Finally, the Pahlavi Crown was presented, and the Iranian ruler placed it upon his own head in accordance with Iranian custom.

"To let the Iranian rulers know they are mere dwarfs, Iraqis' retaliation will be swift and destructive," the Iraqi military spokesman said.

"Then They Came for Me is a gripping story that weaves his family's history of incarceration by Iranian rulers with his own."

But the Ayatollah, the first Iranian ruler in centuries to defy foreign powers rather than accommodate them, turned out to be the one doing the manipulating.

"Iraq will eliminate Iranian cities if Iranian rulers continue such arrogant acts," an Iraqi military communique said.

Their ideology is based on the call of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Iranian ruler who died in June, to spread the Islamic Revolution.

To line a tent smaller than most studio apartments, Nadir Shah, an 18th-century Iranian ruler, used violet satin embroidered with gold and precious stones.

The Seljuk Empire then split into states ruled by various local Turkic and Iranian rulers.

The shrine was first built by the Iranian ruler the Daylamite Fannakhosraw Azod ad Dowleh in 977 over the tomb of Ali.

He added, "Iranian rulers since their so-called Islamic revolution have shown bad intentions towards Saudi Arabia."