Iran Events

856 Dec 22 Damghan Earthquake
The Damghan Earthquake was an earthquake of magnitude 8.0, that struck a 200-mile (320 km) stretch of Iran on 22 December, 856 A.D. The earthquake's epicenter was said to be directly belo...
1502
to 1722
Safavid Dynasty of Iran
The Safavids (Persian: صفویان; Azerbaijani: صفوی‌لر) were one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled the greatest Iranian empire since the Islamic conquest of Persia...
1597
to 1629
Abbas I reigns as shah of Safavid Empire
Shāh ‘Abbās the Great or Shāh ‘Abbās I (Persian: شاه عباس بزرگ) (born January 27, 1571; died January 19, 1629) was Shah (king) of Iran, and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He w...
1882 May 19 Mohammad Mosaddeq is born
Mohammad Mosaddeq (Persian: محمد مصدق, pronounced [mohæmmæde mosæddeq] ( listen),[add stress] also Mosaddegh, Mossadegh, or Musaddiq) (19 May 1882 – 5 March 1967) was the Prime Minister o...
1951 Mohammad Mosaddeq is named Time Magazine's Man of the Year
For his sudden rise in popularity inside and outside of Iran, his defiance of the British, and his fight for democracy, Mosaddeq was named as Time Magazine's 1951 Man of the Year. Other n...
1951 Mar 7 Iranian Prime Minister Haj Ali Razmara is assassinated
On March 7, 1951, Razmara went to a mosque for a memorial service. The police opened a corridor through the inner courtyard for the Prime Minister. The assassin, in the crowd, fired three...
1951 Apr 28 Iranian Majlis (Parliament) elect Mohammad Mosaddeq as Prime Minister
On 28 April 1951, the Majlis (Parliament of Iran) named Mosaddeq as new prime minister by a vote of 79–12. Aware of Mosaddeq's rising popularity and political power, the young Shah appoin...
1951 May 1 Mohammad Mosaddeq nationalizes Iran's oil
On 1 May, Mosaddeq nationalized the AIOC, cancelling its oil concession due to expire in 1993 and expropriating its assets. The next month a committee of five majlis deputies was sent to ...
1953 Aug 19 1953 coup d'etat in Iran
The 1953 Iranian coup d’état deposed the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq. The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) overthrew t...
1976 Sep 19 1976 Tehran UFO Incident
At about 0030 hours, the Imperial Iranian Air Force command post at Tehran received four telephone reports from citizens in the Shemiran (north of Tehran). Some of the callers reported se...
1978 Aug 20 Cinema Rex Fire
On August 20, 1978, in the Cinema Rex fire, the Cinema Rex in Abadan, Iran, was set ablaze, killing over 400 individuals. The ruling shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, said that Islamic mili...
1978 Sep 16 Tabas Earthquake
The earthquake was centered about 600 kilometers southeast of Tehran in the vicinity of Tabas. The death toll was about 15,000, many were injured, and damage was extensive. Tabas had the ...
1979 Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (Also known as the Islamic Revolution or 1979 Islamic Revolution , Persian: انقلاب اسلامی, Enghelābe Eslāmi) refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's mona...
1979 Feb 1 Ayatollah Khomeini Returns to Iran After 15 Years of Exile
From the perspective of nearly 2 1/2 decades, the success of the Islamic revolution in Iran and its monumental impact across the Islamic world may appear to have been inevitable. It se...
1979 Nov 4 Iran Hostage Crisis Begins - Iranian Militants Seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran
TEHRAN, Iran - Hundreds of Iranian school students bused in for the occasion crowded outside the former U.S. Embassy on Monday, burning American flags and chanting slogans to commemorate ...
1979 Nov 14 President Carter Issues Executive Order 12170
In the United States, the hostage-taking is said to have created "a surge of patriotism" and left "the American people more united than they have been on any issue in two decades." The ac...
