Eastern Georgia, throughout its history, has several times been annexed by the Persian Empire, specifically under the Achaemenid, Parthian, Sassanid, Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar dynasties. Western Georgia, throughout its history had been annexed by the Persian Achaemenids and briefly came under Sassanid control during the Lazic War. Due to this, there has been a lot of political and cultural exchange between the two nations for thousands of years, and thus Eastern Georgia was considered a part of Greater Iran.