It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and Azerbaijan , [b] to the north by the Caspian Sea , to the northeast by Turkmenistan , to the east by Afghanistan , to the southeast by Pakistan , to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman , and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran covers an area of 1,, km 2 , sq mi , with a population of 85 million. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, [13] [14] beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Iranian Medes in the seventh century BC, [15] and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire , which became one of the largest empires in history and has been described as the world's first superpower. An Iranian rebellion established the Parthian Empire in the third century BC, which was succeeded in the third century AD by the Sasanian Empire , a major world power for the next four centuries. It subsequently became a major center of Islamic culture and learning, with its art, literature, philosophy, and architecture spreading across the Muslim world and beyond during the Islamic Golden Age. Over the next two centuries, a series of native Muslim dynasties emerged before the Seljuq Turks and the Mongols conquered the region. In the 15th century, the native Safavids re-established a unified Iranian state and national identity [4] and converted the country to Shia Islam. Efforts to nationalize its fossil fuel supply from Western companies led to an Anglo-American coup in , which resulted in greater autocratic rule under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and growing Western political influence. The Government of Iran is an Islamic theocracy which includes elements of a presidential democracy , with the ultimate authority vested in an autocratic "Supreme Leader", [26] a position held by Ali Khamenei since Khomeini's death in
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Susan Chun. Embassy in Tehran and took a group of Americans hostage. You have seen this story play out in movies like "Argo" and shows like "Homeland," but here are six things about the Iran hostage crisis that you may not have known.
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Reports indicate the perpetrators of this repulsive crime enjoyed support from state-associated security forces. Revelations of this case and judiciary officials attempting to minimize, and even deny the case altogether, raised enormous anger in different social media platforms. Expressing their abhorrence, people are saying in a country where Saeed Toosi , described as the favorite Quran reciter of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is acquitted for raping his students, such incidents seen in Iranshahr should not raise eyebrows. Images and information regarding the rapists have even been provided by locals to Iranshahr police, according to the city residents. Another unsurprising unfortunately reality in this case is how no action is being taken by authorities to have the rapists arrested. The victims have even been quoted saying they were abducted by individuals wearing military and security uniforms. Despite confessing to his crime when arrested, he then completely denied all the charges. This goes to show how authorities intervene to end a conspiracy to save face for senior regime officials.
The election of Hassan Rouhani in Iran has brought with it hopes of an easing of restrictions on society, not least in the use of the internet. The authorities strictly control access to websites, but it is a policy which is under pressure, as BBC Persian's Siavash Ardalan reports. The phrase was a modification of the expression "God freed Khoramshahr" - which Iranians used after they liberated a big chunk of their territory from Iraqi forces some 30 years ago. Reality hit back when officials said a technical glitch was responsible for the unimpeded online access, which was promptly blocked again. Gone are the days when the emergence of the World Wide Web instinctively drew negative reactions from traditional Iranian clerics sceptical of globalisation's new phase. Now Facebook is as much part and parcel of Iranian culture as Persian rugs - of course for those equipped with the means to circumvent the filtering of these sites. Those who have no anti-filtering software but wish to access a filtered website see an index page with links to domestic websites and a "no access" message.
