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First Russo-Persian War
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War eventually lost to Russia, with loss of territory.
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Young Turk Movement
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Constitutional Revolution. Dabashi calls this event the beginning of modern Iran, when the absolute monarchy becomes a constitutional monarchy.
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Rule of the Pahlavi Royal Family (Reza Shah and son Muhammad Reza Shah)
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Reza Shah crowned himself.
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Establishment of Tehran University, modern and secular.
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Veiling of women in public is banned by the Shah.
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Second Pahlavi monarch, age 22, occupies the throne after his father is exiled to South Africa.
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Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran; they promise Iran national sovereignty
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Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddeq nationalizes the Iranian oil industry, which foments a power struggle with the Shah.
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The US CIA engineers a coup (led by Kermit Roosevelt) that removes Prime Minister Mosaddeq, and brings the Shah back to power.
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Vietnam War
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The Shah establishes SAVAK, the secret police that act against political dissenters.
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The White Revolution, initiated by the Shah and supported by President Kennedy, implements further secularization.
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Ayatollah Khomeini, now Shi’ite leader, challenges the Shah, only to be arrested and exiled to Iraq.
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The Shah celebrates 2500 years of Persian monarchy.
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Siahkal uprising, armed struggle against the Shah by socialists.
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Iran doesn’t participate in the Arab oil embargo, which means tremendous profits for the Shah.
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President Jimmy Carter on a visit to Iran proclaims Iran “an island of stability in an otherwise troubled Middle East”
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On “Black Friday” the Shah’s army opens fire on protesters, killing and wounding many.
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Khomeini flies to France to direct the revolution from there. The Shah appoints a series on prime ministers in an effort to regain control of the country as demonstrations become increasingly violent.
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The Shah leaves the country for Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas, Mexico, and then the US, where he undergoes treatment for cancer.
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A million Iranians celebrate in Tehran, calling for the formation of an Islamic republic and the return of Khomeini.
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Khomeini returns in triumph to Iran and appoints Mehdi Bazargan prime minister for a provisional government while the Islamic constitution is drafted.
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Militant students seize the American embassy in Tehran and hold 52 American diplomats hostage there for 444 days.
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The first Iranian president, Abu al-Hassan Bani-Sadr, is inaugurated.
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This is the beginning of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.
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A US attempt to rescue the hostages results in a humiliating catastrophe when the American helicopters and planes crash in the desert with heavy casualties.
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He eventually settles in Egypt, where he dies.
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Saddam Hussein invades Iran, with the support of the US, Europe, and the Soviet Union.
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The hostages will finally be released on Reagan’s inauguration.
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Abu al-Hassan Bani-Sadr was dismissed and exiled by Khomeini.
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Iran accepts a UN-sponsored peace treaty that ends the war with Iraq.
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Rafsanjani becomes president, serving until 1997.
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Khomeini dies and is succeeded by Ali Khamenei
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First Gulf War, repulsed by American forces.
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Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.
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Mohammed Khatami elected president, serving until 2004.
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President Bush designates Iran, along with Syria and North Korea, as the Axis of Evil.
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The US invades Iraq.
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becomes president of Iran.
