List of wars involving Iran

This is a list of wars involving the Islamic Republic of Iran and its predecessor states. It is an unfinished historical overview.

Conflict Iran (and allies) Opponents Results Notes
Median Empire
(678–549 BC)
Assyrian invasions of Media (the 10th – the late 7th centuries BC) Medes Assyrian Empire Defeat Kingdoms and city-states of Western Iran became Assyrian vassals
Median invasion of Assyria (the late 7th century BC) Medes

Scythians

Other Iranian peoples

Assyrian Empire Victory Invasion of the Assyrian Empire by a coalition of Iranian peoples, led by Kashtariti of Media
  • End of Assyrian rule in Media
  • Formation of an independent Median kingdom
  • Median invasion of Assyria repelled
Scythian invasion of Media (624–597 BC) Median Kingdom Scythians Defeat, and eventual Victory War between two groups of Iranian peoples.
  • Conquest of Media by Scythians
  • End of Scythian rule in Media in 597 BC, during reign of Cyaxares
Medo-Babylonian invasion Assyria
(626–609 BC)
Median Kingdom
Babylonia

Persians

Assyrian Empire Decisive Victory Alliance between various people of the region against the Assyrian Empire, led by the Median Kingdom and Babylonia.
Siege of Harran
(609 BC)
Medes
Babylonia
Assyria