1980 Jan 27 'Canadian Caper' Covert Operation Succeeds in Rescuing Six American Diplomats
On January 27, 1980, the American diplomats, now travelling on Canadian passports, boarded a flight for Zürich, Switzerland, at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. They arrived in the friendly nat...
1980 Apr 24 Operation Eagle Claw Begins
Operation Eagle Claw (or Operation Evening Light) was a United States military operation that attempted to rescue 52 American hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran on 24 April 19...
1980 Sep 12 Ayatollah Khomeini Announces Conditions for Release of Hostages
The beginning of the end of the Iran hostage crisis occurred on September 12th, 1980, as Ayatollah Khomeini announced four conditions for the release of the hostages. The conditions we...
1980 Sep 18 First Aircraft Test Flight through Operation Credible Sport
The test bed aircraft (74-2065) was ready for its first test flight on September 18, 1980, just three weeks after the project was initiated. The first fully modified aircraft, AF Serial N...
1980 Sep 22 Iraq Invades Iran
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes, and fears ...
1981 Jan 19 Iran Hostage Crisis Ends with the Signing of the Algiers Accords
On January 20, 1981, as Ronald Reagan became President, the hostages were flown from Teheran to Europe, and on to New York. The crisis was over. The lasting effects of the crisis we...
1988 Aug 20 Iran and Iraq Declare Cease-Fire
US threatened to impose sanctions against Iran if it did not accept the ceasefire the next day. American vessels an also attacked Iranian vessel laying mines in the Persian Gulf and sank ...
1990 Jun 21 Manjil-Rudbar Earthquake of 1990
The Iran Earthquake, also known as the Manjil-Rudbar Earthquake occurred at 00:30:09 on June 21, 1990 . It caused widespread damage in areas within a one hundred kilometer radius of the e...
2003 Feb 20 Passengers of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Die in Plane Crash
The 284 members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard and 18 crew members on the plane were confirmed dead -- making the crash Iran's worst ever and one of the highest death tolls in avia...
2003 Dec 10 Shirin Ebadi is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
On October 10 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. The selection commi...
2003 Dec 26 Bam Earthquake of 2003
Tragedy hit Iran on 26 December 2003 when a major earthquake registering 6.5 on the Richter scale hit its south-eastern province of Kerman at 05:28 (local time). The area most affected wa...
2008 Aug 24 Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895 Crashes
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 6895, an Itek Air Boeing 737-219 Advanced (registered as EX-009), was a charter flight operated on behalf of Iran Aseman Airlines which crashed on 24 August 20...
2009 Jun 12 Iran Holds Tenth Presidential Election, Pitting Conservative Incumbent Ahmadinejad Against Reformer, Mousavi
The 2009 Iranian presidential election was held on 12 June 2009 in Iran, the tenth presidential election to be held in the country.The President of Iran is the highest official elected by...
2009 Jun 12 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Is Reelected As The President Of Iran
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدی نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadinezhād Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Clean.ogg mæhmuːd-e æhmædiː-neʒɒːd (help·info); born 28 October 1956) is the sixth and current Pres...
2009 Jun 14 Protestors in London Gather to Oppose Iranian Election Results
Protests were organized outside the United Nations in New York City; in front of the Iranian embassies in Paris, Berlin, London, and Iranian consulate in Sydney; and in a public square in...
2009 Jun 14 Protests in Iran Turn Violent Following Election Fraud Allegations
By June 14 the protests had grown considerably and had become more violent. Burning buses and trash cans and parked cars blocked streets and highways in Tehran and routes leading into the...
2009 Jun 15 Protestors Against Iranian Elections Dispersed by Police in Kuala Lumpur
Malaysian police have fired tear gas to disperse about 500 Iranian students who staged a protest over the results of their home country's disputed election. The demonstrators gathered ...
2009 Jun 15 Reformist Candidate Mousavi Makes Public Appearance in Tehran Amid Continuing Violent Protests
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi is not optimistic about his appeal to a legislative body for the cancellation of last week's election result, his website said o...
