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Iran, historically known as Persia and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a vast West Asian nation of over 92 million people, with Tehran as its capital. Its ancient roots trace back to the Medes in the 7th century BC and reached a territorial zenith under Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, later passing through the Parthian and Sasanian empires before the 7th-century Muslim conquest reshaped its religious and cultural landscape. After centuries of foreign rule, the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century re-established a unified Iranian state with Twelver Shia Islam as its foundation, leading into the Qajar and Pahlavi eras, which culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and installed Ruhollah Khomeini as supreme leader. The subsequent Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) was followed by decades of proxy conflicts, escalating into the 2025 Twelve-Day War with Israel and a full war with the US and Israel in 2026 after the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was succeeded by his son Mojtaba Khamenei. Today, the nation is an authoritarian theocratic republic where ultimate authority resides in the supreme leader, yet it faces widespread international criticism for human rights abuses, including restrictions on freedom of expression and the treatment of women and dissidents. Despite its economic challenges, Iran remains a pivotal regional power due to its massive fossil fuel reserves, its strategic geographic position, and its role as the world's central hub for Shia Islam.