Tehran

By aaleyiah

  • First Russo-Persain War

    This war lasted from 1804-1813.

  • War eventually lost to Russia, with loss of territory.

    This lasted from 1813-1828

  • Constitutional Revolution. Dabashi calls this event the beginning of modern Iran, when the absolute monarchy becomes a constitutional monarchy (71).

    This lasted from 1906-1911

  • Dabashi says of the university: “Tehran University would of course also function as the secular counterpart of religious seminaries in Qom and Mashhad – thus there were now two, diametrically opposed, educational systems, one almost exclusively under the

    This was in 1934:Establishment of Tehran University, modern and secular.

  • Veiling of women in public is banned by the Shah.

    This was in 1936

  • Second Pahlavi monarch, age 22, occupies the throne after his father is exiled to South Africa. Dabashi says of this transition: “The flirtation of Reza Shah with the Axis powers resulted in the Allied occupation of Iran soon after the war began, and he

    This was in 1941

  • Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran; they promise Iran national sovereignty (Dabashi 124).

    This was in 1943

  • Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddeq nationalizes the Iranian oil industry, which foments a power struggle with the Shah. Dabashi notes that this is a time when anticolonial movements are active in the region, Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Nasser in Egypt (127).

    This was in 1951

  • The US CIA engineers a coup (led by Kermit Roosevelt) that removes Prime Minister Mosaddeq, and brings the Shah back to power. Dabashi notes that Iran served as a crucial logistical base for the American military during the US involvement in the Vietnam W

    This was in 1953

  • The Shah establishes SAVAK, the secret police that act against political dissenters.

    This was in 1958

  • The White Revolution, initiated by the Shah and supported by President Kennedy, implements further secularization.

    This was in 1963

  • Ayatollah Khomeini, now Shi’ite leader, challenges the Shah, only to be arrested and exiled to Iraq.

    this was in 1963

  • The Shah celebrates 2500 years of Persian monarchy.

    This was in 1971

  • Siahkal uprising, armed struggle against the Shah by socialists.

    This was in 1971

  • Iran doesn’t participate in the Arab oil embargo, which means tremendous profits for the Shah.

    This was in 1973

  • President Jimmy Carter on a visit to Iran proclaims Iran “an island of stability in an otherwise troubled Middle East” (Dabashi 157).

    This was in 1977

  • Increasing large public demonstrations against the Shah signify opposition of urban guerrilla movements and the clerics. On “Black Friday” in September the Shah’s army opens fire on protesters, killing and wounding many. In October Khomeini flies to Fra

    This was in 1978

  • , a million Iranians celebrate in Tehran, calling for the formation of an Islamic republic and the return of Khomeini.

    This was in 1979

  • The rule of the first Pahlavi monarch comes about as a result of a military coup in 1921 supported by the British. Reza Shah crowned himself on April 25, 1926. Reza Shah was determined to modernize Iran, looking to imitate Ataturk’s modernization of Tur

    This lasted from 1925-1979:Rule of the Pahlavi Royal Family (Reza Shah and son Muhammad Reza Shah)

  • The Shah leaves the country on January 16 for Egypt, Morocco, the Bahamas, Mexico, and then the US, where he undergoes treatment for cancer. He eventually settles in Egypt, where he dies on July 27, 1980.Dabashi: “Iran’s status as a client of the United

    This was in 1979

  • The Islamic Republic

    This was in 1979

  • Khomeini returns in triumph to Iran and appoints Mehdi Bazargan prime minister for a provisional government while the Islamic constitution is drafted.

    This was in 1979

  • Militant students seize the American embassy in Tehran and hold 52 American diplomats hostage there for 444 days. A US attempt to rescue the hostages on April 24, 1980, results in humiliating catastrophe when the American helicopters and planes crash in

    This was in 1979

  • , the first Iranian president, Abu al-Hassan Bani-Sadr, is inaugurated. He’ll be dismissed and exiled by Khomeini in June 1981.

    This was in 1980

  • In September, Saddam Hussein invades Iran, with the support of the US, Europe, and the Soviet Union. This is the beginning of the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.Consider the other upheaval in the region: The Russians invade Afghanistan Military coup in Pakista

    This was in 1980

  • “The shah’s tyranny seemed pathetic in comparison to the violence Khomeini inflicted on the nation. He ordered the swift and brutal execution of anyone who even seemed to challenge his vision of an Islamic republic. Old army officers and aging former po

    This was in 1980

  • “This was a national liberation movement that arose from a multiplicity of economic, social, and ideological sources and aspirations. One particularly powerful and merciless Islamist faction ultimately managed (shrewdly and brutally) to outmaneuver all

    This was in 1980

  • accepts a UN-sponsored peace treaty that ends the war with Iraq.

    This was in 1988

  • Khomeini dies and is succeeded by Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani becomes president, serving until 1997.

    This was in 1989

  • Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, First Gulf War (1990-1991), repulsed by American forces.

    This was in 1990

  • Mohammed Khatami elected president, serving until 2004.

  • President Bush designates Iran, along with Syria and North Korea, as the Axis of Evil.

  • the US invades Iraq.

    This was in 2003

  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad becomes president of Iran. Dabashi calls him a populist candidate, supported by the poor and also by the militant Islamists (221). Dabashi on women in Iran: He is scathing in his contempt for Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, w

    This happened in 2005