2009 Jun 16 Opposition Candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi Demands New Election
[Iran's leaders] received a resounding refusal [of an offer to conduct a partial recount] — first from reformist politicians who said they would accept only a new election and then on the...
2009 Jun 16 Protesters Rally in Streets of Tehran as University Professors Resign in Response to State Violence
A sit-in by students from the Tehran University in protest to the brutal suppression of fellow students, in particular during the recent dormitory raid, continues in the university mosque...
2009 Jun 17 Defeated Presidential Candidate Mohsen Rezaei Writes to Interior Ministry Demanding Release of Detailed Election Results
Defeated presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei has given the Interior Ministry an ultimatum to release the detailed election results. In a letter to Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahso...
2009 Jun 17 Protests Against Iranian Election Results Continue in New York City
Demonstrators gathered in New York City's Union Square Wednesday evening in support of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. The rally attracted about 700 people - a far cry f...
2009 Jun 17 Reform Candidate Mousavi Stages Silent Protest in Tehran Against Alleged Election Fraud
A peaceful, nearly silent rally by supporters of failed presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi has begun at Tehran's Hafte Tir Square. Protesters were heading toward the University...
2009 Jun 18 Protesters in London Continue Demonstration Against Iranian Election Results
Protestors are expected to gather again outside the Iranian embassy in London this evening as the political crisis in Iran continues. Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was def...
2009 Jun 18 Protests of Iranian Election Irregularities Intensify in Paris
Several dozen journalists and the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) staged a protest rally outside the Iranian embassy in Paris on Thursday to demand an end to media restrict...
2009 Jun 18 Slain Protesters are Mourned as Demonstrations Against Voting Irregularities Continue in Tehran
More than 100,000 people have attended a "day of mourning" rally in Tehran to remember eight people killed while opposing Iran's election result. The rally was called by presidential c...
2009 Jun 19 Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Blames Foreign Media for Doubts of Election Results and Warns of Violence if Protests Continue
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly cut off any compromise over the nation’s disputed elections on Friday. In a long and hard-line sermon, he declared the elections val...
2009 Jun 19 Opposition Candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi Claims Headquarters Ransacked by Plainclothes Police Officers
Mousavi spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf said "Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers" with many staffers arrested, and Mousavi himself ordered by the Revolutionary...
2009 Jun 20 Iranian Woman, Identified as Neda Soltani, Dies On Camera During Protests
I have just seen a very heartbreaking video footage of an Iranian girl after she was shot during a protest in Iran. Iran is in turmoil now and people would like to change the system. The ...
2009 Jun 21 Five Relatives of Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani Arrested in Tehran
A backstage struggle among Iran's ruling clerics burst into the open Sunday when the government said it had arrested the daughter and other relatives of an ayatollah who is one of the cou...
2009 Jun 21 Iran's Guardian Council Announces that Voting Irregularities Occurred
Iran's Guardian Council has suggested that the number of votes collected in 50 cities surpass the number of people eligible to cast ballot in those areas. The council's Spokesman Abbas...
2009 Jun 21 Newsweek Announces the Detainment of Reporter, Maziar Bahari, by Iranian Authorities
On Sunday morning in Tehran, Newsweek's Maziar Bahari was detained without charge by Iranian authorities and has not been heard from since. Mr. Bahari is a Canadian citizen and a renowned...
2009 Jun 22 Iranian Government Spokesman Claims West Actively Spreading "Anarchy and Vandalism" in Iran
A spokesman said foreign media were "mouthpieces" of enemy governments seeking Iran's disintegration. He spoke as Tehran remained tense but quiet amid heavy security aimed at preventin...
2009 Jun 22 Iran's Guardian Council Claims Voting Irregularities not Significant Enough to Affect Results
Iran's election authority has rejected claims of voting irregularities by a defeated presidential candidate, while acknowledging that the number of ballots cast in dozens of cities exceed...