History of Iran: Persian empires, Islamic conquest & 1979 Revolution

If you want to understand world history, regional, Middle Eastern politics, and our world's broader contest between democracy and autocracy, you have to understand Iran.

It is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations and the first ancient superpower, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus, a state that has been repeatedly conquered by Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, yet its strong national identity rooted in Persian history has never been erased.

Bianca Nobilo talks us through the history of the country that the whole world now has its eyes on, to help us understand what led the events we see unfolding today.

Note from Bianca: You can look more closely and read the inscription on the Cyrus cylinder here: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1880-0617-1941

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