What Do You Really Know About Iran?
From Persia to the Islamic Republic: the history, wars and economy Americans often see only through the headlines
For many Americans, Iran is largely a geopolitical headline.
Nuclear weapons. Ayatollahs. Israel. Hostages. Oil. Sanctions. Protests. Missiles. The Strait of Hormuz.
But Iran is much more complicated than the country that appears in the evening news.
It is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, a country of more than 80 million people, with enormous energy resources, a large domestic market, an educated population and a history that long predates both the United States and the modern Middle East.
To understand today’s Iran — and why decades of sanctions and war have not produced the political outcome Washington expected — we need to go back much further than 1979.
1. Iran did not begin with the Islamic Revolution
Iran is not simply a modern state created by the Islamic Republic.
Its historical identity goes back thousands of years to the Persian civilizations that built some of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.
The name “Persia” was historically used in the West, while Iran is the country’s own historical name.
The Persian empires controlled enormous territories across the Middle East and Central Asia and developed sophisticated administrative, commercial and cultural systems.
This historical memory still matters.
Modern Iranian nationalism is not based exclusively on Islam or the Islamic Republic.
It also draws on a much older Persian identity.
That distinction is essential when trying to understand why Iranian nationalism can remain powerful even among people who strongly criticize their own government.
2. Iran became a modern geopolitical power
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Iran found itself between competing Russian and British interests.