Iran is the only Middle Eastern country was never conquered by a European power, but it came pretty close in the 1900s. It lost a lot of territory to Russia (the red stripey part). After that, the Russian Empire and British Empire (the British Indian Raj was just next door) divided Iran's north and south into "zones of influence." They weren't under direct control, but the Iranian government was bullied and its economy and resources exploited. This remains a point of major national resentment in Iran today.