Explore Iran
Discover the world behind the headlines
History, culture, identity — written from original sources, designed to inform, never to tell you what to think.
History
تاریخ
Three thousand years in four chapters
From the first Persian empire to the Iran of today — a continuous story told through original sources, not textbook summaries.
01
The First Empires
550 BCE — 651 CE
Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire. Darius builds Persepolis. Alexander conquers and Persia rises again under the Sasanians — a thousand years of empire.
02
Silence and Return
651 — 1501
The Arab conquest transforms Iran. But Persian language and identity survive — through poetry, scholarship, and the slow, quiet work of cultural resistance.
03
A Country Reforged
1501 — 1789
The Safavids reunify Iran and establish Shia Islam as the state religion. Isfahan becomes one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
04
The Modern Age
1789 — today
Constitutional revolution, the Pahlavi dynasty, the 1979 revolution, and the Iran that exists now — a country still being written.
And 14 more sections to discover inside the app.
Literature
ادبیات
Seven poets, a thousand years, one language
The poets who defined Persian — and whose words are still quoted at dinner tables, weddings, and farewells across the Iranian world.
فردوسی
Ferdowsi
The Keeper of the Language
940 — 1020
سعدی
Saadi
The Voice of Wisdom
c. 1210 — 1291
حافظ
Hafez
The Tongue of the Unseen
c. 1315 — 1390
And 4 more poets to discover inside the app.
Culture
فرهنگ
The Unwritten Rules
Nobody sits you down and explains any of this. You are supposed to absorb it, and if you did not grow up inside it, you spend your life half a beat behind. Here it is, written down.
The rule nobody explains
Taarof
تعارف
Offering what you will not give. Refusing what you want. The most confusing thing about Iranians, to everyone including Iranians.
Nobody eats alone
The Table
سفره
An Iranian table is never set for one. Get to know what Iranians put on the table — and why there is always more food than anyone could finish.
You all know one
Typical Persian
ایرانیها
You all know a Persian like this. We are standard in our ways — and once you see it, you cannot unsee it. A guide to recognising your own people.
Geography
جغرافیا
A country most people cannot picture
Mountains, deserts, forests, coastlines — Iran is not one landscape. Explore its provinces, cities, and the geography that shaped its history.
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