Introduction by Stephen Kinzer -- Afghanistan : "Operation Enduring Freedom" -- Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud -- Armed forces -- "Axis of evil" -- A closer look : Bush, Iraq, and the world / by Strobe Talbott -- Clerics -- The constitutional revolution (1905) -- Culture -- Cyrus the great -- Darius I -- Dynastic history -- Ebadi, Shirin -- Economy -- Farsi and other languages -- Flag -- Iran-Contra Affair -- Iran hostage crisis -- Iran-Iraq war -- Iraq: "Operation Iraqi Freedom" -- A closer look: warfare in the 21st century, by Peter Saracino -- The Islamic revolution (1978-1979) -- The Islamic world -- Judicial system -- Khamenei, (Ayatollah) Ali -- Khatami, Mohammad -- Khomeini, (Ayatollah) Ruhollah -- Kurds -- Land -- Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi -- Mosaddeq, Mohammad -- Oil -- People -- Persia -- Political system -- Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar Hashemi -- Reforms -- The revolutionary guards -- Reza Shah Pahlavi -- Schools -- Shah 'Abbas I -- Shah Isma'il -- Shariʻah -- Shiʻites -- Sunni -- Tehran -- The United Nations -- A closer look : the UN Security Council, by Edward C. Luck -- Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) -- The white revolution (1963) -- World heritage sites -- Xerxes I.