Shah of Iran in the context of Destruction of Israel in Iranian policy

Reza Shah Pahlavi (previously Reza Khan; 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) (Persian: رضاشاه پهلوی [ɾeˈzɒː ˈʃɒːhe pʰæɦlæˈviː]) was an Iranian military officer and monarch who was the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty and Shah of Iran from 1925 to 1941. Originally an army officer, he became a politician, serving as minister of war and prime minister of Iran, and was elected shah following the deposition of Ahmad Shah, the last monarch of the Qajar dynasty.

Joining the Persian Cossack Brigade at age 14, he rose through the ranks, becoming a brigadier-general by 1921. In February 1921, as leader of the entire Cossack Brigade based in Qazvin province, he marched towards Tehran and seized the capital. He forced the dissolution of the government and installed Zia ol Din Tabatabaee as the new prime minister. Reza Khan's first role in the new government was commander-in-chief of the army and the minister of war. Two years after the coup, Seyyed Zia appointed Reza Pahlavi as Iran's prime minister, backed by the compliant national assembly of Iran. In 1925, the constituent assembly deposed Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Qajar shah, and amended Iran's 1906 constitution to allow the election of Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran. He founded the Pahlavi dynasty that lasted until it was overthrown in 1979 by the Iranian Revolution.

Deioces was the founder and the first king of the Median Kingdom, an ancient polity located in the Iranian plateau. His name has been mentioned in different forms in various sources, including the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

The exact date of the era of Deioces' rule is not clear and probably covered most of the first half of the 7th century BC. According to Herodotus, Deioces was the first Median king to have gained independence from the Neo-Assyrian Empire and governed for 53 years. After Deioces' death, his son, Phraortes, succeeded him.

The Peacock Throne (Hindustani: Mayūrāsana, Sanskrit: मयूरासन, Urdu: تخت طاؤس, Persian: تخت طاووس, Takht-i Tāvūs) was the imperial throne of Hindustan. The throne is named after the dancing peacocks at its rear and was the seat of the Mughal emperors of India from 1635 to 1739. It was commissioned in the early 17th century by Emperor Shah Jahan and was located in the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audiences, or Ministers' Room) in the Red Fort of Delhi. The original throne was taken as a war trophy by Nader Shah, Shah of Iran in 1739 after his invasion of India. Its replacement disappeared during or soon after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Relations between Iran and the United States in modern day are turbulent and have a troubled history. They began in the mid-to-late 19th century, when Iran was known to the Western world as Qajar Persia. Persia was very wary of British and Russian colonial interests during the Great Game. By contrast, the United States was seen as a more trustworthy foreign power, and the Americans Arthur Millspaugh and Morgan Shuster were even appointed treasurers-general by the Shahs of the time. During World War II, Iran was invaded by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, both US allies, but relations continued to be positive after the war until the later years of the government of Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was overthrown by a coup organized by the Central Intelligence Agency and aided by MI6. This was followed by an era of close alliance between Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's authoritarian regime and the US government, Iran being one of the US's closest allies during the Cold War, which was in turn followed by a dramatic reversal and disagreement between the two countries after the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The two nations have had no formal diplomatic relations since 7 April 1980. Instead, Pakistan serves as Iran's protecting power in the United States, while Switzerland serves as the United States' protecting power in Iran. Contacts are carried out through the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the US Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran. In August 2018, Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei banned direct talks with the United States. According to the US Department of Justice, Iran has since attempted to assassinate US officials and dissidents, including US president Donald Trump.

Iran and Israel have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, and modern relations are hostile. The relationship was cordial for most of the Cold War, but worsened following the Iranian Revolution and has been openly hostile since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Iran's current government does not recognize Israel's legitimacy as a state and has called for its destruction; it views Palestine as the sole legitimate government of the historic Palestinian territories. Israel considers Iran a threat to the Middle East's stability and has targeted Iranian assets in assassinations and airstrikes. In 2025, the hostility escalated to an armed conflict.

In 1947, Iran was among 13 countries that voted against the United Nations Partition Plan for the British Mandate of Palestine. Two years later, Iran also voted against Israel's admission to the United Nations. However, Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel as a sovereign state after Turkey. After the 1953 coup d'état, which reinstalled the pro-Western leader Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the shah of Iran, relations between the two countries significantly improved. After the Iranian revolution—in which Pahlavi was ousted and Iran's secular monarchy was replaced by an anti-Western Islamic republic—Iran severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, although relations continued covertly during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988).

Shahbanu (Persian: شهبانو, romanized: Šahbānū, lit. 'Lady King') was a title for empress regnant or empress consort in Persian and other Iranian languages. The title was specifically used by Farah Pahlavi, the wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran (Persia).

During the Sasanian era, the principal queen was titled banbishnan banbishn (lit. 'Queen of Queens') analogous to the emperor's title shahanshah (lit. 'King of Kings') to distinguish her from the other queens in the royal household.

Reza Pahlavi (born 31 October 1960) is an Iranian politician and dissident in exile in the United States. A member of the Pahlavi dynasty, he is the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, and Farah Diba. He is one of the mainstream figures of the Iranian opposition to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Reza Pahlavi was officially named crown prince of Iran at the time of his father's coronation in 1967. As a cadet of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, he moved to the United States for pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in 1978. The next year, his father was overthrown and the monarchy was abolished in the wake of the Iranian Revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini. In 1980, following the death of his father in exile in Cairo, Egypt, Reza Pahlavi declared himself shah of Iran, styling himself "Reza Shah II", and actively participated in political activities opposing the Islamic Republic from abroad.