The document provides background information on modern Iranian history from the early 20th century to present day. It summarizes that Iran traces its roots back to the Persian Empire; the majority Shia population believes in clerical rule in the absence of the Hidden Imam; and the 1979 revolution overthrew the Western-backed Shah and established an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Tensions remain between reformists seeking greater political and social freedoms and hardliners advocating strict adherence to Islamic principles.

1. Iran

11. Ayatollah Khomeini Returns

12. The End of the Shah The Statue Comes Tumbling Down The Change for Women

13. May 2007: In an encounter on a street in Tehran, two policewomen with tightly fitting head scarves chastised a younger woman whose hair showed. Since 1979, Iranian law has specified that women and men must dress in a manner befitting Islam, and the law is interpreted very strictly at times.

16. The Iranian Hostage Crisis

17. President Carter Addressing the Nation about the Failed Rescue Attempt

18. The Great Satan

19. Ayatollah Khomeini and President Bazargan

21. Saddam Comes to Power in Iraq

22. The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)

28. Iran-Contra Scandal: Connect the Dots Sandinistas

29. Khomeini Dies (1989)

33. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Former President Mohammed Khatami

36. Iranian Parliament and February 2004 Parliamentary Elections Has the Islamic Revolution Run Its Course?

37. Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, ex-president of Iran, campaigned to regain his seat by convincing conservatives and liberals than he can bring real change by finding the middle ground.

40. Supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cheered outside his home in Tehran in June 2005 after he was declared the winner of Iran's presidential vote.

44. Mohamed ElBaradei, center, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, talking with Kamal Kharrazi, the Iranian foreign minister, right, and Javad Zarif, Iran's envoy to the United Nations. May 2005

50. April 2006: Men in traditional uniforms danced during a parade and lifted containers said to hold uranium enriched by Iran .

52. Iran's lead nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, right, meeting in Tehran with the ambassadors of the five United Nations Security Council veto powers (France, Britain, Russia, China and the U.S.) plus Germany.

54. December 2006 Iran hosts a conference to re-examine the Holocaust Who is that on the left? Why it is David Duke of the American KKK!

56. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The large industrial plant under construction at Natanz is roughly half the size of the Pentagon. Inspectors say Iran is constructing 3,000 centrifuges as a first step toward 54,000.

58. Iran’s President Goes to Iraq

62. More action at the UNSC March 2008

72. Presidential Election Debate June 2009

78. Taking out Iran’s nukes would be very difficult