Karim Khan Zand in the context of "Nasr Al-Madhkur"

The Zand dynasty (Persian: دودمان زندیان, romanized: Dudemāne Zandiyān) was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (r. 1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later expanded to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran (except for the provinces of Baluchestan and Khorasan) as well as parts of Iraq. The lands of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were controlled by khanates which were de jure part of the Zand realm, but the region was de facto autonomous. The island of Bahrain was also held for the Zands by the autonomous Al-Mazkur sheikhdom of Bushehr.

The reign of its most important ruler, Karim Khan, was marked by prosperity and peace. With its capital at Shiraz, arts and architecture flourished under Karim Khan's reign, with some themes in architecture being revived from nearby sites of pre-Islamic Achaemenid (550–330 BC) and Sasanian (224–651 AD) eras. The tombs of the medieval Persian poets Hafez and Saadi Shirazi were also renovated by Karim Khan. Distinctive Zand art which was produced at the behest of the Zand rulers became the foundation of later Qajar arts and crafts. Following Karim Khan's death, Zand Iran went into decline due to internal disputes amongst members of the Zand dynasty. Its final ruler, Lotf Ali Khan Zand (r. 1789–1794), was eventually executed by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789–1797) in 1794.

The Erivan Khanate (Persian: خانات ایروان, romanized: Khānāt-e Iravān), also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd, was a khanate (i.e., province) that was established in Afsharid Iran in the 18th century. It covered an area of roughly 19,500 km, and corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, the Iğdır Province and the Kars Province's Kağızman district in present-day Turkey and the Sharur and Sadarak districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of present-day Azerbaijan.

Following the death of Nader Shah in 1747, Iranian authority over the territories north of the Aras River was greatly weakened, and the Erivan Khanate became a tributary of King Heraclius II of Georgia. This arrangement persisted after Karim Khan Zand nominally restored Iranian authority in the South Caucasus. The Georgian king attacked the khanate multiple times when the khan attempted to avoid paying tribute. Like some of the other khans of the Caucasus, Mohammad Khan of Erivan sought to make contact with Russia after 1783, when Georgia became a Russian protectorate. In 1794–95, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar campaigned to restore central authority in the region and received the submission of the khan of Erivan.

The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 was a conflict fought between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, then the two major powers of Western Asia, over control of Mesopotamia.

After initial Safavid success in recapturing Baghdad and most of Ottoman Iraq, having lost it for 90 years, the war became a stalemate as the Safavids were unable to press further into the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottomans themselves were distracted by wars in Europe and weakened by internal turmoil. Eventually, the Ottomans were able to recover Baghdad, taking heavy losses in the final siege, and the signing of the Treaty of Zuhab ended the war in an Ottoman victory. Roughly speaking, the treaty restored the borders of 1555, with the Safavids keeping Daghestan, Shirvan, eastern Georgia, and Eastern Armenia, while western Georgia and Western Armenia decisively came under Ottoman rule. The eastern part of Samtskhe (Meskheti) was irrevocably lost to the Ottomans as well as Mesopotamia. Although parts of Mesopotamia were briefly retaken by the Iranians later on in history, notably during the reigns of Nader Shah (1736–1747) and Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779), it remained thenceforth in Ottoman hands until the aftermath of World War I.