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Iran and Syria are close strategic allies, and Iran has provided significant support for the Syrian Government in the Syrian Civil War, including logistical, technical and financial support, as well as training and some combat troops. Iran sees the survival of the Syrian government as being crucial to its regional interests. Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was reported in September 2011 to be vocally in favor of the Syrian government. When the uprising developed into the Syrian civil war, there were increasing reports of Iranian military support, and of Iranian training of NDF (National Defence Forces) both in Syria, and in Iran. Iranian security and intelligence services are advising and assisting the Syrian military in order to preserve Bashar al-Assad's hold on power. Those efforts include training, technical support, combat troops. By December 2013 Iran was thought to have approximately 10,000 operatives in Syria. But according to Jubin Goodarzi, assistant professor and researcher of Webster University, Iran aided the Assad regime with a limited number of deployed units and personnel, "at most in the hundreds ... and not in the thousands as opposition sources claimed". Lebanese Hezbollah fighters backed by Iran's government have taken direct combat roles since 2012. In the summer of 2013, Iran and Hezbollah provided important battlefield support for Assad, allowing it to make advances on the opposition. In 2014, coinciding with the peace talks at Geneva II, Iran has stepped up support for Syrian President Assad. Syrian Opposition Interim Minister of Finance and Economy claimed that the "Iranian government has given more than 15 billion dollars" to Syria as of December 2013. According to the United Nations envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, the Iranian government spends at least $6 billion annually on maintaining Assad's government. Nadim Shehadi, the director of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Tufts University, said that his research puts the actual number at $15 billion annually. From January 2013 onward, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps lost more than 1,100 troops in Syria. 360 of the deaths have been Iranian nationals, mostly officers, including several brigadier generals. The remaining deaths consist of auxiliaries recruited from Afghan and Pakistani immigrants inside Iran, who joined the IRGC in exchange for salaries and citizenship, in an arrangement similar to a Foreign Legion. The Afghans are recruited largely from refugees inside Iran, and usually had combat experience before joining the IRGC; their status as members of the Iranian military is only vaguely acknowledged and sometimes denied, despite the troops being uniformed fighters led by IRGC officers, trained and equipped in Iran, with state funerals involving uniformed IRGC personnel. Among the dead are 715+ Afghans and at least 66 Pakistanis. Officially, the Afghan auxiliaries are part of the independent Liwa Fatemiyoun group, though news media outside of Iran often simply refers to this organization as the "Fatemiyoun Brigade" or "Fatemiyoun Division" of the IRGC, while the Pakistanis are part of the "Zaynabiyun Brigade".

Iran (/ɪˈrɑːn/ , also /ɪˈræn/; Persian: ایران‎‎ Irān [ʔiːˈɾɒːn] ), also known as Persia (/ˈpɜːrʒə/), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the de facto Republic of Artsakh and Azerbaijan; to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th-most-populous country. It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The country's central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, make it of great geostrategic importance. Iran has diverse landscapes and geographical conditions. Tehran is the country's capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the 4th millennium BC. The area was first unified and dominated by the Iranian Medes in the 7th century BC. Iran reached its greatest extent during the Achaemenid Empire (Persian Empire) founded by Cyrus the Great in 6th century BC, the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Eastern Europe to the Indus Valley. Persia fell to Alexander the Great in 4th century BC, but reemerged shortly after as the Parthian Empire. Under the Sassanians, Persia became a leading world power for the next four centuries. In 7th century AD, Arabs conquered Persia and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism with the new religion of Islam. Iranians became major contributors to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists and thinkers. After two centuries, a period of various Iranian dynasties began, although these dynasties were later conquered by Turks and then the Mongols. An Iranian national identity was always reasserted however, developing a distinct cultural entity. The rise of the Safavids in 15th century led to the establishment of Twelver Shia Islam as the official religion, marking a turning point in Muslim history. In the 18th century, Iran arguably possessed briefly the most powerful military at the time under Nader Shah. Conflicts with the Russian Empire in 19th century led to significant territorial losses. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution, which established a constitutional monarchy and the country's first legislative body, the Majles. Following a coup d'état instigated by the UK and the US in 1953, Iran gradually became closely aligned with the West and grew increasingly autocratic. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution and the establishment of an Islamic republic, a political system which combines elements of a parliamentary democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a "Supreme Leadership". A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants of Iran are Shia Muslims and Persian is the official language. The largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Iran is a founding member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC, and OPEC. Iran is a major regional and middle power, and its large reserves of fossil fuels – which include the largest natural gas supply in the world and the fourth-largest proven oil reserves – exert considerable influence in international energy security and the world economy. Iran's rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world.

Hassan Rouhani (Persian: حسن روحانی‎‎, pronunciation Standard Persian: pronounced [roʊhɒːˈniː]; born Hassan Fereydoun (Persian: حسن فریدون‎‎) on 12 November 1948) is the seventh and current President of Iran since 2013. He is also a lawyer, academic and former diplomat. He has been a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts since 1999, member of the Expediency Council since 1991, and a member of the Supreme National Security Council since 1989. Rouhani was deputy speaker of the fourth and fifth terms of the Parliament of Iran (Majlis) and Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. In the latter capacity, he was the country's top negotiator with the EU three, UK, France, and Germany, on nuclear technology in Iran, and has also served as a Shi'ite ijtihadi cleric, and economic trade negotiator. He has expressed official support for upholding the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. In 2013, he appointed former industries minister Eshaq Jahangiri as his first vice-president. On 7 May 2013, Rouhani registered for the presidential election that was held on 14 June 2013. He said that, if elected, he would prepare a "civil rights charter", restore the economy and improve rocky relations with Western nations. Rouhani is frequently described as a moderate. He was elected as President of Iran on 15 June, defeating Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and four other candidates. He took office on 3 August 2013. In 2013, TIME magazine named him in its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In domestic policy, he encourages personal freedom and free access to information, has improved women's rights by appointing female foreign ministry spokespeople, and has been described as a centrist and reformist who has improved Iran's diplomatic relations with other countries through exchanging conciliatory letters. Rouhani won re-election in the 2017 election with 23,549,616, 57.1% of the votes. He became the second president after Mohammad Khatami who has received more percentage of the votes in their second term.