Egypt

Victory The Assyrian insurgency.
Battle of Eclipse
(585 BC)
Medes Kingdom of Lydia Undecided The battle ended due an eclipse.
Battle of Hyrba
(552 BC)
Medes Persis Decisive Persian victory
Battle of the Persian border
(551 BC)
Medes Persis Victory Persian retreat to Pasargadae
Achaemenid Empire
(550–330 BC)
Persian Revolt
(552–549 BC)
Persis Median Empire Victory By conquering Media, Iran became an empire.
Conquest of Lydia
(547 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Lydian Empire Victory Lydia annexed by Iran.
Conquest of Babylonia
(540–539 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Neo-Babylonian Empire Victory Neo-Babylonian Empire annexed by Iran.
Conquest of Egypt
(525 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Kingdom of Egypt Victory Egypt annexed by Iran.
European Scythian campaign
(513 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Scythians in European Scythia Expansive stalemate Achaemenid domination of the European Black Sea regions.
Greco-Persian Wars
(499–449 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Greek city states
Delian League
Defeat Macedon, Thrace and Ionia gained independence.
Peloponnesian War
(431–404 BC)
Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) Supported by:
Achaemenid Empire
Delian League (led by Athens) Victory Dissolution of the Delian League. Spartan hegemony over Athens and its allies.
Battle of Cunaxa
(401 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Cyrus the Younger Victory Artaxerxes II still in full control of the kingdom.
Corinthian War
(395–387 BC)
Athens
Argos
Corinth
Thebes
Achaemenid Empire
Other allies
Sparta
Peloponnesian League
Peace treaty dictated by Iran (Peace of Antalcidas) Ionia ceded back to Achaemenid Iran. Boeotian league dissolved. Union of Argos and Corinth dissolved
Artaxerxes' II Cadusian Campaign
(385 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Cadusii Defeat, but diplomatic success Negotiated peace with rival chiefs.
Revolt of the Satraps
(372–362 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Rebel satrapies Victory Rebellions chrushed.
Battle of Pelusium (343 BC)
(343 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Egypt Victory Egypt is conquered for a second time by Iran.
Macedon invasion of Iran
(355–328 BC)
Achaemenid Empire Macedon Defeat Iran conquered by the army of Alexander the Great.
Parthian Empire
(247 BCE–224 B)
Seleucid–Parthian Wars
(238 BC–129 BC)
Parthian Empire Seleucid Empire Victory Expulsion of the Seleucids from Iran.
Armenian–Parthian War
(87–85 BC)
Parthian Empire Kingdom of Armenia Defeat Osroene and Atrpatakan loyalty to Tigranes the Great.
Roman–Parthian Wars
(66 AD–217 AD)
Parthian Empire
Kingdom of Armenia
Roman Republic
Pontus
Status quo ante bellum Borders changed several times.
Sassanid Empire
(224–651)
Roman-Sassanid Wars
(232–440)
Sassanid Empire Roman Empire Status quo ante bellum Borders changed several times.
Byzantine–Sassanid Wars
(502–628)
Sassanid Empire Byzantine Empire Status quo ante bellum Borders changed several times.
Ethiopian–Persian Wars
(570–578)
Sassanid Empire Kingdom of Aksum Victory Ethiopians expelled from the Himyarite Kingdom.
First Perso-Turkic War
(588–589)
Sassanid Empire Hephthalite Empire
Göktürks
Victory The Sassanids captured Balkh.
Second Perso-Turkic War
(588–589)
Sassanid Empire Western Turkic Khaganate
Hephthalite Empire
Victory Turkic invasion of Iran repelled.
Third Perso-Turkic War
(627–629)
Sassanid Empire Western Turkic Khaganate
Byzantine Empire
Defeat Byzantine control of Georgia.
Muslim conquest of Persia
(633–644)
Sassanid Empire
Arab Christians
Rashidun Caliphate Defeat Fall of the Sassanid Empire
Saffarid Dynasty
(861–1003)
Ghaznavid Dynasty
(962–1186)
Seljuq Empire
(1037–1194)
Battle of Manzikert
(1071)
Seljuk Empire Byzantine Empire Victory Seljuks enter Anatolia.
Byzantine–Seljuq wars
(1048–1308)
Seljuk Empire Byzantine Empire
Empire of Trebizond
Crusader states
Victory Most of Anatolia conquered by the Seljuks.
Khwarazmian Dynasty
(1077–1231)
Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia
(1218–1221)
Khwarazmian dynasty Mongol Empire Defeat Khwarezmia added to the Mongol Empire.
Timurid Dynasty
(1370–1507)
Campaigns of Timur
(1380–1402)
Timurid dynasty Golden Horde
Ottoman Empire
Muzaffarids
Jalayirid Sultanate
Tughlaq dynasty
Victory
Timurid Civil Wars
(1405–~1501)
Various factions Various factions Collapse of the dynasty Rise of the Shiite Safavid dynasty.
Safavid Dynasty
(1501–1736)
Persian-Uzbek Wars
(1502–1510)
Safavid dynasty Shaybanids Victory Fall of the Shaybanid Empire.
Battle of Chaldiran
(1514)
Safavid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Defeat End of Shia uprisings in the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1523
(1532–1555)
Safavid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Defeat Ottomans captured Lower Mesopotamia and Baghdad. First partition of the Caucasus between the Ottomans and Persians. Western Armenia and western Georgia falls in Ottoman hands, Eastern Armenia, eastern Georgia, Dagestan and the contemporary Republic of Azerbaijan remain in Persian hands
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578
(1578–1590)
Safavid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Defeat Treaty of Constantinople (1590).
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1603
(1603–1618)
Safavid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Victory Persian reconquest of all of the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, and East Anatolia
Mughal–Safavid War of 1622
(1622–1623)
Safavid dynasty Mughal Empire Victory Kandahar falls to Persia
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623
(1623–1639)
Safavid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Defeat Permanent partition of the Caucasus; Western Georgia and Western Armenia goes to the Ottomans, while Eastern Armenia, Dagestan, Eastern and Southern Georgia, and Azerbaijan remain under Persian rule. Ottomans decisively gain control over Mesopotamia.
Mughal–Safavid War of 1649
(1649–1653)
Safavid dynasty
Khanate of Bukhara
Mughal Empire Victory Persia recaptured Kandahar
Russo-Persian War of 1651
(1651–1653)
Safavid dynasty  Russia Victory Russian fortress on the Iranian side of the Terek River destroyed, and its garrison expelled.
Hotaki-Safavid War
(1709–~1722)
Safavid dynasty Hotaki dynasty Regime change Afghan control of most of Iran.
Omani Invasion of Bahrain
(1717)
Safavid dynasty Imamate of Oman Defeat Omani victory, Bahrain sold back to the Safavids.
Russo-Persian War of 1722
(1722–1723)
Safavid dynasty  Russian Empire
Cossack Hetmanate
Kingdom of Kartli
Melikdoms of Karabakh and Armenian rebels
Defeat Russians capture Derbent, Baku, and the provinces of Shirvan, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astrabad for about a decade.
Safavid-Hotaki War
(1726–1729)
Hotaki dynasty Safavid dynasty[1] Regime change End of the Afghan rule in Persia.
Afsharid Dynasty
(1736–1796)
Afsharid–Ottoman War War of 1730
(1730–1735)
Afsharid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Victory Persian reconquest of the entire Caucasus.
Nadir Shah's invasion of India
(1738–1739)
Afsharid dynasty   Mughal Empire Victory Persian plundering of India.
Afsharid–Ottoman War War of 1743
(1743–1746)
Afsharid dynasty  Ottoman Empire Stalemate Treaty of Kerden, Status Quo Ante Bellum
Civil War between Afsharid and Qajar
(1747–1796)
Afsharid dynasty Qajar Dynasty Regime change Mohammad Khan Qajar became the Shah of Iran.
Qajar Dynasty
(1785–1925)
Battle of Krtsanisi
(1795)
Qajar Iran Kartli-Kakheti
Imereti
Victory Tbilisi captured and sacked by Iranian troops. Persian reconquest of the Caucasus and Georgia.
Persian Expedition
(1796)
Qajar Iran  Russian Empire Status quo ante bellum
  • Tactical Russian victory
  • Strategic Persian victory
  • Russian withdrawal after the death of Catherine II
Russo-Persian War of 1804
(1804–1813)
Qajar Iran  Russian Empire Defeat Treaty of Gulistan. Iran irrevocably cedes most of its Caucasus territories (Dagestan, Georgia, and most of the Azerbaijan Republic) to Russia.
Ottoman–Persian War of 1821
(1821–1823)
Qajar Iran  Ottoman Empire Military victory Treaty of Erzurum, status quo ante bellum.
Russo-Persian War of 1826
(1826–1828)
Qajar Iran  Russian Empire Defeat Treaty of Turkmenchay. Iran irrevocably cedes the remainder of its Caucasus territories comprising parts of the contemporary Azerbaijan Republic that were not ceded yet in 1813, as well as all of what is nowadays the Republic of Armenia.
Siege of Herat
(1838)
Qajar Iran Afghanistan Defeat Persian withdrawal from Herat.
Anglo-Persian War
(1856–1857)
Qajar Iran United Kingdom
East India Company
Afghanistan
Defeat Persian withdrawal from Herat.
Revolt of Salar-al-Daulah

