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modern nation of Iran is also known
throughout much of history as the ancient
nation of Persia. This is the same Persia
which overran the Spartans at Thermopylae;
the same Persia which fell to the
conquering Macedonian, Alexander the
Great; the same Persia which fought the
Romans and their successors the Byzantines
for centuries for dominance in the Near
East. This is also the same Persia which
fell rather easily to the expanding Arab
Muslim Empire led by the successors to
Islam's founder, the Prophet Muhammad.
Persia became the center of the Shia
branch of Islam. The Shia, who are also
known as Shiites, often fight against the
larger and more dominant Sunni branch of
Islam. Most Turks and most Arabs are
Sunni. The Persian, or Iranian people are
not Arabs. They speak the Farsi language
and are largely Shiite. Iran also has
large ethnic minorities, mostly along the
nation's borders. These minority groups
occasionally rebel in favor of autonomy
within Iran, or for outright independence.
The larger minorities include the Arabs of
Khuzistan, the Kurds along the
northwestern borders with Iraq and Turkey,
and the Azeris along the Azerbaijan border
to the northwest. Baluchis inhabit the
border region near Pakistan and
Afghanistan. Several
themes emerge as the military history of
Iran and Persia is examined. One is
religious: The Shiite Iranians/Persians
engaged in many wars against their Sunni
neighbors, whether they were the Ottoman
Turks, the Sunni-ruled Iraqis, the Sunnis
of Afghanistan or the Sunni monarchies of
the Persian Gulf. Another theme is
geographic and economic. Wars and
conflicts with an expanding Russia to the
north, and an imperial Britain to the
south, both looking for ways to dominate
the lucrative Gulf region. And, in the
20th and 21st centuries, conflicts with
the United States, which based its
policies toward Iran on a need to contain
Soviet communism, and on a perceived need
to ensure continued access to Iranian and
Gulf oil. Persia officially changed its
name to Iran in the early 20th
Century. This
page on the wars of Persia and the wars of
Iran covers conflicts from the late 18th
Century to the Present day. Persian
Civil War-(1779-1794)-The
revolt of the eunuch general Agha Mohammed
led to this 15-year civil war. Agha
Mohammed eventually won the war and became
the Shah of Persia. Georgian-Persian
War-(1795-1796)-After
consolidating his power, Agha Mohammed
invaded the Caucasian kingdom of Georgia,
which had previously been a part of the
Persian Empire, but had broken away
following the death of Nadir Shah in 1747.
Persian forces invaded Georgia and
defeated the Georgian King Heraclius.
Afghan-Persian
War-(1798)-The
new Shah of Persia, Fath Ali, supported a
pretender to the Afghan throne against the
Afghan King. The pretender, Muhammad
Barakzai overthrew his brother, Zaman,
with help from an invading Persian
army. Russo-Persian
War-(1804-1813)-Following
Russia's invasion and annexation of
Georgia and Karabakh, Persia gave aid to
rebels resisting Russian rule. Russia then
attacked Persia, and put the city of
Erevan under siege in 1804. The siege was
lifted upon the arrival of Persian
reinforcements led by Shah Fath Ali and
Crown Prince Abbas Mirza. Warfare
continued in the Caucasus region and along
the Caspian coast until 1813. The most
significant battle after the initial
invasion and siege was the Battle of
Aslanduz (Oct. 21, 1812), in which the
Russians defeated an army led by Abbas
Mirza. A peace treaty was signed on
October 12, 1813 at Gulistan. In this
treaty, Persia recognized Russian rule
over Georgia and other disputed
Transcaucasian areas. Afghan-Persian
War-(1816)-Persia
invaded Afghanistan and occupied the
western Afghan city of Herat. Local Afghan
guerrillas forced the Persians to exit
Afghanistan. Turkish-Persian
War-(1821-1823)-The
regime of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza
launched an attack on Ottoman Turkey due
to Turkish aid to Azerbaijani rebels in
Persia. The rebels had fled from Persia
and were given refuge by the Ottomans. The
war opened with a Persian invasion of
Turkey in the Lake Van region, and a
counter-invasion by the Ottoman Pasha of
Baghdad (Iraq belonged to the Ottoman
Empire), who invaded western Persia. This
invasion force was driven back across the
border, but the newly modernized Persian
army of 30,000 troops defeated 50,000
Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Erzurum
near Lake Van in 1821. A peace treaty in
1823 ended the war with no changes to
their mutual border. Russo-Persian
War --(1825-1828)--This
war resulted from the ongoing border
disputes arising from the Treaty of
Gulistan (1813) between Persia and Russia.
