WOn July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan.
WAria Air Flight 1525 was a scheduled Iranian domestic flight which crashed on landing at Mashhad International Airport, Mashhad, Iran, on 24 July 2009.
WThe 2009 Ashura protests were a series of protests which occurred on 27 December 2009 in Iran against the outcome of the June 2009 Iranian presidential election, which demonstrators claim was rigged. The demonstrations were part of the 2009 Iranian election protests and were the largest since June. In December 2009, the protests saw an escalation in violence.
WCaspian Airlines Flight 7908 was a scheduled commercial flight from Tehran, Iran, to Yerevan, Armenia, that crashed near the village of Jannatabad, outside the city of Qazvin in north-western Iran, on 15 July 2009. All 153 passengers and 15 crew on board died.
WOn 30 December 2009, pro-government rallies, also known as the "Dey 9 epic", took place in various Iranian cities, including Tehran, Shiraz, Arak, Qom and Isfahan. The rallies were hold in response to the Ashura protests, where protesters on that day did acts including "applauding, whistling, and engaging in other cheerful displays," which was viewed as violation of a "red line" and targeting Husayn ibn Ali and Ashura commemoration itself. The demonstrations and counter-demonstrations were connected to the disputed 2009 Iranian presidential election.
WReactions to the 2009 Iranian presidential election varied across the world. Most Western countries expressed concern, while most countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa that expressed any opinion congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his victory. The UN and EU also expressed concern about the aftermath.
WThe 2009 Iranian Air Force Il-76MD Adnan 2 accident of 22 September 2009 resulted in the destruction of Iran's only functional airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-76MD Adnan 2. Sources conflict on the cause of the loss, with some stating that there was a mid-air collision with an Iranian Air Force Northrop F-5E Tiger II or a HESA Saeqeh, and others stating that the rotodome detached from the aircraft, striking and removing the tailplane while the aircraft was maneuvering for an emergency landing following an engine fire.
WProtests against the results of the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election, a disputed victory by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, occurred in major cities nationwide from 2009 into early 2010. The protests were titled the Iranian Green Movement by its proponents, reflecting Mousavi's campaign theme, and Persian Awakening, Persian Spring or Green Revolution, reflecting the "Persian identity" of Iranians and the so-called "colour revolution" theme.
WThe shooting of Neda Agha-Soltan, which resulted in her death during the 2009 Iranian election protests, drew worldwide attention. Agha-Soltan, a student of philosophy, was participating in the protests with her music teacher, and was walking back to her car when she was fatally shot in the chest.
WOmid was Iran's first domestically made satellite. Omid was a data-processing satellite for research and telecommunications; Iran's state television reported that it was successfully launched on 2 February 2009. After being launched by an Iranian-made carrier rocket, Safir 1, the satellite was placed into a low Earth orbit. The launch, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and was supervised by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was also verified by NASA the following day as a success. Its Satellite Catalog Number or USSPACECOM object number is 33506.