Russian Armenia is the period of Armenian history under Russian rule from 1828, when Eastern Armenia became part of the Russian Empire following Qajar Iran 's loss in the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) and the subsequent ceding of its territories that included Eastern Armenia per the out coming Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828.
204-604: Eastern Armenia remained part of the Russian Empire until its collapse in 1917. For hundreds of years, the inhabitants of Eastern Armenia lived under the rule of successive Iranian empires. Starting from the early 16th century, up to 1828, Eastern Armenia was ruled by the Iranian Safavid , Afsharid , and Qajar dynasties. Subsequent wars between the Ottoman and Safavid empires led to the destruction of many of
408-422: A 25-year cooperation agreement that will strengthen the relations between the two countries and would include "political, strategic and economic" components. Iran-China relations dates back to at least 200 BC and possibly earlier. Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has a good relationship with both North and South Korea . Iran is a member of dozens of international organizations, including
612-536: A Muslim-majority population . The country is divided into five regions with 31 provinces . Tehran is the nation's capital , largest city and financial center . A cradle of civilization , Iran has been inhabited since the Lower Palaeolithic . The large part of Iran was first unified as a political entity by the Medes under Cyaxares in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in
816-480: A ceremonial body without any real power. The political system is based on the country's constitution . Iran ranked 154th in the 2022 The Economist Democracy Index . Juan José Linz wrote in 2000 that "the Iranian regime combines the ideological bent of totalitarianism with the limited pluralism of authoritarianism ". The President is head of government and the second highest-ranking authority, after
1020-461: A ceremony in the palace in Qazvin, he placed his crown on the head of his seventeen-year-old son, who ascended the throne as Abbas I. Murshid Qoli Khan, to whom Abbas owed the crown, was rewarded with the title of vakil ( viceroy ). The empire Abbas inherited was in a desperate state. The Ottomans had seized vast territories in the west and the north-west (including the major city of Tabriz ) and
1224-590: A close economic and military alliance, and are subject to heavy sanctions by Western nations. Iran is the only country in Western Asia that has been invited to join the CSTO , the Russia-based international treaty organization that parallels NATO . Relations between Iran and China are strong economically; they have developed a friendly, economic and strategic relationship. In 2021, Iran and China signed
1428-635: A courier and uncovered the plot. Saakadze then defected to the Georgians, and led a new rebellion which succeeded in throwing the Persians out of Kartli and Kakheti while crowning Teimuraz as king of both territories. Abbas counterattacked in June, won the subsequent war and dethroned Teimuraz, but lost half his army at the hands of the Georgians and was forced to accept Kartli and Kakheti only as vassal states while abandoning his plans to eliminate Christians from
1632-672: A crucial role during the rest of the Safavid era and later until the fall of the Qajar dynasty . Abbas needed ten years to get his army into shape so that he could effectively confront his Ottoman and Uzbek enemies. During this period, the Uzbeks and the Ottomans took swaths of territory from Iran. He also used military reorganisation as another way of side-lining the Qizilbash. He created
1836-642: A decisive victory over the Ottomans at Sufiyan , near Tabriz. In the Caucasus , during the war Abbas also managed to capture what is now Kabardino-Balkaria . The Persian victory was recognised in the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha in 1612, effectively granting them back suzerainty over most of the Caucasus . Several years of peace followed as the Ottomans carefully planned their response. But their secret training manoeuvres were observed by Iranian spies. Abbas learnt that
2040-542: A distinct political and cultural entity. The Muslim conquest of Persia (632–654) ended the Sasanian Empire and marked a turning point in Iranian history, leading to the Islamization of Iran from the eighth to tenth centuries and the decline of Zoroastrianism . However, the achievements of prior Persian civilizations were absorbed into the new Islamic polity. Iran suffered invasions by nomadic tribes during
2244-404: A few hundred during Tahmasp's era, to 15,000 highly trained cavalrymen, as part of a whole army division of 40,000 Caucasian ghulams. Abbas then reduced the number of Qizilbash provincial governorships and systematically moved Qizilbash governors to other districts, thus disrupting their ties with the local community and reducing their power. Most were eventually replaced by ghulams, whose loyalty
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#17327721578622448-456: A highly centralised, autocratic state. He viewed any expression of a desire for increased freedom and autonomy by his subjects as evidence of rebellion. The last decades of the 19th century also saw a rise in Russian chauvinism with non-Russians described in increasingly racist terms. Armenians came in for particular abuse in ways which often resembled anti-Semitism . The first sign of this was
2652-592: A large army and set off to retake Tabriz, which had been in Ottoman hands for some time. For the first time, the Iranians made great use of their artillery and the town – which had been ruined by Ottoman occupation – soon fell. Abbas set off to besiege Yerevan , a town that had become one of the main Ottoman strongholds in the Caucasus since the Safavids had ceded it in 1590. It finally fell in June 1604 and with it
2856-532: A last word in the choice of the Catholicos. Armenians greatly profited from the fact that the Catholicosate retained the authority to open schools. Notable ones are Moscow 's Lazarian Tiflis ' Nersessian schools . Moreover, the Catholicosate opened printing houses and encouraged the publication of Armenian newspapers . A significant number of Armenians were already living in the Russian Empire before
3060-503: A moderate position internationally. In 1997, Rafsanjani was succeeded by moderate reformist Mohammad Khatami , whose government advocated freedom of expression , constructive diplomatic relations with Asia and the European Union , and an economic policy that supported a free market and foreign investment. The 2005 presidential election brought conservative populist and nationalist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. He
3264-611: A pilgrimage to the Shi'ite shrines of Kerbala and Najaf, but used his army to seize Baghdad. However, Abbas was then distracted by a rebellion in Georgia in 1624 led by Giorgi Saakadze thus allowing an Ottoman force to besiege Baghdad, but the Shah came to its relief the next year and defeated the Turkish army decisively. In 1638, however, after Abbas' death, the Ottomans retook Baghdad, and
3468-527: A prosperous bourgeoisie when capitalism and industrialisation came to Transcaucasia in the later half of the 19th century. The Armenians were much more skilled at adapting to the new economic circumstances than their neighbours in Transcaucasia, the Georgians and the Azeris . They became the most powerful element in the municipal life of Tbilisi, the city regarded by Georgians as their capital, and in
3672-414: A puppet ruler of Kakheti, while placing a series of his own governors to rule over districts where the rebellious inhabitants were mostly located. Having momentarily secured the region, Abbas took further acts of revenge for the recalcitrance of Teimuraz and Luarsab. He castrated Teimuraz's sons, who both died shortly afterwards. He executed Luarsab in 1622, and in 1624 he had Ketevan, who had been sent to
3876-412: A reason that it would be "inappropriate" to execute an "innocent" descendant of a seyed on holy days ( Qadr Night and Eid al-Fitr ). This dealy saved Abbas' life, for on 24 November 1577, Ismail II died from consuming poisoned opium , and Ali-Qoli Khan assumed the governorship of Herat and the role of guardian of Abbas. On 11 or 13 February 1578, Mohammad Khodabanda was chosen by the Qizilbash as
4080-568: A rebellion in Khorasan by proclaiming him Shah of Iran. Ali-Qoli and Murshid Qoli Khan took control of Nishapur ; there, they struck coins and read khutba in Abbas' name. In the following year, an army from western Iran advanced into Khorasan to resolve the situation. This army laid siege to Torbat-e Heydarieh , where Murshid Qoli was in control, and on Herat, where both Ali-Qoli Khan and Abbas resided. Both attempts proved futile. Upon hearing
4284-765: A regulation, the Polozhenie (charter) was enacted by the Russian government that greatly reduced the political powers of the Armenian religious leadership, including that of the Catholicos , while preserving the autonomy of the Armenian Church. After 1836, in accordance with the new regulation, the Catholicos of Echmiadzin was to be elected in congresses in Echmiadzin, in which religious and non-religious dignitaries would participate. The Tsar would have
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#17327721578624488-512: A rival, Murshid did nothing until the news came that Herat had fallen and the Uzbeks had slaughtered the entire population. Only then did he set out on campaign to Khorasan. But Abbas planned to avenge the death of Ali Qoli Khan, and he arranged for four Qizilbash leaders to kill Murshid after a banquet on 23 July 1589. With Murshid gone, Abbas could now rule Iran in his own right. Abbas decided he must re-establish order within Iran before he took on
4692-563: A second front against the Turks in the Caucasus, and many of the commanders they employed were of Armenian descent. The Russians made large territorial gains in western Armenia before an armistice was called in January, 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano , signed in March, 1878, did not grant Russia the whole of western Armenia but it contained a special clause, Article 16, by which Russia guaranteed
4896-479: A significant direct influence on the meritocratic Safavid bureaucracy and the court of the Safavid state. The increasing numbers of Georgians and Circassians in the Safavid bureaucracy and the court of the Safavid state vied with the Qizilbash for power and as a result also became involved in court intrigues. This competition for influence saw queens (and their supporters in the harem, court and bureaucracy) compete against each other in order to get their own sons on
5100-525: A single battle. Ruthless discipline was enforced and looting was severely punished. Abbas was also able to draw on military advice from a number of European envoys, particularly the English adventurers Sir Anthony Shirley and his brother Robert Shirley , who arrived in 1598 as envoys from the Earl of Essex on an unofficial mission to persuade Persia to enter into an anti-Ottoman alliance. From 1600 onwards,
5304-410: A standing army of many thousands of ghulams (always conscripted from ethnic Georgians and Circassians ), and to a much lesser extent Iranians, to fight alongside the traditional, feudal force provided by the Qizilbash. The new army regiments' loyalty was to the Shah. The new army consisted of 10,000 to 15,000 cavalry or squires (conscripted Caucasian ghulams ) armed with muskets and other weapons (then
