Iran has one of the oldest histories in the world, extending more than 5000 years, and throughout history, Iran has been of geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia. Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC, OPEC, and ECO. Iran as a major regional power occupies an important position in the world economy due to its substantial reserves of petroleum and natural gas, and has considerable regional influence in Western Asia. The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan and literally means "Land of the Aryans." (Full article...)
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Sasanian-style coin of Peroz I Kushanshah, minted at Herat. Obverse: King with Pahlavi legend around. "The Mazda-worshipping lord Peroz the Great Kushan Shah". Reverse: Peroz standing at left, holding an investiture wreath, facing Anahita rising from her throne.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, /ˈoʊpɛk/OH-pek) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize profit. It was founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela). The organization, which currently comprises 12 member countries, accounted for an estimated 30 percent of global oil production. A 2022 report further details that OPEC member countries were responsible for approximately 38 percent of it. Additionally, it is estimated that 79.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves are located within OPEC nations, with the Middle East alone accounting for 67.2 percent of OPEC's total reserves.
In a series of steps in the 1960s and 1970s, OPEC restructured the global system of oil production in favor of oil-producing states and away from an oligopoly of dominant Anglo-American oil firms (the "Seven Sisters"). In the 1970s, restrictions in oil production led to a dramatic rise in oil prices with long-lasting and far-reaching consequences for the global economy. Since the 1980s, OPEC has had a limited impact on world oil-supply and oil-price stability, as there is frequent cheating by members on their commitments to one another, and as member commitments reflect what they would do even in the absence of OPEC. However, since 2020, OPEC countries along with non-OPEC participants had helped in stabilising oil markets after COVID19 pandemic resulted in a collapse in oil demand. This has allowed oil markets to remain stable relative to other energy markets that experienced unprecedented volatility. (Full article...)
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Iran is an energy superpower and the petroleum industry in Iran plays an important part in it. In 2004, Iran produced 5.1 percent of the world's total crude oil (3.9 million barrels (620,000 m3; 160 million US gal) per day), which generated revenues of US$25 billion to US$30 billion and was the country's primary source of foreign currency. At 2006 levels of production, oil proceeds represented about 18.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). However, the importance of the hydrocarbon sector to Iran's economy has been far greater. The oil and gas industry has been the engine of economic growth, directly affecting public development projects, the government's annual budget, and most foreign exchange sources.
In FY 2009, the sector accounted for 60% of total government revenues and 80% of the total annual value of both exports and foreign currency earnings. Oil and gas revenues are affected by the value of crude oil on the international market. It has been estimated that at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota level (December 2004), a one-dollar change in the price of crude oil on the international market would alter Iran's oil revenues by US$1 billion. (Full article...)
Hormizd II (also spelled Hormozd or Ohrmazd; Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire. He ruled for six years and five months, from 303 to 309. He was a son and successor of Narseh (r. 293–303).
During his reign, the Kingdom of Armenia had recently declared Christianity as its official religion, thus leaving its ancient Zoroastrian heritage that it shared with Sasanian Iran. Hormizd II's reign was also marked by internal turmoil, which he successfully managed to deal with. Hormizd II was also successful in his efforts in the west, defeating and killing the Ghassanid king in Syria. His reign was, however, cut short by the intrigues of the Iranian nobility, who killed him in a secluded place. (Full article...)
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António de Jesus (died c. 1722) was a Portuguese figure who flourished in late 17th and early 18th century Safavid Iran. Originally an Augustinianfriar and missionary, he converted to Shia Islam during the early reign of Shah (King) Sultan Husayn (r. 1694–1722) and took the name Aliqoli Jadid-ol-Eslam. He subsequently became an apologist of Shi'ism as well as a major polemicist against Christianity, Sufism, Judaism, Sunnism, philosophers and antinomians. In addition, after conversion, he served as an official interpreter (also known as a dragoman) at the royal court in Isfahan. Aliqoli Jadid-ol-Eslam was one of the late 17th century converts in Iran who "helped reaffirm the Majlesi brand of conservatism". (Full article...)
The son of the governor of Bust, Maymandi was raised as the foster brother of the Ghaznavid prince Mahmud, and would first start his administrative career as the head of the department of correspondences of Khorasan. He would thereafter rapidly rise to higher offices, finally becoming the vizier of the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1013, which would last until 1024, when he was arrested due to the great amount of wealth that he had gained, which the suspicious Mahmud disliked. (Full article...)
