| Crucial Pre-Modern Benchmarks |
| Persian Empire |
| Sasanian Empire |
1598: Isfahan becomes Safavid capital.
1722: Afghan Invasions, Decline of Savafids.
1891: Harem Tobacco Rebellion.
1906: First constitutional Revolution in modern Middle East history.
1907: Britain, Russia divide Iran into "spheres of interest."
1919: Anglo-Iranian Agreement.
1934: Iran becomes official name of the nation.
1941: Britain occupies Iran. Reza Shah Pahlevi abdicates, Mohammed Reza succeeds.
1946, December: Iranian troops crush the new Kurdish "Mahabad Republic."
1951: Anglo-Iranian Oil Company nationalized.
1953: U.S. instigates coup against Iranian government.
1971: Coronation of Mohammed Reza Shah.
1979: Revolution. Sources of the Iranian Revolution (including the "rentier state" problem). Shiite Iran begins to challenge Sunni Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Muslim world.
1902-1989: Life of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Nov., 1979-Jan., 1981: U.S. hostage crisis.
1980, Jan. 23: American-Iranian hostility prompts "Carter Doctrine."
1980-1988: War with Iraq (First Gulf War). (Gulf Wars Two and Three)
1981, June 20: the so-called "Khordad Massacre" takes place.
1989: Fatwa against Salman Rushdie (repealed 2001).
1989: Death of Ayatollah Khomeini, succeeded by Rafsanjani.
1997: Khatami elected President.
2001, April: Reformists thwarted.
2002: Iran included in Bush "axis of evil."
2002, July: Tensions rise between conservatives and reformists.
2003, May: Iran makes overtures to United States.
2003, May: Reformists protest delays (also) (also). Iran makes overtures to United States.
2004, November: Iran under pressure to rein in nuclear development program.
2006, January 10: Iran restarts nuclear enrichment program.
2006, April: Speculation about possible American plans to attack Iran.
2006, September 5: Iran's president calls for removal of "liberal" university professors.
2006, December: Reformists defeat Ahmadinejad's hardliners in local elections.
2007, February: Unrest in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
2007, March: Iran seizes British sailors in Persian Gulf.
2007, May 28: Iran and the U.S. hold their first direct talks since 1980.
2007, June: Fresh questions about possible Iranian role in regional conflicts.
2007, June: Riots over gas rationing and religious police crack down.
2007, August: Iran sentences two Kurdish journalists to death.
2007, September: Former President Rafsanjani elected Head of Assembly of Experts.
2007, October: U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran.
2007, November 22: Ahmadinejad comes under editorial attack.
2008, March: Parliamentary elections mark rise in conservative critics of Ahmadinejad.
Further Reading on Iran (via ProQuest on NMH Virtual Desktop):
Iran section Islamic Middle East Blog
BBC web page on Iranian political infrastructure
Borzou Daragahi, "Infighting Rules Iran's Power Elite," Seattle Times, January 1, 2008
Thomas Finger, "Waiting for the Mahdi," The Christian Century, June 17, 2008
Azadeh Moaveni, "Stars and Strips in Their Eyes," The Washington Post, June 1, 2008
Scott Peterson, "U.S.-Iran Regional Power Plays Shift," The Christian Science Monitor," May 30, 2008
Thomas Powers, “Iran: The Threat,” The New York Review of Books, July 17, 2008