majorship in social studies

3. The flag of Iran was officially adopted on July 29, 1980. The
colors of the flag date to the mid-18th century; green
represents Islam; white represents peace, and red means
courage.
The centered symbol is said to symbolize the five principles of
Islam. According to sources, the white stylized script on the
red and green panels, repeated 22 times, is the Islamic phrase
Allahu Akbar, meaning "God is greater than to be described. "
The centered sword is representative of the country's
strength.
Iran Flag

6. Facts and Figures
Capital:Tehran, population 7,705,000
Major Cities:
oMashhad, population 2,410,000
oEsfahan, 1,584,000
oTabriz, population 1,379,000
oKaraj, population 1,377,000
oShiraz, population 1,205,000
oQom, population 952,000

7. Geography
 Slightly larger than the US state of
Alaska, Iran covers 1.6 million square
kilometers (636,295 square
miles). Iran is a mountainous land,
with two large salt deserts (Dasht-e
Lut and Dasht-e Kavir) in the east-
central section.
 The highest point in Iran is Mt.
Damavand, at 5,610 meters (18,400
feet).

8. Iran's Government

9. Government
 Since the Revolution of 1979, Iran has
been ruled by a complex governmental
structure. At the top is the Supreme
Leader, selected by the Assembly of
Experts, who is Commander-in-Chief of
the military and oversees the civilian
government.
 Next is the elected President of Iran,
who serves for a maximum of two 4-
year terms. Candidates must be
approved by the Guardian Council.

10. Iran's Government
•Iran has a unicameral legislature called
the Majlis, which has 290 members. Laws
are written in accordance with sharia law,
as interpreted by the Guardian Council.
•The Supreme Leader appoints the Head
of Judiciary, who appoints judges and
prosecutors.

12. Religion in Iran
 Approximately 89%-Shi'a Muslim, 9%-
Sunni.
 2% - Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian
and Baha'i.
 Since 1501, the Shi'a Twelver
sect has dominated in Iran.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 placed
Shi'a clergy in positions of political
power; the Supreme Leader of Iran is
a Shi'a ayatollah, or Islamic scholar
and judge.

13.  Iran's constitution recognizes
Islam, Christianity, Judaism
and Zoroastrianism (Persia's main
pre-Islamic faith) as protected
belief systems.
 The messianic Baha'i faith, on the
other hand, has been persecuted
since its founder, the Bab, was
executed in Tabriz in 1850.

14. Population of Iran
 Iran is home to approximately 72 million
people of dozens of different ethnic
backgrounds.
 Persians (51%), Azeris (24%), Mazandarani
and Gilaki (8%),Kurds (7%), Iraqi Arabs
(3%), and Lurs, Balochis and Turkmens
(2% each).
 Smaller populations of Armenians, Persian
Jews, Assyrians, Circassians, Georgians,
Mandaeans,Hazaras, Kazakhs, and Romany
also live in various enclaves within Iran.

15.  With increased educational
opportunity for women, Iran's birth
rate has declined markedly in
recent years after booming in the
late 20th century.
 Iran also hosts over 1 million Iraqi
and Afghan refugees.

16. Language
 The official language is Persian
(Farsi). Along with the closely
related Luri, Gilaki and
Mazandarani, Farsi is the native
tongue of 58% of Iranians.
 Azeri and other Turkic languages-
26%; Kurdish, 9%; and languages like
Balochi and Arabic make up about 1%
each.

17. Economy of Iran
 Iran's majority centrally-planned economy
depends upon oil and gas exports for
between 50 and 70% of its revenue. The
per capita GDP is a robust $12,800 US, but
18% of Iranians live below the poverty line
and 20% are unemployed.
 About 80% of Iran's export income comes
from fossil fuels. The country also exports
small amounts of fruit, vehicles, and
carpets.
 The currency of Iran is the rial. As of June
2009, $1 US = 9,928 rials.

