U.S.-IRAN HISTORY

1953: CIA coup

The CIA leads the overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected prime minister after threats to nationalize the oil industry.

1978: Iran’s ‘Black Friday’

Hundreds of people protesting corruption by the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran are gunned down by government troops.

1979: Iranian revolution

The Shah is forced to flee the country, Ayatollah Khomeini returns triumphantly and the Islamic Republic of Iran is born.

1979-81: U.S. Embassy hostage crisis

Dozens of U.S. diplomats are held hostage by angry students for 444 days in a crisis that destroys the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

1980-88: Iran-Iraq War

Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, backed by the U.S. and other western countries, triggers a war with its neighbour that ends in stalemate, but costs Iran more than a million lives.

1988: U.S. military downs passenger plane

A U.S. warship shoots down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 people on board, with Americans claiming the plane was mistaken for an F-14 fighter jet.

1997-2000: First signs of fhange

A reformist cleric is elected president of Iran and, in response, then-U.S. president Bill Clinton’s administration apologizes for the 1953 coup and eases trade restrictions.

2001-02: Iran’s help after 9/11

After the al-Qaida attacks on the U.S. in 2001, Iranian leaders work closely with U.S. officials in their handling of Afghanistan.

2002: George W. Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’

In a surprise to Tehran, the U.S. president includes Iran as part of the “Axis of Evil” in his State of the Union address.

2003: Overture from Iran

Iran secretly offers a “grand bargain” with the Bush administration that would end its aggressive actions in the region in exchange for a promise of regime security, but the offer is rejected.

2002-12: Nuclear fears

The U.S. accuses Iran of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, and several rounds of sanctions are imposed by the international community.

2013-16: Nuclear deal

After the election of another reformist Iranian president, Barack Obama sets in motion negotiations that lead to a long-term nuclear deal between Iran and the world’s major powers.

2018-19: Trump abandons deal

Shortly after becoming president, Donald Trump pulls the U.S. out of the nuclear deal and reinstates harsh sanctions against Iran, provoking a violent backlash from the Islamic Republic.

2020: Soleimani assassination

Earlier this month, Iran’s top military commander is assassinated on Trump’s order and Iran retaliates by attacking U.S. military forces in Iraq.