Modern Challenges: Final

Iraq Timeline

1534 - 1918 - Region is part of the Ottoman Empire. Iraq timeline - the short version Ottoman-era street in BaghdadImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES 1534-1918 - Ottoman rule. 1917 - Britain seizes control, creates state of Iraq. 1932 - Independence, followed by coups. 1979 - Saddam Hussein becomes president. 1980-1988 - Iran-Iraq war. 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait, putting it on a collision course with the international community. 1991 - Iraq subjected to sanctions, weapons inspections and no-fly zones. 2003 - US-led coalition invades, starting years of guerrilla warfare and instability. 1917 - Britain seizes Baghdad during First World War. 1920 - League of Nations approves British mandate in Iraq, prompting nationwide revolt. 1921 - Britain appoints Faysal, son of Hussein Bin Ali, the Sherif of Mecca, as king. Independence 1932 - Mandate ends, Iraq becomes independent. Britain retains military bases. 1941 - Britain re-occupies Iraq after pro-Axis coup during Second World War. 1958 - The monarchy is overthrown in a left-wing military coup led by Abd-al-Karim Qasim and Abd-al-Salam Muhammad Arif. Iraq leaves the pro-British Baghdad Pact. 1963 - Prime Minister Qasim is ousted in a coup led by the Arab Socialist Baath Party. Arif becomes president. 1963 - The Baathist government is overthrown by Arif and a group of officers. Baathists sieze power 1968 - A Baathist led-coup puts Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr in power. 1972 - Iraq nationalises the Iraq Petroleum Company. Iran-Iraq war Iranian soldiers ride a motorcycle past the bodies of dead Iraqi soldiers at Faw, 1986Image copyrightAP Almost one million people died in the conflict; exchanges of war dead continued for years The Iran-Iraq war: 25 years on 1980: Iraq bombs Iran as hostilities increase 1974 - Iraq grants limited autonomy to Kurdish region. 1979 - Saddam Hussein succeeds Al-Bakr as president. 1980 - The pro-Iranian Dawah Party claims responsibility for an attack on Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad. Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988 - Iran-Iraq war results in stalemate. 1981 June - Israeli air raid destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak near Baghdad. 1988 March - Iraq attacks Kurdish town of Halabjah with poison gas, killing thousands. First US-Iraq war 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait, prompting what becomes known as the first Gulf War. A massive US-led military campaign forces Iraq to withdraw in February 1991. 1991 April - Iraq subjected to weapons inspection programme. 1991 Mid-March/early April - Southern Shia and northern Kurdish populations - encouraged by Iraq's defeat in Kuwait - rebel, prompting a brutal crackdown. 1991 Gulf War Oil well set alight by retreating Iraqi forces burns in background as Iraqi tank stands abandonedImage copyrightAFP Iraq's army was crushed in 1991 Gulf War that followed the invasion of Kuwait 1991: Jubilation follows Gulf War ceasefire 1991 April - UN-approved haven established in northern Iraq to protect the Kurds. Iraq ordered to end all military activity in the area. 1992 August - A no-fly zone, which Iraqi planes are not allowed to enter, is set up in southern Iraq, south of latitude 32 degrees north. 1993 June - US forces launch a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in retaliation for the attempted assassination of US President George Bush in Kuwait in April. Oil-for-food 1995 April - UN allows partial resumption of Iraq's oil exports to buy food and medicine in an oil-for-food programme. 1995 October - Saddam Hussein wins a referendum allowing him to remain president for another seven years. 1996 August - After call for aid from Kurdistan Democratic Party, Iraqi forces launch offensive into northern no-fly zone and capture Irbil. 1996 September - US extends northern limit of southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees north, just south of Baghdad. 1998 October - Iraq ends cooperation with UN Special Commission to Oversee the Destruction of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction. Operation Desert Fox 1998 December - US and British Operation Desert Fox bombing campaign aims to destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes. 1999 February - Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, spiritual leader of the Shia community, is assassinated in Najaf. Saddam's fall A bronze statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down in central Baghdad after US forces enter the city, 2003Image copyrightAFP Saddam Hussein's ouster by US forces prompted jubilation among many Iraqis Saddam 'sure he would survive' Iraq war shows limits of US power 2001 February - Britain, US carry out bombing raids to try to disable Iraq's air defence network. 2002 September - US President George W Bush tells UN Iraq poses "grave and gathering danger". British Prime Minister Tony Blair publishes later-discredited dossier on Iraq's military capability. 2002 November - UN weapons inspectors return to Iraq backed by a UN resolution which threatens serious consequences if Iraq is in "material breach" of its terms. Saddam ousted 2003 March - US-led invasion topples Saddam Hussein's government, marks start of years of violent conflict with different groups competing for power. 2003 July - US-appointed Governing Council meets for first time. Commander of US forces says his troops face low-intensity guerrilla-style war. Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay killed in gun battle in Mosul. Insurgency intensifies 2003 August - Suicide truck bomb wrecks UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Car bomb in Najaf kills 125 including Shia leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim. 2003 December - Saddam Hussein captured in Tikrit. 2004 March - Suicide bombers attack Shia festival-goers in Karbala and Baghdad, killing 140 people. 2004 April-May - Shia militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr take on coalition forces. Hundreds are reported killed in fighting during the month-long US military siege of the Sunni Muslim city of Falluja. Photographic evidence emerges of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops. Sovereignty and elections 2004 June - US hands sovereignty to interim government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. 2004 August - Fighting in Najaf between US forces and Shia militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. 2004 November - Major US-led offensive against insurgents in Falluja. Al-Qaeda in Iraq Picture believed to show Abu Musab al-ZarqawiImage copyrightAP Image caption Under Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda became one of the most brutal insurgent groups Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi made Al-Qaeda in Iraq the most feared insurgent group How Zarqawi was found and killed 2005 January - Some 8 million vote in elections for a Transitional National Assembly. 2005 February - At least 114 people are killed by a car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad, in the worst single such incident since the US-led invasion. 2005 April - Amid escalating violence, parliament selects Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, is named as prime minister. 2005 May onwards - Surge in car bombings, bomb explosions and shootings: government puts civilian death toll for May at 672, up from 364 in April. 2005 June - Massoud Barzani is sworn in as regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan. 2005 August - Draft constitution is endorsed by Shia and Kurdish negotiators, but not by Sunni representatives. 2005 October - Voters approve a new constitution, which aims to create an Islamic federal democracy. 2005 December - Iraqis vote for the first, full-term government and parliament since the US-led invasion. Sectarian violence 2006 February onwards - A bomb attack on an important Shia shrine in Samarra unleashes a wave of sectarian violence in which hundreds of people are killed. 2006 22 April - Newly re-elected President Talabani asks Shia compromise candidate Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government, ending months of deadlock. Bombings Thousands of Iraqis were killed in sectarian suicide bombingsImage copyrightAFP Thousands of Iraqis have been killed in sectarian suicide and car bomb attacks Iraq Body Count: War dead figures Guide: Armed groups in Iraq Up to 200 killed in Baghdad bombs 2006 May and June - An average of more than 100 civilians per day are killed in violence in Iraq, the UN says. 2006 7 June - Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is killed in an air strike. 2006 November - Iraq and Syria restore diplomatic relations after nearly a quarter century. More than 200 die in car bombings in the mostly Shia area of Sadr City in Baghdad, in the worst attack on the capital since the US-led invasion of 2003. Saddam executed 2006 December - Saddam Hussein is executed for crimes against humanity. 2007 January - US President Bush announces a new Iraq strategy; thousands more US troops will be dispatched to shore up security in Baghdad. UN says more than 34,000 civilians were killed in violence during 2006; the figure surpasses official Iraqi estimates threefold. 2007 February - A bomb in Baghdad's Sadriya market kills more than 130 people. It is the worst single bombing since 2003. 2007 April - Bombings in Baghdad kill nearly 200 people in one day. 2007 August - Truck and car bombs hit two villages of Yazidi Kurds, killing at least 250 people - the deadliest attack since 2003. Kurdish and Shia leaders form an alliance to support Prime Minister Maliki's government but fail to bring in Sunni leaders. Shia holy sites Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, IraqImage copyrightAFP Image caption Shrine of the Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest places Shrine of the Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest places Karbala and Najaf: Shia holy cities Turkish raids 2007 September - Controversy over private security contractors after Blackwater security guards allegedly fire at civilians in Baghdad, killing 17. 2007 October - The number of violent civilian and military deaths continues to drop, as does the frequency of rocket attacks. 2007 December - Britain hands over security of Basra province to Iraqi forces, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq. 2008 January - Parliament passes legislation allowing former officials from Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life. 2008 March - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits. Prime Minister Maliki orders crackdown on militia in Basra, sparking pitched battles with Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army. Hundreds are killed. 2008 September - US forces hand over control of the western province of Anbar - once an insurgent and Al-Qaeda stronghold - to the Iraqi government. It is the first Sunni province to be returned to to the Shia-led government. Security pact approved 2008 November - Parliament approves a security pact with the United States under which all US troops are due to leave the country by the end of 2011. Moqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-SadrImage copyrightAFP Radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced he was withdrawing from politics in 2014 but has since resumed his political activities Iraqi fears of new Sadrist power Sadr followers push for reform Profile: Moqtada Sadr 2009 January - Iraq takes control of security in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and assumes more powers over foreign troops based in the country. 2009 June - US troops withdraw from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion, having formally handed over security duties to new Iraqi forces. New political groupings 2009 July - New opposition forces make strong gains in elections to the regional parliament of Kurdistan, but the governing KDP and PUK alliance retains a reduced majority. Masoud Barzani (KDP) is re-elected in the presidential election. 2009 October - Two car bombs near the Green Zone in Baghdad kill at least 155 people, in Iraq's deadliest attack since April 2007. 2009 December - The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq claims responsibility for suicide bombings in Baghdad that kill at least 127 people, as well as attacks in August and October that killed 240 people. Tension flares with Tehran as Iranian troops briefly occupy an oilfield in Iraqi territory. 2010 January - Controversy as candidates with alleged links to Baath Party are banned from March parliamentary polls. A court later lifts the ban, prompting a delay in campaigning. "Chemical" Ali Hassan al-Majid, a key figure in Saddam Hussein's government, is executed. Inconclusive elections 2010 March - Parliamentary elections. Nine months pass before a new government is approved. Fractious politics Billboard of PM Nouri al-Maliki ahead of March 2010 parliamentary electionsImage copyrightAFP A complex political landscape came into being after the fall of Saddam Hussein Guide to political groups in Iraq 2010 August - Seven years after the US-led invasion, the last US combat brigade leaves Iraq. 2010 October - Church in Baghdad seized by militants. More than 50 people are killed in what is described as the worst single disaster to hit Iraq's Christians in modern times. 2010 November/December - Parliament reconvenes after long delay, re-appoints Jalal Talabani as president and Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister. A new government includes all major factions. 2011 January - Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr returns after four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. 2011 February - Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan resume, amid a lengthy dispute between the region and the central government over contracts with foreign firms. US pull out 2011 December - US completes troop pull-out. Unity government faces disarray. Arrest warrant issued for vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi, a leading Sunni politician. Sunni bloc boycotts parliament and cabinet. 2012 - Bomb and gun attacks target Shia areas throughout the year, sparking fears of a new sectarian conflict. 2012 March - Tight security for Arab League summit in Baghdad. It is the first major summit to be held in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A wave of pre-summit attacks kills scores of people. 2012 April - Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan halted amid row with central government over contracts with foreign firms. Coffin at the scene of a bombing in BaghdadImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Iraq has enjoyed only brief periods of respite from high levels of sectarian violence 2012 September - Fugitive Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi is sentenced to death for murder in absentia. He fled to Turkey after being accused of running death squads. 2012 November - Iraq cancels a $4.2bn deal to buy arms from Russia because of concerns about alleged corruption within the Iraqi government. The purchase, signed in October, would have made Russia the country's second-largest arms supplier after the US. Moscow was the main arms supplier of to Saddam Hussein. Violence intensifies 2012 December - President Jalal Talabani suffers a stroke. He undergoes treatment in Germany and makes some progress through the winter and spring. Sunni Muslims stage mass rallies across the country over several months, protesting against what they see as marginalisation by the Shia-led government. Syrian refugees try to cross into northern IraqImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Thousands of Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries, including Iraq, to escape civil war at home 2013 April - Insurgency intensifies, with levels of violence matching those of 2008. By July the country is described as being yet again in a state of full-blown sectarian war. 2013 July - At least 500 prisoners, mainly senior al-Qaeda members, escape from Taji and Abu Ghraib jails in a mass breakout. 2013 September - Series of bombings hits Kurdistan capital Irbil in the first such attack since 2007. Islamic State of Iraq says it was responding to alleged Iraqi Kurdish support for Kurds fighting jihadists in Syria. 2013 October - Government says October is deadliest month since April 2008, with 900 killed. By the year-end the UN estimates the 2013 death toll of civilians as 7,157 - a dramatic increase in the previous year's figure of 3,238. Islamist surge 2014 January - Islamist fighters infiltrate Fallujah and Ramadi after months of mounting violence in mainly-Sunni Anbar province. Government forces recapture Ramadi but face entrenched rebels in Fallujah. 2014 April - Prime Minister Al-Maliki's coalition wins a plurality at first parliamentary election since 2011 withdrawal of US troops, but falls short of a majority. 2014 June-September - Sunni rebels led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant surge out of Anbar Province to seize Iraq's second city of Mosul and other key towns. Tens of thousands flee amid atrocities. Kurdish forces, US and Iran assist government in repelling attacks. 2014 July - Kurdish Region President Massoud Barzani announces plans for an independence referendum this year, given that Iraq is "effectively partitioned". Broad government 2014 September - Shia politician Haider al-Abad forms a broad-based government including Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Kurdish leadership agrees to put independence referendum on hold. US announces new forward strategy against Islamic State, carries out air raids in support of Iraqi Army near Baghdad. International conference in Paris, including ten Sunni Arab states but excluding Iran and Syria, agrees to support strategy. 2014 December - The Iraqi government and the leadership of the Kurdish Region sign a deal on sharing Iraq's oil wealth and military resources, amid hopes that the agreement will help to reunite the country in the face of the common threat represented by Islamic State. 2015 March - Islamic State destroys Assyrian archaeological sites of Nimrud and Hatra. Offensive against Islamic State 2015 April - Government forces regain control of city of Tikrit from Islamic State fighters after month-long siege. 2015 May - Islamic State captures city of Ramadi, capital of western province of Anbar, in lightning assault. 2015 July - Iraqi army launches offensive to re-take Anbar province. 2015 August - Parliament approves reforms to cut corruption and sectarian government job quotas after riots against frequent power cuts. 2015 December - Government forces recapture central Ramadi. 2016 February - Government troops expel last remaining Islamic State fighters from Ramadi area. Islamic State forces withdraw to Fallujah. Radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr leads mass demonstration in Baghdad in protest at government corruption and the slow rate of progress in delivering on promised reforms. 2016 March - Iraqi army launches offensive to re-take Mosul from Islamic State, but it is soon stalemated. 2016 April - Supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr storm parliament building demanding new government to fight corruption and end allocation of government posts along sectarian lines. 2016 May - Army and Shia militias launch offensive to retake Falluja from Islamic State.

