History UsefulNotes / Iran

** Their premier enemy is [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates the United States of America]]. The reason they have such a bitter feud is a long, complicated story, beginning with conflicts over Britain's sphere of interest over Southern Iran in the Victorian Era and US backing of it, to an invasion in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, to ending a [[GambitPileup complicated standoff]] by overthrowing the popular, relatively liberal Prime Minister in 1953 (who wished to nationalize his country's oil when it was a hot strategic commodity, resulting in his group [[DealWithTheDevil making cause with the Soviets even if he personally disliked Communism]]) and re-instituting the authoritarian but pro-Western monarchy of the Shah. When the Islamic Revolution came around, Iranians took the American Embassy diplomats hostage for 444 days (and as ''Film/{{Argo}}'' told - with [[AmericaSavesTheDay some]] [[ArtisticLicenseHistory licenses]] and [[http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/reports-iran-mulls-suing-hollywood-argo-18707756 ensuing protests from the Iranian government]] - a few employees managed to hide in the Canadian embassy and were removed from the country with a CrazyEnoughToWork plan). It should be noted America and Iran have tried to patch it up but, because of the inability to appease all factions within and outside them both and [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters at least largely irreconcilable]] [[DemocracyIsBad worldviews between the two]], thus far it hasn't worked.
** Just about the only country more reviled than even America is UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia. Iran and Saud are so diametrically opposed to one another that it's a miracle war has not broken out. For starters, the Saudis are in the Arabian Peninsula, the homeland of both the Arab pan-ethnicity and the entire religion of Islam; Iran is in the Iranian Plateau and mostly Persian, and has been conquered by Islamic Caliphates at various points in time. Saud is a leading member of the Sunni version of Islam, whereas Iran became the largest Shia-leaning Muslim nation (the schism between Shia and Sunni Muslims [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Islam is better-explained here]]). Modern Iran was founded on populism (it's not called Revolution for nothing), Saudi Arabia was founded through tribal dynasties playing power politics while Western empires destroyed the last Caliphate. Iran is something of a theocratic authoritarian oligarchy that often settles internal oligarchical differences by polling, while Saudi Arabia is an {{Egopolis}} absolute theocratic monarchy that has a solid division of power between the royal family and theocratic Sunni instructors who run domestic policy. Both are major producers and developers of oil, so they tend to butt heads over the right to regional hegemony. To that end, Saudi Arabia sabotages the countries that are allied with Iran, such as [[WeAreStrugglingTogether parts of Lebanon]] and Syria, and rallies fellow totalitarian monarchies to gang up on Iran. Meanwhile, Iran supports predominantly-Shi'ite resistance groups such as the Houthis in Yemen and the protesters in Bahrain. Syria is the highest this conflict has ever reached, where many would consider it to be less of a CivilWar and more of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia (and its allies) and Iran.

Movies about Dash-mashtis (see above) were also popular at that time. These people had a promiscuous love interest, and even wives, but they preferred having sex with their favorite prostitute. They had master degrees in [[KnifeNut knife fighting]], and they were all raised in poor neighborhoods by housemaid mothers. Although most of the above movies were extremely cheesy, there's one masterpiece, which is considered the best movie of early Iranian cinema, called ''Gheisar''. In this movie, Gheisar, our dash-mashti, seeks revenge after death of his brother and sister. His sister committed suicide after being raped by her friend's brother, and his brother was murdered for going after that dude. Long story short, he spends most of the movie running from cops.

* '''Highest point:''' Damavand (5610 m/18,406 ft) (26th)

* '''Lowest point:''' Caspian Sea (−28 m/−92 ft) (17th[[note]]shared with UsefulNote/{{Azerbaijan}} and UsefulNote/{{Russia}}[[/note]])

* '''Lowest point:''' Caspian Sea (−28 m/−92 ft) (17th)

* '''Highest point:''' Damavand (5610 m/18,406 ft) (44th)

