Iranian nationalism in the context of "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"

The Iranian Intermezzo, also called the Persian Renaissance, was a period in Iranian history marked by the rise to power of the first Iranian Muslim dynasties. Beginning 170 years after the Arab conquest of Iran and lasting until the middle of the 11th century, it is noteworthy since it was an interlude between the decay of Arab power under the Abbasid Caliphate and the rise of Turkic power under the Seljuk Empire, which triggered the Sunni Revival. The Iranian Intermezzo brought an end to Arab hegemony over Iranian lands and revived Iran's national spirit, albeit in conformity with Islam, though there were some non-Muslim movements (e.g., Mardavij) that outright rejected the Islamization of Iran. Although Zoroastrianism continued to decline, the movement did succeed in revitalizing the Persian language, with the most significant Persian literature from this period being the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi. The Iranian dynasties that took part in this effort were the Tahirids, the Saffarids, the Ilyasids, the Ghaznavids, the Sajids, the Samanids, the Ziyarids, the Buyids, the Sallarids, the Rawadids, the Marwanids, the Shaddadids, the Kakuyids, the Annazids, and the Hasanwayhids.

According to the historian Alison Vacca, the Iranian Intermezzo "in fact includes a number of other Iranian, mostly Kurdish, minor dynasties in the former caliphal provinces of Armenia, Albania, and Azerbaijan". Likewise, in the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the historian Clifford Edmund Bosworth states that the Russian historian Vladimir Minorsky considers the Rawadids to be flourishing during this period.

The Pahlavi dynasty (Persian: خاندان پهلوی) was an Iranian royal dynasty that was the last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Iranian soldier of Mazanderani origin, who took on the name of the Pahlavi scripts of the Middle Persian language from the Sasanian Empire of pre-Islamic Iran. The dynasty largely espoused this form of Iranian nationalism rooted in the pre-Islamic era (notably based on the Achaemenid Empire) during its time in power, especially under its last king Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The dynasty replaced the Qajar dynasty in 1925 after the 1921 coup d'état, beginning on 14 January 1921 when 42-year-old soldier Reza Khan was promoted by British General Edmund Ironside to lead the British-run Persian Cossack Brigade. About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000–4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran. The rest of the country was taken by 1923, and by October 1925 the Majlis agreed to depose and formally exile Ahmad Shah Qajar. The Majlis declared Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran on 12 December 1925, pursuant to the Persian Constitution of 1906. Initially, Pahlavi had planned to declare the country a republic, as his contemporary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had done in Turkey, but he abandoned the idea in the face of British and clerical opposition.

Iran's post-1979 foreign policy has been shaped by cultural practices. Concepts like taarof (ritualized politeness), national pride, and a patient, endurance-based outlook, shape Iranian diplomacy. In practice, this means Iranian leaders often approach talks as a test of resolve, wiliness and prestige. Iranians typically see negotiations as prolonged contests rather than win-win deals, and expect to demonstrate dignity and resolve.