Israel/Palestine Timeline

1917- Britain seizes Palestine from Ottomans. Gives support to "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration, along with an insistence that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". 1920 - San Remo Allied Powers conference grants Palestine to Britain as a mandate, to prepare it for self-rule. European Jewish migration, which increased in the 19th century, continues. 1922 - Britain separates Transjordan from Mandate Palestine, forbids Jewish settlement there. Jewish refugees arrive near Haifa aboard the SS United Nations in February 1948Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Jews fleeing persecution arrived by the shipload, often having to evade blockades 1939 - British government "White Paper" seeks to limit Jewish migration to Palestine to 10,000 per year, excepting emergencies. 1940s - Nazi Holocaust of the Jews in Europe prompts efforts at mass migration to Palestine. Jewish armed groups in pursuit of independent Jewish state fight British authorities. 1947 - United Nations recommends partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, with international control over Jerusalem and its environs. Independence 1948 - Israel declares independence as British mandate ends. Admitted to United Nations. Palestinians are expelled from HaifaImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in the war that followed Israel's independence 1948-1949 - First Arab-Israeli war. Armistice agreements leave Israel with more territory than envisaged under the Partition Plan, including western Jerusalem. Jordan annexes West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, Egypt occupies Gaza. Around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs either flee or are expelled out of their total population of about 1,200,000. 1949-1960s - Up to a million Jewish refugees and immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, plus 250,000 Holocaust survivors, settle in Israel. 1948-1977 - Centre-left Labour Party dominates coalition governments, initially under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (1948-54). Promotes a self-sufficient, agrarian and secular Jewish democracy with a non-aligned foreign policy. Suez Crisis 1956-1957 - Israel colludes with Britain and France to invade Egypt during the Suez Crisis, in order to re-open canal to Israeli shipping and end armed incursions by Palestinians from Sinai. UN buffer force set up in Sinai and Gaza, Israeli shipping allowed through Suez Canal. Workers on a kibbutzImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Kibbutzim - communes based on socialist principles - were central to the development of Israel 1957 - Israel begins to build a large nuclear reactor at Dimona in the Negev desert, with French assistance. This becomes the basis for the country's widely-reported but officially unconfirmed nuclear weapons programme ten years later. 1961 - Trial in Jerusalem of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, whom Israeli agents kidnapped from Argentina. 1967 Middle East War Israeli troops take Arab prisoners in the Six Day WarImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES The Six Day War was the second conflict between Israel and neighbouring Egypt, Jordan and Syria Maps: How war unfolded How 1967 defined the Middle East 1962 - Improving relations and concerns about the Middle Eastern balance of power prompt the United States to sell Israel missiles. When France halts arms supplies to Israel in 1966, the United States increases sales. 1964 - National Water Carrier completed, to carry water from the River Jordan to the Negev. Tensions rise with Arab neighbours over Jordan water allocations. 1966 - SY Agnon is joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Six Day War 1967 June - After months of tension, including border skirmishes, Egypt's expulsion of the UN buffer force from Sinai and its closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, Israel launches a pre-emptive attack on Egypt, and Jordan and Syria join the war. The war lasts six days and leaves Israel in control of east Jerusalem, all of West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai. Jewish settlements are set up in all of these areas in coming years, with government approval. 1972 - Palestinian "Black September" gunmen take the Israeli team hostage at the Munich Olympics. Two of the athletes are murdered at the site and nine more killed during a failed rescue attempt by the German authorities. Massacre in Munich Hostage taker in MunichImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES The Olympic Games in Munich will be remembered for the murder of the entire Israeli team, killed after they were taken hostage by Palestinian militants On This Day 1973 October - Egypt and Syria launch co-ordinated attack against Israeli forces in the occupied Sinai and Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur or October War. Israel prevails, but only after suffering significant losses. Public mood turns against dominant Labour Party. 1974 - Gush Emunim (Block of the Faithful) movement formed to promote Jewish religious settlements on the West Bank. 1975 - UN General Assembly adopts a resolution describing Zionism as a form of racism. Rescinded in 1991. 1976 March - Mass protests by Israeli Arabs at government attempts to expropriate land in the Galilee area of northern Israel. Six Arab citizens were killed in clashes with security forces. The events are commemorated annually as Land Day. 1976 July - Israeli commandos carry out a raid on Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free more than 100 mostly Israeli and Jewish hostages being held hostage by German and Palestinian gunmen. Camp David Accord Israeli, Egyptian peace deal The Eyptian and Israeli leaders meet at Camp David in 1978 to work out a peace dealImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel and Egypt ended 30 years of war with an historic peace treaty brokered by the United States 1978: Arab-Israeli breakthrough in US 1977 May - Menachem Begin's right-wing Likud party wins surprise election victory, partly by harnessing Mizrachi (non-European) Jews' resentment at hegemony of Ashkenazi (European-origin) Jews. Launches economic liberalisation, brings religious Jewish parties into mainstream and encourages settlements. 1977 November - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem and begins the process that leads to Israel's withdrawal from Sinai and Egypt's recognition of Israel in the Camp David Accords of 1978. Accords also pledge Israel to expand Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza. 1981 June - Israeli air force raid destroys nuclear reactor at Osirak in Iraq. Invasion of Lebanon 1982 June - Israel invades Lebanon in order to expel Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leadership after assassination attempt by small Palestinian militant group on Israeli ambassador to London. Sabra and Shatila massacre Aftermath of the Sabra and Shatila massacreImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 1982 saw the expulsion of the PLO, and the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in refugee camps Video: Sabra and Shatila BBC: Witness 1982 September - Massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut by Israel's Christian Phalangist allies. Government commission finds Defence Minister Ariel Sharon indirectly responsible and recommends his removal from office. Mass protests against massacre in Israel galvanise anti-war movement. 1984 July - Elections lead to a hung parliament and uneasy coalition between Likud and Labour, whose leader Shimon Peres alternates as prime minister with Likud's Yitzhak Shamir. 1984 November - Covert mass airlift of Ethiopia's Jews begins. Operation repeated in 1991. 1985 - Austerity programme tackles hyper-inflation and stabilises currency, introducing New Israeli Shekel. 1985 June - Israel withdraws from most of Lebanon but continues to occupy narrow "security zone" along border. 1986 - Former nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu reveals detail of Israel's nuclear weapons programme to British press. Israeli agents later abduct him, and he spends 18 years in jail before released under a regime of heavy restrictions on his right of movement and communication. Uprising 1987 December - First Intifada uprising begins in Occupied Territories. Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza forms Hamas movement, which rapidly turns to violence against Israel. First Intifada Palestinian children throw stones in protest against Israeli occupationImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel faced the first real challenge to its authority when Palestinians rose up to remove the army from occupied land BBC Learning Zone: Video 1988 September - Israel becomes one of only eight countries at the time to have capability independently to launch satellites with Ofeq reconnaissance probe. 1990 - Soviet Union allows Jews to emigrate, leading to about a million ex-Soviet citizens moving to Israel. 1991 January - Gulf War. Iraq fires 39 Scud missiles at Israel in failed attempt to regionalise conflict. Israel refrains from responding at US request. 1991 October - US-Soviet sponsored Madrid conference brings Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestinian representatives together for first time since 1949. Sets in motion talks to normalise relations. Yitzhak Shamir's reluctant participation, under US pressure, brings down his minority government. 1992 - Labour returns to power under Yitzhak Rabin. Pledges to halt Jewish settlement expansion programme, opens secret talks with PLO. Oslo Declaration Mutual recognition Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands, looked on by Bill ClintonImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Negotiations in Oslo led to the mutual recognition between Israelis and Palestinians History of Mid-East peace talks 1993 - Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign Oslo Declaration to plot Palestinian self-government and formally end First Intifada. Violence by Palestinian groups that reject Oslo Declaration continues. 1994 February - Baruch Goldstein of the extremist Jewish Kach movement kills 29 Arabs at prayer at Cave of the Patriarchs near Hebron on West Bank. 1994 May-July - Israel withdraws from most of Gaza and the West Bank city of Jericho, allowing Yasser Arafat to move PLO administration from Tunis and set up Palestinian National Authority. 1994 October - Jordan and Israel sign peace treaty. 1994 December - Rabin, Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize. 1995 September - Rabin and Arafat sign Interim Agreement for transfer of further power and territory to Palestinian National Authority. Forms basis for 1997 Hebron Protocol, 1998 Wye River Memorandum and internationally-sponsored "Road Map for Peace" of 2003. 1995 November - Jewish extremist shoots Rabin dead in Tel Aviv. Peres takes over as prime minister. 1996 May - Likud returns to power under Benjamin Netanyahu, pledges to halt further concessions to Palestinians. Nonetheless signs Hebron Protocol and Wye River Memorandum. Settlement expansion resumes. 1999 May - Labour-led coalition elected under Ehud Barak, pledges to move ahead with talks with Palestinians and Syria. Pullout from Lebanon 2000 May - Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, although Lebanon disputes status of Shebaa Farms area. Temple Mount visit Ariel Sharon visits the Temple MountImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Palestinians were furious when Ariel Sharon, whom they reviled, visited a key Jerusalem holy site in 2000. Violence escalated into the Second Intifada Ariel Sharon's mark on history Guide to holy sites 2000 July - Talks between Barak and Arafat break down over timing and extent of proposed further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. 2000 September - Likud leader Ariel Sharon visits Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Al-Haram al-Sharif - escalating Palestinian protests into new wave of violence. 2001 January - Failure of last-ditch efforts at restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks in Taba, Egypt, Barak loses elections to Sharon, who declines to continue talks. 2002 March-May - Israeli army launches Operation Defensive Shield on West Bank after spate of Palestinian suicide bombings. Largest military operation on West Bank since 1967. 2002 June - Israel begins building barrier in and around West Bank. Israel says barrier aimed at stopping Palestinian attacks; Palestinians see it as a tool to grab land. Route is controversial as frequently deviates from pre-1967 ceasefire line into West Bank. Separation barrier Israel's separation barrierImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel's construction of the West Bank barrier has been controversial Palestinians keep up barrier protest 2003 June - "Quartet" of United, States, European Union, Russia and United Nations propose "road map" to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict, proposing independent Palestinian state. Israel and Palestinian National Authority both accept plan, which requires freeze on West Bank Jewish settlements and an end to attacks on Israelis. 