the Shia clergy.

KHOMEINI

1979-81- after the Shah is given asylum and medical treatment in the United States, US embassy personnel are held hostage by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for over a year. The government fully endorses the hostage-taking.

-as the hostage-taking is universally condemned in a vote at the UN, it becomes clear that Iran is standing in complete defiance of a three-century tradition in international relations of the immunity of diplomats. Iran is no longer playing by rules and agreements taken for granted in the West.

-the US retaliates with sanctions against Iran and the freezing of Iranian assets in the US.

-Iran resumes its nuclear energy program with less help from the US and more from other countries.

-November- the Revolutionary Council of clerics forces out Bazargan and ousts most of the Revolutionary coalition.

1980- US President Carter declares the Persian Gulf region to be an area vital to US interests.

1981- On the day Ronald Reagan is elected president, the Iranians release the US embassy hostages.

1981- Aug. 2- Aug. 30- President Mohammed Ali Rajai appointed and assassinated in the same month.
1981-1989- Ali Khamenei serves as President (reappointed 1985).

THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR

1980- Saddam Hussein of Iraq tries to seize the Shatt al Arab waterway from Tehran, setting off the Iran-Iraq war.

-under US President Reagan, Washington supports Iraq against Iran with massive weapons shipments.

-the war only strengthens the hold of Khomeini and his government over the country.

-1982- repudiating dependence on western commercial goods, Iran reduces imports and embarks on a program of self-sufficiency.

1986- the US sells weapons to Iran and funnels the proceeds to the Contras in Nicaragua, setting off the Iran-Contra scandal.

1987-88- then US retaliates against Iranian attacks on US shipping in the Persian gulf, sinking several Iranian ships.

1988 -realizing that Iran cannot fight Iraq much longer, Khomeini agrees to a ceasefire.

1988- the Iran-Iraq war ends with the loss of one million Iranian lives.

TENTATIVE REFORM

1989- Khomeini dies. After a power struggle, another cleric, Hashemi Rafsanjani becomes speaker of the Majlis and Ayatollah Khamenei replaces Khomeini.
1989- August - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani is sworn in as the new president.  

1991- During the US invasion of Iraq in the First Gulf War, Iran gives refugee to 1.5 million Iraqi Kurds and Shia.

1992-97- Clinton critical of Iran's hostility to the peace process with Israel and the Palestinians; Iranian support of organizations deemed terrorist in the Middle East, and the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

1993- Rafsanjani’s attempt at the creation of a mixed economy and low oil prices weaken the country’s economy.

May-US President Clinton announces policy of 'dual containment' which includes partial economic sanctions on Iraq and Iran.

1995- April- US president Clinton imposes a total embargo of US business dealings with Iran.

Rasfanjani defeated by Khatemi
1997- Rafsanjani is defeated in elections by Muhammed Khatemi, a relative liberal. He brings liberal reforms to the political system.

1997-2005- Khatami President of Iran. 
Reza Aref, 62 ( in 2013),  was vice-president of Iran under the reformist president Mohammad Khatami for four years. A former chancellor of Tehran University, Aref is seen as a moderate reformist. 
1997-2005   Rowhani was Iran's lead nuclear negotiator during Khatami's 1997-2005 administration; he blamed the nezaam (ruling system) of the Islamic Republic for the failure to engage in direct talks with the US. "[Non-negotiation] was the decision and, thus, the US was set aside," he said. When asked directly if it was the US that had in fact taken the first step towards negotiation, Rowhani simply replied, "Yes." This contradicts the prevailing orthodoxy not only in the west, but the official line in Iran as well.-Guardian

 1998- January- President Khatami, in an interview on CNN calls for a "a dialogue of civilizations" and expresses admiration for US political traditions. But findamental differences of policy remain unchanged.

1999- Under Khatemi, Iran holds its first elections.

2000- reformers win a majority in the Majlis.

2001- Khatemi (re) elected president.

