The United States freezes Iranian government assets

Iran’s nationalization legislation took effect after Parliament passed the implementation law and the Shah assented. The move challenged the British-controlled Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The dispute...

A covert operation organized by US and British intelligence, with Iranian participants, helped overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after the nationalization crisis. Declassified records...

Iran retained formal legal title to oil properties, while an international consortium received long-term operating and exploitation rights over much of the industry. The agreement followed the 1953...

After months of mass protest, strikes, and armed confrontations, Iran’s Supreme Military Council declared neutrality and the remaining monarchical government collapsed. A broad revolutionary...

Iranian student occupiers seized the US embassy, beginning a hostage crisis that lasted 444 days. The seizure followed the revolution and long-standing Iranian anger over US intervention, including...

Iraqi forces invaded Iran, beginning a war that lasted until the 1988 ceasefire. The UN had called on both states to refrain from force and settle disputes peacefully. The conflict caused extensive...

The USS Vincennes shot down the Iranian civilian Airbus over the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people aboard. The UN Security Council expressed deep distress and regret and welcomed an ICAO...

The US Congress enacted legislation authorizing sanctions on certain foreign investment in Iran’s petroleum sector. The law extended US pressure beyond direct US-Iran commerce and put third-country...

In his State of the Union address, President George W. Bush grouped Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an “axis of evil.” The countries had no unified alliance. The phrase placed Iran inside a US-led...

Following talks with the foreign ministers of Britain, France, and Germany, Iran said it would cooperate fully with the IAEA, sign and provisionally apply the Additional Protocol, and voluntarily...