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Iran
IRAN
LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
TOPOGRAPHY
CLIMATE
FLORA AND FAUNA
ENVIRONMENT
POPULATION
MIGRATION
ETHNIC GROUPS
LANGUAGES
RELIGIONS
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HISTORY
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POLITICAL PARTIES
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JUDICIAL SYSTEM
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BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
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TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION
FAMOUS IRANIANS
DEPENDENCIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Islamic Republic of Iran
Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran
CAPITAL: Tehrān
FLAG: The national flag is a tricolor of green, white, and red horizontal stripes, the top and bottom stripes having the Arabic inscription Allah Akbar ("God Is Great") written along the edge nearest the white stripe. In the center, in red, is the coat of arms, consisting of a stylized representation of the word Allah.
ANTHEM: n/a
MONETARY UNIT: The rial (r) is a paper currency of 100 dinars. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 rials, and notes of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 rials. r1 = $0.00011 (or $1 = r9,040.26) as of 2005.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, but local units are widely used.
HOLIDAYS: National Day, 11 February; Oil Nationalization Day, 20 March; No Ruz (New Year), 21–24 March; Islamic Republic Day, 1 April; 13th Day of No Ruz (Revolution Day), 2 April. Religious holidays (according to the lunar calendar) include Birthday of Imam Husayn; Birthday of the Twelfth Imam; Martyrdom of Imam 'Ali; Death of Imam Ja'afar Sadiq; 'Id al-Fitr; Birthday of Imam Reza; 'Id-i-Qurban; 'Id-i-Qadir; Shabi-Miraj; Martyrdom of Imam Husayn; 40th Day after the Death of Imam Husayn; Birthday of the Prophet; Birthday of Imam 'Ali.
TIME: 3:30 pm = noon GMT.
Situated in southwestern Asia, Iran covers an area of 1,648,000 sq km (636,296 sq mi) and extends about 2,250 km (1,398 mi) se–nw and 1,400 km (870 mi) ne–sw. Comparatively, the area occupied by Iran is slightly larger than the state of Alaska. Iran is bounded on the n by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, on the e by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the s by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, on the w by Iraq, and on the nw by Turkey, with a total land boundary length of 5,440 km (3,380 mi). The coastline is 2,440 km (1,516 mi). The shoreline on the Caspian Sea is 740 km (460 mi). Iran's territory includes several islands in the Persian Gulf.
Iran's capital city, Tehrān, is located in the northwestern part of the country.
Most of the land area consists of a plateau some 1,200 m (4,000 ft) above sea level and strewn with mountains. The Zagros and Elburz ranges stamp a "V" upon the plateau; the apex is in the northwest, and within the lower area between the arms are to be found salt flats and barren deserts. Most of the drainage is from these two great ranges into the interior deserts, with limited drainage into the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf. The ranges run in parallel files, enclosing long valleys that provide most of the agricultural land. Qolleh-ye Damāvand (Mt. Damavand), northeast of Tehrān, rises to 5,671 m (18,605 ft), while the Caspian littoral is below sea level and has a semitropical climate. Only the Kārūn River, emptying into the Persian Gulf, is navigable for any distance, but the rivers that rush down from high altitudes offer fine sources of power. Harbors of limited depth are found along the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea has similar facilities for coastal fishing and trade.
Iran is geologically unstable with some of the most severe and deadliest earthquakes on record. On 20 June 1990, a 7.4 magnitude quake caused the death of about 50,000 people, many of whom were caught in resulting landslides. On 10 May 1997, a 7.3 magnitude quake occurred in northern Iran causing the deaths of at least 1,567 people; another 2,300 were injured and 50,000 were left homeless. A 6.6 magnitude quake on 26 December 2003 left about 31,000 people dead. On 22 February 2005, a 6.4 magnitude quake in Kerman province in central Iran left at least 602 people dead and 991 injured.