2004 July - International Court of Justice issues advisory opinion that West Bank barrier is illegal. Withdrawal from Gaza 2005 September - Israel withdraws all Jewish settlers and military personnel from Gaza, while retaining control over airspace, coastal waters and border crossings. 2006 January - Ariel Sharon incapacitated by stroke. He dies in 2014, never having emerged from a coma. Succeeded as prime minister by Ehud Olmert in April. Emergence of hi-tech hub Israeli optical technologyImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel has become a centre of innovation How Israel became a high-tech hub Intelligence unit drives hi-tech boom Hamas Islamist group wins Palestinian parliamentary elections. Rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza escalate. Met with frequent Israeli raids and incursions over following years. 2006 June - Hamas gunmen from Gaza take Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit hostage, demanding release of Palestinian prisoners. Major clashes between Israel and Hamas in Gaza follow. 2006 July-August - Israeli incursion into Lebanon, in response to deadly Hezbollah attack and abduction of two soldiers, escalates into Second Lebanon War. Government faces criticism over conduct of war, which left Hezbollah forces largely intact. 2007 September - Israeli Air Force destroys suspected nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor, Syria. 2007 November - Annapolis Conference for first time establishes "two-state solution" as basis for future talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority. Gaza invasion 2008 December - Israel launches month-long full-scale invasion of Gaza to prevent Hamas and other groups from launching rockets. 2009 January - Discovery of major offshore natural gas deposits. Gaza war of 2008 Aftermath of an Israeli attack on GazaImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel launched a major offensive to stop Hamas militants from firing rockets from the territory Q&A: Gaza conflict 2009 February - Right-wing parties prevail in elections, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu forms government. 2010 May - Nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists killed in clashes during Israeli boarding of ships attempting to break blockade of Gaza. Relations with Turkey approach breaking point. Israel apologises for deaths in 2013. 2010 September - Direct talks resume between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, only to falter over the question of settlements. 2011 Summer-Autumn - Rising prices prompt major protests. Government improves competition in food market and makes cheaper housing more available. 2011 October - Hamas release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,027 prisoners in deal brokered by Germany and Egypt. 2012 March - Worst clashes since 2008 with Gaza-based armed groups, following Israel's killing of Popular Resistance Committees' leader Zohair al-Qaisi. 2012 May - Israel releases bodies of 91 prisoners and suicide bombers in "humanitarian gesture" to Palestinian Authority, intended to set scene for resumed talks. 2012 November - Israel launches week-long military campaign against Gaza-based armed groups following months of escalating rocket attacks on Israeli towns. 2013 March - Mr Netanyahu replaces most religious Jewish groups with centrist and secular parties in government after the latter's strong showing in January elections. 2013 May - Israeli and Syrian troops exchange fire as Syrian civil war reaches Golan Heights. The Dimona nuclear installation in the Negev desertImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Israel was an early adopter of nuclear technology but it has been secretive about its assets, such as the Dimona nuclear plant 2013 July - Talks resume with Palestinian Authority under US auspices. Israel releases 104 Palestinian prisoners in "goodwill gesture". Talks scheduled to last nine months. 2013 December - Israel, Jordan and Palestinian Authority sign agreement to save the Dead Sea from drying up by pumping water from the Red Sea. 2014 January - Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom attends renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi, leading a business delegation in first visit to United Arab Emirates since 2010. 2014 March - Mass protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem against bill ending wholesale exemptions for religious students from military service. 2014 June - Israel responds to the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank by arresting numerous Hamas members. Militants responds by escalating rocket-fire from Gaza. 2014 July-August - Israel responds to attacks by armed groups in Gaza with a military campaign by air and land to knock out missile launching sites and attack tunnels. Clashes end in uneasy Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in August. 2014 December - Prime Minister Netanyahu dismisses Yesh Yatid and HaTnua leaders from government in dispute over tax breaks and controversial bill to reinforce Jewish nature of state, prompting early elections. Netanyahu's fourth government 2015 May - Seven weeks after winning a surprise victory at early elections in March, Prime Minister Netanyahu forms a new coalition government. The main junior partner in the Likud-led coalition - which has a majority of one in the 120-member Knesset - is the right-wing Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party. 2015 October - Spate of stabbing attacks on Israelis by Palestinians in Jerusalem the West Bank and parts of Israel raises tension. 2015 November - Israel suspends contact with European Union officials in talks with Palestinians over EU decision to label goods from Jewish settlements in the West Bank as coming not from Israel but from settlements. 1917 - Britain conquers Palestine from Ottomans. Gives support to "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine through the Balfour Declaration, along with an insistence that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities". 1918 - First significant Palestinian Arab nationalist organisations emerge - the mainly cultural Muntada al-Adabi and the Damascus-based Nadi al-Arabi. 1920 - San Remo Allied Powers conference grants Palestine to Britain as a mandate, to prepare it for self-rule. Jerusalem riots against Balfour Declaration assert distinct Palestinian Arab identity. Britain's Lord Balfour points out a feature during a visit to JerusalemImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Britain's Lord Balfour, pointing to a feature in Jerusalem, became known for his declaration supporting a national home for Jewish people 1921 - Britain appoints Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, a member of a leading Palestinian Arab family, as Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and leader of the Muslim community. He rallies the Arabs and Muslims against any further concessions to the Jews. 1922 - Palestinian Arab delegation rejects British proposal for Legislative Council, saying inclusion of terms of the Balfour Declaration in draft constitution not acceptable. 1929 - Arab rioters kill about 200 Jews in Jerusalem's Old City and Hebron. British troops kill 116 Arabs in suppression of riots in Jerusalem. 1930 - British White Paper and Royal Commission recommend limiting Jewish immigration. 1930-35 - The Black Hand Islamist group led by Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam launches campaign of violence against Jewish community and British rule. 1935 - Palestinian Arab leadership accepts British High Commissioner's proposal for Legislative Assembly, but the British House of Commons rejects it the following year. 1936-39 - Arab revolt begins with a general strike in Jaffa. Britain declares martial law and dissolves Grand Mufti Al-Husseini's Arab Higher Committee. More than 5,000 Arabs killed and 15,000 injured in suppression of revolt, Al-Husseini flees to French-run Syria to avoid arrest. 1947 - United Nations recommends partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states after Britain signals end to Mandate, with international control over Jerusalem and its environs. Arab High Committee rejects partition. Birth of Israel 1948 - Israel declares independence as British mandate ends. Palestinian refugee campImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Thousands of Palestinians were forced out or fled from their homes in the war that followed Israel's independence A scattered people More than four million Palestinians are thought to be living with refugee status in Arab countries, many marginalised and trapped in camps Slideshow: Inside Shatila Arab armies fail to defeat new Jewish state of Israel after Britain withdraws. Jordan occupies West Bank and East Jerusalem, Egypt occupies Gaza, and Israel holds the rest of Mandate Palestine including West Jerusalem. At least 750,000 Palestinian Arabs either flee or are expelled. Disputes over the nature of their departure endure to this day. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) set up to cater to the educational and health needs of Palestinian refugees and their descendants throughout the Middle East. 1949-1950s - Fedayeen Palestinian guerrillas based in Egypt and Gaza carry out raids into Israel with Egyptian encouragement. This increases after pan-Arab officers seize power in Cairo in 1952. 1956-1957 - Israel colludes with Britain and France to invade Egypt during the Suez Crisis, partly to end Fedayeen incursions. UN buffer force in Sinai and Gaza drastically reduces raids. 1959 - Yasser Arafat forms Fatah fighting group in Egypt to carry out raids into Israel. 1964 - Arab League sets up Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Palestine Liberation Army under Ahmad Shukeiri. Ottoman-era mosque in Sebastia, near Nablus on the West BankImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption The West Bank has a rich heritage, including this Ottoman-era mosque near Nablus 1967 June - Six-Day War leaves Israel occupying East Jerusalem, all of West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai. Jewish settlements are set up in all of these areas in coming years, with government approval. 1969 - Yasser Arafat takes over PLO leadership after debut as military leader in clashes with Israeli forces in Jordan in 1968, and asserts the group's independence from Egyptian control. 1970 - Increasing tension over the strength of the PLO in Jordan leads to the Black September clashes with Jordanian forces, driving the PLO into exile in southern Lebanon. 1970s-1980s - PLO and other armed Palestinian groups turn to airline hijackings and attacks on Israeli soldiers, officials and civilians within Israel and abroad to highlight their cause. Famed hijacker Palestinian hijacker Leila KhaledImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Leila Khaled took part in a spate of hijackings which focused attention on the Palestinian cause Profile of a hijacker On this Day: 1970: Guerrillas destroy jets 1972 - Palestinian "Black September" gunmen take the Israeli team hostage at the Munich Olympics. Two of the athletes are murdered at the site and nine more killed during a failed rescue attempt by the German authorities. Israel launches a series of reprisal assassinations. 1973 - Israel raids PLO bases in Beirut and southern Lebanon before and during the October Yom Kippur/Ramadan War. 1974 April-May - Two hardline factions, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, carry out raids into northern Israel and kill 43 civilians, including many children, in a block of flats in Kiryat Shmona and a school in Maalot. 1974 June - After 1973 Yom Kippur/Ramada war, PLO adopts Ten-Point Programme allowing compromise with Israel on the way to establishing complete Palestinian control over historic Palestine, including the territory of Israel. Some hardline factions split away to form the Rejectionist Front and step up attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. PLO recognised 1974 October - Arab League recognises PLO as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people'' and it admits it to full membership of the League. Militant leader Palestinian leader Yasser ArafatImage copyrightAP Yasser Arafat was for many years the controversial icon of the Palestinians' struggle with Israel BBC Obituary: Yasser Arafat The Economist: Arafat 1974 November - Yasser Arafat becomes first non-state leader to address the United Nations General Assembly, delivers "olive branch... and freedom fighter's gun" speech. 1975 - Rejectionist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and German far-left armed group hijack Air France plane en route from Israel to France, divert it to Entebbe in Uganda. Israel commandos rescue most of passengers and crew, kill hijackers. 1977 May - The right-wing Likud party wins surprise election victory in Israel and encourages settlements policy on West Bank and Gaza. 1978 March - PLO attack kills 38 civilians on Israel's coastal road. Israel carries out first major incursion into southern Lebanon, driving PLO and other Palestinian groups out of the area. 1978 September - Israel pledges to expand Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza as part of the Camp David Accords establishing diplomatic relations with Egypt. 1982 June - Israel invades Lebanon again to expel PLO leadership from Beirut after assassination attempt by Palestinian faction on Israeli ambassador to London. PLO leaders quit Lebanon Sabra and Shatila massacre A Palestinian remembers victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacreImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 1982 saw the relocation of the PLO, and the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in refugee camps by Israel's Phalangist allies Video: Sabra and Shatila BBC: Witness 1982 September - Massacre of Palestinians in the Beirut Sabra and Shatila camps by Israel's Christian Phalangist allies. PLO leadership moves to Tunisia, where it remains until it moves to Gaza in 1994. 1985 October - Israeli air force strikes PLO headquarters in Tunis after PLO group kills three Israeli tourists on a yacht. Palestine Liberation Front PLO faction hijacks Achille Lauro cruise ship, demanding release of 50 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Hijackers kill elderly American wheelchair user Leon Klinghoffer. 1987 December - First Palestinian Intifada uprising begins in Palestinian Territories. Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza forms the Hamas movement, which rapidly turns to violence against Israel. 1988 Jordan abandons claim to West Bank, ceding it to PLO. Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers proclaims State of Palestine. 1990 - PLO backs Iraq over its annexation of Kuwait, which severs ties with the PLO and subsequently expels about 400,000 Palestinians. 1991 October - US-Soviet sponsored conference in Madrid brings Israeli and Palestinian representatives together for the first time since 1949. Cruise ship Achille LauroImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Palestinian militants hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro and killed a Jewish passenger 1992 - Israeli Labour government of Yitzhak Rabin pledges to halt settlement expansion programme and begins secret talks with PLO. 1993 September - Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat sign Oslo Declaration to plot Palestinian self-government and formally end the First Intifada, which had been running out of steam since the Madrid Conference. Violence by various Palestinian groups that reject the Oslo Declaration continues. 1994 February - Baruch Goldstein of the extremist Jewish Kach movement kills 29 Palestinians at prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs shrine in Hebron on the West Bank. Progress towards self-rule 1992 May-July - Israel withdraws from most of Gaza and the West Bank city of Jericho, allowing Yasser Arafat to move his PLO administration from Tunis and set up the Palestinian National Authority. 1992 December - Yasser Arafat, along with Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 1995 - Interim Agreement sets out path for transfer of further power and territory to Palestinian National Authority. Forms basis of 1997 Hebron Protocol, Wye River Memorandum of 1998 and internationally-sponsored "Road Map for Peace" of 2003. 2000-2001 - Talks between Israeli Labour Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat break down over the timing and extent of a proposed further Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Palestinian protests escalate into new Intifada. Palestinian youths clash with Israelis in the second Intifada in 2000Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption The intifadas - or uprisings - were aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip 2001 December - Israel sends troops to encircle Ramallah after series of deadly Palestinian attacks inside Israel. Yasser Arafat is unable to leave his government compound. Barrier goes up 2002 March - Israeli army launches Operation Defensive Shield on the West Bank and begins building barrier there to stop armed Palestinian entering Israel. The route of the barrier is controversial as it frequently deviates from the pre-1967 ceasefire line into the West Bank. 2002 March - Arab League meeting in Beirut offers to recognise Israel in return for its full withdrawal from all territories occupied since 1967, agreement to a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and "fair solution" to refugee question - the "Arab League Peace Plan". 2003 March - Yasser Arafat establishes post of prime minister and appoints Fatah veteran Mahmoud Abbas to lead contacts with US and Israel, both of which refuse to deal with Arafat. 2003 May - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the occupation of Palestinian territories cannot continue indefinitely. 2003 June - Arab League meeting in Egypt expresses support for "road map" proposed by US, European Union, Russia and UN and accepted by Palestinian National Authority and Israel, positing an independent Palestinian state and a freeze on West Bank Jewish settlements. Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed YassinImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, was assassinated in 2004 2003 September - Mahmoud Abbas resigns as prime minister, citing US and Israeli intransigence as well as internal Palestinian opposition to his government. Succeeded by Fatah veteran Ahmed Qurei. 2004 March - Israeli forces kill Sheikh Yassin, the founder and leader of Hamas, and his successor Abd al-Aziz al-Rantissi, the following month. 2004 July - International Court of Justice issues advisory opinion that the Israeli separation barrier violates international law and must be removed. 2004 November - Yasser Arafat dies in hospital in France, where he went for urgent medical treatment in October. 2005 January - Mahmoud Abbas elected Mr Arafat's successor as head of the Palestinian National Authority. 2005 September - Israel withdraws all Jewish settlements and military personnel from Gaza, while retaining control over airspace, ports and border crossings. Hamas wins elections 2006 March - Hamas Islamist group's Ismail Haniyeh forms government after winning parliamentary elections in January. Struggle for primacy with Fatah begins. United States and European Union suspend aid, and Israel ends tax transfers, because of Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept previous peace accords. Hamas reinforces control of Gaza Hamas fighterImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES The Islamist movement won legislative council elections in 2006 and has since controlled Gaza. It has proved itself a tough adversary in its fight with Israel, as well as with other Palestinian factions Who are Hamas? 2006 June - Hamas militants from Gaza seize Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit near border crossing and hold him hostage for five years, demanding release of Palestinian prisoners. Major clashes between Israel and Hamas forces in Gaza follow. Israel imposes restrictions on Gaza. 2006 September - Clashes break out between Fatah and Hamas supporters in Gaza. Various Arab states and Palestinian groups seek to mediate between them in coming months in order to avert civil war. 2007 March - Fatah and Hamas form national unity government to end months of intermittent clashes in Gaza. 2007 June - Unity government founders. Hamas ousts Fatah from Gaza and reinforces its control of the territory. Israel tightens blockade after increase in rocket attacks from Gaza; Egypt closes border with Gaza. Mahmoud Abbas appoints Salam Fayyad as prime minister, but Hamas refuses to recognise him. Two rival governments in West Bank and Gaza emerge. US and European Union resume aid to the Fayyad government. 2007 November - US-hosted Annapolis Conference for the first time establishes the "two-state solution" as the basis for future talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Palestinians protest against the Gaza blockadeImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Image caption Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza for several years, prompting accusations of collective punishment on the residents 2008 March - Efforts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas begin in Yemen, but next round in Cairo in November stalls when Hamas objects to Fatah arrest of its West Bank activists. Deadly raid on aid flotilla The Mavi MarmaraImage copyrightREUTERS The Israeli raid on a fleet of vessels carrying pro-Palestinian activists trying to break the Gaza blockade caused international outrage Q&A: Raid on the Mavi Marmara 2008 November - Israel launches incursion into Gaza, seen by Hamas as a ceasefire violation. Hamas responds by launching rockets. 2008 December - Israel launches Operation Cast Lead month-long invasion of Gaza to stop Hamas and other militant groups firing rockets into Israel. 2010 February - Fatah and Hamas resume talks on national reconciliation. Direct talks resume between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, only to falter over the question of settlements. 2010 May - Nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists killed in Israeli capture of ships attempting to break maritime blockade of Gaza. 2011 April-May - Fatah and Hamas agree at talks in Cairo to reform a unity government and hold fresh elections, but no practical implementation follows. Bid for UN membership 2011 - Palestinian National Authority launches campaign for UN membership of "State of Palestine", as means of highlighting stalled talks with Israel. Bid fails, but UNESCO cultural agency accepts Palestine as member in October. 2012 May - After preliminary talks in Qatar, Fatah and Hamas sign Cairo Agreement pledging to maintain non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation in pursuit of an independent state within the 1967 ceasefire lines. Hi-tech hopes Street scene in RamallahImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES Palestinians are hopeful that investing in tech start-ups will help lift them out of a struggling economy Meeting the West Bank's tech start-ups 2012 October - Local elections on West Bank undermine Fatah's position, as it wins only two-fifths of the seats contested on a turnout of 55%. Lists led by Fatah rebels win four of the 11 major towns and cities, and independents and leftists take control of a fifth. Hamas boycotts the poll and allows no elections in Gaza. 2012 November - UN upgrades Palestinian representation to that of "non-member observer state", allowing it to take part in General Assembly debates and improving chances of joining UN agencies. 2012 December - Fatah allows Hamas celebration rally on West Bank over UN status upgrade, a gesture reciprocated by Hamas in Gaza the following month. 2013 April - Prime Minister Fayyad resigns after long-standing dispute with Palestinain Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He is succeeded by academic Rami Hamdallah in May. 2013 Newly appointed US Secretary of State launches a series of Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reaching a framework peace deal by April 2014. Palestinian officials say continuing Israeli approval of Jewish housing in occupied East Jerusalem undermines progress. Israel accuses the Palestinians of incitement. 2013 July - Fall of Morsi government in Egypt dashes Palestinian hopes for lifting of Egyptian blockade of border with Gaza, and suspends Egyptian mediation in the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation process. 2013 December - Israel, Jordan and Palestinian Authority sign water-sharing pact to halt and eventually reverse the drying-out of the Dead Sea by laying pipeline to carry brine from Red Sea desalination plant while providing drinking water to region. 2014 March - Egypt bans Hamas activities and seizes its assets because of links to Egypt's illegal Muslim Brotherhood. 2014 April - Fatah and Hamas agree to form unity government, which takes office in June. Fatah complains that separate Hamas cabinet continues to rule Gaza. 2014 June - Israel responds to the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank by arresting numerous Hamas members. Militants respond the to arrests and the killing of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists by firing rockets from Gaza. 2014 July-August - Israel responds to attacks from armed groups in Gaza with a military campaign by air and land to knock out missile launching sites and attack tunnels. Clashes end in uneasy Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in August. 2014 December - Minister Without Portfolio Ziad Abu Ein dies at clash with Israeli troops at West Bank protest. 2015 May - The Vatican announces that it is to formally recognise Palestinian statehood.

