Iran is considered the birthplace of designed earthenware utensils like piped pots, bowls and jars for storage of corns and grains. It is also, since prehistoric times, home to a unique and creative art of metalwork, which is used to make a variety of ornaments, decorative objects and defensive arms such as daggers, shields, axes and arrowheads. The most popular craft of Iran is carpet weaving - some of the most exotic carpets in the world are made here. This craft form is entwined with the culture and the customs of the people of this land.

Art in Iran is non-representational, derivative and stylised. Bright skies, blossoming season of spring, and human figures dressed in splendid garments form the general themes of the Iranian paintings. A lot of Iranian paintings narrate episodes and incidents from epic stories.

Iranian architecture has sustained its characteristics from the earliest periods till the present day. Due the vastness of the plateau with differing climates, climatic conditions and characteristics of people, the architectural works have been of varied genres so it is difficult to classify them under categories. From prehistoric huts, fortresses, temples, mausoleums and ancient palaces to modern dams, bridges, bazaars, baths, mosques with magnificent towers and minarets architectural gems are scattered all over the country.

Iranian literature is uniquely distinct from most other Muslim countries. Of all the countries conquered by the Arabs in the first century of Islam, Iran was the only exception where the language spoken prior to conquest was retained. However, Persian or Farsi, the language from the Sassasian homeland, did undergo gradual changes both in script and grammar. The vocabulary borrowed a lot of words from Arabic and shed most of the words with Zoroastrian connotations and developed into the Persian that Iranians developed into literary expressions. The greatest monument of Persian language and literature, is Shah-nama (Book of kings) written by literary genius Ferdowsi (completed in AD 1000). Persian poetry, which first appeared in the 9th century AD, consists of epic poems and non-rhyming couplet poems.