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Formerly known as Persia, Iran is adopted as the country's official name.
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The Shah's pro-Axis allegiance in World War II leads to the Anglo-Russian occupation of Iran and the deposition of the Shah in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
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Ali Razmara becomes prime minister and is assassinated less than nine months later. He is succeeded by the nationalist, Mohammad Mossadeq.
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April - Parliament votes to nationalise the oil industry, which is dominated by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Britain imposes an embargo and a blockade, halting oil exports and hitting the economy.
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August - Mossadeq is overthrown in a coup engineered by the British and American intelligence services. General Fazlollah Zahedi is proclaimed as prime minister and the Shah returns.
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January - The Shah embarks on a campaign to modernise and westernise the country. He launches the 'White Revolution', a programme of land reform and social and economic modernisation. During the late 1960's the Shah became increasingly dependent on the secret police (SAVAK) in controlling those opposition movements critical of his reforms.
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September - The Shah's policies alienate the clergy and his authoritarian rule leads to riots, strikes and mass demonstrations. Martial law is imposed.
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January - As the political situation deteriorates, the Shah and his family are forced into exile.
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1 February - The Islamic fundamentalist, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, returns to Iran following 14 years of exile in Iraq and France for opposing the regime.
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1 April - The Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed following a referendum.
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4 November - Islamic militants take 52 Americans hostage inside the US embassy in Tehran. They demand the extradition of the Shah, in the US at the time for medical treatment, to face trial in Iran.
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January - Abolhasan Bani-Sadr is elected the first president of the Islamic Republic. His government begins work on a major nationalization programme.
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July - The exiled Shah dies of cancer in Egypt.
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22 September - Start of Iran-Iraq war which lasts for eight years.
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January - The American hostages are released ending 444 days in captivity.
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June - Bani-Sadr is dismissed, he later flees to France.
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After the US and Soviet Union halted arms supplies, the US attempted to win the release of hostages in Lebanon by offering secret arms deals, this would later become known as the Iran-Contra affair.
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July - Iran accepts a ceasefire agreement with Iraq following negotiations in Geneva under the aegis of the UN.
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July - 290 passengers and the crew of an Iran Air Airbus are mistakenly shot down by the USS Vincennes.
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February - Ayatollah Khomeini issues a religious edict (fatwa) ordering Muslims to kill British author, Salman Rushdie, for his novel, 'The Satanic Verses', considered blasphemous to Islam.
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Ayatollah Khomeini dies. On 4 June, President Khamene'i is appointed as new supreme leader.
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August - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani is sworn in as the new president.
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November - The US releases 567 million dollars of frozen Iranian assets.
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June - A major earthquake strikes Iran, killing approximately 40,000 people.
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Iran remains neutral following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
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Iran and Irag resume diplomatic ties.
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US imposes oil and trade sanctions over Iran's alleged sponsorship of "terrorism", seeking to acquire nuclear arms and hostility to the Middle East process. Iran denies the charges.
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May - Mohammad Khatami wins the presidential election with 70% of the vote, beating the conservative ruling elite.
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September - Iran deploys thousands of troops on its border with Afghanistan after the Taleban admits killing eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist in Mazar-e Sharif.
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July - Pro-democracy students at Tehran University demonstrate following the closure of the reformist newspaper 'Salam'. Clashes with security forces lead to six days of rioting and the arrest of more than 1,000 students.
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April - The judiciary, following the adoption of a new press law, bans the publication of 16 reformist newspapers.
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February - Majlis elections. Liberals and supporters of Khatami wrest control of parliament from conservatives for the first time.
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June - President Khatami re-elected.
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January - US President George Bush describes Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil", warning of the proliferation of long-range missiles being developed in these countries. The speech causes outrage in Iran and is condemned by reformists and conservatives alike.
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September - Russian technicians begin construction of Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr despite strong objections from US.
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June - Thousands attend student-led protests in Tehran against clerical establishment.
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September - UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, gives Tehran weeks to prove it is not pursuing an atomic weapons programme.
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October - US announces sweeping new sanctions against Iran, the toughest since it first imposed sanctions almost 30 years ago.
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December - A new US intelligence report plays down the perceived nuclear threat posed by Iran.
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May - IAEA says Iran is still withholding information on its nuclear programme.
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November - Parliament votes to dismiss the interior minister, Ali Kordan, who admitted that a degree he said he held from Oxford University was fake. The move is a blow to President Ahmadinejad ahead of next year's presidential election.
Disputed election -
December - Police raid and close the office of a human rights group led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. Officials say the centre is acting as an illegal political organization.
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February - Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he would welcome talks with the US as long as they are based on "mutual respect".
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March - Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tells anti-Israel rally that US President Obama is following the "same misguided track" in Middle East as President Bush.
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September - Iran admits that it is building a uranium enrichment plant near Qom, but insists it is for peaceful purposes.
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June - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is declared to have won a resounding victory in the 12 June presidential election. The rival candidates challenge the result, alleging vote-rigging. Their supporters take to the streets, and at least 30 people are killed and more than 1,000 arrested in the wave of protests that follow.
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June - Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani wins presidential election, gaining just over 50% of the vote.
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September - President Rouhani tells US broadcaster NBC that Iran will never build nuclear weapons, and repeats offer of "time-bound and results-oriented" talks on the nuclear question in his address to the UN General Assembly.
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January - World powers and Iran begin implementing a deal on Iran's nuclear programme following intense talks in Geneva.
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June - President Rouhani says Iran is ready to assist the Iraqi government in its battle against extremist Sunni insurgents, amid reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are in Iraq providing military training and advice.
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July - After years of negotiations, world powers reach deal with Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for lifting of international economic sanctions. The deal reportedly gives UN nuclear inspectors extensive but not automatic access to Iranian sites.