Iran Timeline

550-330 BC - Achaemenid dynasty rules the first Persian Empire. At its greatest extent under Darius I stretches from the Aegean Sea and Libya to the Indus Valley. Achaemenid Empire Murals at Persepolis, IranImage copyrightAFP The ruined city of Persepolis testifies to the grandeur of the first Persian Empire 492-479 - Persian attempts to conquer Greece fail. 330 - Alexander the Great of Macedon conquers the Persian Empire, founding a short-lived empire before dying in Babylon in 323. 312-140 - Most of Persia is part of the Greek-dominated (Hellenistic) Seleucid Empire, founded by a general of Alexander the Great. 140 BC - 224 AD - Persia - known as the Parthian Empire - under the rule of the Arsacid dynasty. 224-651 AD - Sassanid dynasty rules Persian Empire; Zoroastrianism is the dominant religion. Advent of Islam 636 - Arab invasion brings end of Sassanid dynasty and start of Islamic rule. 9th century - Emergence of modern Persian language (or Farsi), written using a form of Arabic script. 9th-13th century - Decline of Islamic Caliphate, which is replaced by a series of Iranian and Turkic dynasties, including the Shia Buyids, the Seljuk Turks and the Empire of Khwarezm. Iranian women look at the Si-o-Se Pol bridge in Isfahan, Iran (13 July 2002).Image copyrightAFP Image caption The Si-o-Se Pol ("Thirty-three arches") Bridge in Isfahan was completed under Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I in 1602 1220 - Mongol forces of Genghis Khan overrun Persia, which becomes part of the Ilkhanate, ruled by descendants of Genghis' grandson Hulagu. 15th century - Competing Iranian, Turkic and Mongol dynasties, including the empire of Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) in eastern Iran. 1501 - With the support of Shia Qizilbash warrior tribes, Shah Ismail I becomes first ruler of Islamic Safavid dynasty; Shia Islam declared state religion. 1571-1629 Apogee of the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I, who reforms the army, sidelines the Qizilbash and establishes first diplomatic links with western Europe. 1639 - Treaty of Qasr-e Shirin (or Treaty of Zuhab) ends about 150 years of war against Ottoman Empire. 1736 - Nadir Shah deposes the last Safavid ruler and founds the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. 1751 - Karim Khan, of the Zand dynasty, briefly restores stability. 1794 - Mohammad Khan Qajar kills the last Zand shah and founds the Qajar dynasty, restoring stability to Iran after half a century of instability. 1828 - Iran cedes control of Caucasus to Russia after second Russo-Persian war. Shah Mohammad Reza PahlaviImage copyrightAFP Image caption Shah Mohammad Reza, a close ally of the US, pursued a policy of modernisation and secularisation 1890 - "Tobacco Riots": ruler Naser al-Din Shah forced to withdraw trade concessions granted to Britain after mass protests. 1907 - Introduction of constitution which limits the absolutist powers of rulers. 1914-1918 - Iran declares neutrality but is scene of heavy fighting during World War I. 1921 February - Military commander Reza Khan seizes power. 1923 - Reza Khan becomes prime minister. 1925 December - Parliament votes to make Reza Khan ruler, deposing Ahmad Shah Qajar. 1926 April - Reza Khan crowned Reza Shah Pahlavi. Mohammad Reza, the Shah's eldest son, is proclaimed Crown Prince. Shah installed 1935 - Formerly known as Persia, Iran is adopted as the country's official name. 1979 Revolution Protests in Tehran in favour of a republic after the Shah's flight into exileImage copyrightAP Image caption The 1979 revolution ended the Shah's increasingly autocratic rule and ushered in the Islamic Republic The 1979 revolution ended the Shah's increasingly autocratic rule and ushered in the Islamic Republic Slideshow: Iranian revolution 1979 Iranian views on the revolution 1979: Shah of Iran flees into exile 1941 - The Shah's pro-Axis allegiance in World War II leads to the Anglo-Russian occupation of Iran and the deposition of the Shah in favour of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. 1950 - Ali Razmara becomes prime minister and is assassinated less than nine months later. He is succeeded by the nationalist, Mohammad Mossadeq. 1951 April - Parliament votes to nationalise the oil industry, which is dominated by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Britain imposes an embargo and a blockade, halting oil exports and hitting the economy. A power struggle between the Shah and Mossadeq ensues and the Shah flees the country in August 1953. 1953 August - Mossadeq is overthrown in a coup engineered by the British and American intelligence services. General Fazlollah Zahedi is proclaimed as prime minister and the Shah returns. Campaign to modernise 1963 January - The Shah embarks on a campaign to modernise and westernise the country. He launches the 'White Revolution', a programme of land reform and social and economic modernisation. During the late 1960's the Shah became increasingly dependent on the secret police (SAVAK) in controlling those opposition movements critical of his reforms. 1978 September - The Shah's policies alienate the clergy and his authoritarian rule leads to riots, strikes and mass demonstrations. Martial law is imposed. Ayatollah Khomeini Ayatollah Ruhollah KhomeiniImage copyrightAFP Born 1902, died 1989 Exiled under Shah 1964-79 Supreme leader 1979-89 1979: Exiled Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran Shah exiled, Khomeini returns 1979 January - As the political situation deteriorates, the Shah and his family are forced into exile. 1979 1 February - The Islamic fundamentalist, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, returns to Iran following 14 years of exile in Iraq and France for opposing the regime. 1979 1 April - The Islamic Republic of Iran is proclaimed following a referendum. 1979 4 November - Islamic militants take 52 Americans hostage inside the US embassy in Tehran. They demand the extradition of the Shah, in the US at the time for medical treatment, to face trial in Iran. 1980 January - Abolhasan Bani-Sadr is elected the first president of the Islamic Republic. His government begins work on a major nationalization programme. 1980 July - The exiled Shah dies of cancer in Egypt. Iran-Iraq war 1980 22 September - Start of Iran-Iraq war which lasts for eight years. 1981 January - The American hostages are released ending 444 days in captivity. Iran-Iraq War Boy stands in Ahvaz, Iran, on the ruins of his house, destroyed by an Iraqi air raid in 1987Image copyrightAFP Iraq invades Iran in 1980 Early Iraqi gains reversed, resulting in stalemate Cease-fire signed in 1988 Casualties (est): 1m (Iran), 250,000-500,000 (Iraq) Witness: 30th anniversary of Iran-Iraq War 1981 June - Bani-Sadr is dismissed, he later flees to France. 1985 - After the US and Soviet Union halted arms supplies, the US attempted to win the release of hostages in Lebanon by offering secret arms deals, this would later become known as the Iran-Contra affair. 1988 July - 290 passengers and the crew of an Iran Air Airbus are mistakenly shot down by the USS Vincennes. Ceasefire 1988 July - Iran accepts a ceasefire agreement with Iraq following negotiations in Geneva under the aegis of the UN. 1989 February - Ayatollah Khomeini issues a religious edict (fatwa) ordering Muslims to kill British author, Salman Rushdie, for his novel, 'The Satanic Verses', considered blasphemous to Islam. 1989 3 June - Ayatollah Khomeini dies. On 4 June, President Khamene'i is appointed as new supreme leader. 1989 August - Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani is sworn in as the new president. 1989 November - The US releases 567 million dollars of frozen Iranian assets. Major earthquake kills thousands 1990 June - A major earthquake strikes Iran, killing approximately 40,000 people. 1990 - Iran remains neutral following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. 1990 September - Iran and Iraq resume diplomatic ties. US imposes sanctions 1995 - US imposes oil and trade sanctions over Iran's alleged sponsorship of "terrorism", seeking to acquire nuclear arms and hostility to the Middle East process. Iran denies the charges. Mohammad Khatami Mohammad KhatamiImage copyrightAFP Image caption Reformist Khatami: Isolated by conservative resurgence Reformist Khatami: Isolated by conservative resurgence Khatami justifies years in office Profile: Mohammad Khatami 1997 May - Mohammad Khatami wins the presidential election with 70% of the vote, beating the conservative ruling elite. 1998 September - Iran deploys thousands of troops on its border with Afghanistan after the Taleban admits killing eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist in Mazar-e Sharif. Student protests 1999 July - Pro-democracy students at Tehran University demonstrate following the closure of the reformist newspaper 'Salam'. Clashes with security forces lead to six days of rioting and the arrest of more than 1,000 students. 2000 February - Majlis elections. Liberals and supporters of Khatami wrest control of parliament from conservatives for the first time. 2000 April - The judiciary, following the adoption of a new press law, bans the publication of 16 reformist newspapers. 2000 May - Inauguration of the Sixth parliament. Khatami's second term 2001 June - President Khatami re-elected. 2002 January - US President George Bush describes Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil", warning of the proliferation of long-range missiles being developed in these countries. The speech causes outrage in Iran and is condemned by reformists and conservatives alike. 2002 September - Russian technicians begin construction of Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr despite strong objections from US. 2003 June - Thousands attend student-led protests in Tehran against clerical establishment. 2003 September - UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, gives Tehran weeks to prove it is not pursuing an atomic weapons programme. 2003 October - Shirin Ebadi becomes Iran's first Nobel Peace Prize winner; lawyer and human rights campaigner became Iran's first female judge in 1975 but was forced to resign after 1979 revolution. 2003 November - Iran says it is suspending its uranium enrichment programme and will allow tougher UN inspections of its nuclear facilities. IAEA concludes there is no evidence of a weapons programme. 2003 December - 40,000 people are killed in an earthquake in south-east Iran; the city of Bam is devastated. Conservative resurgence 2004 February - Conservatives regain control of parliament in elections. Thousands of reformist candidates were disqualified by the hardline Council of Guardians before the polls. Nuclear crisis 2005 August-September - Tehran says it has resumed uranium conversion at its Isfahan plant and insists the programme is for peaceful purposes. IAEA finds Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Supporter of Lebanese militia Iranian students hold placard of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during protest against Israeli offensive against Lebanon in 2006Image copyrightAFP Iran is an ally of Lebanon's powerful Shia Muslim Hezbollah group Tehran says its support is moral, political Israel, US accuse Iran of supplying arms Group emerged in 1980s with financial backing from Iran 2004 June - Iran is rebuked by the IAEA for failing to fully cooperate with an inquiry into its nuclear activities. 2004 November - Iran agrees to suspend most of its uranium enrichment under a deal with the EU. 2005 June - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran's ultra-conservative mayor, wins a run-off vote in presidential elections, defeating cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. 2006 January - Iran breaks IAEA seals at its Natanz nuclear research facility. Bomb attacks in the southern city of Ahvaz - the scene of sporadic unrest in recent months - kill eight people and injure more than 40. 2006 February - IAEA votes to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities. Iran resumes uranium enrichment at Natanz. 2006 April - Iran says it has succeeded in enriching uranium at its Natanz facility. 2006 31 August - UN Security Council deadline for Iran to halt its work on nuclear fuel passes. IAEA says Tehran has failed to suspend the programme. Holocaust denial 2006 December - Iran hosts a controversial conference on the Holocaust; delegates include Holocaust deniers. UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology. Iran condemns the resolution and vows to speed up uranium enrichment work. 2007 February - IAEA says Iran failed to meet a deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, exposing Tehran to possible new sanctions. 2007 March - Diplomatic stand-off with Britain after Iran detains 15 British sailors and marines patrolling the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway separating Iran and Iraq. Past president Hashemi RafsanjaniImage copyrightAFP Former president Rafsanjani has been influential since the revolution Profile: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 2007 April - President Ahmadinejad says Iran can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale. IAEA says Iran has begun making nuclear fuel in its underground uranium enrichment plant. It also says that Iran has started up more than 1,300 centrifuge machines. 2007 May - IAEA says Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in three to eight years if it so chooses. 2007 June - Protests erupt after government imposes petrol rationing amid fears of possible UN sanctions. 2007 July - Iran announces plans to stop making cars that only run on petrol and switch to dual-fuel vehicles, which also run on gas. Iran agrees to allow inspectors to visit the Arak nuclear plant following talks with the IAEA. New sanctions 2007 October - US announces sweeping new sanctions against Iran, the toughest since it first imposed sanctions almost 30 years ago. 2007 December - A new US intelligence report plays down the perceived nuclear threat posed by Iran. 2008 February - Iran launches a research rocket to inaugurate a newly built space centre. Washington describes the launch as "unfortunate". 2008 March - President Ahmadinejad makes unprecedented official visit to Iraq, where he calls on foreign troops to leave. He also stresses his government's desire to help rebuild Iraq and signs a number of cooperation agreements. Conservatives win over two-thirds of seats in parliamentary elections in which many pro-reform candidates were disbarred from standing. The conservatives include supporters of President Ahmadinejad as well as more pragmatic conservatives who oppose his confrontational foreign policy. UN Security Council tightens economic and trade sanctions on Tehran. 2008 May - IAEA says Iran is still withholding information on its nuclear programme. Iran's new parliament elects former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as its speaker. Incentives offered 2008 June - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presents an offer of trade benefits, which Tehran says it will look at, but will reject if it demands suspension of uranium enrichment. 