The Entire History of Iran | How Did We Get Here?

Iran has been invaded by Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, and empires from both ends of the world. The map kept changing. The country didn't. From Cyrus the Great and the Cyrus Cylinder to Persepolis, the qanats, the Shahnameh, the Safavids, the 1953 coup, the 1979 revolution, and the 2026 strikes — this is the entire history of Iran, and the one mistake almost every empire made. CHAPTERS 0:00 The question 0:57 Cyrus the Great 2:20 The payroll at Persepolis 2:57 Water in the desert 3:32 The Greek problem 4:20 Alexander burns Persepolis 4:48 The Parthians 5:26 The Sasanians 6:31 The Arab conquest 7:38 The Mongols 8:25 The Safavids 9:24 Isfahan and the Armenians 10:03 The Great Game 10:43 The Great Persian Famine 11:44 Mossadegh, oil, and the bomb 13:06 The cassette revolution 13:54 The Islamic Republic 14:44 2026 15:42 Why Iran survives SOURCES & FURTHER READING British Museum — Cyrus Cylinder: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o... UNESCO — The Persian Qanat: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1506/ Encyclopaedia Iranica: https://www.iranicaonline.org/ The Met — The Shahnameh: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shah/hd_... BBC — Khamenei killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes, Trump says (28 Feb 2026): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70n9w... CNN — live coverage, 28 Feb 2026: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel... Xinhua — ceasefire, April 2026: https://english.news.cn/20260408/87b7f38ac... NOTE ON 2026 The final section covers a developing story. Claims and dates were checked against the reporting above at the time of upload. For the latest, check the sources directly. Some historical scenes are dramatized with AI-generated imagery. They are illustrative, not documentary footage. Archive images: British Museum, Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress, and licensed news agencies. Music: [track name / license]. Next: The ENTIRE History of Turkey. Subscribe to The Whole Story for a new history every week. #Iran #PersianHistory #CyrusTheGreat #MiddleEast #History