* '''Country calling code:''' 98

** Parliament Speaker: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

* Iran is controlled by an interesting conglomeration of a government (de jure: Unitary Khomeinist presidential Islamic republic; de facto: Unitary theocratic-republican authoritarian presidential system subject to a Supreme Leader). There is a Supreme Leader (currently Ali Khamenei), a President (currently Hassan Rouhani), a vice president (currently Eshaq Jahangiri), a chief justice (currently Ebrahim Raisi) and the Majles, the Iranian parliament headed by a parliament speaker (currently Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf). The Supreme Leader is exactly as powerful as the name implies; elected officials only have however much authority the Supreme Leader sees fit to delegate to them. While the President is usually the most visible member of the government, especially in the West, his influence is usually over economic policy.\\

** Vice President: Vacant

** Vice President: Eshaq Jahangiri

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' IR

** President: Hassan Rouhani

** Chief Justice: Ebrahim Raisi

* '''Area:''' 1,648,195 sq km (636,372 sq mi) (17th)

* '''Area:''' 1,648,195 km (636,372 sq mi) (17th)

* '''Area:''' 1,648,195 km (636,372 sq mi)

** Chief Justice: Ebrahim Raisi

->The green, white and red bands symbolize Islam and growth, honesty and peace, and bravery and martyrdom, respectively. At the edges of the green and red bands are the stylized words "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Great") repeated 22 times, 11 on each side, symbolizing the day the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah: February 11, 1979 -- or, according to the Persian calendar, Bahman 22, 1357 (the 22nd day of the 11th month). At the center is the stylized word "Allah", designed to resemble a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom. The flag was adopted on July 29, 1980.

** Since the 1979 Revolution, there have been two Supreme Leaders. The first, Ruhollah Khomeini, who served from 1979 until his death in 1989, was an architect of the Revolution and oversaw the early tumultuous events in the Islamic Republic's history, including the Iran-Iraq War. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei, who serves to this day.

Iran ('''Persian:''' ایران, also known as '''Persia''' or the '''Islamic Republic of Iran''', '''Persian:''' جمهوری اسلامی ایران or ''Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān'') is a Western Asian country, the 18th largest country of the world and the second most populous country in the Middle East after Egypt, currently holding about 80,000,000 people inside its 7,000,000 km perimeter. Iran has a vast variety of flora and fauna, much like a more compact version of the United States. Iran has many ethnicities living within its borders, which causes confusion. There is an Arab minority in the south from Shatt al-Arab all along the coastlines overlooking the Persian Gulf, however, [[BerserkButton the majority of Iranians are not Arabs and they will be very insulted if you call them that]].

Iran ('''Persian:''' ایران, also known as ''Persia'' or the ''Islamic Republic of Iran'', '''Persian:''' جمهوری اسلامی ایران or ''Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān'') is a Western Asian country, the 18th largest country of the world and the second most populous country in the Middle East after Egypt, currently holding about 80,000,000 people inside its 7,000,000 km perimeter. Iran has a vast variety of flora and fauna, much like a more compact version of the United States. Iran has many ethnicities living within its borders, which causes confusion. There is an Arab minority in the south from Shatt al-Arab all along the coastlines overlooking the Persian Gulf, however, [[BerserkButton the majority of Iranians are not Arabs and they will be very insulted if you call them that]].

->a stylized word "Allah", designed to resemble a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom. The emblem was adopted on July 29, 1980.

** The Supreme Leader commands the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an armed forces created after the 1979 Revolution and separate from the Iranian Army, which exists since before. Its task is to protect the revolutionary establishment. The IRGC includes the Basij, a paramilitary force created during the Iran-Iraq War and made up of mostly young volunteers, as well as the Quds Force, an intelligence unit responsible for unconventional military operations. Since the new millennium, the Quds Force has gained notoriety in the world and especially the West, because it has built a wide network of political patronage in countries aligned with Iran and discreetly or publicly supports many [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters insurgents/freedom fighters]] in others. Hezbollah of UsefulNotes/{{Lebanon}}, the Houthis of UsefulNotes/{{Yemen}}, the various Shia paramilitary groups in UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}} that arose after the fall of UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, and Hamas of UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} all have deep connections with the IRGC. For this reason, Iran is designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States, and the IRGC itself is designated a terrorist group by the US, UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}, UsefulNotes/{{Bahrain}}, and Saudi Arabia.

** Speaker of Parliament: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

-->Population: 4,851,274 (4th) (Shiraz)