5508-420: A strong response from Iran, based on their historical and cultural background. Iran has full-control over the islands. Kish island , as a free trade zone , is touted as a consumer's paradise, with malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and luxury hotels. Qeshm is the largest island in Iran, and a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2016. Its salt cave, Namakdan, is the largest in the world, and one of
5712-412: A trading centre with a new port, Bandar Abbas , nearby on the mainland, but it never became successful. Abbas moved his capital from Qazvin to the more central city of Isfahan in 1598. Embellished by a magnificent series of new mosques, baths, colleges, and caravansarais, Isfahan became one of the most beautiful cities in the world. As Roger Savory writes, "Not since the development of Baghdad in
5916-465: A truce with the Ottomans. Now Iranian rule was fully restored over eastern Georgia. In a punitive expedition to Kakhetia, his army then killed perhaps 60,000–70,000 or 100,000 Georgians, with twice as many more being deported to Iran, removing about two-thirds of the Kakhetian population. More refugees were rounded up in 1617. In 1619 Abbas appointed the loyal Simon II (or Semayun Khan ) as
6120-614: A watershed in the relationship between the Russian authorities and their Armenian subjects. Armenians still living in western Armenia under the Ottoman Empire had grown increasingly discontented and looked towards Russia to free them from Turkish rule. In 1877, war broke out between the Russia and the Ottomans over the treatment of Christians in the Balkans . The Russians were keen to mobilise Armenian patriotism when they advanced on
6324-577: Is officially governed as a unitary Islamic republic with a presidential system , with ultimate authority vested in a Supreme Leader. The government is authoritarian and has attracted widespread criticism for its significant violations of human rights and civil liberties. Iran is a major regional power , due to its large reserves of fossil fuels , including the world's second largest natural gas supply , third largest proven oil reserves , its geopolitically significant location, military capabilities , cultural hegemony , regional influence, and role as
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6528-452: Is accountable only to the Rahbar. The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed. The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for 8-year terms. Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces ( Persian : استان ostân ), each governed from a local centre, usually the largest local city, which is called
6732-478: Is four times that of Europe's. There are over 200 protected areas to preserve biodiversity and wildlife, with over 30 being national parks . Iran's living fauna includes 34 bat species, Indian grey mongoose , small Indian mongoose , golden jackal , Indian wolf , foxes , striped hyena , leopard , Eurasian lynx , brown bear and Asian black bear . Ungulate species include wild boar , urial , Armenian mouflon , red deer , and goitered gazelle . One of
6936-567: Is generally considered one of the most important rulers in Iranian history and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Safavid Iran's military, political and economic power, he came to the throne during a troubled time for the country. Under the ineffective rule of his father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's main enemies, its arch-rival
7140-559: Is in a seismically active area. On average, an earthquake of magnitude seven on the Richter scale occurs once every ten years. Most earthquakes are shallow-focus and can be very devastating, such as the 2003 Bam earthquake . Iran consists of the Iranian Plateau . It is one of the world's most mountainous countries; its landscape is dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate basins or plateaus . The populous west part
7344-543: Is mandatory for all male citizen aged 18 to serve around 14 months in the IRIAF or IRGC. Shah Abbas I Abbas I ( Persian : عباس یکم , romanized : ʿAbbās yekom ; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (Persian: عباس بزرگ , romanized: ʿAbbās-e Bozorg ), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda , he
7548-551: Is the highest judge of the Supreme Court of Iran . The Chief Justice nominates candidates to serve as minister of justice, and the President selects one. The Chief Justice can serve for two five-year terms. The Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics , although it has taken on cases involving laypeople . The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and
7752-580: Is the most mountainous, with ranges such as the Caucasus , Zagros , and Alborz , the last containing Mount Damavand , Iran's highest point, at 5,610 m (18,406 ft), which is the highest volcano in Asia. Iran's mountains have impacted its politics and economics for centuries. The north part is covered by the lush lowland Caspian Hyrcanian forests , near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The east part consists mostly of desert basins, such as
7956-489: The Army , the head of Supreme National Security Council , and has the power to declare a state of emergency after passage by the parliament. The President is responsible for the implementation of the constitution, and for the exercise of executive powers in implementing the decrees and general policies as outlined by the Rahbar, except for matters directly related to the Rahbar, who has the final say. The President functions as
8160-620: The Caucasus to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars . Iran remained a monarchy until the 1979 Iranian Revolution , when it officially became an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979. Since then, Iran has experienced significant political, social, and economic changes. The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran led to the restructuring of its political system, with Ayatollah Khomeini as
8364-605: The Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 , which brought another influx of Turkish Armenians, that ethnic Armenians once again established a solid majority in Eastern Armenia . Nevertheless, the city of Erivan remained having a Muslim majority up to the twentieth century. According to the traveller H. F. B. Lynch , the city was about 50% Armenian and 50% Muslim ( Azerbaijanis and Persians) in
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8568-651: The Dunsterforce occupied the city and helped the mainly Dashnak-Armenian forces to defend the capital during the Battle of Baku . However, Baku fell on September 15, 1918 and an Azeri-Ottoman army entered the capital, causing British forces and much of the Armenian population to flee. The Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on November 30, 1918 and the British occupational force re-entered Baku. Eventually,
8772-532: The Enlightenment and Romanticism . A wide array of Armenian newspapers were published and there was a literary revival headed by Mikael Nalbandian , who wanted to modernise the Armenian language , and the poet and novelist Raffi . The pro-Russian outlook of the Armenian intelligentsia continued under Tsar Alexander II , who was widely praised for his reforms. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 marked
8976-614: The First Republic of Armenia an internationally recognized state and Republic of Mountainous Armenia dissolved. The Centrocaspian Dictatorship was a British-backed anti-Soviet government founded in Baku on August 1, 1918. The government was composed by the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and the Armenian national movement which majority was from Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaks). British force
9180-625: The G-15 , G-24 , G-77 , IAEA , IBRD , IDA , NAM , IDB , IFC , ILO , IMF , IMO , Interpol , OIC , OPEC , WHO , and the UN , and currently has observer status at the WTO . The military is organized under a unified structure, the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces , comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran Army , which includes the Ground Forces , Air Defence Force , Air Force , and Navy ;
9384-518: The Grand Vizier Damat Halil Pasha invaded and easily seized Tabriz. The vizier sent an ambassador to the shah demanding he make peace and return the lands taken since 1602. Abbas refused and pretended he was ready to set fire to Ardabil and retreat further inland rather than face the Ottoman army. When Halil Pasha heard the news, he decided to march on Ardabil right away. This was just what Abbas wanted. His army of 40,000
9588-714: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , which consists of the Ground Forces , Aerospace Force , Navy , Quds Force , and Basij ; and the Law Enforcement Command (Faraja), which serves an analogous function to a gendarme . While the IRIAF protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC is mandated to ensure the integrity of the Republic, against foreign interference, coups, and internal riots. Since 1925 , it
9792-562: The Kassites , Mannaeans , and Gutians . Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel called the Persians the "first Historical People". The Iranian Empire began in the Iron Age with the rise of the Medes , who unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), founded by Cyrus the Great , was the largest empire the world had seen, spanning from the Balkans to North Africa and Central Asia . They were succeeded by
9996-763: The Kavir Desert , which is the country's largest desert, and the Lut Desert , as well as salt lakes . The Lut Desert is the hottest recorded spot on the Earth's surface, with 70.7 °C recorded in 2005. The only large plains are found along the coast of the Caspian and at the north end of the Persian Gulf, where the country borders the mouth of the Arvand river . Smaller, discontinuous plains are found along
10200-618: The Khorshidi ruler of Luristan . One year later, Jahangir IV , the Paduspanid ruler of Kojur , killed two prominent Safavid nobles during a festival in Qazvin . In response, in 1598 Abbas invaded his domains and besieged Kojur. Jahangir managed to flee, but was captured and killed by a pro-Safavid Paduspanid named Hasan Lavasani. Abbas' first campaign with his reformed army was against the Uzbeks who had seized Khorasan and were ravaging
10404-560: The Late Middle Ages and early modern period , negatively impacting the region. Iran was reunified as an independent state in 1501 by the Safavid dynasty , which established Shia Islam as the empire's official religion, marking another turning point in the history of Islam . Iran functioned again as a leading world power, especially in rivalry with the Ottoman Empire . In the 19th century, Iran lost significant territories in
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#173277215786210608-434: The Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks , exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves. In 1588, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Quli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. However, Abbas soon seized power for himself. Under his leadership, Iran developed the ghilman system where thousands of Circassian , Georgian , and Armenian slave-soldiers joined
