Iran since the Islamic Revolution


Feb 11, 1979: U.S.- backed Shah’s government falls, 10 days after triumphant return from exile of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (above). Islamic Republic is proclaimed on April 1

Nov 4, 1979, hostage crisis: Pro-Khomeini students take 52 Americans hostage at U.S. embassy in Tehran.
Hostages held in captivity for 444 days

1980-1988, Iran-Iraq war: Iraq invades Iran. Eight-year war kills estimated 500,000 Iraqi and Iranian troops

Oct 1983: Iran-backed Hezbollah bombs U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 service personnel

1989: Pragmatic conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani becomes president – central figure in reforming regime

1995: U.S. President Bill Clinton imposes total trade and financial embargo on Iran, claiming Tehran backs terrorism

Jun 1996: Hezbollah bombs U.S. Air Force housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Americans

1999: Political stand-off between reformist President Mohammad Khatami (inset) and conservatives leads to violent protests

2001: Iran and Saudi Arabia sign security pact

2002: U.S. President George W. Bush places Iran on list of “axis of evil” states, with Iraq and North Korea. Washington cites Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear weapons programme

2005-2013, Ahmadinejad era: Ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected president. His nuclear brinksmanship triggers crippling UN sanctions

2009: Iran begins backing Yemen’s Houthi rebels with money, training, and arms shipments. Conflict becomes proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia

2011: Iran deploys Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to Syria to preserve President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power

2012: Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah takes direct combat role in Syria to support Assad regime

2013: U.S. President Barack Obama and newly elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (above) speak by telephone – highest-level contact in three decades

2015: Deal with world powers on Iran’s nuclear programme gives Tehran relief from sanctions

2018: U.S. President Donald Trump announces withdrawal from 2015 nuclear deal. Iran continues to develop non-nuclear ballistic missiles
------------------------

Sanaa
Ankara
TURKEY 
SYRIA
IRAQ 
JORDAN
Beirut
LEBANON
Cairo
EGYPT
Dhahran Riyadh
SAUDI ARABIA
UAE
TURKMENISTAN
Tehran
IRAN
CASPIAN
RED SEA
GULF
OMAN
YEMEN
ARABIAN SEA
Extent of Iranian proxy power

-----------------------------

Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images    © GRAPHIC NEWS
Sources: Brookings, London School of Economics, Understanding War