Editing Tabas (section)

== History ==
===Early history===
The history of Tabas dates back to pre-Islamic times. It was an important outpost of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid empire]].

Due to its strategic location at the edge of the [[Great Salt Desert]], and at the confluence of many roads, the geographer [[al-Baladhuri]] called the city "the Gate of [[Khurasan]]".<ref name="LeStrange"> {{Lands of the Eastern Caliphate|pages=359–361}}</ref> In the early Islamic period it was known as  '''Tabas al-Tamr''' ({{lit.|Tabas of the [[Date (fruit)|Dates]]}}) due to a large forest of date palms that grew there, and later as '''Tabas Gilaki''' after a famous governor of the city, Abu'l-Hasan ibn Muhammad Gilaki, who in the mid-11th century had pacified the region.<ref name="LeStrange"/> Along with the town of [[Tabas-e Masina]] further east, it gave its name to the local district, [[Tabasayn]].<ref name="LeStrange"/> In the 10th–11th centuries, the town is described as well fortified, with several villages around. Medieval and geographers note that it was amply supplied with water due to underground wells; the town even featured hot baths, and extensive lemon and orange plantations.<ref name="LeStrange"/> In the late 11th century, it became part of the [[Nizari Ismaili state]], and was besieged by the [[Seljuk Turks]] under [[Ahmad Sanjar]] in 1102.<ref name="LeStrange"/>

Tabas was spared when the [[Mongol invasion of Iran|Mongols attacked Iran]]. It had a local government incorporating not only Tabas but also Ferdows and Gonabad. After the death of [[Nader Shah]] in 1747, it as under the control of the Zangu'i Arabs as an independent state which included nearby Tun.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Malcolm|first=Sir John|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=4zA-5-gEcD0C&pg=GBS.PA142|title=The History of Persia: From the Most Early Period to the Present Time|date=1829|publisher=Murray|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Noelle-Karimi|first=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ|title=The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries)|date=2014|publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press|isbn=978-3-7001-7202-4|language=en}}</ref> For a time they even kidnapped [[Nader Mirza Afshar]] and placed the [[Kurds of Khorasan|Kurds]] of [[Quchan|Khabushan]] in control of [[Mashhad]].

===Earthquake of 1978===
{{Main|1978 Tabas earthquake}}
In 1978, the 7.4 {{M|w}} [[1978 Tabas earthquake|Tabas earthquake]] affected the city with a maximum [[Mercalli intensity scale|Mercalli intensity]] of IX (Violent). At least 15,000 people were killed. Since then, the city has been rebuilt with many new streets, parks and public buildings.

=== Operation Eagle Claw ===
{{Main|Operation Eagle Claw}}
The failed rescue American operation [[Operation Eagle Claw]] on 24–25 April 1980 to free American hostages in Tehran occurred near Tabas in Tabas Country about 127km southwest of Tabas town by the road to Yazd location (33.07020674739667;55.89196171977231).<ref>{{Citation |title=Operation Eagle Claw |date=2003 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952590.n324 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |access-date=2023-06-27 |place=2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks California 91320 United States |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.|doi=10.4135/9781412952590.n324 |isbn=9780761924081 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In Iran, the operation is called ''amaliat tabas'' (Tabas operation), and the significance and aftermath of the failed operation made the city Tabas known in almost every corner of Iran.<ref>[[:fa:عملیات طبس]]</ref> The [[Tabas (air defense system)|Tabas air defense system]] is accordingly named so.

===Administrative changes===
At first, Tabas County was part of [[Khorasan province]]. It became a part of [[Yazd province|Yazd]] province in 2001,<ref name="Khorasan Province Divisions">{{Cite report|title=The law of division of Khorasan province into three provinces|url=https://qavanin.ir/Law/TreeText/86173|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030193054/https://qavanin.ir/Law/TreeText/86173|archive-date=30 October 2020|website=qavanin.ir|via=Laws and Regulations Portal of the Islamic Republic of Iran|publisher=Islamic Council|last=Adel|first=Gholam Ali Haddad|language=fa|access-date=27 December 2023|date=c. 2020|orig-date=Approved 3 September 1383}}</ref> joining South Khorasan province in 2013.<ref name="Tabas County Abstraction">{{Cite report|title=Approval letter regarding the abstraction of Tabas County from Yazd province and its annexation to South Khorasan province|url=https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/839188|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529134641/https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/839188|archive-date=29 May 2013|date=19 December 2013|website=rc.majlis.ir|via=Research Center of the System of Laws of the Islamic Council of the Farabi Library of Mobile Users|publisher=Ministry of the Interior, Council of Ministers|last=Rahimi|first=Mohammad Reza|language=fa|access-date=25 November 2023|orig-date=Approved 24 October 2013|id=Proposal 19089/42/1/19089; Notification 252554/T46736H}}</ref>