10812-429: The Pahlavi dynasty . Attempts by Mohammad Mosaddegh to nationalize the oil industry led to an Anglo-American coup in 1953 . After the Iranian Revolution , the monarchy was overthrown in 1979 and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established by Ruhollah Khomeini , who became the country's first Supreme Leader . In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran , sparking the eight-year-long Iran–Iraq War , which ended in stalemate. Iran
11016-423: The Republic of Azerbaijan (611 km or 380 mi); to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan (992 km or 616 mi); to the east by Afghanistan (936 km or 582 mi) and Pakistan (909 km or 565 mi); to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Iraq (1,458 km or 906 mi) and Turkey (499 km or 310 mi). Iran
11220-410: The Seleucid , Parthian , and Sasanian Empires , who governed Iran for almost 1,000 years, making Iran a leading power once again. Persia's arch-rival during this time was the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine Empire . Iran endured invasions by the Macedonians , Arabs , Turks , and Mongols . Despite these invasions, Iran continually reasserted its national identity and developed as
11424-446: The South Caucasus . However, they have shared common interests, such as the issue of Kurdish separatism and the Qatar diplomatic crisis . Iran has a close and strong relationship with Tajikistan . Iran has deep economic relations and alliance with Iraq , Lebanon and Syria, with Syria often described as Iran's "closest ally". Russia is a key trading partner, especially in regard to its excess oil reserves. Both share
11628-403: The Turkman governor of Mashhad , Morteza Quli Khan Pornak. The Takkalu tribe eventually seized the power in Qazvin and proceeded to purge a number of prominent Shamlu members, among them being the mother and father of Ali-Qoli Khan. This angered Ali-Qoli Khan and, just as the queen had predicted, in 1581, he took arms against the crown and made his ward, the ten-year-old Abbas, the figurehead of
11832-590: The ghulams (a word literally meaning "slaves"). From these newly introduced slaves, the Shah created a military force of up to 37,000 soldiers, completely funded by the Crown. This weakened the power that the Qizilbash had against the crown significantly as they no longer had a "military monopoly" in Iran. Like the janissaries of the neighbouring Ottoman Empire , the ghulams were mainly Georgians , Circassians and Armenians who had been brought into Iran en masse (by conquest and slave trade), had converted or had been converted to Islam, and had taken up service in
12036-418: The parliament . The Rahbar is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces , controls military intelligence and security operations, and has sole power to declare war or peace. The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, commanders of the police and military, and the members of the Guardian Council are all appointed by the Rahbar. The Assembly of Experts is responsible for electing
12240-406: The "lesser evil" for his people. Russian Armenians were deeply concerned about the plight of their compatriots under the Persian and Ottoman Empires, especially the peasants of western Armenia who were mostly ignored by Ottoman Armenian intellectuals far away in Istanbul and Smyrna . Tbilisi and Yerevan were much more obvious choices for a base for promoting revolutionary activity among Armenians in
12444-410: The 16th century, the native Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state with Twelver Shi'ism as the official religion . During the Afsharid Empire in the 18th century, Iran was a leading world power, though by the 19th century, it had lost significant territory through conflicts with the Russian Empire . The early 20th century saw the Persian Constitutional Revolution and the establishment of
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#173277215786212648-475: The 1820s. After the destruction of the last remaining independent Armenian states in the Middle Ages, the nobility disintegrated, leaving Armenian society composed of a mass of peasants plus a middle class who were either craftsmen or merchants. Such Armenians were to be found in most towns of Transcaucasia; indeed, at the beginning of the 19th century they formed the majority of the population in cities such as Tbilisi . Armenian merchants conducted their trade across
12852-806: The 2nd-most powerful person in Iran, was assassinated by the US , heightening tensions between them . Iran retaliated against US airbases in Iraq , the largest ballistic missile attack ever on Americans; 110 sustained brain injuries . Hardliner Ebrahim Raisi ran for president again in 2021 , succeeding Hassan Rouhani . During Raisi's term, Iran intensified uranium enrichment , hindered international inspections, joined SCO and BRICS, supported Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and restored diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. In April 2024, Israel's airstrike on an Iranian consulate , killed an IRGC commander. Iran retaliated with UAVs , cruise and ballistic missiles ; 9 hit Israel. Western and Jordanian military helped Israel down some Iranian drones. It
13056-401: The 4th largest province, also known as Pârs . The Persian Fârs (فارس), derived from the earlier form Pârs (پارس), which is in turn derived from Pârsâ ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿). Due to Fars' historical importance, Persia originated from this territory through Greek in around 550 BC, and Westerners referred to the entire country as Persia , until 1935, when Reza Shah requested
13260-432: The Armenian as a "wily merchant" was already widespread. Russian nobles derived their income from their estates worked by serfs and, with their aristocratic distaste for engaging in business, they had little understanding or sympathy for the way of life of mercantile Armenians. Nevertheless, middle-class Armenians prospered under Russian rule and they were the first to seize the new opportunities and transform themselves into
13464-427: The Armenian schools were reopened the following year, they were now subject to strict tsarist control and the use of the Armenian language was discouraged in favour of Russian. The Russians also began to persecute the Armenian Church, which had been separate from the Orthodox Church since the year 451. The Russian attitude to the Ottoman Empire also changed and by the 1890s, Russia and Britain had exchanged roles. Now it
13668-574: The Armenian towns, and made Armenian life difficult. Added to this, the Christian Armenians were dhimmi subjects (forming a millet ) under Muslim rulers, whether Ottomans or Persians. In 1678, the Armenian leadership secretly conducted a congress in Echmiadzin , and decided that Armenia had to be liberated from foreign domination. At this stage, the Armenians were unable to fight against two empires at once, so they searched for help from abroad. Israel Ori , an Armenian native of Karabagh , son of an Armenian melik or prince, searched for help in many of
13872-415: The Armenians. As a consequence, by the mid-19th century, most of the Armenian intelligentsia had become highly Russophile. Armenian culture flourished in these years as the new unified province under Russian rule gave Armenians a sense of their shared identity once more. Being part of the Russian Empire also turned Armenia away from the Middle East and towards Europe and modern intellectual currents such as
14076-456: The British pronunciation and / ɪ ˈ r æ n / as the American pronunciation. Voice of America 's pronunciation guide provides / ɪ ˈ r ɑː n / . Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC. The western part of the Iranian plateau participated in the traditional ancient Near East with Elam (3200–539 BC), and later with other peoples such as
14280-439: The Caucasus and organised a series of protests among Armenians. At Gandzak the Russian army responded by firing into the crowd, killing ten, and further demonstrations were met with more bloodshed. The Dashnaks and Hunchaks began a campaign of assassinations against tsarist officials in Transcaucasia and they even succeeded in wounding Prince Golitsin. In 1904, the Dashnak congress specifically extended their programme to look after
14484-465: The Dashnaks, with their penchant for revolutionary violence and socialist economic policies, had at first had little appeal for the Armenian bourgeoisie, but Russian cultural repression gained them more sympathy. Russified middle-class Armenians began changing their names back to their Armenian form (e.g. Mirzoev became Mirzoian) and engaged private tutors to teach their children the Armenian language. The tsar's Russification programme reached its peak with
14688-737: The European capitals. Israel Ori died in 1711, without seeing the Armenian Dream realized. In 1722, the Tsar of Russia , Peter the Great , declared war against the Safavid Iranians , who were at that time in heavy decline. Georgians and Karabagh 's Armenians helped the Russians by rebelling against Safavid rule. David Bek commanded the rebellion for six years, until he died on the battlefield. A turning-point came in 1801 when
14892-540: The Guardian Council is not needed. The Leader can revert the decisions of the Guardian Council. The constitution gives the council three mandates: veto power over legislation passed by the parliament , supervision of elections and approving or disqualifying candidates seeking to run in local, parliamentary, presidential, or Assembly of Experts elections. The council can nullify a law based on two accounts: being against Sharia (Islamic law), or being against
15096-508: The Guardian Council, and serves as an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in Iran. The Parliament has 207 constituencies, including the 5 reserved seats for religious minorities. The remaining 202 are territorial, each covering one or more of Iran's counties . Iran uses a form of Sharia law as its legal system, with elements of European Civil law . The Supreme Leader appoints
15300-511: The Iranian kings, he developed a passion for hunting, which was regarded as a form of military training. Abbas was educated alongside household "slaves" (ghulams), who would have become his childhood companions. Some or perhaps most of them are likely to have been Georgians , Armenians or Circassians . On 14 May 1576, Tahmasp I died without a designated heir, which led to the realm descending into civil war. The following day, Tahmasp I's favourite son, Haydar Mirza , proclaimed himself king with
15504-645: The Iranians), recognised as a derivative of Proto-Indo-European language *ar-yo- , meaning ' one who assembles (skilfully) ' . According to Iranian mythology , the name comes from Iraj , a legendary king. Iran was referred to as Persia by the West , due to Greek historians who referred to all of Iran as Persís , meaning 'the land of the Persians '. Persia is the Fars province in southwest Iran,
15708-621: The Iranian–Ottoman border was finalised to be roughly the same as the current Iran–Turkey and Iran–Iraq borders. Between 1614 and 1616, during the Ottoman–Safavid War , Abbas suppressed a rebellion led by his formerly loyal Georgian subjects Luarsab II and Teimuraz I (also known as Tahmuras Khan ) in the Kingdom of Kakheti . In 1606, Abbas had appointed these Georgians onto the thrones of Safavid vassals Kartli and Kakheti , at
