NAM COUNTRY: IRAN, ISLAMIC REP OF

IRAN
 
Introduction

In 1979 the country became the centre of world attention when the monarchy was overthrown and an Islamic republic was declared, in which religious clerics - headed by Ayatollah Khomeini - wielded ultimate political control. There followed an eight-year war with Iraq, in which the country's oil wealth plummeted from its previous high levels. Two decades later, Iran appeared to be entering another era of political and social transformation with the victory of the liberals over the long-ruling conservative elite in parliamentary elections in 2000.

Former President Mohammad Khatami's support for greater social and political freedoms made him popular with the young - an important factor as around half of the population is under 25. But his liberal ideas put him at odds with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and hard-liners reluctant to lose sight of established Islamic traditions. Iran has come under strong pressure from the US since President Bush declared it part of an "axis of evil" in 2002. That pressure intensified after the US-led war against Iraq, with Washington accusing Tehran of attempting to develop nuclear weapons and of trying to subvert US efforts in Iraq. Iran, which is building its first atomic power station with Russian help, says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. With a diplomatic showdown looming over its nuclear programme, Iran resumed its uranium conversion process in 2005. Months later it removed seals placed by the UN's nuclear watchdog at some of its research plants. President Ahmadinejad says Iran has an "inalienable right" to produce nuclear fuel.
Geography
Iran is located in the Middle East, bounded to the north by the CIS and the Caspian Sea, the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and the west by Iraq and Turkey. The center and east of the country is largely barren undulating desert, punctured by Qantas (irrigation canals and tree eases, but there are mountainous regions in the west along the Turkish and Iraqi borders and in the north where the Alburz Mountains rise steeply from a fertile belt around the Caspian Sea.

History

The region now called Iran was occupied by the Medes and the Persians in the 1500s B.C., until the Persian king Cyrus the Great overthrew the Medes and became ruler of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, which reached from the Indus to the Nile at its zenith in 525 BC. Persia fell to Alexander in 331–330 B.C. and a succession of other rulers: the Seleucids (312–302 BC), the Greek-speaking Parthians (247 BC–AD 226), the Sasanians (224–c. 640), and the Arab Muslims (in 641). By the mid-800s Persia had become an international scientific and cultural center. In the 12th century the Mongols invaded it. The Safavid dynasty (1501–1722), under which the dominant religion became Shiite Islam, followed, and was then replaced by the Qajar dynasty (1794–1925).
Persia, as it was, had been one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and has long maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language and adhering to the Shia interpretation of Islam.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad


Economy

Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 and deteriorated further in 1998 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent zoom 1999 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems. Iran's current president Ahmadinejad has promised sweeping economic reform, including widespread social services and an elimination of Iran's stock market. The Iranian government is attempting to diversify by investing revenues in other areas, including, car manufacturing, aerospace industries, consumer electronics, petrochemicals and nuclear technology. Iran is also hoping to attract billions of dollars worth of foreign investment by creating a more favorable investment climate, such as reduced restrictions and duties on imports and the creation of free-trade zones like in Chabahar and the Island of Kish. Modern Iran has a solid middle class and a growing economy.

Quick Facts

Official Name

Islamic Republic of Iran
Capital

Tehran
Area

1,648,000 sq km (636,296 sq miles)
Population

68,727,000

Languages

Farsi, Arabic, English, French, German
Dress

According to the Islamic and social beliefs in Iran, it is necessary for women to be modestly covered & wearing ahead scarf.

Religion

Predominantly Islamic; mostly Shi'ite, with a minority of Sunnis, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians
Independence

1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
National Holiday

Republic Day, 1 April (1979).

Government

Constitution codifies Islamic principles of government
Head of State

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (since 1989)
Head of Government

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (since 2005)
Currency

Iranian Rials
Agricultural Products

Wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar.

Industries Petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabrication, armaments
Major Trading Partners
 Japan, China, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea.