Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

have diplomatic relations, with embassies in each other's countries. Economic, military, and cultural relations between the two countries have varied throughout time. Ties between the two nations date back thousands of years, with the origins of the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

beginning in the modern day state of Iran and the modern day Libyan state once being an essential part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Pahlavi government

Modern Iranian-Libyan relations began in the 1960s with

King Idris Idris (, Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his ousting in the 1 September 1969 coup d'état. He ruled over the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 19 ...

reigning in Libya and

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...

reigning in Iran. Tension began between the two nations following the

rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

of Colonel

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

in Libya. Gaddafi, along with other Arab leaders, accused the Shah of betraying his Arab neighbors’ interests and supporting

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

After the Iranian revolution

Before the Libyan revolution

The

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

of 1979 resulted in the overthrow of the Shah and the improvement of Iranian-Libyan relations. The turning point in Iran–Libya relations came during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, when Libya came to Iran's aid despite Western pressure to keep Iran isolated. During the war Libya and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

were Iran's only Middle Eastern allies. Relations, however, were strained when

Musa al-Sadr Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr (; ; 4 June 1928 – disappeared 31 August 1978) was a Lebanese-Iranian Shia Muslim cleric, politician and revolutionary In Lebanon. He founded and revived many Lebanese Shia organizations, including schools, charities ...

, a leading Lebanese cleric (born in Iran) of

Shia Islam Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

branch, disappeared in Libya. This had forced the Iranian government since 1979 to sometimes distance itself from the Libyan regime. Iranian-Libyan cooperation during the 1990s led to the construction of factories, roads and hospitals in both Libya and Iran. Gaddafi would even visit then Iranian president

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Bahramani Rafsanjani (25 August 19348 January 2017) was an Iranian cleric, politician and writer who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding fathers of the Government of Iran, Islamic Republic, ...

and the

Supreme Leader of Iran The supreme leader of Iran, also referred to as the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, but officially called the supreme leadership authority, is the head of state and the highest political and religious authority of Iran (above the Presi ...

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

After the Libyan revolution

Iran supported the 2011 uprising against the Libyan government, describing it as an "Islamic awakening" and condemning the government crackdown. The Libyan ambassador to Iran later resigned due to the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

protests in his home country. Following the overthrow of Gaddafi, Iran recognized the new Libyan transitional government. Iran's ambassador would soon return to the newly formed Arab Republic of Libya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iran-Libya relations

Bilateral relations of Libya

Pahlavi government

After the Iranian revolution

Before the Libyan revolution

After the Libyan revolution

See also

References