In 1979, Iranian militants attacked the U.S. embassy and seized hostages, including sixty-two Americans, who were held until 1981.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ruled from 1979 until his death in 1989, imposing strict Islamic law.
The United States supported the regime of the shah (king) Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was forced by popular opposition to leave the country in 1979.
The 1990s saw some moderating elements emerge to challenge the conservative heirs to Khomeini.
The Iranian government was widely believed to have controlled the taking of U. S. hostages in Lebanon. (See Iran-Contra affair.)
Core of the ancient Persian Empire, Iran was known as Persia until 1935.
Iraq unsuccessfully invaded Iran in 1980.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Iran apparently saw that as a violation of the memorandum, hence the strikes that restarted the fighting.
From Slate • Jul. 9, 2026
After a week of mass funeral processions, rallies and mourning ceremonies in Iran, the assassinated former supreme leader has been buried.
From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026
Iran has stayed the way it is for a very long time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
Iran, which lost many of its top leaders early in the war, may not want to escalate things too much either.
From Slate • Jul. 9, 2026
Post-revolution, Iran had issued a new form of birth certificates, and we needed to secure replacements.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
