British and USSR troops invade Iran to depose the oil-rich Reza Shah, fearing that he may take the side of the Germans

With British and Russian support, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi succeeds his deposed father as shah of Iran

The new Iranian prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, passes the Oil Nationalization Act, seizing Britain's assets in the region

The Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh is removed from office in an armed coup sponsored by the CIA and Britain's MI6

Ruhollah Khomeini, a leading ayatollah in Qom, denounces the Shah of Iran and declares a fatwa against his regime

Ayatollah Khomeini is arrested in Qom, and imprisoned for eight months in Tehran, after instigating riots against the Shah

Ayatollah Khomeini, exiled by the shah from Iran, moves first to Turkey and then makes his base in Iraq

Demonstrations take place throughout Iran, demanding Islamic rule under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini

An Islamic revolution forces the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to flee from Iran

Ayatollah Khomeini receives a rapturous welcome on his return to Iran to head the Islamic Revolutionary Committee

Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini seize the US embassy in Tehran, taking hostage 66 US citizens

A US helicopter mission fails disastrously in its attempt to rescue the embassy hostages in Tehran

Saddam Hussein invades Iran, beginning an 8-year war that will bring massive human cost

Iran releases the US embassy hostages immediately after the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency

President Reagan's administration breaks a US embargo with secret arms sales to Iran in return for assistance in the release of US hostages in Lebanon

Ayatollah Khomeini declares a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his Satanic Verses

The Iran-Iraq war ends with the border between the countries unchanged and more than a million dead

Ayatollah Khomeini dies and is succeeded by Sayed Ali Khamenei as Iran's leading ayatollah

The historic city of Bam, in Iran, is destroyed in a massive earthquake, with more than 40,000 deaths

Fundamentalist politician Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected president of Iran

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad causes international outrage by describing Israel as a blot that should be 'wiped off the map'