2008 July - Iran test-fires a new version of the Shahab-3, a long-range missile it says is capable of hitting targets in Israel. 2008 August - Informal deadline set by Western officials for Iran to respond to package of incentives in return for halt in nuclear activities passes without reply. Iran says it has successfully launched a test rocket capable of carrying a satellite into space. 2008 September - UN Security Council passes unanimously a new resolution reaffirming demands that Iran stop enriching uranium, but imposes no new sanctions. The text was agreed after Russia said it would not support further sanctions. Relations with US 2008 November - Parliament votes to dismiss the interior minister, Ali Kordan, who admitted that a degree he said he held from Oxford University was fake. The move is a blow to President Ahmadinejad ahead of next year's presidential election. Disputed election Anti-government demonstrator in TehranImage copyrightAFP The 2009 election sparked reformist protests and a brutal police response Q&A: Iran protests In an unprecedented move, President Ahmadinejad congratulates US president-elect Barack Obama on his election win. Mr Obama has offered to open unconditional dialogue with Iran about its nuclear programme. 2008 December - Police raid and close the office of a human rights group led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. Officials say the centre is acting as an illegal political organization. 2009 February - Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he would welcome talks with the US as long as they are based on "mutual respect". 2009 March - Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tells anti-Israel rally that US President Obama is following the "same misguided track" in Middle East as President Bush. 2009 April - An Iranian court finds Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi guilty of spying for the US. She is sentenced to eight years in prison. 2009 May - Iran rejects a US state department report saying it remains the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world. Jailed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi is freed and returns to US. Election protests 2009 June - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is declared to have won a resounding victory in the 12 June presidential election. The rival candidates challenge the result, alleging vote-rigging. Their supporters take to the streets, and at least 30 people are killed and more than 1,000 arrested in the wave of protests that follow. The Iranian authorities claim foreign interference is stoking the unrest, and single out Britain for criticism. 2009 July - President Ahmadinejad dismisses his most senior vice-president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, under pressure to do so by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 2009 August - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sworn in for second term as president, presents cabinet - the first since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979 to include women. A number of senior opposition figures are accused of conspiring with foreign powers to organise unrest and are put on trial. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says there is no proof that opposition leaders blamed for the post-election unrest were agents of foreign powers. Missile tests 2009 September - Iran admits that it is building a uranium enrichment plant near Qom, but insists it is for peaceful purposes. Montazeri dies Iranian holds picture of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri at his funeral procession in the holy city of QomImage copyrightAFP A leading figure of the 1979 revolution, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri became a vocal critic of the system Obituary: Ayatollah Montazeri The country test-fires a series of medium- and longer-range missiles that put Israel and US bases in the Gulf within potential striking range. 2009 October - Five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany offer Iran proposal to enrich its uranium abroad. 2009 November - Iran refuses to accept the international proposal to end the dispute over its nuclear programme. UN nuclear watchdog IAEA passes a resolution condemning Iran for developing a second uranium enrichment site in secret. Iran denounces the move as "political" and announces plans to create 10 more uranium enrichment facilities. 2009 December - Death of influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri triggers further clashes between opposition supporters and security forces. At least 8 people die in what is the worst violence since the contested presidential election. 2010 January - Iran executes two men arrested during the period of unrest that followed the disputed presidential election of June 2009. It also puts 16 people on trial over the Ashura Day opposition protests in December, when eight people were killed. Iranian physics professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi is killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. No group claims responsibility. The government accuses the US and Israel of his death, while Iranian opposition groups say Mr Mohammadi supported one of their candidates in last year's presidential election. 2010 February - Iran says it is ready to send enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment under a deal agreed with the West. The US calls on Tehran to match its words with actions. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says the opposition will continue its peaceful struggle against the government. 2010 May - Iran reaches a deal to send uranium abroad for enrichment after mediation talks with Turkey and Brazil; Western states respond with scepticism, saying the agreement will not stop Iran from continuing to enrich uranium. More sanctions 2010 June - UN Security Council imposes fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, including tighter financial curbs and an expanded arms embargo. Nuclear dispute Inside Iranian uranium conversion facility near IsfahanImage copyrightAFP Iran's nuclear programme is a source of tension with the West Q&A: Iran nuclear issue Iran's key nuclear sites 2010 July - International outcry as a woman is sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. 27 killed as suicide bombers attack a Shia mosque in Zahedan near the Pakistan border. 2010 August - In what Tehran describes as a milestone in its drive to produce nuclear energy, engineers begin loading fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant. 2010 September - Stuxnet - a computer worm which affects industrial systems and which may have been created by a nation-state - is reportedly detected in staff computers at the Bushehr nuclear plant. Sarah Shourd, a US citizen caught hiking with two friends near the Iran-Iraq border, is freed after a year in prison. The three deny they were spying. US imposes unprecedented sanctions against eight senior Iranian officials for human rights violations. 2010 October - A former British embassy employee jailed in 2009 for espionage has his sentence commuted. 2010 December - Main achievement of talks in Geneva between Iran and key world powers on Iran's nuclear programme is to agree to hold another round of talks in Istanbul in January. President Ahmadinejad sacks Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, thought to be his main opponent within Iranian leadership. 2011 January - Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi says Iran now possesses technology needed to make fuel plates and rods for nuclear reactors. 2011 February - First mass opposition demonstrations in a year amid a wave of unrest rippling across the Middle East and North Africa. Iran sends two warships through Suez Canal for first time since the Islamic Revolution, in what Israel describes as an act of provocation. Leadership rift 2011 April - Rare public row between Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad over the resignation of Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi. 2011 May - Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation says the generating unit at the Bushehr nuclear power plant has begun operating at a low level. 2011 August - Two US citizens arrested on the Iran-Iraq border in 2009 are found guilty of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison. 2011 September - Iran announces that the Bushehr nuclear power station has been connected to the national grid. 2011 October - The US accuses Iran of being behind an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Tehran rejects the charges as part of an American propaganda campaign. Sanctions biting? A protester holds a placard saying Image copyrightAFP Iran has responded with defiance to ever tighter sanctions imposed by the UN and the West. UN ratified four rounds of sanctions between 2006 and 2010. EU has imposed trade, travel and oil export bans. US, UK and Canada have imposed sanctions on trade and financial institutions. Q&A: Iran sanctions 2011 November - A report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA says Iran is carrying out research that can only be used to develop a nuclear bomb trigger. Iran rejects the findings as politically motivated. 2011 November/December - Protesters attack the British embassy in Tehran after London imposes tighter economic sanctions. Britain evacuates its diplomatic staff and expels all Iranian diplomats, but ties are not severed. 2012 January - US imposes sanctions on Iran's central bank, the main clearing-house for its oil export profits. Iranian threatens to block the transport of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran begins enriching uranium at its undergound Fordo plant, in what the US terms a "further escalation" in the nuclear row. The European Union imposes an oil embargo on Iran over its nuclear programme. 2012 February - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors leave Iran after being denied access to the Parchin site, south of Tehran. 2012 March-May - Supporters of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei beat those of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in parliamentary polls boycotted by pro-reform groups. 2012 May - UN nuclear inspectors find traces of uranium enriched at 27% at Iran's Fordo nuclear site, a day after Iran and world powers hold inconclusive talks on Iran's nuclear programme in Baghdad. 2012 June - US exempts seven major customers - India, South Korea, Malaysia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Turkey - from economic sanctions in return for their cutting imports of Iranian oil. EU boycotts Iranian oil 2012 July - European Union boycott of Iranian oil exports comes into effect. 2012 September - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly report says Iran doubles production capacity at Fordo nuclear site and "significantly hampered" IAEA ability to inspect Parchin military site. Canada breaks off diplomatic relations over Iran's nuclear programme and support for the Assad government in Syria. 2012 October - Iran's rial currency falls to a new record low against the US dollar, having lost about losing 80% of its value since 2011 because of international sanctions. Riot police attack about 100 currency traders outside the Central Bank. EU countries announce further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, focusing on banks, trade and crucial gas imports. 2012 November - Leaked IAEA report says Iran is ready to double output at the Fordo underground uranium enrichment facility. 2013 January - Iran tells IAEA it plans to upgrade uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz plant, allowing it to refine uranium at a faster rate. Iran arrests 11 journalists accused of co-operating with foreign Persian-language media organisations as part of a clampdown against the BBC and Voice of America in particular. 2013 April - Iran says it has begun operations at two uranium mines and a uranium ore-processing plant, furthering its capacity to produce nuclear material. Rouhani becomes president 2013 June - Reformist-backed cleric Hassan Rouhani wins presidential election, gaining just over 50% of the vote. 2013 September - President Rouhani tells US broadcaster NBC that Iran will never build nuclear weapons, and repeats offer of "time-bound and results-oriented" talks on the nuclear question in his address to the UN General Assembly. 2013 November - Iran agrees to curb uranium enrichment above 5% and give UN inspectors better access in return for about $7bn in sanctions relief at talks with the P5+1 group - US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany - in Geneva. 2014 January - World powers and Iran begin implementing a deal on Iran's nuclear programme following intense talks in Geneva. 2014 April - The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has neutralised half of its higher-enriched uranium stockpile, as per a deal agreed earlier in the year. The US refuses to issue a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran's nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, over his involvement in the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. Iraq crisis 2014 June - President Rouhani says Iran is ready to assist the Iraqi government in its battle against extremist Sunni insurgents, amid reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are in Iraq providing military training and advice. The UK says it plans to re-open the British embassy in Tehran. Full diplomatic relations with Iran were suspended after attacks on the embassy in 2011. 2014 July - The sixth and final round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group begin in Vienna. 2014 August - Iran says it has shot down an Israeli drone near the Natanz uranium enrichment site. Parliament dismisses pro-reform Science Minister Reza Faraji-Dana for allegedly supporting students and lecturers involved in the 2009-2010 election protests. 2014 November - Russia agrees to build up to eight nuclear reactors in Iran, in move that might ease Iranian demands to have own uranium enrichment. Vienna negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme fail to finalise preliminary deal signed in Geneva in November 2013. The two sides express confidence that remaining sticking points can be resolved, and agree a seven-month extension to the talks. Nuclear deal 2015 July - After years of negotiations, world powers reach deal with Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for lifting of international economic sanctions. The deal reportedly gives UN nuclear inspectors extensive but not automatic access to Iranian sites. 2016 January - Serious rift in relations after Saudi Arabia executes leading Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Crowd sets Saudi embassy alight, Saudis and some allies break off diplomatic relations with Iran. International economic sanctions on Iran lifted after UN says satisfied with progress on fulfilling nuclear agreement, and President Rouhani embarks on the first European state visit of an Iranian president for 16 years.2016 February - Reformists perform well in elections to parliament and Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that chooses the Supreme Leader.