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The Siah Bisheh Pumped Storage Power Plant (Persian: نیروگاه تلمبه ذخیرهای سیاهبیشه), also spelled Siyāhbisheh and Siah Bishe, is located in the Alborz Mountain range near the village of Siah Bisheh and 48 km (30 mi) south of Chalus in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The power plant uses the pumped-storagehydroelectric method to generate electricity during periods of high energy demand, making it a peaking power plant, intended to fulfill peak electricity demand in Tehran 60 km (37 mi) to the south. When complete it will have an installed generating capacity of 1,040 megawatts (1,390,000 hp) and a pumping capacity of 940 megawatts (1,260,000 hp). Planning for the project began in the 1970s and construction began in 1985. It was delayed from 1992 until 2001 and the first generator went online in May 2013. The remaining generators were commissioned by 1 September 2015. The power plant is the first pumped-storage type in Iran and will also use the country's first concrete-face rock-fill dam – two of them. (Full article...)
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The Sceriman family, also referred to as the Shahremanian, Shahremanean, Shahrimanian, Shehrimanian, Shariman, or Seriman family, were a wealthy Safavidmerchant family of Armenian ethnicity. A Catholic family, they had their roots in early 17th-century New Julfa (the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran), and relatively quickly came to preside over branches all over the world, stretching from Italy (mostly Venice) in the west, to Pegu (Burma) in the east. Apart from being renowned as a trader's family, some Scerimans were high-ranking individuals in the Safavid state, including in its military, religious, and bureaucratic systems. Later, similar positions were obtained abroad, such as in the various Italian city-states and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They especially became renowned in the Republic of Venice, where they were well integrated into its ruling class. Nevertheless, until their decline in the late 1790s and eventual inactivity in the 19th century, they remained bound to their original base in Iran.
The engagement at Thermopylae occurred simultaneously with the naval Battle of Artemisium: between July and September 480 BC. The second Persian invasion under Xerxes I was a delayed response to the failure of the first Persian invasion, which had been initiated by Darius I and ended in 490 BC by an Athenian-led Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon. By 480 BC, a decade after the Persian defeat at Marathon, Xerxes had amassed a massive land and naval force, and subsequently set out to conquer all of Greece. In response, the Athenian politician and general Themistocles proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae while simultaneously blocking the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium. (Full article...)
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Coin of Hyspaosines as King, minted at Charax Spasinu in 126/5 BC
Hyspaosines (also spelled Aspasine) was the founder of Characene, a kingdom situated in southern Mesopotamia. He was originally a Seleucidsatrap installed by king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175 – 164 BC), but declared independence in 141 BC after the collapse and subsequent transfer of Seleucid authority in Iran and Babylonia to the Parthians. Hyspaosines briefly occupied the Parthian city of Babylon in 127 BC, where he is recorded in records as king (šarru). In 124 BC, however, he was forced to acknowledge Parthian suzerainty. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by his juvenile son Apodakos. (Full article...)
...that Russia won the 1804–1813 Russo-Persian War, because of its superior technology, despite Persia upscaling its efforts at the end of the war, and declaring it a holy war?
Geographically, the country of Iran is located in West Asia and borders the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman. Topographically, it is predominantly located on the Persian Plateau. Its mountains have impacted both the political and the economic history of the country for several centuries. The mountains enclose several broad basins, on which major agricultural and urban settlements are located. Until the 20th century, when major highways and railroads were constructed through the mountains to connect the population centers, these basins tended to be relatively isolated from one another. Typically, one major town dominated each basin, and there were complex economic relationships between the town and the hundreds of villages that surrounded it. In the higher elevations of the mountains rimming the basins, tribally organized groups practiced transhumance, moving with their herds of sheep and goats between traditionally established summer and winter pastures. There are no major river systems in the country, and historically transportation was by means of caravans that followed routes traversing gaps and passes in the mountains. The mountains also impeded easy access to the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. (Full article...)
In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost much territory to the Russian Empire over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Despite its territorial losses, Qajar Iran reinvented the Iranian notion of kingship and maintained relative political independence, but faced major challenges to its sovereignty, predominantly from the Russian and British empires. Foreign advisers became powerbrokers in the court and military. They eventually partitioned Qajar Iran in the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention, carving out Russian and British influence zones and a neutral zone. (Full article...)
The Battle of Manzikert of 1071 is widely regarded as the turning point against the Byzantines in their war against the Seljuks. The battle opened up Anatolia for further Turkish migrations and settlements. The Byzantine military was of questionable quality before 1071 with regular Turkish incursions overrunning the failing theme system. Even after Manzikert, Byzantine rule over Asia Minor did not end immediately, nor were any heavy concessions levied by the Turks on their opponents – it took another 20 years before the Turks were in control of the entire Anatolian peninsula and not for long either. (Full article...)
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Reza Shah in uniform, c. 1931
Reza Shah Pahlavi (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian military officer and the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. As a politician, he previously served as minister of war and prime minister of Qajar Iran and subsequently reigned as Shah of Pahlavi Iran from 1925 until he was forced to abdicate after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mohammad Reza Shah. A modernizer, Reza Shah clashed with the Shia clergy, but also introduced many social, economic, and political reforms during his reign, ultimately laying the foundation of the modern Iranian State. Therefore, he is regarded by many as the founder of modern Iran.
