Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword : Acknowledgments ; Preface ; Country profile ; Introduction ; Historical setting ; Ancient Iran ; Pre Achaemenian Iran ; Immigration of the Medes and the Persians ; The Achaemenian Empire, 550through 330 B.C. ; Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, and the Parthians ; The Sassanians, A.D. 224 through 642 ; Islamic conquest ; Invasions of the Mongols and Tamerlane ; The Safavis, 1501 through 1722 ; The qajars, 17951925 ; the constitutional revolution ; world war i ; the era of reza Shah, 192 through 141 ; World War II and the Azarbaijan crisis ; Mossadeq and oil nationalization; The post Mossadeq era and the Shah's white revolution ; The Bakhtiar government the revolution ; The post Khomeini era ; Geography ; Population ; Languages and peoples ; Structure of society ; The family gender issues ; Religion ; Education ; National output measurements ; The petroleum industry ; Mining, agriculture, forestry, and fishing ; Industry and construction ; Services ; Transportation and telecommunications ; Energy supply ; Fiscal and monetary policy ; International trade and the balance of payments ; Political dynamics ; Government institutions ; Political parties and civil society ; Human rights ; Mass media and the arts ; Foreign policy ; The armed forces ; Special and irregular armed forces ; Arms acquisition ; Internal security ; The military's relations with society.