Iran has a continental type of climate, with cold winters and hot summers prevalent across the plateau. The annual rainfall does not exceed 30 cm (12 in), with the deserts and the Persian Gulf littoral receiving less than 13 cm (5 in). Snow falls heavily on the mountain peaks and is the principal source of water for irrigation in spring and early summer. The Caspian littoral is warm and humid throughout the year, and the annual rainfall is about 100–150 cm (40–60 in). Clear days are the rule, for the skies are cloudless more than half the days of each year. The seasons change abruptly. By the Persian New Year (the first day of spring), orchards are in bloom and wild flowers abound. In January, the Tehrān temperature ranges from an average low of -3°c (27°f), to an average
high of 7°c (45°f); and in July, from an average minimum of 22°c (72°f) to an average maximum of 37°c (99°f).
More than one-tenth of the country is forested. The most extensive growth is found on the mountain slopes rising from the Caspian Sea, with stands of oak, ash, elm, cypress, and other valuable trees. On the plateau proper, areas of scrub oak appear on the best-watered mountain slopes, and villagers cultivate orchards and grow the plane tree, poplar, willow, walnut, beech, maple, and mulberry. Wild plants and shrubs spring from the barren land in the spring and afford pasturage, but the summer sun burns them away. Bears, wild sheep and goats, gazelles, wild asses, wild pigs, panthers, and foxes abound. Domestic animals include sheep, goats, cattle, horses, water buffalo, donkeys, and camels. The pheasant, partridge, stork, and falcon are native to Iran.
As of 2002, there were at least 140 species of mammals, 293 species of birds, and over 8,000 species of plants throughout the country.
Iran's high grasslands have been eroded for centuries by the encroachment of nomads who overgrazed their livestock. Desertification resulting from erosion and deforestation of the high plateau pose additional dangers to Iran's environment. United Nations (UN) sources have estimated that 1–1.5 million hectares (2.5–3.7 million acres) per year become desert land. The basic law controlling the use of forests dates from 1943. In 1962, the forests and pastures in Iran were nationalized in an effort to stop trespassing deforestation.
In early 1983, blown-out oil wells in the Persian Gulf war zone between Iran and Iraq caused a huge oil slick that threatened ocean and shore life along the southwestern Iranian coast. Air and water pollution continued to be significant problems in Iran in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The water in the Persian Gulf is polluted with oil and black rain, and the burning of Kuwaiti oil wells caused significant air pollution as well. Iran also has the 19th-highest level of industrial carbon emissions in the world. Iran has 129 cu km of renewable water resources with 92% used for farming activity and 2% used for industrial purposes. The country has a large network of underground water canals called qanats. This network, once used as an irrigation source, covers an estimated 400,000 km (248,548 mi). Some analysts are encouraging a return to this source of irrigation waters as an answer to regional water shortages. Only 83% of the rural people have pure drinking water.
Iran's Department of Environment was established under the Environment Protection and Enhancement Act of 1974; no information is available on how well the legislation has been implemented. In 2003, about 4.8% of the total land area was protected.
According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 21 types of mammals, 18 species of birds, 8 types of reptiles, 4 species of amphibians, 14 species of fish, 3 species of invertebrates, and 1 species of plant. Endangered species in Iran include the Baluchistan bear, Asiatic cheetah, Persian fallow deer, Siberian white crane, hawksbill turtle, green turtle, Oxus cobra, Latifi's viper, dugong, and dolphins. The Syrian wild ass has been listed as extinct.
The population of Iran in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 69,515,000, which placed it at number 18 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 4% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 30% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 103 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 1.2%, a rate the government viewed as too high. Since 1990, the government has had some success in reducing fertility rates; in 1990, there were 5 births per woman and by 2003, the number had declined to 3.5 births per woman. The projected population for the year 2025 was 89,042,000. The population density was 42 per sq km (110 per sq mi).
The UN estimated that 67% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 2.23%. The capital city, Tehrān, had a population of 7,190,000 in that year. The populations of other major metropolitan areas were Mashhad, 2,147,000; Esfahān, 1,547,000; Tabriz, 1,396,000; Shirāz, 1,230,000; Ahvāz, 967,000; and Kermānshāh, 949,000.