Persian forces were initially successful,
capturing the Georgian capital of Tbilisi
in 1825. Russian forces led by General
Ivan Fedorovich Paskievich went on the
offensive against the invading Persians
and defeated them at the Battle of Ganja
(also known as the Battle of Kirovabad) on
September 26, 1826. Abbas Mirza led a
Persian force of 30,000 which was defeated
and routed by a Russian army of 15,000
troops. In 1827, General Paskievich
captured Erevan and Tabriz in the the
northwest of Persia. The Russians captured
the Persian capital of Tehran in the
winter of 1827-28, along with the Persian
army's total inventory of artillery
pieces. The resulting peace Treaty of
Turkomanchi recognized Russian rule of
Armenia, forbade Persia to station
warships on the Caspian Sea, and forced
Persia to pay a war indemnity to Russia. A
war indemnity was a financial payment from
a defeated nation to the winner to pay the
cost of the war. This defeat basically
ended Persia's role as a major power among
the nations of the Gulf and the Caucuses
region. Afghan-Persian
War-(1836-1838)-Persia
invaded Afghanistan partly in response to
Britain's influence in the region, and
laid siege to the western Afghan city of
Herat. The Herat defenders were aided by a
British military advisor named Eldred
Potter. Potter offered his services to the
Afghans and set about organizing the
city's defenses. Persian assaults on the
city failed, and the invading army gave up
the siege (September 28, 1838), and
returned home. Afghan/Anglo-Persian
War-(1855-1857)-Persia
again invaded Afghanistan, this time
successfully capturing Herat. This upset
the British, who claimed influence over
Afghanistan. The British Empire declared
war on Persia (Nov. 1, 1856), and
proceeded to invade Persia both by sea and
by land. British forces landed and took
the Persian port of Bushire in January,
1857. An Anglo-Indian army invaded Persia,
which soon gave up and agreed to evacuate
Herat. Persian
Revolution
-(1906-1909)-Persia
was beset by internal political violence
and rebellions against the rule of the
tyrannical Shah Mohammed Ali. Actual
warfare broke out in 1908 by a rebellion
in the city of Tabriz. The Shah's forces
besieged Tabriz, but the rebellion did not
end until an intervening Russian army
brutally seized Tabriz in March of 1909.
While this was occurring, other rebel
factions marched on Tehran, capturing the
capital city on July 12, 1909. The Shah
abdicated his throne, and his young son,
Ahmad Mirza became the new
Shah. Mohammed
Ali's Invasion
-(1911)-With
Russian approval and aid, the exiled
former Shah, Mohammed Ali, landed on the
Caspian coast on June 17, 1911,in an
attempt to recapture his throne. His
forces were defeated by a government army
and he returned to exile on September 5,
1911. Anglo-Russian
Invasion and Occupation of Persia
-(1911)-Russia
invaded and occupied northern Persia on
the pretext of restoring order in the
country and also to protect Russian
financial and economic interests. British
forces also invaded and occupied most of
the oil-producing southwestern Persia.
This was partly to counter Russian
influence, and partly to protect British
oil supplies. World
War One -(1914-1918)-Though
Persia officially did not take part in
this war, Russian and Ottoman Turkish
forces used Persia's Caucasus region as a
battleground throughout the war. British
forces continued and expanded their
occupation of southern Persia while also
pursuing invasions of Ottoman
Iraq. Soviet
Invasion of Persia
-(1920-1921)-The
new Communist regime in Russia (now
renamed as the Soviet Union), invaded
northern Persia and established Soviet
satellite states in Gilan, Kurdistan,
Azerbaijan, and Khorasan. Following the
coup of Persian General Reza Khan Pahlavi
in February of 1921, a peace treaty with
the Soviets was ratified, and Soviet
forces withdrew. Persian
Revolution
-(1921)-Reza
Khan Pahlavi overthrew the corrupt Shah
Ahmad Mirza and crushed the separatist
regimes in Gilan, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan,
and Khorasan. Arab
Rebellion in Khuzistan
-(1932) Anglo-Soviet
Invasion and Occupation of Persia
-(1941-1946)-The
Soviet Union and the United Kingdom once
again occupied large areas of Iran due to
their war with Germany during World War
Two. This time, no combat took place in
Iranian territory, but the Soviets did aid
separatist movements among the Kurds and
Azeris. Kurdish
Rebellion
-(1941-1944) Azeri
Rebellion
-(1945) Kurdish
Mahabad Rebellion
-(1946)--This
Soviet-supported Kurdish separatist
movement fell to the Iranian army after
the Soviets withdrew their troops in
1946. Anti-Mossadeq
Coup -(1953)--The
American Central Intelligence Agency
planned and executed a coup against Prime
Minister Mohammed Mossadeq. Britain was
concerned that Mossadeq was going to
nationalize the oilfields of the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now known as
British Petroleum, or BP) and the United
States feared that Mossadeq may ally Iran
with the Soviet Union. The plan for the
coup was called "Operation Ajax," and it
succeeded in overthrowing Prime Minister