IRAN AND 9/11

2001- Khatami and Khamenei condemn the 9/11 on the US attacks for killing innocent civilians.

-November 2001- Iran stays officially neutral in the US invasion of Afghanistan but provides
covert assistance in expelling the Taliban from Kabul and in instating Hamid Karzai as president.

-December- Bonn Conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan- Tehran supports alll US initiatives in Afghanistan.

2002- January- -US President George Bush lists Iran with North Korea and Iraq in the “Axis of Evil.”

Sept- Russia starts building a nuclear reactor at Bushehr despite US protests.

2003- March- the US invades Iraq. Though mistrustful of the US at first, Iraq’s two largest Shia parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Al Dawa, both backed by Iran, come to represent the Shia of Iraq.

Sept- the IAEA asks that Iran prove it’s not developing a nuclear weapons program.

2004- April-September- radical, nationalist Shia militia leader, Moqtada al Sadr launches two rebellions, with Iranian support, against the US occupation.

2004- June- the IAEA criticizes Iran for its failure to cooperate with inspections.

November- the European Union gets Iran to agree to a deal to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.

-2004-2006- through charities and Revolutionary Guard Units, allowed to act semi-independently, Iran spreads influence among Iraq’s Shia majority.

2005- Mahmoud Ahmedinejad wins the presidency, defeating Hashemi Rafsanjani.

August- Iran resumes converting uranium at Isfahan, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes. But the IAEA syas that Iran is violating the Non-proliferation treaty.

2006- January- at its Natanz nuclear plant, Iran breaks seals placed on equipment by the IAEA.

February- As Iran resumes nuclear enrichment at Natanz, the IAEA votes to report the violations to the UN Security Council.

April- Iran claims to be enriching Uranium at natanz.

July 31- the UN Scurity Council demands that Iran suspend its nuclear activities.

Aug. 31- the deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment activities.

Dec 23- the UN security council approves the impostion of sanctions on Iran in nuclear.

Technology and trade. Iran continues enriching uranium.

Iranian Seizure of British Seamen.

2007- March 23- 15 British sailors are seized by the Iranian coastguard on grounds that they had crossed into Iranian waters. Britain claims evidence to the contrary, that they were seized from Iraqi waters. A diplomatic row erupts with the Iran suspected of retaliating against a new round of UN sanctions for its nuclear program and against the American detension of 5 Iranian Guard operatives in northern Iraq.

Iran Continues Uranian Enrichment.

April- Ahmedinejad announces increased, industrial scale of uranium production. IAEA says that Iran has 1,300 centrifuges.

May- IAEA declares that Iran woould need only 3-8 years to produce a nuclear weapon.

June- amid fears of UN sanctions Iran rations gasoline, sparking protests.

July- Iran agrees to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its Arak nuclear plant.

October- US announces its toughest snactions on Iran in 30 years.

December- A US intelligence report produces a reduced evaluation of the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

2008- February- Iran launches a rocket, announcing its own space program.

March- Agemdinejad visits Iraq, demand the withdrawal of foreign troops and signs some copperation agreements with Baghdad, vowing to help reuild the country.

Many Opposition Candidates Barred from Parliamentary Elections.

-parliamentary elections return a 2/3 majority of conservatives, with many reform candidates barred from running. Moderate conservatives embarrassed by Ahmedinejad also win seats.

-UN Security Council tightens sanctions on Iran.

May- IAEA says Iran is witholding information on its nuclear program. Former nuclear negotiator Ali Larigani is elected speaker of the parliament.

Iran Presses Ahead with Uranium Enrichment and Space Technology

June- Javier Solana, EU foreign minister offers Iran trade benefits, which Tehran warns it will refuse if they involve restrictions on the refinement of uranium.

July- Iran tests a long-range missile than can hit targets as far as Irael.

August- Iran lets pass and informal deadline to halt its nuclear program or forego incentives offered by western nations,

-Iran tests a rocket which it says can launch a satellite.

November- Minister Ali Kordan is dismissed by parliament after admitting a degree received from Oxford was fake, embarrassing Ahmadinejad.