15912-606: The Mayor of Tbilisi Alexandre Khatsian , the primate of Tbilisi, Bishop Mesrop, and the prominent civic leader Dr. Hakob Zavriev about the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments . The volunteer units would be made up from Armenians who were not subjects of the empire or not obliged to serve in the army. These units would be employed on the Caucasus Campaign. Many of them were living in the Caucasus and many were impatient to take up arms to liberate their homeland. During
16116-701: The Ottoman Armenians. When World War I broke out in August 1914, the Russians sought to mobilise Armenian patriotic sentiment. Most Armenian troops were transferred to the European theatre of World War I (known as the Eastern Front ). The Ottoman Empire did not join the world war until several months had passed and, as the possibility of a Caucasus Campaign come closer, in the summer of 1914, Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov consulted with
16320-700: The Ottoman Empire, as well as smuggling arms and encouraging guerrilla action. They also established links with a new Ottoman Armenian nationalist party, the Hunchaks . In 1890, Mikaelian and his colleague Simon Zavarian replaced Young Armenia with a new party: the Armenian Revolutionary Federation , usually known as the "Dashnaks". The Dashnaks tried to get the Hunchaks to join them but the two split in 1891 and rivalry between
16524-406: The Ottoman plan was to invade Iran via Azerbaijan, take Tabriz then move on to Ardabil and Qazvin, which they could use as bargaining chips in exchange for other territories. The shah decided to lay a trap. He would allow the Ottomans to enter the country, then destroy them. He had Tabriz evacuated of its inhabitants while he waited at Ardabil with his army. In 1618, an Ottoman army of 100,000 led by
16728-487: The Ottomans he demanded that Luarsab accept Islam. When Luarsab refused, he was thrown in prison. Teimuraz returned to eastern Georgia in 1615, taking advantage of a resurgence in Ottoman–Safavid hostilities, and there he defeated a Safavid force. However, when the Ottoman army postponed its invasion of the Safavids, Abbas was able to briefly send an army back to defeat Teimuraz, and redoubled his invasion after brokering
16932-472: The Ottomans in the west. After defeating the Uzbeks, he moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan . The Safavids had not yet beaten their archrival, the Ottomans, in battle. After a particularly arrogant series of demands from the Ottoman ambassador, the Shah had him seized, had his beard shaved and sent it to his master, the sultan, in Constantinople. This was effectively a declaration of war. In
17136-403: The Ottomans lost the support of most Armenians, Georgians and other Caucasians. But Abbas was unsure how the new Sultan Ahmed I , would respond and withdrew from the region using scorched earth tactics. For a year, neither side made a move, but in 1605, Abbas sent his general Allahverdi Khan to meet Ottoman forces on the shores of Lake Van . On 6 November 1605 the Iranians, led by Abbas, scored
17340-407: The Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have mild winters, and very humid and hot summers. The annual precipitation ranges from 135 to 355 mm (5.3 to 14.0 in). More than one-tenth of the country is forested . About 120 million hectares of forests and fields are government-owned for national exploitation. Iran's forests can be divided into five vegetation regions: Hyrcanian region which forms
17544-523: The Qezelbāš or remain their puppet. So Abbas single-handedly encouraged the growth in influence and power of this new grouping, also called the third force . It is estimated that during Abbas' reign alone some 130,000 to 200,000 Georgians, tens of thousands of Circassians , and around 300,000 Armenians were deported from the Caucasus to Persia's heartland, with a significant number gaining responsibilities and roles in Iranian society, including some of
17748-475: The Rahbar, and has the power to dismiss him on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem. To date, the Assembly of Experts has not challenged any of the Rahbar's decisions nor attempted to dismiss him. The previous head of the judicial system, Sadeq Larijani , appointed by the Rahbar, said that it is illegal for the Assembly of Experts to supervise the Rahbar. Many believe the Assembly of Experts has become
17952-509: The Revolution or Supreme Leadership Authority, is the head of state and responsible for supervision of policy. The president has limited power compared to the Rahbar. Key ministers are selected with the Rahbar's agreement and they have the ultimate say on foreign policy. The Rahbar is directly involved in ministerial appointments for Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs, as well as other top ministries after submission of candidates from
18156-483: The Russian oil industry, class tensions mixed with ethnic rivalries. The city was almost wholly composed of Azeris and Armenians, but the Armenian middle-class tended to have a greater share in the ownership of the oil companies and Armenian workers generally had better salaries and working conditions than the Azeris. In December 1904, after a major strike was declared in Baku, the two communities began fighting each other on
18360-696: The Russians annexed the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti , giving them a foothold in Transcaucasia . Over the next three decades, Russia sought to further expand its territory in the Caucasus at the expense of Ottoman Turkey and Qajar Iran. The Russian campaigns found enthusiastic support amongst the Armenians, led by the Bishop of Tbilisi , Nerses Ashtaraketsi , who took part in the fighting in person. The Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 saw
18564-692: The Russians conquer a bit of territory in eastern Armenia only to renounce most of it at the Treaty of Gulistan . In 1826, in violation of the Gulistan treaty, the Russians occupied parts of Iran's Erivan Khanate . This sparked the final bout of hostilities between the two; the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 . In the subsequent war that raged, ( Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) ), the Qajarid Iranians suffered an even bigger disaster, as Russia occupied as far as Tabriz in mainland Iran. At
18768-543: The Safavid statesman Allāhverdī Khan , in conjunction with Robert Shirley, undertook further reorganizations of the army, which led to a further increase in the number of ghulams to 25,000. During the 1590s, Abbas moved to depose the provincial rulers of Persia. He started with Khan Ahmad Khan , the ruler of Gilan , who had disobeyed Abbas' orders when he requested that Khan Ahmad Khan's daughter Yakhan Begum marry Abbas' son, Mohammad Baqer Mirza , since Khan Ahmad Khan had no male successor. Khan Ahmad Khan disagreed due to
18972-461: The Shah as a negotiator, tortured to death when she refused to renounce Christianity. Teimuraz, meanwhile, sought aid from the Ottomans and Russia . Abbas was then warned of another imminent Kakhetian uprising, so he returned to Georgia in early 1625. He lured Kakhetian soldiers on a false pretext and then began executing them. He also had plans to execute all armed Kartlians, including his own general Giorgi Saakadze ; however Saakadze intercepted
19176-586: The Supreme Leader. Iran's foreign relations have been shaped by the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), ongoing tensions with the United States, and its nuclear program, which has been a point of contention in international diplomacy. In 1989, Akbar Rafsanjani concentrated on a pro-business policy of rebuilding the economy without breaking with the ideology of the revolution. He supported a free market domestically, favoring privatization of state industries and
19380-521: The Supreme Leader. The President is elected by universal suffrage for 4 years. Before elections , nominees to become a presidential candidate must be approved by the Guardian Council . The Council's members are chosen by the Leader, with the Leader having the power to dismiss the president. The President can only be re-elected for one term. The president is the deputy commander-in-chief of
19584-589: The Turks. The Georgians felt that their interests could best be guaranteed by coming to a deal with the Germans rather than the Turks and on May 26, 1918, at German prompting, Georgia declared its independence from the Transcaucasian Republic. This move was followed two days later by Azerbaijan. Reluctantly, the Dashnak leaders, who were the most powerful Armenian politicians in the region, declared
19788-661: The USSR annexed Eastern Armenia and rendered it the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic . Iran Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran ( IRI ), also known as Persia , is a country in West Asia . It borders Turkey to the northwest and Iraq to the west, Azerbaijan , Armenia , the Caspian Sea , and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to
19992-402: The Uzbeks had overrun half of Khorasan in the north-east. Iran itself was riven by fighting between the various factions of the Qizilbash, who had mocked royal authority by killing the queen in 1579 and the grand vizier Mirza Salman Jabiri in 1583. Firstly, Abbas settled his score with his mother's killers, executing three of the ringleaders of the plot and exiling four others. His next task
20196-459: The age of his daughter. This resulted in a Safavid invasion of Gilan in 1591 under the leadership of one of Abbas' favourites, Farhad Khan Qaramanlu . In 1593–94, Jahangir III , the Paduspanid ruler of Nur , travelled to the court of the Abbas, where he handed over his domains to him, and spend the rest of his life on an estate at Saveh , which Abbas had given to him. In 1597, Abbas deposed
20400-536: The age of two. Shah Qoli Sultan Ustajlu, an amir from one of the Qizilbash tribes called the Ustajlu tribe, was appointed as the actual governor and as Abbas's lala (guardian). Abbas's Qizilbash guardians and their wives became substitute parents for him. He never saw his mother again and only saw his father fifteen years later. Abbas learnt the necessary skills of a soldier from his Qizilbash guardians. He played polo and went frequently on hunts. Like most of
20604-608: The area. Even then, Saakadze and Teimuraz launched another rebellion in 1626, and were effective in clearing Iranian forces from most of the region. Thus, the Georgian territories continued to resist Safavid encroachments until Abbas' death. The Safavids were traditionally allied with the Mughals in India against the Uzbeks, who coveted the province of Khorasan. The Mughal emperor Humayun had given Abbas' grandfather, Shah Tahmasp,
20808-413: The army, royal household or the civil administration, and were loyal only to the shah. Under Abbas' leadership this new grouping in Iranian society (also called the third force ) grew in influence and power, with many thousands of ethnic Georgians , Circassians and Armenians becoming an integral part of Iranian society and taking up key government, royal household and military positions. Tahmasp I,
21012-448: The backbone of the Safavid army from the very beginning of Safavid rule and they also occupied many posts in the government. As a result, effective power in the state in the early days of the dynasty was held by the Qizilbash, leaving the shah often powerless. To counterbalance their power and as a decisive answer to this problem, Abbas turned to the newly introduced members of Iranian society (an initiative put in place by Shah Tahmasp I )
