11 May 1949: After its defeat of the Arab armies, Israel becomes a member of the UN.
28 April 1951: Major tension between the Iranian state and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; Mohammad Mossadeq becomes prime minister of Iran and nationalises oil.
23 July 1952: Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Free Officers seize power in Egypt.
19 August 1953. The Mossadeq government is ousted; dictatorial rule under the shah, backed by General Zahedi, follows.
October-November 1956: Israel, Britain and France attack Egypt after Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal. Israel temporarily occupies Sinai.
4 June 1963: Peasant riots signal the failure of the shah’s ‘white revolution’ (Iran’s agrarian reform). Ayatollah Khomeini is imprisoned, released, then expelled.
January-March 1979: The shah’s rule collapses. Khomeini returns to Tehran and founds the Islamic Republic.
22 September 1980-20 August 1988: The long Iran-Iraq war begins with (...)