Iran Extends Guarded Congratulations upon Obama's Election as US President.

Ahmadinejad surprises everyone by congratulating Barak Obama on his election as US president. Obama offers unconditional discussions of Iran's nuclear program.

December- Iran closes a human rights office headed by nobel peace prize winner Shirin Abadi, saying it is an illegal political organization.

2009- February- On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad claims he would welcome open and respectful talks with the US.

Khamenei Contradicts Ahmadinejad's Welcome to Obama

March- Ayatollah Khameini tells anti-US rally that Obama is merely prolonging the old Bush policy.

April- Roxana Sabiri, an Iranian-American journalist is sentenced by and Iranian court to 8 years for spying.

May- a US State Department report states that Iran is the world's foremost exporter of terrorism. Iran dismisses the finding.

-after international pressure, Roxana Sabiri is freed by Iran.

Protestors Shot Demonstrating against massive fraud in Ahmadinejad's Election Victory.

2009- after the June 12 presidential election, opposition candidates Ali Hosseini and others lead mass protests againsts Ahmadinejad's claim of victory in a mssively rigged election. Security forces kill 3o and arrest 1,000. Iran blames the west, particularly Britain, for provoking the arrest.

July- under pressure from Supreme Leader Khamenei, Ahmadinejad fires his first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.

August- Ahmadinejad is sworn in as president and forms his cabinet which includes a number of women- the first since 1979.

Opposition Members put on Public Trial for Abetting Election Fraud Protests.

Senior opposition figures are put on trial, allleged to have fomented unrest during the election protests. But Khamenei declares there is no proof they were motivated by foreign powers.

September- Iran concedes it is building a plant for enriching uranium near Qom but claims it is for peaceful purposes.

Iran tests long and medium ranges that could hit Israel or US bases in the Persian Gulf.

October 2009- Five UN Security Council members plus Germany offer to help Iran enrich its uranium abroad.

November- IAEA head Mohammed El Baredei recommends that Iran accept the five-nation offer on uranium.

Further occasions provide pretext for mass demonstations.
-with protestors increasingly breaking protest bans, opposition demonstrations are held on the 30th anniversary of the mass hostage-taking at the US Embassy.

2009 December - Death of influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri triggers further clashes between opposition supporters and security forces. At least 8 people die in what is the worst violence since the contested presidential election.

2010 January - Iran executes two men arrested during the period of unrest that followed the disputed presidential election of June 2009. It also puts 16 people on trial over the Ashura Day opposition protests in December, when eight people were killed.
 Iranian physics professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi is killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. No group claims responsibility. The government accuses the US and Israel of his death, while Iranian opposition groups say Mr Mohammadi supported one of their candidates in last year's presidential election.

Iran finally agrees to ship uranium for enrichment abroad.
2010 February - Iran says it is ready to send enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment under a deal agreed with the West. The US calls on Tehran to match its words with actions.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says the opposition will continue its peaceful struggle against the government.
-the government warns against further protests.
April 2- A US official says that Iran is shipping arms to the Taliban.
April 25- Iran announces that it has tested five new missoiles.

Iran arranges to ship Uranium to Turkey. Deal Sparks new Sanctions.
2010 May - Iran reaches a deal to send uranium abroad for enrichment after mediation talks with Turkey and Brazil; Western states respond with scepticism, saying the agreement will not stop Iran from continuing to enrich uranium.
2010 June - UN Security Council votes in favour of a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, including tighter financial curbs and an expanded arms embargo.

Woman sentenced to death by Stoning.
July 5- international outcry as a woman convicted of adultery and murder is sentenced to be stoned to death. On July 8, the government upholds the death sentence by denies she will die by stoning.
July 15- two suicide bombrings reported in southeastern Iran in front of the city's main mosque.
July 23-31- amid rallies for the woman under sentence of death by stoning, Brazil offers her asylum.
2010 August - In what Tehran describes as a milestone in its drive to produce nuclear energy, engineers begin loading fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
-Russia agrees to fuel the Iranian nuclear reactor, bringing it closer to weapons capability.