18. History of Iran
1. The earliest archaeological findings from Persia date to the
Paleolithic era, 100,000 years ago. By 5000 BCE, Persia
hosted sophisticated agriculture and early cities.
2. Powerful dynasties have ruled Persia, beginning with
the Achaemenid (559-330 BCE), which was founded by
Cyrus the Great.
3. Alexander the Great conquered Persia in 300 BCE, founding
the Hellenistic era (300-250 BCE). This was followed by
the indigenous Parthian Dynasty (250 BCE - 226 CE) and
the Sassanian Dynasty (226 - 651 CE).
4. In 637, Muslims from the Arabian peninsula invaded Iran,
conquering the whole region over the next 35 years.
Zoroastrianism faded away as more and more
Iranians converted to Islam.
5. During the 11th century, the Seljuk Turks conquered Iran
bit by bit, establishing a Sunni empire. The Seljuks
sponsored great Persian artists, scientists and poets,
including Omar Khayyam.

19. 6. In 1219, Genghis Khan and the Mongols
invaded Persia, wreaking havoc across the
country and slaughtering entire cities.
Mongol rule ended in 1335, followed by a
period of chaos.
7. In 1381, a new conqueror appeared: Timur
the Lame or Tamerlane. He too razed entire
cities; after just 70 years, his successors
were driven from Persia by the Turkmen.
8. In 1501, the Safavid dynasty brought Shi'a
Islam to Persia. The ethnically
Azeri/Kurdish Safavids ruled until 1736,
often clashing with the powerful Ottoman
Turkish Empire to the west. The Safavids
were in and out of power throughout the
18th century, with the revolt of former
slave Nadir Shah and the establishment of
the Zand dynasty.

20. 9. Persian politics normalized again with the founding of
the Qajar Dynasty (1795-1925) and Pahlavi Dynasty
(1925-1979).
10. In 1921, the Iranian army officer Reza Khan seized control
of the government. Four years later, he ousted the last
Qajar ruler and named himself Shah. This was the origin
of the Pahlavis, Iran's final dynasty.
11. Reza Shah tried to rapidly modernize Iran, but was forced
out of office by the western powers after 15 years
because of his ties to the Nazi regime in Germany. His
son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, took the throne in 1941.
12. The new shah ruled until 1979, when he was overthrown in
the Iranian Revolution by a coalition opposed to his brutal
and autocratic rule. Soon, the Shi'a clergy took control of
the country, under the leadership of the Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini.
13. Khomeini declared Iran a theocracy, with himself as the
Supreme Leader. He ruled the country until his death in
1989; he was succeeded by Ayatollah Ali Kham enei.

21. Iran Becomes a Theocracy with
Islamic Revolution
 The country's pro-Axis allegiance in World War II led to Anglo-Russian
occupation of Iran in 1941 and deposition of the shah in favor of his son,
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
 Pahlavi's Westernization programs alienated the clergy, and his
authoritarian rule led to massive demonstrations during the 1970s, to
which the shah responded with the imposition of martial law in Sept.
1978. The shah and his family fled Iran on Jan. 16, 1979, and
 the exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to establish an
Islamic theocracy. Khomeini proceeded with his plans for revitalizing
Islamic traditions. He urged women to return to wearing the veil;
banned alcohol, Western music, and mixed bathing; shut down the
media; closed universities; and eliminated political parties.

22. U.S. and Iran Sever Ties
Amid Hostage Crisis
 Revolutionary militants invaded the U.S. embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979,
seized staff members as hostages, and precipitated an international crisis.
Khomeini refused all appeals, even a unanimous vote by the UN Security
Council demanding immediate release of the hostages.
 As the first anniversary of the embassy seizure neared, Khomeini and his
followers insisted on their original conditions: guarantee by the U.S. not to
interfere in Iran's affairs, cancellation of U.S. damage claims against Iran,
release of $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, an apology, and the return of
the assets held by the former imperial family. These conditions were
largely met and the 52 American hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981,
ending 444 days in captivity.
 The sporadic war with Iraq regained momentum in 1982. Although Iraq
expressed its willingness to stop fighting, Iran stated that it would not end
the war until Iraq agreed to pay for war damages and to punish the Iraqi
government leaders involved in the conflict. On July 20, 1988, Khomeini,
after a series of Iranian military reverses, agreed to cease-fire
negotiations with Iraq. A cease-fire went into effect on Aug. 20, 1988.
Khomeini died in June 1989 and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei succeeded him as
the supreme leader.