At the age of 14 he joined the Persian Cossack Brigade, and also served in the army. In 1911, he was promoted to first lieutenant, by 1912 he was elevated to the rank of captain and by 1915 he became a colonel. In February 1921, as leader of the entire Cossack Brigade based in Qazvin province, he marched towards Tehran and seized the capital. He forced the dissolution of the government and installed Zia ol Din Tabatabaee as the new prime minister. Reza Khan's first role in the new government was commander-in-chief of the army and the minister of war. (Full article...)
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The puppet characters in their costumes
Oobi: Dasdasi (Persian: دس دسی صداش می آد; English translation: Dasdasi: Clapping Hands) is an Iranian children's television series created for channel IRIB TV2. It is an adaptation of the American series Oobi. It was produced by Negar Estakhr and directed by Amir Soltan Ahmadi, two puppeteers who also starred on the program. The show featured performers Bahador Maleki, Banafsheh Samadi, and Isa Yousefipour.
In an interview with the newspaper Jaam-e Jam, Estakhr said that the idea for the show came about after watching Oobi in English. She wanted to make a tailored version for an Iranian audience, so some of its characters and locations highlight elements of Iranian culture. The series follows a family of characters represented by bare-hand puppets. The stories have a heavy emphasis on comedy and typically follow the children of the family as they discover something new. (Full article...)
Although warfare between the Romans and Persians continued over seven centuries, the frontier, aside from shifts in the north, remained largely stable. A game of tug of war ensued: towns, fortifications, and provinces were continually sacked, captured, destroyed, and traded. Neither side had the logistical strength or manpower to maintain such lengthy campaigns far from their borders, and thus neither could advance too far without risking stretching its frontiers too thin. Both sides did make conquests beyond the border, but in time the balance was almost always restored. Although initially different in military tactics, the armies of both sides gradually adopted from each other and by the second half of the 6th century, they were similar and evenly matched. (Full article...)
The ancient Persians were originally an ancient Iranian people who had migrated to the region of Persis (corresponding to the modern-day Iranian province of Fars) by the 9th century BCE. Together with their compatriot allies, they established and ruled some of the world's most powerful empires that are well-recognized for their massive cultural, political, and social influence, which covered much of the territory and population of the ancient world. Throughout history, the Persian people have contributed greatly to art and science. Persian literature is one of the world's most prominent literary traditions. (Full article...)
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Anti-Iranian sentiment or Iranophobia, also called anti-Persian sentiment or Persophobia, refers to feelings and expressions of hostility, hatred, discrimination, or prejudice towards Iranian people on the basis of an irrational disdain for their national and cultural affiliation. The opposite phenomenon, in which one holds notable feelings of love or interest towards Iranian people for the same reasons, is known as Iranophilia or Persophilia.
Historically, discrimination and prejudice against Iranians (and against Persians in particular) has been a recurring theme in the Arab world, particularly since the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century. (Full article...)
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Parthian art was Iranian art made during the Parthian Empire from 247 BC to 224 AD, based in the Near East. It has a mixture of Persian and Hellenistic influences. For some time after the period of the Parthian Empire, art in its styles continued for some time. A typical feature of Parthian art is the frontality of the people shown. Even in narrative representations, the actors do not look at the object of their action, but at the viewer. These are features that anticipate the art of medieval Europe and Byzantium.
Parthian sites are often overlooked in excavations, thus the state of research knowledge in Parthian art is not complete. The excavations at Dura-Europos in the 20th century provided many new discoveries. The classical archaeologist and director of the excavations, Michael Rostovtzeff, realized that the art of the first centuries AD from Palmyra, Dura Europos, and also in Iran as far as the Greco-Buddhist art of north India followed the same principles. He called this art style Parthian art. (Full article...)
I come from the noble land of Iran, representing a great and renowned nation, famous for its age old civilization as well as its distinguished contribution to the founding and expansion of the Islamic civilization; a nation that has survived the strong winds of despotism, reactionism and submission, relying on its cultural and human wealth; a nation which pioneered in the East the establishment of civil society and constitutional government in the course of its contemporary history, even though as a result of foreign interference and domestic deficiencies, at times it may have faltered in its course; a nation which has been at the forefront of the struggle for independence and against colonialism, though its national movement was subverted by a foreign- orchestrated coup. And, a nation which carries the torch of its popular revolution, not won by force of arms or a coup, but by dethroning of the regime of coup d'etat through the power of "word" and "enlightenment". In the course of its new experience, our nation has endured eight years of an imposed war, pressure, sanctions and various allegations. It has also fallen victim to terrorism, this ominous and sinister phenomenon of the twentieth century.
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