US warns Turkey Against Nuclear fuel swap with Iran
2010- September 6- the US warns Turkey that it must cancel a controversial nuclear fuel swap along with financial assistance to Iran, both intended to help Iran evade international sanctions- otherwise Turkey will lose a valuable arms deal with the US.
-8 senior Iranian officials receive tough sanctions from the US for human rights abuses.

Computer Virus Stuxnet is used to disable Iranian Centrifuges for Unranium    
Sept. 2010 — A destructive computer worm known as Stuxnet disables several centrifuges at the Natanz uranium-enrichment plant in Iran. The complexity of the cyberattack suggests it was orchestrated by at least one nation state and several experts believe it was a joint action by Israel and the U.S. intended to hobble Iran's nuclear program.
October- sentence commuted for former British embassy employee jailed in 2000.
December- Geneva nuclear talks between Iran and leading nations end in agreement to hold another round in Istanbul in january.

Ahmedinejad Ferrets out Suspected opponents in leadership
-Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki fired by President Ahmedinejad. The minister seems to have been an opponent within the leadership.
2011-  January - Iran now possesses technology needed to make fuel plates and rods for nuclear reactors according to nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi.
-January -Iran's IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, reports that his country supports a nuclear deal agreed with Brazil and Turkey-after Iran and six main powers meet in Istanbul, the talks having ended without progress.

The Aab Spring.
2011 February - First mass opposition demonstrations in a year amid a wave of unrest rippling across the Middle East and North Africa.
-Iran sends two warships through Suez Canal for first time since the Islamic Revolution, in what Israel describes as an act of provocation.

Iternal Power Struggles in Iranian Government
Mid-Feb. 2011 — Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are placed under house arrest.
2011 April - Rare public row between Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad over the resignation of Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi.
2011 May - Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation says the generating unit at the Bushehr nuclear power plant has begun operating at a low level.
2011  Jun 1, Iran's parliament voted to take Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to court over his takeover of the country's lucrative oil ministry, escalating the power struggle between the president and the hard-line establishment that has turned against him.

Operations Against Kurds.
2011  Jul 18, Iran’s state news said Revolutionary Guard forces have taken control of three bases of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in neighboring Iraq and that "a large number" of members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group PEJAK have been killed in fierce ongoing clashes over the past two days. PEJAK claimed to have killed 53 Iranian soldiers and wounded 43 while only two PEJAK members were killed and seven wounded in clashes.
2011 August - Two US citizens arrested on the Iran-Iraq border in 2009 are found guilty of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison.
2011 September - Iran announces that the Bushehr nuclear power station has been connected to the national grid.

Alleged Attempt by Quds Force to Kill Saudi Ambassador to US.
2011 October - The US accuses Iran of being behind an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington. One of the men is reportedly a member of the Quds Force, an offshoot of the Revolutionary Guards that carries out foreign operations.Tehran rejects the charges as part of an American propaganda campaign.

The West Tightens Sanctions over Uranium Enrichment.

2011 November - A report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA says Iran is carrying out research that can only be used to develop a nuclear bomb trigger. Iran rejects the findings as politically motivated.

2011 November/December - Protesters attack the British embassy in Tehran after London imposes tighter economic sanctions. Britain evacuates its diplomatic staff and expels all Iranian diplomats, but ties are not severed.
Dec. 1, 2011 — The U.S. Senate passes bill allowing the U.S. president to bar foreign financial institutions that do business with the Iranian central bank from having corresponding bank accounts in the U.S. If enacted, the legislation, which is opposed by U.S. President Barack Obama, would go into force in July 2012.
Dec. 26, 2011 —The U.S. warns Iran that it will take strong action if it makes good on its threat to close off the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, a vital transportation route for about one-sixth of the world's oil. Iran's threat came in response to a tightening of Western economic sanctions against Iran.