Until the late 20th century, there was little immigration to Iran, with the exception of Shia Muslims coming from Iraq. There has been some emigration to Europe and the United States, particularly by Iranians who were studying overseas at the time of the revolution of 1979. About 100,000 Kurds were repatriated from Iran to Iraq during the mid-1970s after the suppression of a Kurdish rebellion in the latter country. Between 1980 and 1990, however, an increased number of Shia Muslims fled Iraq because of the Iran-Iraq and Gulf wars; at the end of 1992, some 1.2 million were refugees in Iran. Perhaps 2.8 million Afghan refugees moved to Iran after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. About 200,000 returned in 1992, and about 2.1 million remained in mid-1993. At least 50,000 refugees from Azerbaijan had fled to Iran by late 1993 to escape Armenian occupation. In the fall of 1996, some 65,000 Iraqi Kurds entered Iran due to ethnic fighting.
According to 1999 statistics, Iran had the largest refugee population in the world, hosting some two million refugees, mainly Afghans and Iraqis. An increase in unemployment and faltering economic conditions resulted in increased pressure for refugees to return to their homelands. However, due to conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan, chances for significant repatriation remained poor. The Iranian government felt a heavy economic and social burden and sought help from the international community. The total number of migrants in the country was 2,321,000 in 2000, down from 3,809,000 ten years earlier. In 2003 Iran had a million refugees. The number increased to 1,045,976 in 2004, with 698 returned refugees. Afghanistan and Iraq were the source of refugees—952,802 and 93,103, respectively. Nearly a million Iranians were refugees in seven countries in that same year, primarily in Germany and the United States. In 2004 nearly 14,000 Iranians sought asylum in 16 countries, primarily in Turkey, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In 2004, Iran was the main asylum country,
accounting for 11% of all refugees under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In 2005 the net migration rate was estimated as -2.64 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the immigration level as too high, but the emigration level as satisfactory.
Present-day Iranians, or Persians, are considered to be direct descendants of the Aryans who moved into the plateau in the second millennium bc. They speak Persian, or Farsi, and number more than half the total population. In the Zagros range and its extensions are to be found the Kurds, Lurs, Bakhtiari, Qashqa'i, and Qajars; the first three are said to be of stock similar to the Iranian element, and they speak languages that stem from ancient Indo-European languages. At various times after the 10th century ad, Turkish tribes settled in the region, and Turkish-speaking groups are still found in several parts of the country. One-eighth of the total population dwells in East and West Azerbaijan, and there are sizable groups of Azerbaijanis in major cities elsewhere, including Tehrān. Arab groups arrived during and after the 7th century ad; their descendants live in the south and southwest and in scattered colonies elsewhere.
In general, non-Iranian elements are to be found along the perimeter of the country. Of these, certain nomadic groups move back and forth across the frontiers. Tribal groups have been a conspicuous element in Iran for many centuries, migrating vertically in spring and fall between high mountain valleys and hot, lowland plains. The important migratory groups include the Qashqa'i, Qajars,
Bakhtiari, Balochi, and Turkmen. A large proportion of these people are now settled, however. The nomadic way of life is on the decline, and official policy has sought to resettle these groups on farmlands.
According to the latest estimates, Persians account for 51% of the population, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurds 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Balochi 2%, and Turkmen 2%.
Farsi, commonly called Persian in the West, is the official language of Iran. An Indo-European language of the Indo-Iranian group, Farsi derives from ancient Persian, with an admixture of many Arabic words. Arabic characters and script are used in writing modern Persian. Dialects of Turkish, or Turki—especially Azeri, the language of the Azerbaijanis—are spoken throughout northwestern Iran, by the Qashqa'i tribe in the southwest, and in parts of the northeast by Turkmen tribes and others. The Lurs, Kurds, and Bakhtiari have languages and dialects of their own that descend from earlier Indo-European languages, and the Balochi language spoken in southeastern Iran also is of Indo-European origin. A small number of Brahui in the southeast speak a Dravidian language. About 58% of the population speaks Persian or Persian dialects, 26% Turkic or Turkic dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Balochi, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish, and 2% other.
