Spatial planning has emerged as a strategic framework for organizing spatial development, balancing population distribution, and ensuring sustainable utilization of territorial and environmental resources. This study presents a historical-analytical review of the evolution of spatial planning in Iran within both global and national contexts. The findings indicate that although the roots of territorial management in Iran can be traced back to earlier historical periods, systematic spatial planning formally began in the 1930s alongside the emergence of modern development planning. The chronological analysis of development plans before and after the Islamic Revolution demonstrates that spatial planning in Iran has continuously been affected by political conditions, oil-based economic structures, administrative centralization, demographic transformations, the Iran-Iraq war, and institutional changes in governance systems. Before the Revolution, territorial planning mainly aimed to reduce regional inequalities and promote decentralization; however, rapid industrialization and accelerated development policies hindered the realization of these objectives. After the Revolution, wartime conditions and institutional instability led to a temporary decline in spatial planning activities. Nevertheless, from the 1980s onward, the preparation of national and provincial spatial planning documents, approval of national spatial regulations, and integration of modern technologies such as GIS contributed to the revival of this approach. The study concludes that weak intersectoral coordination, institutional instability, and lack of effective implementation mechanisms have been the major historical challenges of spatial planning in Iran. Despite these limitations, increasing emphasis on sustainable development and spatial justice has strengthened the transition toward integrated spatial governance in the country.