21216-491: The behest of Kartlian nobles and Teimuraz's mother Ketevan ; both seemed like malleable youths. However, tensions soon arose between the Shah and the Georgian kings. In 1613, when the Shah summoned them to join him on a hunting expedition in Mazandaran , they did not appear as they feared that they would be either imprisoned or killed. At this point war broke out, Iranian armies invaded the two territories in March 1614, and
21420-547: The border, a leading example being the Gugunian Expedition of 1890. Armenians played little role in the revolutionary movements of the Russian Empire until the 1880s. Until that point, the ideas of Grigor Artsruni, the editor of the Tbilisi-based newspaper Mshak ("The Cultivator"), enjoyed great popularity among the Armenian intelligentsia. Artsruni believed that life under the Russian Empire represented
21624-417: The campaign strategy angered the Qizilbash amirs. Eventually, on 26 July 1579, the Qizilbash stormed into the harem where the queen resided and strangled Khayr al-Nisa Begum. Although Abbas was still only a boy and barely knew his mother, her murder at the hands of the Qizilbash made a deep impression on him. That experience probably led to his belief that the power of the Qizilbash had to be broken. After
21828-736: The capital (Persian: مرکز , markaz ) of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a governor-general ( استاندار ostândâr ), who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to approval of the cabinet . Iran maintains diplomatic relations with 165 countries , but not the United States and Israel —a state which Iran derecognised in 1979. Iran has an adversarial relationship with Saudi Arabia due to different political and ideologies. Iran and Turkey have been involved in modern proxy conflicts such as in Syria , Libya , and
22032-406: The capital beside Murshid Qoli Khan in late-September 1587. Mohammad Khodabanda and his heir apparent, Abu Taleb Mirza, and their entourage of Ustajlu and Shamlu amirs, were camped 200 miles away in the city of Qom . When the news reached them, the amirs decided to abandon the shah and his heir for Abbas Mirza. Mohammad Khodabanda decide that he had no choice but to abdicate. On 1 October 1587, at
22236-457: The capture of large numbers of Christian Circassian and Georgian slaves (30,000 in just four raids). These slaves would form the basis of a Safavid military slave system. These slaves would serve a similar role in their formation, implementation and use to the janissaries of the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. Their arrival in such large numbers led to the formation of a new grouping in Iranian society solely composed of ethnic Caucasians. Although
22440-431: The city of Shiraz . The nominal governorship of Herat was handed over to Abbas. At first, Tahmasp intended to make Hamza the governor of Herat, but Khayr al-Nisa Begum was unwilling to be separated from Hamza, who was her favourite son. So she persuaded the king to appoint Abbas instead. The fact that Abbas was still a baby was not considered an obstacle, as Tahmasp himself had been appointed titular governor of Khorasan at
22644-472: The city the pinnacle of Safavid architecture. In his later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, Abbas became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded. Born in 27 January 1571 in Herat , Abbas was the third son of Mohammad Khodabanda and his wife, Khayr al-Nisa Begum . His father was the first-born son of Tahmasp I , the second Shah of Safavid Iran. He chose
22848-462: The city was necessary. The weak state of the realm led to the Ottoman Empire declaring war against Iran in 1578 . The Safavid armies suffered several defeats before Khayr al-Nisa Begum organised a counter-offensive. Together with her son, Hamza Mirza and the grand vizier, Mirza Salman Jaberi , she led an army north to confront the Ottoman and Tatar forces in Shirvan . But her attempt to dictate
23052-533: The civil administration and the military. With the help of these newly created layers in Iranian society (initiated by his predecessors but significantly expanded during his rule), Abbas managed to eclipse the power of the Qizilbash in the civil administration, the royal house, and the military. These actions, as well as his reforms of the Iranian army , enabled him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces, including Kakheti , whose people he subjected to widescale massacres and deportations . By
23256-548: The constitution. The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) is at the top of the foreign policy decisions process. The council was formed during the 1989 Iranian constitutional referendum for the protection and support of national interests, the revolution, territorial integrity and national sovereignty. It is mandated by Article 176 of the Constitution to be presided over by the President . The Leader selects
23460-461: The country and the old Qizilbash rivalries rose again, with the Ustajlu and Shamlu tribes immediately confronting each other. Mohammad Khodabanda and the queen asked Ali-Qoli Khan to bring Abbas to Qazvin, fearing that Ali-Qoli Khan was conspiring to enthrone Abbas, but the Qizilbash amirs of Khorasan argued that with the threat of the Uzbeks of Bukhara raiding near Herat, the presence of a prince in
23664-515: The course of the war 150,000 Armenians fought in the Russian Army. The Ottoman authorities embarked on the genocide of their Armenian subjects as early as April 1915 following the rapid Russian advance in the Caucasus Campaign and the Siege of Van . An Armenian provisional government within the autonomous region was initially set up around Lake Van . The Armenian government in the war zone
23868-518: The court in Isfahan and a Muslim , he was perceived as fully loyal to the Shah. Abbas threatened Imeretia with devastation if they did not give up the fugitive kings; the Imeretian, Mingrelian and Gurian rulers jointly refused his demand. Luarsab, however, surrendered voluntarily to the Shah; Abbas initially treated him well but when he learned that Luarsab and Teimuraz had offered an alliance with
24072-486: The decree of June 12, 1903 ordering the confiscation of the properties of the Armenian Church. The Catholicos of Armenia begged the Russians to overturn the decree but when they refused he turned to the Dashnaks. The Armenian clergy had previously been very wary of the Dashnaks, condemning their socialism as anti-clerical , but now they saw them as their protectors. The Dashnaks formed a Central Committee for Self-Defence in
24276-424: The early 1890s. Armenian patriots such as Bishop Nerses had hoped for an autonomous Armenia within the Russian Empire, but they were to be disappointed by the new government. Tsar Nicholas and his governor in Transcaucasia, Ivan Paskevich , had other plans. They wanted the Russian Empire to be a centralised state and when Nerses complained he was soon sent to Bessarabia , far away from the Caucasus region. In 1836
24480-642: The eastern Ottoman Empire. The importance of the unity of the Armenia, divided between three empires, ensured that Armenian political movements would have little in common with other political movements in the Russian Empire. The growth of Armenian nationalism was given impetus by the Russian authorities' anti-Armenian measures of the 1880s. In 1889, Christapor Mikaelian founded the "Young Armenia" movement in Tbilisi. Its aims were carrying out reprisals against Kurds believed to be guilty of persecuting Armenians in
24684-653: The eighth century A.D. by the Caliph al-Mansur had there been such a comprehensive example of town-planning in the Islamic world, and the scope and layout of the city centre clearly reflect its status as the capital of an empire." Isfahan became the centre of Safavid architectural achievement, with the mosques Masjed-e Shah and the Masjed-e Sheykh Lotfollah and other monuments including the Ali Qapu ,
24888-610: The end of the 1603–1618 Ottoman War , Abbas had regained possession over Transcaucasia and Dagestan , as well as swaths of Western Armenia and Mesopotamia . He also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals and expanded Iranian rule and influence in the North Caucasus , beyond the traditional territories of Dagestan. Abbas was a great builder and moved his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan , making
25092-650: The end of the war, in 1828, with the Treaty of Turkmenchay , Iran was forced to cede its territories comprising the Erivan Khanate (comprising modern-day Armenia ), the Nakhichevan Khanate , as well as the Northern Azerbaijan (currently, independent Republic of Azerbaijan ), that had not been ceded forcefully in 1813. By this time, in 1828, the century-long Iranian rule over Eastern Armenia had thus officially come to an end. Until
25296-459: The ethnic make-up shifted, and thus for the first time in three centuries, ethnic Armenians started to form a majority once again in one part of historic Armenia. The new Russian administration encouraged the return of ethnic Armenians from Iran proper and Anatolia to their homeland. As a result, by 1832, the number of ethnic Armenians had matched that of the Muslims. Anyhow, it would be only after
25500-469: The execution of many of his half-brothers, cousins and nephews. He spared Mohammad Khodabandae, possibly because they were full-brothers and perhaps because Mohammad Khodabanda was already blind and disqualified as a possible claimant to the throne. In November 1577, however, Ismail dispatched Ali-Qoli Khan from the Shamlu tribe to Herat to kill the young Abbas. Ali-Qoli delayed Abbas' execution, giving as
25704-586: The executive of affairs such as signing treaties and other international agreements, and administering national planning, budget, and state employment affairs, all as approved by the Rahbar. The President appoints ministers, subject to the approval of the Parliament, and the Rahbar, who can dismiss or reinstate any minister. The President supervises the Council of Ministers , coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before
25908-455: The first slave soldiers would not be organised until Abbas' reign, during Tahmasp's time Caucasians would already become important members of the royal household, the harem and in the civil and military administration. Learning from his grandfather, Abbas (who had been used by the vying Qizilbash factions during his youth) decided to encourage this new (Caucasian) grouping in Iranian society, as he realised that he must impose his authority on
26112-401: The foreign invaders. To this end he made a humiliating peace treaty, known as the Treaty of Istanbul , with the Ottomans in 1590, ceding to them the provinces of Azerbaijan , Karabagh , Ganja , Dagestan and Qarajadagh, as well as parts of Georgia , Luristan and Kurdistan . This demeaning treaty even ceded the previous capital of Tabriz to the Ottomans. The Qizilbash had provided
26316-693: The formation of a new independent state, the First Republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918. The Treaty of Batum was signed between the First Republic of Armenia and the Ottoman Empire after the last battles of the Caucasus Campaign . The Ottoman Empire initially gained a considerable portion of the South Caucasus with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed with the Russian SFSR and then following Treaty of Batum with Armenia. Andranik Ozanian rejected these new borders and proclaimed