Iran is the only Islamic country where Shia Muslims hold the reins of power. Shia Islam is the official religion of the country and the president, prime minister, and cabinet ministers must be Muslims. As of 2004, about 99% of the population were Muslim, with 89% of the people being Shia Muslims and 10% Sunni Muslims. The largest non-Muslim group was the Baha'i faith, with between 300,000 and 350,000 members. Their faith, which sprang from the teachings of a 19th-century Muslim in Iran, has been denounced as heresy to Islam. The Baha'is have been severely persecuted by the Shia government since the 1979 revolution, and many of their religious leaders have been executed. The Jewish community has between 20,000 and 30,000 members. There are about 300,000 Christians, including Nestorian Christians (Assyrians). About 35,000 people adhere to the tenets of Zoroastrianism. The Mandaeans (between 5,000 and 10,000 people) practice a pre-Christian form of gnosticism.
The government openly restricts the freedom of religion. The constitution declares Shia Islam as the official religion and guarantees some freedom to Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians; however, other religious groups have been persecuted for their beliefs.
Iran had 178,152 km (110,811 mi) of roads in 2002, of which 118,115 km (73,468 mi) were paved, including 751 km (467 mi) of expressways. A1, a major paved highway, runs from Bazargan on the Turkish border to the border with Afghanistan. Another major highway, A2, runs from the Iraqi border to the Pakistani border. Much of the revolutionary government's road-building activity centered on improving roads in rural areas. In 2003 there were over 2,578,850 passenger cars and 666,550 commercial vehicles.
The state-owned Iranian State Railway has 7,203 km (4,480 mi) of broad and standard gauge track, as of 2004. Standard gauge accounts for nearly all—or 7,109 km (4,422 mi)—of all railroad right-of-way. The main line runs south for 1,392 km (865 mi) from Bandar Turkoman on the Caspian Sea, through Tehrān, to Bandar-e Khomeini on the Persian Gulf. Rail construction from Bafq to Sirjan has been completed and is operational.
Iran's main ports at Khorramshahr and Ābādān on the Persian Gulf were largely destroyed in fighting during the 1980–88 war with Iraq. Khorramshahr was restored to operation by November 1992. Other ports on the Gulf are Bandar-e Khomeini, Bandar-e 'Abbās, and Bandar-e Būshehr. Both Bandar-e Khomeini and Bandar-e Būshehr were damaged because of the war. The government was continuing the program to modernize the port at Bandar-e 'Abbās. On the Caspian Sea, there are the ports of Bandar Anzeli (formerly Bandar Pahlavi) and Naushahr. In addition, there are the oil shipment ports of Kharg Island (a principal target in the war with Iraq) and Ābādān. As of 2004, there were 850 km (529 mi) of inland waterways on Daryācheh-ye Orūmiyeh (Lake Orumieh) and the Kārūn River. In addition, the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for about 130 km (81 mi). In 2005, the Iranian merchant marine included 144 vessels of at least 1,000 gross registered tonnage (GRT), with a total capacity of 4,715,242 GRT.
Iran had an estimated 305 airports in 2004, 129 of which had paved runways as of 2005; there were 15 heliports. Principal airports include Bandar-e 'Abbās, Mehrabad International at Tehrān, and Shirāz International at Shirāz. The state-owned Iran Air maintains frequent service to 15 cities in Iran and is an international carrier. In 2003, about 9.554 million passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international flights.
