The IRAN WIKIPORTAL

Iran (Persia) (Persian: ايران) is a Middle Eastern country located in Southwest Asia. Although locally known as Iran or Eranshahr since the Sassanian era, because of the sound historical reasons until 1935 the country was referred to in the West as Persia. In 1959 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi announced that both terms could be used. In 1979 a revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini established a theocratic Islamic Republic, making the country's current full name The Islamic Republic of Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ايران). Most people prefer to use just "Iran" or "Persia". The name Iran is a cognate of "Aryan".