23. Khatami Attempts to
Liberalize Nation
 By early 1991, the Islamic revolution appeared to have lost
much of its militancy. Attempting to revive a stagnant
economy, President Rafsanjani took measures to decentralize
the command system and introduce free-market mechanisms.
 Khatami supported greater social and political freedoms, but
his steps toward liberalizing the strict clerical rule governing
the country put him at odds with the supreme leader,
Ayatollah Khamenei.
 The parliament's reformist transformation greatly
buttressed the efforts of Khatami in constructing a nation of
“lasting pluralism and Islamic democracy.”
 In June 2001 presidential elections, Khatami won reelection
with a stunning 77% of the vote.
 In Jan. 2002, President Bush announced that Iran was part
of an “axis of evil,” calling it one of the most active state
sponsors of international terrorism.

24. Iran Taunts World With
Nuclear Ambitions
 By 2003, Iran was fanning much of the world's suspicions
that it had illegal nuclear ambitions. In June 2003, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) criticized
Iran's concealment of much of its nuclear facilities and
called on the country to permit more rigorous inspections of
its nuclear sites. Under intense international pressure, Iran
reluctantly agreed in December to suspend its uranium
enrichment program and allow for thorough IAEA
inspections.
 On Dec. 26, the most destructive earthquake of 2003
devastated the historic city of Bam, killing an estimated
28,000 to 30,000 of its 80,000 residents.
 The IAEA again censured the country in June 2004 for
failing to fully cooperate with nuclear inspections. Neither
U.S. threats nor Europe's coaxing managed to overcome
Iran's alarming defiance.

25. Ahmadinejad Elected
President
 In June 2005, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, won the presidential election. Ahmadinejad
was highly popular among Iran's rural poor, who
responded to his pledge to fight corruption among the
country's elite.
 In Aug. 2005, he rejected an EU disarmament plan that
was backed by the U.S. and had been in negotiation for
two years. Ahmadinejad has been defiantly anti-Western
and venomously anti-Israeli, announcing that Israel was a
“disgraceful blot” that should be “wiped off the map.”
 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was reelected as president of
Iran on June 12, 2009, with over 62% of the vote.
Disputes arose over the election's validity, with rival
candidates claiming it was rigged. Protests and riots
ensued in the streets of Tehran, resulting in at least 17
deaths and hundreds of arrests.

26. Iran Continues Progress on
Nuclear Technology
 In Jan. 2006, Iran removed UN seals on uranium enrichment equipment and resumed nuclear research.
France, Britain, and Germany called off nuclear talks with Iran, and along with the U.S. States
 A National Intelligence Estimate, released in Dec. 2007 and compiled by the 16 agencies of the U.S.
intelligence community, reported "with high confidence" that Iran had frozen its nuclear weapons
program in 2003.
 Iran launched a satellite into orbit in Jan. 2009. The launch was timed to coincide with Iran's celebration
of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. The U.S. expressed "great concern" about the move,
fearing it could lead to the development of longer-range ballistic missiles.

27. Historic Nuclear Deal Goes
into Effect
 The leaders of Iran and the six nations that negotiated
the nuclear deal
 In March 2015, as Iran appeared to be close to signing a
10-year accord that would scale back its nuclear program
in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
 On Jan. 16, 2016, Iran's sanctions were lifted by the U.S.
and European nations.

28. The End