Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ahmadinejad Era
With reformists barred from running and the public disillusioned with politics, former Re-
publican Guard member and Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unexpectedly
elected president in 2005. Despite his religious conservatism, Ahmadinejad's man-of-the-
people image appealed to a population frustrated and angry with the clique of clerics, mil-
itary and their cronies that had become Iran's new elite.
Ahmadinejad's promises to 'put petroleum income on people's tables' went down well
but in reality were not affordable. Fuel prices, inflation and unemployment rose, social
crackdowns were more frequent, international sanctions over the nuclear issue became
tighter and, particularly in urban areas, Ahmadinejad and his government were seen by
many Iranians as incompetent. In the background, Ahmadinejad quietly replaced provin-
cial governors and experienced bureaucrats with his own ex-Revolutionary Guard cronies.
In the run-up to the 2009 presidential election. opposition coalesced around reformist
candidate and former prime minister, Mirhossein Mousavi. When Ahmadinejad was hast-
ily declared the winner the Green Movement staged massive street protests in Tehran and
elsewhere, orchestrated on Twitter and by mobile phones. The ensuing crackdown
claimed dozens of lives.
TIMELINE
3200-2100 BC
The 150-hectare Shahr-e Sukhteh (Burnt City) thrives - and is burnt down three times
- near modern Zabol before being abandoned. Some archaeologists think it was inde-
pendent of ancient Mesopotamia.
2000-3000 BC
Inscriptions recently uncovered near Jiroft, in southeastern Iran, are possibly the
world's earliest known writing, pre-dating Mesopotamian writing.
c 1340-1250 BC
The enormous Choqa Zanbil ziggurat is built to honour the pre-eminent Elamite god,
Inshushinak. It is lost under the sands from about 640 BC until being rediscovered in
1935.
