• Iran, once known as Persia, is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC.

• By the 18th century, under Nader Shah, Iran briefly possessed what was arguably the most powerful empire at the time. The 19th-century conflicts with the Russian Empire led to significant territorial losses.

• Popular unrest culminated in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a constitutional monarchy and the country's first legislature. Following a coup instigated by the United Kingdom and the United States in 1953, Iran gradually became closely aligned with the West, and grew increasingly autocratic.

• In 1951, Mohammad Mosaddegh was appointed as the Prime Minister. He became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized Iran's petroleum industry and oil reserves. He was deposed in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état.

• After the coup, the Shah became increasingly autocratic and sultanistic, and Iran entered a phase of decades-long controversial close relations with the United States and some other foreign governments.

• Due to the 1973 spike in oil prices, the economy of Iran was flooded with foreign currency, which caused inflation. By 1974, the economy of Iran was experiencing double digit inflation, and despite the many large projects to modernize the country, corruption was rampant and caused large amounts of waste. By 1975 and 1976, an economic recession led to increased unemployment, especially among millions of youth .

• Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, which followed the establishment of an Islamic republic, a political system which includes elements of a parliamentary democracy vetted and supervised by a theocracy governed by an autocratic "Supreme Leader".

• Iran turned into an Islamic republic in the year 1979 ensuing the exile of the Shah of Iran and has maintained an Islamic theocracy ever since.

• During the 1980s, the country was engaged in a war with Iraq, which lasted for almost nine years and resulted in a high number of casualties and financial loss for both sides.

• According to international observers, the current Iranian regime (led by Ali Khamenei since 1989) is oppressive, with human rights abuses commonplace.

• Since the 2000s, Iran's controversial nuclear program has raised concerns.

• This has led the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran which had further isolated Iran politically and economically from the rest of the global community.

• It is a major regional and middle power, and its large reserves of fossil fuels – which include the world's largest natural gas supply and the fourth-largest proven oil reserves – exert considerable influence in international energy security and the world economy.

Culture and Religion

• Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan,and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan; to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq.

• It is one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaux from one another. 

• Having 11 climates out of the world's 13, Iran's climate is diverse, ranging from arid and semi-arid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests.

• The country has one of the highest urban growth rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002, the urban proportion of the population increased from 27% to 60%. The United Nations predicts that by 2030, 80% of the population will be urban.

• Iran is a multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, the largest being Persians (61%), Azeris (16%), Kurds (10%), and Lurs (6%).

• The majority of the population speak Persian, which is also the official language of the country. Others include speakers of a number of other Iranian languages within the greater Indo-European family, and languages belonging to some other ethnicities living in Iran.

• Today, Twelver Shia Islam is the official state religion, to which about 90% to 95% of the population adhere.

• Around 250,000 to 370,000 Christians reside in Iran, and Christianity is the country's largest recognized minority religion. 

• Tehran, with a population of around 8.8 million (2016 census), is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is an economical and cultural center, and is the hub of the country's communication and transport network.

• Education in Iran is highly centralized. K–12 is supervised by the Ministry of Education, and higher education is under the supervision of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

• The adult literacy rated 93.0% in September 2015.

• Iran is the world's largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, producing three quarters of the world's total output and having a share of 30% of world's export markets.

• Due to its variety of ethnic groups and the influences from the neighboring cultures, the cuisine of Iran is diverse. Herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranate, quince, prunes, apricots, and raisins.

• All sanctioned media outlets in Iran are either state-owned or subject to monitoring. Outlets such as books, movies, and music albums must be approved by the Ministry of Ershad before being released to the public.

• In Iran, family matters are very important, as they take their responsibilities to their family very seriously. Women are to be protected and taken care of. Their loyalty to the family comes before everything.

• Iranians are amongst the most hospitable people of the world. 

• The question of gender roles is one of the most complex issues in contemporary Iranian society. Women have always had a strong role in Iranian life, but rarely a public role. Some women have served in the legislature and as government ministers since the 1950s. 

• Any public activity that would require women to depart from this modest dress in mixed company is expressly forbidden but the majority of women in Iran have always adopted modest dress voluntarily, and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the future no matter what political decisions are made on this matter.

Adjusting to Life in America

• Cross-gender platonic friendships almost never occur in Iranian society: Just about any friendly overture on the part of an American woman to an Iranian man will be interpreted as a sexual or romantic advance. The situation is further confusing as the young men observe American couples expressing affection in public, which is never done in Iranian society.

• Iranian refugees might be puzzled at our American customs involving the necessity of invitations and giving notice before we visit. An Iranian family might issue a general invitation, not realizing that they must pin down a specific time and place, then sit at home socially isolated and lonely, wondering why Americans are so unsociable.

• Hospitality is cherished tradition, to the point that Iranians might insist on paying, even when it is spending more than they can afford.