26520-569: The green belt of the north side of the country; the Turan region, which are mainly scattered in the center of Iran; Zagros region , which mainly contains oak forests in the west; the Persian Gulf region , which is scattered in the southern coastal belt; the Arasbarani region , which contains rare and unique species. More than 8,200 plant species are grown. The land covered by natural flora
26724-516: The head of the Supreme Court and chief public prosecutor. There are several types of courts, including public courts that deal with civil and criminal cases, and revolutionary courts which deal with certain offences, such as crimes against national security . The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed. The Chief Justice is the head of the judicial system and responsible for its administration and supervision. He
26928-425: The highest positions of the state, including the ghulam corps. Many of those deported from the Caucasus settled in various regions of Iran and became craftsmen, farmers, cattle breeders, traders, soldiers, generals, governors and peasants within Iranian society. As part of the ghulam slave system, Abbas greatly expanded the ghulam military corps (also known as ḡolāmān-e ḵāṣṣa-ye-e šarifa , "crown servants") from just
27132-798: The international community to use its native and original name, Iran ; Iranians called their nation Iran since at least 1000 BC. Today, both Iran and Persia are used culturally, while Iran remains mandatory in official use. The Persian pronunciation of Iran is [ʔiːˈɾɒːn] . Commonwealth English pronunciations of Iran are listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as / ɪ ˈ r ɑː n / and / ɪ ˈ r æ n / , while American English dictionaries provide pronunciations which map to / ɪ ˈ r ɑː n , - ˈ r æ n , aɪ ˈ r æ n / , or / ɪ ˈ r æ n , ɪ ˈ r ɑː n , aɪ ˈ r æ n / . The Cambridge Dictionary lists / ɪ ˈ r ɑː n / as
27336-756: The issue of independence for the peoples of Transcaucasia, since the Bolsheviks enjoyed little support in the region. In February, 1918, the Armenians, Georgians and Azeris formed their own Transcaucasian parliament. Armenians united under Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians . On April 22, 1918 it voted for independence, declaring itself to be the Democratic Federative Republic of Transcaucasia . The federation dissolved when Georgia declared its independence on May 26. Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians followed on May 28. The Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians devised policies to direct
27540-402: The key towns on the way, came to pledge their allegiance. By the time they approached Qazvin, their small force had increased to 2,000 armed horsemen. The lord mayor of Qazvin and the Qizilbash amirs inside the city at first urged resistance. But they gave up when crowds of citizens and soldiers, anxious to avoid fighting, came out onto the streets and voiced their support for Abbas, who rode into
27744-528: The land of the Aryans ' derives from Middle Persian Ērān , first attested in a 3rd-century inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam , with the accompanying Parthian inscription using Aryān , in reference to the Iranians . Ērān and Aryān are oblique plural forms of gentilic nouns ēr- (Middle Persian) and ary- (Parthian), deriving from Proto-Iranian language *arya- (meaning ' Aryan ', i.e. of
27948-450: The largest cavalry in the world ), a corps of musketeers, or tufangchiyan , (12,000 strong) and a corp of artillery, called tupchiyan (also 12,000 strong). In addition Abbas had a personal bodyguard, composed of Caucasian ghulams, that was increased to 3,000. This force amounted to about 40,000 soldiers paid for and beholden to the Shah. Abbas greatly increased the number of cannon at his disposal so that he could field 500 cannon in
28152-825: The late 19th century they began to buy up the lands of the Georgian nobility, who had gone into decline after the emancipation of their serfs. Armenian entrepreneurs were quick to exploit the oil boom which began in Transcaucasia in the 1870s, having large investments in the oil-fields in Baku in Azerbaijan and the refineries of Batumi on the Black Sea coast. All this meant that the tensions between Armenians, Georgians and Azeris in Russian Transcaucasia were not simply ethnic or religious in nature but were due to social and economic factors too. Nevertheless, in spite of
28356-433: The late fifteenth century, Armenians had constituted a majority in Eastern Armenia . At the close of the fifteenth century, with the rise of the Safavids , Islam had become the dominant faith, and Armenians became a minority in Eastern Armenia. Some 80% of the population of Iranian Armenia were Muslims ( Persians , Turkics , and Kurds ) whereas Christian Armenians constituted a minority of about 20%, mainly because of
28560-445: The legislature. Eight Vice Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of 22 ministers, all appointed by the president. Presidential and parliamentary candidates must be approved by the 12-member Guardian Council (all members of which are appointed by the Leader) or the Leader, before running to ensure their allegiance. The Leader rarely does the vetting, but has the power to do so, in which case additional approval of
28764-406: The meantime, in Khorasan, Murshid Qoli Khan emerged as a rival to Ali-Qoli. He successfully seized Mashhad and abducted Abbas from Ali-Qoli's possession. An Uzbek invasion advanced through Khorasan and laid siege to Herat. This threatened Murshid Qoli's position who realised it was his last chance to enthrone Abbas. Many of the Qizilbash amirs gave their assurance of their support for placing Abbas on
28968-478: The military or used for wildlife protection, and entry is prohibited or requires a permit. Iran took control of Bumusa , and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs in 1971, in the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Despite the islands being small and having little natural resources or population, they are highly valuable for their strategic location. Although the United Arab Emirates claims sovereignty, it has consistently been met with
29172-403: The military tribal elite of the empire, the Qizilbash, who believed that physical proximity to and control of a member of the immediate Safavid family guaranteed spiritual advantages, political fortune and material advancement. Therefore, between 1540 and 1555, Tahmasp conducted a series of invasions of the Caucasus region which provided battle experience for his soldiers, as well as leading to
29376-441: The most famous animals is the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah , which survives only in Iran. Iran lost all its Asiatic lions and the extinct Caspian tigers by the early 20th century. Domestic ungulates are represented by sheep , goat , cattle , horse , water buffalo , donkey and camel . Bird species like pheasant , partridge , stork , eagles and falcons are native. The Supreme Leader , "Rahbar", Leader of
29580-434: The name Abbas for the infant. Abbas' father, Mohammad Khodabanda, was the governor of Herat, the capital city of the major province of Khorasan . Mohammad Khodanbanda was disqualified from succeeding his father because an eye disease had left him almost completely blind. The Safavid court chronicler, Iskandar Beg Monshi , describes Mohammad Khodabanda as ‘a pious, ascetic and gentle soul’. Abbas' mother, Khayr al-Nisa Begum,
29784-435: The national budget. All parliamentary candidates and legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council . The Guardian Council can and has dismissed elected members of the parliament. The parliament has no legal status without the Guardian Council, and the Council holds absolute veto power over legislation. The Expediency Discernment Council has the authority to mediate disputes between Parliament and
29988-403: The new regime's dismissal of Alexander II's leading minister, the Armenian Count Loris-Melikov . Loris-Melikov was viewed as too liberal but he was also labeled a "frenzied Asiatic" and "not a true Russian patriot". The Russian authorities also began to be suspicious of Armenian economic dominance in Transcaucasia. Ironically, such suspicions of the Armenians - who were among the most Russophile of
30192-447: The new ruler of the Khanate of Khiva , Baqi Muhammad Khan attempted to retake Balkh and Abbas found his troops were still no match for the Uzbeks. By 1603, the battle lines had stabilized, albeit with the loss of the majority of the Persian artillery. Abbas was able to hold onto most of Khorassan, including Herat, Sabzevar , Farah , and Nisa . Abbas' north-east frontier was now safe for the time being and he could turn his attention to
30396-426: The new shah. The new shah appeared weak, indifferent and incompetent. In these circumstances power soon passed into other hands. Abbas' mother, Khayr al-Nisa Begum, was a strong-willed woman. She took complete charge of the administration and made all the decisions, even in military matters. The Qizilbash were not happy to see her taking power. The divisions in the Safavid court encouraged rebellions in various parts of
30600-445: The new state, where his activities were concentrated at the link between the Ottoman Empire to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at Karabakh , Zanghezur and Nakhichevan . In January 1919, with Armenian troops advancing, the British forces ( Lionel Dunsterville ) ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him assurances that this conflict could be solved with the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 . The Paris Peace Conference proclaimed
30804-655: The news of another Ottoman attack on northwest Iran, the leading ministers of the campaign hurriedly reached an agreement with Ali-Qoli Khan. The former rebel suffered no repercussions and only had to pledge loyalty to Hamza Mirza as the heir apparent . He remained as the governor and as Abbas' guardian and even received a reward from the shah. Mohammad Khodabanda removed Ali-Qoli Khan's old enemy, Morteza Quli Khan Pornak, from his position as governor of Mashhad and replaced him with an Ustajlu amir. According to Iskandar Beg Monshi, many came to believe Abbas Mirza's claim would eventually prevail over Hamza Mirza's. Meanwhile, Hamza Mirza
31008-466: The parties would be a major feature of subsequent Armenian nationalism. Both parties were socialist in their economic programmes. The primary focus of the Dashnaks was nationalism, however, and their chief concern was the fate of the Ottoman Armenians. They soon had branches in Russia, Persia and Turkey and after the fragmentation of the Hunchaks in the mid-1890s, they became the dominant nationalist force in Russian Armenia. Tsar Nicholas II , who came to
31212-441: The popular image of the typical Armenian as a successful businessman, at the end of the 19th century 80 per cent of Russian Armenians were still peasants working the land. Relations between the Russian authorities and their new Armenian subjects did not begin smoothly. Since Armenia was on Russia's frontline against the rival empires of the Ottomans and Persians, it was initially treated as a military zone. Until 1840, Russian Armenia