Enlightenment

A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.

Ottoman Empire

A former Turkish empire that was founded about 1300 by Osman and reached its greatest territorial extent under Suleiman in the 16th century; collapsed after World War I. Capital: Constantinople. Expand. Also called Turkish Empire. Examples from the Web for Ottoman Empire Expand.

Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Communism

A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Social Darwinism

A theory that makes racism okay. The theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Now largely discredited, social Darwinism was advocated by Herbert Spencer and others in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform.

Age of Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy or despotic monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch has absolute power among his or her people. An absolute monarch wields unrestricted political power over the sovereign state and its people.

Capitalism

An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Mercantilism

Belief in the benefits of profitable trading; commercialism. The economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism.

Darwin's Theory

Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce.

Industrialization

Industrialization is the process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the manufacturing of goods. Individual manual labor is often replaced by mechanized mass production, and craftsmen are replaced by assembly lines.

Age of Exploration

The Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration from the end of the 15th century to the 18th century, is an informal and loosely defined European historical period marking the time period in which extensive overseas exploration emerged as a powerful factor in European culture and the beginning of globalization.

Cold War

The state of political hostility that existed between the Soviet bloc countries and the US-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990.

WWI

World War I definition. A war fought from 1914 to 1918 between the Allies, notably Britain, France, Russia, and Italy (which entered in 1915), and the Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

WWII

World War II definition. A war fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Axis powers — Germany, Italy, and Japan — and the Allies, including France and Britain, and later the Soviet Union and the United States.

