Middle East (A Red Century)

1978

 * October 9, 1978, Ayatollah Khomeini was found dead at his residence in Paris under misterious circunstances.
 * December 2, 1978, attempts to gather protests in Azadi Square, Tehran, are violently repressed by the Shah's forces.

1979

 * February 18, 1979, the situation of Iran degenerates into a civil war when elements of the armed forces mutiny and join forces with Islamic militants.

1980

 * March 5, 1980, Islamic militants bomb the Iraqi embassy in Tehran leading Iraq to close it's borders with Iran.
 * July 30, 1980 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, dies of cancer.
 * August 3, 1980, the Royal family of Iran flees the country.
 * September 9, 1980, a provisional military government is established in Iran whilist fighting between security forces against rebel troops and guerrilas.
 * September 26, 1980, revolutionary forces in Iran have control over two thirds of the nation.
 * October 1, 1980, Iraqi Airforce attack Iranian airfields and lauch a full scale invasion of Iran opening the First Gulf War.

1981

 * June 6, 1981, a cease fire between Iraq and Iran is broke after Iraqi forces capture the Iranian city of Shiraz.
 * June 24, 1981, Iran and Iraq sign an armistice at Arsanjan, the peace treaty concedes Iranian provinces of Khūzestān, Īlām, Lurestan and Kermanshah to Iraq.

1982

 * October 23, 1982, Soviet Major Sergei Nike Ilyanov, later president of the Soviet Union, survives an insurgent attack against his convoy in Afghanistan.

1984

 * March 5, 1984, Iraqi troops finish withdrawing from Iran to the frontiers estabilished by the peace treaty signed at Arsanjan.
 * April 5, 1984, Soviet troops launch their seventh offensive against the Panjshir Valley.
 * July 17, 1984, Afghan War: Panjshir massacre, Soviet troops take control of the Panjshir Valley resulting in the deaths of 27.600 people. Sergei Nike Ilyanov, now a Colonel, is credited with the capture of Mujahideen Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.