31416-415: The president. Regional policy is directly controlled by the Rahbar, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task limited to protocol and ceremonial occasions. Ambassadors to Arab countries, for example, are chosen by the Quds Force , which directly reports to the Rahbar. The Rahbar can order laws to be amended. Setad was estimated at $ 95 billion in 2013 by Reuters, accounts of which are secret even to
31620-427: The province of Kandahar as a reward for helping him regain his throne. In 1590, profiting from the confusion in Iran, Humayun's successor Akbar seized Kandahar. Abbas continued to maintain cordial relations with the Mughals, even though he pursued the return of Kandahar. Finally, in 1620, a diplomatic incident, in which the Iranian ambassador refused to bow down in front of the Emperor Jahangir , led to war. India
31824-428: The province. In April 1598 he went on the attack. One of the two main cities of the province, Mashhad , was easily recaptured but the Uzbek leader Din Mohammed Khan was safely behind the walls of the other chief city, Herat. Abbas managed to lure the Uzbek army out of the town by feigning a retreat. A bloody battle ensued on 9 August 1598, in the course of which the Uzbek khan was wounded and his troops retreated (the khan
32028-402: The queen's death, Hamza Mirza, aged eleven, was proclaimed crown prince. The Qizilbash found no reason to fear a child. So they took control over the realm while fighting among themselves over the division of power. The conflict was most intense at the court in Qazvin and in Khorasan, where Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu, and his principal ally, Murshid Qoli Khan Ustajlu, had for some time been at war with
32232-430: The region in the seventh century AD, leading to Iran's Islamization . The blossoming literature , philosophy , mathematics , medicine , astronomy and art became major elements for Iranian civilization during the Islamic Golden Age . A series of Iranian Muslim dynasties ended Arab rule, revived the Persian language and ruled the country until the Seljuk and Mongol conquests of the 11th to 14th centuries. In
32436-473: The remaining coast of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz , and Gulf of Oman. Iranian islands are mainly located in the Persian Gulf. Iran has 102 islands in Urmia Lake , 427 in Aras River , several in Anzali Lagoon , Ashurade Island in the Caspian Sea , Sheytan Island in the Oman Sea and other inland islands. Iran has an uninhabited island at the far end of the Gulf of Oman , near Pakistan. A few islands can be visited by tourists. Most are owned by
32640-499: The result that he saw enemies everywhere who had to be eliminated. First and foremost, he began murdering most of the members of Ustajlu tribe regardless of whether or not they had supported Haydar Mirza. He also executed people whose only crime was having held a position during Tahmasp's reign. The young Abbas was directly affected by his uncle's purge when a group of horsemen rushed into his guardian's house, Shah Qoli Sultan, and killed him. Ismail then turned on his family. He ordered
32844-426: The resulting conflict, Abbas first recaptured Nahavand and destroyed the fortress in the city, which the Ottomans had planned to use as an advance base for attacks on Iran. The next year, Abbas pretended he was setting off on a hunting expedition to Mazandaran with his men. This was merely a ruse to deceive the Ottoman spies in his court – his real target was Azerbaijan. He changed course for Qazvin where he assembled
33048-507: The revolutionary nationalists. In January 1912, a total of 159 Armenians were charged with membership of an anti-"Revolutionary" organization. During the revolution Armenian revolutionaries were split into "Old Dashnaks", allied with the Kadets and "Young Dashnaks" aligned with the SRs. To determine the position of Armenians all forms of Armenian national movement put into trial. The entire Armenian intelligentsia, including writers, physicians, lawyers, bankers, and even merchants" on trial. When
33252-424: The rights of Armenians still under Ottoman rule against oppression. However, Russia's Great Power rivals, Great Britain and Austria , had been disturbed at the gains Russia had made at the expense of the Ottomans and pressed for a revision of the treaty. At the Congress of Berlin , amongst other territories, Russia was forced to give up all its Armenian gains except the regions of Kars and Ardahan and Article 16
33456-407: The rights of Armenians within the Russian Empire as well as Ottoman Turkey. Unrest in Transcaucasia, which also included major strikes, reached a climax with the widespread uprisings throughout the Russian Empire known as the 1905 Revolution . 1905 saw a wave of mutinies, strikes and peasant uprisings across imperial Russia and events in Transcaucasia were particularly violent. In Baku, the centre of
33660-414: The second Safavid shah, had realised, by looking at his own empire and that of the neighbouring Ottomans, that he faced ongoing threats from dangerous rival factions and internal family rivalries that were a threat to him as the head of state. If not properly managed, these rivalries represented a serious threat to the ruler or could lead to unnecessary court intrigues. For Tahmasp, the problem revolved around
33864-471: The secretary of the Supreme Council, and the decisions of the council are effective after the confirmation by the Leader. The SNSC formulates nuclear policy, and would become effective if they are confirmed by the Leader. The legislature , known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly (ICA), Iranian Parliament or "Majles", is a unicameral body comprising 290 members elected for four-years. It drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties , and approves
34068-403: The short term at least, for by restoring the Shah's complete control of the provinces formerly governed by the Qizilbash chiefs, the provinces' revenues now supplemented the royal treasury. From now on, government officials collected the taxes and remitted them directly to the royal treasury. In the harem, the Circassians and Georgians rapidly replaced the Turcoman factions and, as a result, gained
34272-417: The sixteenth-century wars with the Ottomans and the early seventeenth-century forced deportations of Armenians from the region by Shah Abbas I . As a result of the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), Iran was forced to cede Iranian Armenia (which also constituted the present-day Armenia ), to the Russians. After the Russian administration took hold of Iranian Armenia,
34476-507: The sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire , one of the largest in ancient history . Alexander the Great conquered the empire in the fourth century BC. An Iranian rebellion established the Parthian Empire in the third century BC and liberated the country, which was succeeded by the Sasanian Empire in the third century AD. Ancient Iran saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, religion and central government. Muslims conquered
34680-414: The soldiers left in Baku, Tbilisi, Kars, and other militias under the Occupation of Turkish Armenia under the civil governor Hakob Zavriev , they did not resist the ongoing reality of these soldiers serving for the other forces. The Congress also selected a fifteen-member permanent executive committee, known as the "Armenian National Council", whose leader was Avetis Aharonyan . This committee’s first task
34884-403: The southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. With a multi-ethnic population of almost 90 million in an area of 1,648,195 km (636,372 sq mi), Iran ranks 17th globally in both geographic size and population . It is the sixth-largest country entirely in Asia and one of the world's most mountainous countries. Officially an Islamic republic , Iran has
35088-457: The streets and the violence spread to the countryside. By the time it was over, an estimated 1,500 Armenians and 700 Azeris were dead. The events of 1905 convinced Tsar Nicholas that he must reverse his policies. He replaced Golitsin with the Armenophile governor Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov and returned the property of the Armenian Church. Gradually order was restored and the Armenian bourgeoisie once more began to distance itself from
35292-546: The support of the Ustajlu tribe and the powerful court Georgians. However, he was immediately overthrown and killed by the qurchis (the royal bodyguards). After his death, with the support of the majority of the Qizilbash tribes and the endorsement of Tahmasp's influential daughter, Pari Khan Khanum , Ismail Mirza, who had been imprisoned by his father for twenty years, was crowned king as Ismail II . The new king's reign turned out to be short and murderous. The long years of imprisonment had left him suffering from paranoia, with
35496-521: The throne in 1894, continued his father 's policy of Russification. Anti-Armenian feeling among the Georgians and Azeris of Transcaucasia was also on the rise, inflamed by the editor of the official newspaper Kavkaz ("Caucasus"), V.L. Velichko , who was an ardent Russian chauvinist. In 1897, Tsar Nicholas appointed the Armenophobic Grigory Sergeyevich Golitsin as governor of Transcaucasia, and Armenian schools, cultural associations, newspapers and libraries were closed. Armenian nationalism as practised by
35700-429: The throne. After learning that Mohammad Khodabanda had left Qazvin to confront rebels in the south, Murshid Qoli Khan decided to strike. During the first ten days of Ramadan 1586, Abbas, his guardian and a small escort of not more than a few hundred horsemen, decided to ride towards Qazvin. As they rode along the Silk Road, Qizilbash amirs from the powerful Takkalu, Afshar and Zul al-Qadr tribes, who controlled many of
35904-427: The throne. This competition increased under Abbas and his successors which weakened the dynasty considerably. Abbas' own son and crown prince , Mohammad Baqer Mirza , was caught in the court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, which eventually led to him being executed under Abbas' orders. Though the ghulam system did not work as well as it had after the Safavids, the third force would continue to play
36108-466: The time of the revolution, the Armenians believed that the government would agree to defend them. To help out, the Provisional Government began replacing Russian troops, whose commitment to continued fighting was in doubt, with Armenian ones on the Caucasian front. But as 1917 went on the Provisional Government lost support among Russian soldiers and workers and much of the army melted away from Transcaucasia. The Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 forced
36312-410: The tribune finished its work, 64 charges were dropped and the rest were either imprisoned or exiled for varying periods. The years between the 1905 Revolution and World War I saw a rapprochement between most Armenians and the Russian authorities. Russia became concerned when her enemy Germany began drawing closer to the Ottoman Empire , which led the Russians to take a renewed interest in the welfare of
36516-445: The tsar's subjects - as an untrustworthy people prone to revolutionary conspiracy led the Russians to introduce policies which produced the very thing they were aimed at preventing, as Armenians turned more and more towards new nationalist movements. Russification began in earnest in 1885, when the Viceroy of the Caucasus, Dondukov-Korsakov , ordered the closure of all Armenian parish schools and their replacement by Russian ones. Though