Iran threatens to block the Straits of Hormuz over Oil sanctions.
2012 January - US imposes sanctions on Iran's central bank, the main clearing-house for its oil export profits. Iranian threatens to block the transport of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran begins enriching uranium at its undergound Fordo plant, in what the US terms a "further escalation" in the nuclear row. The European Union imposes an oil embargo on Iran over its nuclear programme.
Jan. 11, 2012 — A car bomb in Tehran kills a senior Iranian scientist who worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran. Iranian officials blame the bomb on the U.S. and Israel.
2012 February - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors leave Iran after being denied access to the Parchin site, south of Tehran.
-US, British and French warships pass unhindered through the Strait of Hormuz.

Khmenei beats Ahmedinejad in Parliamentary vote.
2012 March-May - Supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei beat those of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in parliamentary polls boycotted by pro-reform groups.
2012   Apr 10, Iran's official news agency said the country's intelligence department has dismantled an Israeli-linked assassination and sabotage network. State media later said 15 people were arrested for an attack planned on Feb 10.
2012 May - UN nuclear inspectors find traces of uranium enriched at 27% at Iran's Fordo nuclear site, a day after Iran and world powers hold inconclusive talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Baghdad.

International Boycott of Iranian Oil Widens.
2012 June - US exempts seven major customers - India, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Turkey - from economic sanctions in return for their cutting imports of Iranian oil.
2012 July - European Union boycott of Iranian oil exports comes into effect.
2012   Aug 9, Iran hosted a 29-nation conference on Syria with the aim of stopping bloodshed there and forging a role for Tehran as peace-broker for its beleaguered Arab ally.

Sanctions Widen to include response to Iranian support for Syria.
2012  Aug 10, The Obama administration set new, largely symbolic, sanctions on Syria's state-run oil company and the Hezbollah militant group, moves designed to underscore Iran's key role in propping up the Syrian regime over the span of its civil war.
2012 September - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly report says Iran doubles production capacity at Fordo nuclear site and "significantly hampered" IAEA ability to inspect Parchin military site.
-Canada breaks off diplomatic relations over Iran's nuclear programme and support for the Assad government in Syria.

Israel's Netanyahu says Iran is ready to build a Nuclear Weapon.
Sept. 27, 2012 — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears befiore the United Nations General Assembly to lay out his case for military action against Iran, which he said was nearing the final stages of being able to enrich uranium to the level necessary for building a nuclear bomb
2012 October - Iran's rial currency falls to a new record low against the US dollar, having lost about losing 80% of its value since 2011 because of international sanctions. Riot police attack about 100 currency traders outside the Central Bank.

International Sanctions Tightened Further.
-EU countries announce further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, focusing on banks, trade and crucial gas imports.
2012 November - Leaked IAEA report says Iran is ready to double output at the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility. Iran has 2,784 centrifuges there, and numbers operating could soon be increased from 700 to 1,400, the UN watchdog says.
2013 January - Iran tells IAEA it plans to upgrade uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz plant, allowing it to refine uranium at a faster rate.
-Iran arrests 11 journalists accused of co-operating with foreign Persian-language media organisations as part of a clampdown against the BBC and Voice of America in particular.
2013 February - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismisses US offer of one-to-one talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Iran Protests Israel Air attack on Hezbollah.
Feb. 4, 2013 — Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran's National Security Council, publicly condemns Israel's air strike against a convoy of anti-aircraft missiles in Syria that was suspected of being intended for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Iran Claims to Accelerate Iranian Enrichment.
2013  Mar 3, Iran's nuclear chief said his country has produced more than 3,000 advanced centrifuges which are used to enrich uranium.
2013        Mar 26, Saudi Arabia said investigations have shown that members of a spy ring arrested last week were working for Iranian intelligence.

2013 April - Iran says it has begun operations at two uranium mines and a uranium ore-processing plant, furthering its capacity to produce nuclear material. This comes a few days after talks with the West in Kazakhstan fail to make progress.