Iran: How Did We Get Here?

The Diplomatic Archives is back with a new series exploring the history of modern Iran. Before going back in time, “Iran: How Did We Get Here?” begins by looking at the Iran of today: its population and identity, its political system, the way power is structured within the Islamic Republic, its regional influence, its relations with the United States and Israel, and the geography that has made the country strategically important for centuries.

But the Iran we know today did not appear overnight. Understanding its place in the Middle East and on the international stage requires looking at how these dynamics were built over time.

Through seven defining moments — 1946, 1951–53, 1971, 1979, 1980, 1982 and 2002 — this new series traces the events that shaped modern Iran, from one of the first confrontations of the emerging Cold War to the 1979 Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the emergence of the nuclear issue in the early 2000s.

The aim is to provide the historical context behind a country that remains central to Middle Eastern politics, while making a complex history rigorous and accessible. Seven moments. One story. And that story begins in 1946.