(1911–1913)

Qajar Iran Forces of Salar-al-Daulah Victory Rebellion suppressed
Persian Campaign
(1914–1918) (Part of World War I)
Qajar Iran  Russian Empire
 British Empire
 British Raj
Stalemate Ottoman withdrawal after signing of Armistice of Mudros.
Pahlavi Dynasty
(1925–1979)
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
(1941) (Part of World War II)
Iran  Soviet Union
United Kingdom
 India
Defeat Abdication of Rezā Shāh, Allied occupation of Iran.
Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis
(1945–1946)
Iran Mahabad
Azerbaijan
Victory Dissolution of Mahabad and Azerbaijan.
Dhofar Rebellion
(1963–1976)[2]
Iran
 Oman
PFLOAG
PFLO
Victory Defeat of insurgents, modernization of Oman.
Islamic Republic of Iran
(1979–)
Iranian Revolution and Consolidation
(1979–1983)
 Iran Imperial State
and various armed opposition, including:
Tudeh Party
MEK
PDKI
Islamic Republic victory Rival political factions and separatist movements crushed.

Tens of thousands of political executions in the aftermath (7,900 from 1981 to 1985, 3,800 to 33,000 in 1988, unknown in 1986–1987 or 1979–1980).

Iran–Iraq War
(1980–1988)
 Iran
KDP
PUK
Badr Brigades
Iraq
MEK
PDKI
Stalemate Both Iraq and Iran accepted UNSC Resolution 598.

Return to status quo, observed by UNIIMOG.

Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
(2004–2005)
 Iran Jundallah (Iran) Victory Capture of Abdolmalek Rigi.

Dissolution of Jundallah

Iran–PJAK Conflict
(2004–2013)
 Iran
 Turkey
PJAK Victory PJAK withdraws from Iranian territory
Syrian Civil War
(2011–present)
Syria
Hezbollah
 Iran
 Russia
Free Syrian Army
Islamic Front
al-Nusra Front
Islamic State
Ongoing Rebel and Islamist uprisings quelled in much of Syria.

Most of Syria now controlled by Syrian Government, which is supported by Iran.

Islamic State in Syria defeated near the end of 2017.

Iraqi Civil War
(2014–2017)
 Iraq
 Iraqi Kurdistan
 United States
 Iran
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Badr Organization
Hezbollah
Kata'ib Hezbollah
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Victory Iraqi government and allied victory against ISIL.

End of ISIL territorial control in Iraq; ongoing ISIL insurgency

See also

Notes

  1. De facto ruled by Nader Shah.
  2. The rebellion started already in 1962, but Iran did not intervene before 1973.
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