Mossadeq and installing a more pliable
Prime Minister. The Shah assumed greater
powers, and Iran was a firm ally of the
Western powers during the Cold War until
the Shah's overthrow in 1979. Iran-Iraq
Border Battles
-(1969-1970)--Disputes
over the Shatt al-Arab waterway, claimed
by both nations, led to hostilities in the
late 1960s. Iran supported a rebellion by
Iraqi Kurds until 1975, when the Shah and
Saddam Hussein reached an agreement
Kurdish
Rebellion
-(1970-1980)--During
the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah
Khomeini against the Shah, Iranian
Kurdistan rose in rebellion. The Iranian
Army and the Revolutionary Guards crushed
the rebellion. Kurdish losses were around
10,000. Iranian
Seizure of Gulf Islands
-(1970-1980)--Iran
occupied several Persian Gulf islands
claimed by the United Arab
Emirates. Dhofar
War-(1973-1975)--Iran
sent troops to Oman to aid the Sultan of
Oman, who was fighting against Marxist
rebels aided by South Yemen. The Shah of
Iran reportedly wanted to not only support
a fellow pro-Western Gulf Monarch, but
also wanted to give his troops combat
experience in the field. Islamic
Revolution in Iran
-(1979-1980)--Iran
was swept with anti-Shah protests,
culminating in the Shah going into exile
and the Ayatollah Khomeini taking power
and installing an Islamic Republic. During
the resulting instability in Iran, several
ethnic groups rebelled, including the
Kurds and Azeris. A Marxist group known as
the Mujahadeen Khalq also became active
against the Islamic Republic. U.S.-Iran
Hostage
Crisis--(1979-1981)--Radical
Iranian students seized control of the
American Embassy in Tehran, sparking a
crisis that nearly resulted in war. A
badly-planned and badly-executed U.S.
military rescue attempt ended in disaster
in 1980. The
First Persian Gulf War (also known as the
Iran-Iraq
War)—(1980-1988)
- In 1975, Iraq and Iran came to an
agreement on the disputed Shatt al-Arab
waterway which provides Iraq’s only
outlet to the sea. In exchange for
Iran stopping support for Kurdish rebels,
Iraq agreed to share the Shatt al-Arab
with Iran. This and other disputes
over their common border, plus the belief
that the 1979 revolution had weakened
Iran, led Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to
launch an invasion of Iran on
September 22, 1980. After initial
successes, the Iraqi army ground to a halt
and soon retreated under repeated assaults
by the numerically larger Iranian Army and
Revolutionary Guards. After the
Iranians pushed the war into Iraq,
Saddam’s forces began using chemical
weapons. By 1988, both nations faced
exhaustion and, after nearly a million
casualties between them, agreed to end the
conflict. Iran's
Proxy War with Israel
-(1980s-Present)--Iran
openly supports and arms Israel's enemies,
Syria, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Israel and
the United States consider Iran to be a
party to the warfare waged by Hamas,
Hezbollah, and the tensions with Syria.
PEJAK
Kurdish Rebellion
-(1998-Present)--The
Party for a Free Life in Iranian Kurdistan
(PEJAK) is a Kurdish guerrilla force
fighting for freedom from Iran. Believed
to be supported by the Kurds in Iraq as
well as by the United States. Proxy
War with the United States
-(Current)--Iran
and the United States are, for all intents
and purposes, engaged in a mutual proxy
war against each other. The United States
alleges that Iran is supplying weapons,
training, money, and cross-border bases to
anti-American forces in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. Iran is meanwhile alleging
that the United States is arming and
encouraging Kurdish, Azeri, Arab
(Khuzistani), and Baluchi militants in
rebellion against Tehran. This all serves
as a backdrop for the possibility of a new
war between the United States and Iran.
Such an "Iran War," in addition to the
current Iraq War and Afghanistan War could
destabalize the Middle East and jeopardize
the West's oil supplies. Sources: R.
Ernest, Dupuy, and Dupuy Trevor N.
The
Encyclopedia of Military History: From
3500 B.C. To The
Present. Kohn,
George C. Dictionary
of Wars.
WHKMLA
: List of the Wars of Persia /
Iran Iran
faces challenges from
within--by
Chris Zambelis of Asia Times
Online The
Kurds Begin To Revolt In Iran, Turkey
& Syria - Encouraged By Iraqi
Kurdistan Kurdish
Secessionism Looms Over the Middle
East--May
11, 2006, by Robert Lindsay: Independent
Left Journalist From California Iranians
shell anti-Iranian Kurdish PEJAK
guerrillas in Kurdistan
region-Iraq--May
23,2007, by KurdNet Further
steps in the lead-up to the war with
Iran
-- October 12, 2007, by Atlantic Free
Press "The
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Media; Last Modified: 10.15.07
The
Tanker War
-(1984-1988)--Iran
and Iraq each attacked oil tankers and
oil facilities in the Persian Gulf in
an effort to damage each other's
economy. The United States entered the
fray in 1987 by "reflagging" several
Kuwaiti oil tankers, thereby providing
them with American legal and military
protection. Iran continued to attack
these ships, provoking violent American
responses.