Egypt Timeline

circa 7000 BC - Settlement of Nile Valley begins. circa 3000 BC - Kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt unite. Successive dynasties witness flourishing trade, prosperity and the development of great cultural traditions. Writing, including hieroglyphics, is used as an instrument of state. Construction of the pyramids - around 2,500 BC - is a formidable engineering achievement. A tourist walks in front the Great Pyramid of Khafre in Giza, on 30 March 2010Image copyrightAFP Wonder of the world Egypt's pyramids served as tombs for its earliest kings BBC History: Ancient Egyptians Pharaonic tomb find stuns Egypt 669 BC - Assyrians from Mesopotamia conquer and rule Egypt. 525 BC - Persian conquest. 332 BC - Alexander the Great, of ancient Macedonia, conquers Egypt, founds Alexandria. A Macedonian dynasty rules until 31 BC. 31 BC - Egypt comes under Roman rule; Queen Cleopatra commits suicide after Octavian's army defeats her forces. 33 AD - Christianity comes to Egypt, and by 4th century has largely displaced Egyptian religion. 642 - Arab conquest of Egypt. Famous boy king Funerary mask of King Tutankhamun in the Egyptian Museum, CairoImage copyrightAFP Death mask of Tutankhamun, the boy king who died in 1323 BC Face of Tutankhamun reconstructed BBC History: Tutankhamun 969 - Cairo established as capital. 1250-1517 - Mameluke (slave soldier) rule, characterised by great prosperity and well-ordered civic institutions. 1517 - Egypt absorbed into the Turkish Ottoman empire. 1798 - Napoleon Bonaparte's forces invade but are repelled by the British and the Turks in 1801. 1805 - Ottoman Albanian commander Muhammad Ali establishes dynasty that rules until 1952, although nominally part of the Ottoman Empire. 1859-69 - Suez Canal built, but it and other infrastructure projects near-bankrupt Egypt and lead to gradual British takeover. 1882 - British troops defeat Egyptian army and take control of country. 1914 - Egypt formally becomes a British protectorate. Independence restored 1922 - Fuad I becomes King and Egypt gains independence, although British influence remains significant until mid-1950s. Nasser Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser addressing a crowdImage copyrightAFP President Gamal Abdel Nasser became a hero of the Arab world after nationalising the Suez Canal How Suez made Nasser an Arab icon 1928 - Muslim Brotherhood founded by Hassan al-Banna, who was killed in 1949. Campaigns to reorient Egypt and whole Muslim Middle East away from Western influence. 1948 - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria attack the new state of Israel. Egyptian army's poor performance increases unpopularity of King Farouk. 1949 - Committee of the Free Officers' Movement formed to overthrow corrupt monarchy. 1952 January - At least 20 people are killed in anti-British riots in Cairo. 1952 July - Coup by the Free Officers' Movement. Farouk abdicates in favour of his infant son Ahmed Fuad II. Rise of Nasser 1953 June - Coup leader Muhammad Najib becomes president as Egypt is declared a republic. Suez intervention Fighting during Suez crisis of 1956Image copyrightAP France and Britain failed to retake the Suez Canal by military force Timeline: The Suez Crisis 1956: Egypt seizes Suez Canal 1954 - Fellow coup leader Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes prime minister and in 1956 president, ruling unchallenged until his death in 1970. 1954 - Evacuation Treaty signed. British forces, who began a gradual withdrawal under 1936 treaty finally leave Egypt.1955 - Prime Minister Nasser reorients Egypt away from West towards neutrality, buys arms from Communist Czechoslovakia to re-equip army after Western powers refuse to do so on terms acceptable to Egypt. 1956 January - Egypt and Britain relinquish control over Sudan, established at end of 19th century. 1956 July - President Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal to fund the Aswan High Dam, after Britain and US withdraw financing. 1956 October-November - Invasion of Egypt by Britain, France and Israel over nationalisation of Suez Canal fails through US opposition, greatly enhancing President Nasser's standing at home and abroad. 1958 - President Nasser steps up campaign to promote pan-Arab unity, most visible signs of which were brief United Arab Republic unitary state including Syria (1958-61). He also supports friendly elements in Lebanese and North Yemen conflicts to little avail. 1961-66 - President Nasser adopts socialist policies, including nationalisation of industry and an ambitious welfare programme, combined with repression of Muslim Brotherhood and leftist opponents, in an unsuccessful attempt to boost the economy and the popularity of his government. 1967 May - Egypt expels UN buffer forces from Sinai and closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, then sign defence pact with Jordan. Israel interprets this as preparation for war. 1967 June - Israeli pre-emptive attack defeats Egypt, Jordan and Syria, leaving it in control of Sinai up to the Suez Canal and Egyptian-occupied Gaza.Emergency Law largely suspends civil rights. Remains in force with brief break in early 1980s until 2012. Sadat presidency 1970 September - Nasser dies, having never recovered his leading role among Arab states after the 1967 defeat, and is succeeded by Vice-President, Anwar al-Sadat. Sadat Former Egyptian President Anwar SadatImage copyrightAFP President Anwar al-Sadat signed a peace deal with Israel 1981: Egypt's President Sadat assassinated Film on Sadat gets mixed reactions 1971 - The Aswan High Dam is completed, with Soviet funding, and has a huge impact on irrigation, agriculture and industry in Egypt. 1972 - President Sadat expels Soviet advisers and reorients Egypt towards the West, while launching an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to open the economy to market forces and foreign investment. 1973 October - Egypt and Syria go to war with Israel to reclaim land lost in 1967. Egypt begins negotiations for the return of Sinai after the war. 1975 June - The Suez Canal is re-opened for first time since 1967 war. 1977 January - "Bread riots" in major cities against end to subsidies on basic foodstuffs under agreement with World Bank and International Monetary Fund. 1977 October - President Sadat visits Israel, beginning process that leads to 1979 peace treaty, return of occupied Sinai Peninsula, and Egypt's suspension from Arab League until 1989. Egypt becomes major beneficiary of US financial aid. 1981 October - President Sadat assassinated by Islamist extremists month after clampdown on private press and opposition groups in wake of anti-government riots. Succeeded by Vice-President Hosni Mubarak. View of Cairo buildings in 2013Image copyrightAFP Capital Rapidly-growing Cairo is expanding into the desert Population (2006 estimates): 6.7m (city), 17.3m (urban area) Cairo's devoted refuse collectors Mubarak presidency 1981 - President Mubarak reimposes State of Emergency, restricting political activity, freedom of expression and assembly. 1986 - Amy deployed in Cairo to crush mutiny by Central Security paramilitary police. 1991 - Egypt joins allied coalition to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait, and benefited from major multilateral loans and debt relief in return, allowing government to launch another attempt at liberalising economy. 1992-97 - Gama'a al-Islamiyya Islamic Group begins five-year campaign of attacks on government and tourist targets, culminating in killing of 62 people at Luxor historic site in 1997. Muslim Brotherhood Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed BadieImage copyrightAFP Founded in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's oldest, largest Islamist organisation Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood 2005 May - Referendum backs constitutional amendment allowing multiple candidates at presidential elections, after months of opposition protests. 2005 July - Scores of people are killed in bomb attacks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh as Islamists resume terror attacks. 2005 December - Parliamentary polls end with clashes between police and supporters of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, who win record 20% of seats by standing as independents. 2006 April - Bomb attacks in the Red Sea resort of Dahab kill more than 20 people. 2006 November - Egypt is one of at least six Arab countries developing domestic nuclear programmes to diversify energy sources, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports. Lawless peninsula Egyptian security forces on the Sinai peninsula in August 2011Image copyrightAFP Cairo is facing growing Islamist militancy in the northern Sinai Fighting extremism in Egypt's Sinai 2008 April - Military courts sentence 25 leading Muslim Brotherhood members to jail terms in crackdown targeting the organisation's funding. More than 800 arrested over a month. Brotherhood boycotted municipal elections after only 20 candidates allowed to stand. 2009 February - Leading opposition figure Ayman Nour freed after serving three years of five-year sentence on forgery charges that he said were politically motivated. 2009 August - Twenty-six members of an alleged cell of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah go on trial in Cairo on charges of plotting attacks in Egypt and helping to send weapons to Hamas in Gaza. Anti-Mubarak protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo on 10 February 2011Image copyrightAFP Tahrir uprising Demonstrators packed Tahrir Square urging President Mubarak to quit In Depth: Egypt's Revolution Fall of Mubarak 2010 February - Former UN nuclear chief Mohammed ElBaradei returns to Egypt and, together with opposition figures and activists, forms a coalition for political change. 2010 June - Muslim Brotherhood fails to win any seats in elections to the Shura consultative upper house of parliament; alleges vote was rigged. 2010 November - Parliamentary polls, followed by protests against alleged vote rigging. Muslim Brotherhood fails to win a single seat, though it held a fifth of the places in the last parliament. Mubarak's rise and fall Former Egyptian President Hosni MubarakImage copyrightAP President ruled for three decades before being swept aside by a popular uprising Profile: Hosni Mubarak 2011 January - Anti-government demonstrations, apparently encouraged by Tunisian street protests which prompted sudden departure of President Ben Ali. 2011 February - President Mubarak steps down and hands power to the army council. Goes on trial in August, charged with ordering the killing of demonstrators. 2011 April-August - Protests continue in Cairo's Tahrir Square over slow pace of political change. Islamist groups come to the fore. Army finally disperses protestors in August. Supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, protest against Egypt's military rulers in Tahrir Square and celebrate a premature presidential election victory in Cairo, Egypt, on 23 June 2012.Image copyrightAFP First post-Mubarak poll Islamist Mohammed Morsi won the first free presidential election in decades In pictures: Egypt election result day Thousands celebrate Morsi win in Cairo Presidential run-off race polarises Egypt 2011 November - Violence in Cairo's Tahrir square as security forces clash with protesters accusing the military of trying to keep their grip on power. 2011 December - National unity government headed by new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri takes office. 2012 January - Islamist parties emerge as victors of drawn-out parliamentary elections. 2012 May - Military leaders announce the end of the state of emergency in place since Anwar al-Sadat's assassination in 1981. Morsi presidency 2012 June - Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi narrowly wins presidential election. Court sentences ex-President Mubarak to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. 2012 August - New prime minister Hisham Qandil appoints a cabinet dominated by figures from the outgoing government, technocrats and Islamists, but excluding secular and liberal forces. Islamist fighters attack an army outpost in Sinai, killing 16 soldiers, and mount a brief incursion into Israel, beginning new insurgency. Security forces clear pro-Morsi protesters from a square near Cairo's Rabba al-Adawiya mosque on 14 August 2014Image copyrightAFP Short-lived presidency The army toppled Islamist Mohammed Morsi after a year in power, and crushed his supporters' protests Profile: Mohammed Morsi Egypt: Who holds the power? Q&A: Egypt in turmoil President Morsi dismisses Defence Minister Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution. Tension over new constitution 2012 November - President Morsi issues a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, but rescinds it in the face of popular protests. 2012 December - Islamist-dominated constituent assembly approves draft constitution that boosts the role of Islam and restricts freedom of speech and assembly. Public approve it in a referendum, prompting extensive protest by secular opposition leaders, Christians and women's groups. Government paralysis weakens the currency and delays a $4.8bn (£3bn) IMF loan. 2013 January - More than 50 people are killed during days of violent street protests. Army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi warns that political strife is pushing the state to the brink of collapse. 2013 June - President Morsi appoints Islamist allies as regional leaders in 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships, including member of a former Islamist armed group linked to a massacre of tourists in Luxor in 1997. Protests force Luxor governor out. Islamists ousted 2013 July - Army overthrows President Morsi amid mass demonstrations calling on him to quit. 2013 August - Hundreds killed as security forces storm pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo. Some 40 Coptic churches are destroyed in wave of attacks. 2013 October - US suspends large part of $1.3bn (£810m) in aid. Copts Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt's Coptic ChurchImage copyrightAFP Most of Egypts' Christian minority belong to the Coptic Church. Christianity in the Middle East 2013 December - Government declares Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group after a bomb blast in Mansoura kills 12. 2014 January - New constitution bans parties based on religion. 2014 May - Former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi wins presidential election. 2014 June - International outcry as three al-Jazeera journalists are jailed after being found guilty of spreading false news and supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood. They are freed in February 2015. Islamic State attacks 2014 November - Sinai-based armed group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledges allegiance to extreme Islamic State movement, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq. Renames itself Sinai Province. 2015 February - Egyptian aircraft bomb Islamic State positions in eastern Libya after extremist group released video apparently showing killing of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians. Egypt seeks UN mandate to sanction international intervention in Libya. 2015 May - Ousted President Morsi sentenced to death over 2011 mass breakout of Muslim Brotherhood prisoners, along with more than 100 others. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April over arrest and torture of protesters during his 2012-2013 rule. 2015 June - Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat and three members of the public killed in suspected Islamist car bombing in Cairo. 2015 July - Islamic State launches wave of attacks in North Sinai. 2015 October - Islamic State claims responsibility for destruction of Russian airliner in Sinai, in which all crew and 224 tourist passengers were killed. 2016 January - Islamic State carries out attack at Giza tourist site and is suspected of attack on tourists in Hurghada. 2016 April - Egypt announces that it will hand over to Saudi Arabia two strategic Red Sea islands, sparking public outrage and unrest. 2016 May - EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashes into the Mediterranean Sea. 2016 November - IMF approves a three-year $12bn loan to Egypt designed to healp the country out of its deep economic crisis. 2016 November - Egypt's appeals court overturns the death sentence of former president Mohamed Morsi and orders a retrial in connection with a mass prison break in 2011.