How Iran Once Ruled 44% of Everyone Alive

The history of Iran spans 5,000 years from Elam to the Islamic Republic and explains why no conqueror keeps it. From Cyrus the Great and Darius's Achaemenid Empire that ruled 44% of humanity to the Royal Road, Persepolis, Alexander and the Safavids, this documentary traces how the plateau absorbs invaders. It covers the Shah's fall, Khomeini's return at 1:05 PM on February 1, 1979, the 444-day hostage crisis and the 8-year Iran-Iraq War that killed 500,000 and fixed the Islamic Republic in place.