Key dates in the country’s history since the Islamic revolution in 1979

February 11, 1979

The US-backed shah’s government falls, 10 days after the triumphant return from exile of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. An Islamic republic is proclaimed on April 1

November 4, 1979

pro-Khomeini students take 52 Americans hostage at the US embassy in Tehran, prompting Washington to sever diplomatic relations in 1980. The hostages are freed on

January, 21, 1981, after 444 days in captivity

September 22, 1980

Iraq invades Iran after its president Saddam Hussein tears up a 1975 treaty on the strategic Shatt Al Arab waterway, triggering an eightyear war that kills a million people. The conflict ends on August 20, 1988 with a UN-brokered ceasefire

June 3, 1989

Khomeini dies. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, president since October 1981, becomes supreme leader. Moderate conservative Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is elected president and is re-elected in 1993

April 3, 1995

Washington decrees a total trade and financial embargo on Iran, which it accuses of backing terrorism. Some economic sanctions have been lifted since mid-January 2016

January 29, 2002

US president George W. Bush places Iran on a list of ‘axis of evil’ states which included North Korea and Syria. They were accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking WMDs

June 25, 2005

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected president. In August he says Israel should be “wiped off the map”. During his terms, Iran begins uranium enrichment. Between 2006 and 2010 the UN adopts six resolutions, four of which include sanctions

June 15, 2013

The election of moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani marks a warming of relations with Washington. On

September 27, Rouhani and US president Obama talk by phone, contacts unprecedented at this level since Iran’s revolution

July 14, 2015

An accord with world powers on Iran’s N-programme is reached, ending 13 years of crisis and 21 months of protracted negotiations. It gives Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for limits on its Nprogramme, and comes into force on January 16, 2016