36720-429: The tsarist regime was overthrown by a revolution in Saint Petersburg. Russian Armenians greeted the new government with enthusiasm, hoping it would secure Ottoman Armenia for them. The issue of the continuation of the war was a highly contentious one amongst the political parties of the new Russia, with most favouring a "democratic peace"; but since the provinces of Ottoman Armenia were under Russian military occupation at
36924-449: The two allied kings subsequently sought refuge in the Ottoman vassal Imeretia . Abbas, as reported by the Safavid court historian Iskander Beg Munshi , was infuriated by what was perceived as the defection of two of his most trusted subjects and gholams . He deported 30,000 Kakhetian peasants to Iran, and appointed a grandson of Alexander II of Imereti to the throne of Kartli, Jesse of Kakheti (also known as "Isā Khān"). Raised up at
37128-410: The war efforts and the relief and repatriation of refugees. The council passed a law to organise the defense of the Caucasus against the Ottoman Empire using the vast quantity of supplies and ammunition left over from the departure of the Russian army. The congress specifically devised a local control and administrative structure for Transcaucasia. Even if the Congress did not devise specific solutions for
37332-520: The west part. The UN Resident Coordinator for Iran, has said that " Water scarcity poses the most severe human security challenge in Iran today". To the west, settlements in the Zagros basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with freezing average daily temperatures and heavy snowfall. The east and central basins are arid, with less than 200 mm (7.9 in) of rain and have occasional deserts. Average summer temperatures rarely exceed 38 °C (100.4 °F). The southern coastal plains of
37536-453: The world and many had set up base within Russia. In 1778, Catherine the Great resettled ( It was a forced deportation where many Armenians and Greeks were killed ) Armenian merchants from the Crimea to Russia and they established a settlement at Nor Nakhichevan near Rostov-on-Don . The Russian ruling classes welcomed the Armenians' entrepreneurial skills as a boost to the economy, but they also regarded them with some suspicion. The image of
37740-411: The world's focal point of Shia Islam . The Iranian economy is the world's 23rd-largest by PPP . Iran is a founding member of the United Nations , OIC , OPEC , and ECO as well as a current member of the NAM , SCO , and BRICS . Iran is home to 28 UNESCO World Heritage Sites , the 10th highest in the world, and ranks 5th in Intangible Cultural Heritage , or human treasures. The term Iran '
37944-451: The world's longest caves. Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from arid and semi-arid , to subtropical along the Caspian coast and northern forests. On the north edge of the country, temperatures rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid. Summer temperatures rarely exceed 29 °C (84.2 °F). Annual precipitation is 680 mm (26.8 in) in the east part of the plain and more than 1,700 mm (66.9 in) in
38148-454: Was Russia who supported the status quo in western Armenia, with the British urging improvement in conditions for Christians in the region. The Russian authorities were disturbed by revolutionary Armenian nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire and feared their links with eastern Armenians would increase subversion within Russian Transcaucasia too. The tsarist regime cracked down on any attempt by Russian Armenians to engage in action across
38352-415: Was a separate administrative unit, the Armenian Oblast , but it was then merged into other Transcaucasian provinces with no regard to its national identity. Things improved when Nerses Ashtaraketsi was recalled from Bessarabia and made Catholicos of the Armenian Church in 1843. Moreover, Mikhail Vorontsov , who ruled Russian Armenia as Viceroy of the Caucasus between 1845 and 1854, was highly sympathetic to
38556-452: Was briefly referred to as "Free Vaspurakan", and after an Ottoman advance in June 1915. With the Ottoman advance in June 1915 250,000 Armenians from Van and the neighbouring region of Alashkerd retreated to the Russian frontier. Russian Transcaucasia was flooded with refugees from the massacres. While it scored military successes against the Turks, the Russian war machine began to disintegrate on its front against Germany and in February 1917
38760-402: Was elected to office. Iran has an area of 1,648,195 km (636,372 sq mi). It is the sixth-largest country entirely in Asia and the second-largest in West Asia. It lies between latitudes 24° and 40° N , and longitudes 44° and 64° E . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia (35 km or 22 mi), the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan (179 km or 111 mi), and
38964-433: Was embroiled in civil turmoil and Abbas realized that he needed just a lightning raid to take back the far easternmost town of Kandahar in 1622. After the conquest, he was very conciliatory to Jahangir, claiming he had only taken back what was rightly his and disavowing any further territorial ambitions. Jahangir was not appeased but he was unable to recapture the province. A childhood friend of Abbas, named Ganj Ali Khan ,
39168-401: Was hiding at a crossroads on the way and they ambushed the Ottoman army in a battle, which ended in complete victory for the Iranians. In 1623, Abbas decided to take back Mesopotamia, which had been lost by his grandfather Tahmasp through the Ottoman-Safavid War (1532–1555) . Profiting from the confusion surrounding the accession of the new Ottoman Sultan Murad IV , he pretended to be making
39372-553: Was known for his hardline views, nuclearisation, and hostility towards Israel , Saudi Arabia , the UK , the US and other states. He was the first president to be summoned by the parliament to answer questions regarding his presidency. In 2013, centrist and reformist Hassan Rouhani was elected president. In domestic policy, he encouraged personal freedom, free access to information, and improved women's rights. He improved Iran's diplomatic relations through exchanging conciliatory letters. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
39576-445: Was murdered by his own men during the retreat). However, during the battle, Farhad Khan had fled after being wounded and was later accused of fleeing due to cowardice. He was nevertheless forgiven by Abbas, who wanted to appoint him as the governor of Herat, which Farhad Khan refused. According to Oruch Beg, Farhad Khan's refusal made Abbas feel that he had been insulted. Due to Farhad Khan's arrogant behaviour and his suspected treason, he
39780-414: Was preoccupied with pushing the Ottomans out of Tabriz . However, he became caught up in the rivalries between the Qizilbash tribes and angered his officers by executing the Qizilbash governor of Azarbaijan . On 5 December 1586, he was assassinated by his personal barber, who may have had been bribed by a group of Qizilbash conspirators. This assassination provided a pathway for Abbas' ascension. In
39984-508: Was reached in Vienna in 2015, between Iran, the P5+1 ( UN Security Council + Germany) and the EU. The negotiations centered around ending the economic sanctions in exchange for Iran's restriction in producing enriched uranium . In 2018, however, the US under Trump Administration withdrew from the deal and new sanctions were imposed. This nulled the economic provisions, left the agreement in jeopardy, and brought Iran to nuclear threshold status . In 2020, IRGC general, Qasem Soleimani ,
40188-436: Was replaced by the "meaningless" Article 61, which stated that reforms need only be carried out in the Ottoman Armenian provinces after the Russian army had withdrawn. After the assassination of the reform-minded Tsar Alexander II in 1881, the attitude of the Russian authorities towards the national minorities of the empire changed dramatically. The new tsar, Alexander III , was ultra-conservative in outlook and wanted to create
40392-437: Was seen as a threat to Abbas, so Abbas had him executed. Abbas then converted Gilan and Mazandaran into the crown domain ( khasseh ), and appointed Allahverdi Khan as the new commander-in-chief of the Safavid army. By 1599, Abbas had conquered not only Herat and Mashhad, but had moved as far east as Balkh . This would be a short-lived victory and he would eventually have to settle on controlling only some of this conquest after
40596-485: Was the daughter of Mir Abdollah II, a local ruler in the province of Mazandaran from the Mar'ashi dynasty who claimed descent from the fourth Shi'ia imam, Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin . She and Mohammad Khodabanda had already two children before Abbas, Hassan and Hamza , and she gave birth to two more sons later: Abu Taleb and Tahmasp. When Abbas was barely eighteen months old, he was separated from his father and his mother, who were transferred by Tahmasp to govern
40800-478: Was the largest drone strike in history, biggest missile attack in Iranian history, its first ever direct attack on Israel and the first time since 1991 , Israel was directly attacked by a state force. This occurred during heightened tensions amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip . In May 2024, President Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash , and Iran held a presidential election in June, when reformist and former Minister of Health , Masoud Pezeshkian ,
41004-423: Was then appointed as the governor of the city, which he would govern until his death in 1624/5. During the 16th century, the Portuguese had established bases in the Persian Gulf . In 1602, the Iranian army under the command of Imam Quli Khan Undiladze managed to expel the Portuguese from Bahrain . In 1622, with the help of four English ships, Abbas retook Hormuz from the Portuguese. He replaced it as
41208-423: Was to free himself from the power of Murshid Qoli Khan. Murshid made Abbas marry Hamza's widow and a Safavid cousin, and began distributing important government posts among his own friends, gradually confining Abbas to the palace. Meanwhile, the Uzbeks continued their conquest of Khorasan. When Abbas heard they were besieging his old friend Ali Qoli Khan Shamlu in Herat, he pleaded with Murshid to take action. Fearing
41412-412: Was to set the stage for the declaration of the First Republic of Armenia . The major problem confronting the new state was the advancing Ottoman army, which by now had recaptured much of western Armenia, but the interests of the three peoples were very different. For obvious reasons, defence against the invading army was of paramount importance to the Armenians, while the Muslim Azeris were sympathetic to
41616-464: Was to the shah. By 1595, Allahverdi Khan , a Georgian , had become one of the most powerful men in the Safavid state when he was appointed the Governor-General of Fars , one of the richest provinces in Persia. His power reached its peak in 1598, when he became the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces. Not only did the ghulam system allow the shah to control and manage the rival Qizilbash Turks and Persians, it also resolved budgetary problems, in
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