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This article critiques the tradition of Marxian approaches to Iranian historiography. Two streams of Marxian thought may be identified in Iranian studies: historical materialism and Asiatic mode of production. The article argues that these approaches fall short of explaining Iran’s historical specificities. Their shortcomings are both theoretical and epistemological. For one thing, the point of departure for both models is the European experience. Such approaches do not allow for an analysis of Iran’s various historical periods whose structures diverge in significant ways from those of Europe. The article advances a new approach to Iranian historiography based on Althusser’s theoretical formulations. The modified “articulation of modes of production” allows for the existence of several related modes of production in any specific period of Iran’s history.