As early as 6000 bc, communities on the Iranian plateau were carrying on agriculture, raising domestic animals, and producing pottery and polished stone implements. Sites datable to later than 3000 bc are numerous and offer quantities of bronze instruments and painted pottery of the finest types. About 1500 bc, masses of Indo-Europeans, or Aryans, began to cross the plateau of Iran. The Iranian group included Medes, Persians, Parthians, Bactrians, and others. The Medes settled in western Iran (Media) about 900 bc and established their capital at Ecbatana (modern Hamadān); the Persians settled to the south of them (Parsis) around 700 bc. The Median king Cyaxares (625–585 bc), along with the Chaldeans, destroyed the power of neighboring Assyria. In the area of Parsis, the Achaemenid clan became overlords, and in 550 bc, their leader, Cyrus the Great, revolted against the Medes; forming a union of Medes and Persians, he then drove with armies both into Asia Minor and to the east of the Iranian plateau and established the Achaemenid Empire. Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes I, and Artaxerxes I were notable rulers of this line who penetrated Greece, Egypt, and beyond the Oxus. The Achaemenid power was centered at Susa and Persepolis; the ruined site of the latter is impressive even today. Zoroastrianism was the religion of the rulers.
In his eastward sweep (334–330 bc), Alexander the Great defeated vast Achaemenid forces and went on to capture Susa and to burn Persepolis. In the 3rd century bc, the Parthians moved into the area east of the Caspian and then into the Achaemenid Empire, establishing the new Parthian kingdom; later rulers moved west to come in contact with and then to fight the Roman Empire.
The Parthians considered themselves spiritual heirs of the Achaemenids and adopted Zoroastrianism as the official religion. Weakened by long wars with Rome, the Parthians were followed by a local dynasty, the Sassanian, which arose in the area of Fars in southwestern Iran. Wars with Rome continued and were followed by a struggle with the Byzantine Empire. The Sassanian period (ad 226–641) was one of cultural consolidation and was marked by economic prosperity and by a series of enlightened rulers.
During the first half of the 7th century ad, Arab warriors burst out of the Arabian Peninsula to overwhelm the Sassanian Empire and to spread the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, embodied in Islam. By the opening of the ninth century, Islamic doctrine and precepts had spread over the plateau, and local dynasties faithful to the Muslim creed emerged. Early in the 11th century, the Turkish Ghaznavid dynasty held power from western Iran to the Indus River. Their greatest ruler was Mahmud of Ghaznī, a renowned conqueror and a patron of the arts. The Ghaznavids were replaced by the Seljuks, descended from Turkish nomad warriors enlisted in their service.
The Seljuk kingdom had its capital at Ray, just south of Tehrān, and stretched from the Bosporus to Chinese Turkestan. Of rude origins, such rulers as Tughril Beg, Alp Arslan, and Malik Shah did much to promote cultural pursuits and enhance the character of Persian civilization.
In 1219, Mongol hordes under Genghis Khan (Temujin) began to move into Iran; successive waves subdued and devastated the country. Hulagu, a grandson of Genghis, settled in Maragheh in Azerbaijan and as Il-khan, or chief of the tribe, gave this title to the Il-khanid dynasty. His successors, such as Ghazan Khan and Oljaitu, ruled from Tabriz and Sultaniya, and once again untutored invaders became converts to Islam and patrons of Persian science, learning, and arts. Rivalries within the military leadership brought about the breakdown of Il-khanid power in the second half of the 14th century.
In 1380, Timur ("Timur the Lame," or, in the West, Tamerlane) began to move into the Iranian plateau from the east. Within a decade, the entire area was in his power, bringing a renaissance of culture at Herāt (in modern Afghanistan) and other towns, but later rulers lacked the force and ability to hold the empire together. Early in the 16th century a number of smaller, local dynasties emerged throughout Iran. The most powerful was the Safavid dynasty, whose leaders, descendants of a spiritual head of the Shia sect, imposed this form of Islam on their subjects. The fourth and greatest of this line, Shah Abbas (r.1587–1628), moved the capital to Esfahān, where he had many splendid buildings constructed. The Safavid period, marked by the emergence of a truly native Iranian dynasty after the lapse of many centuries, was a period of military power and general prosperity. However, decline set in, and in 1722, Esfahān fell to invading forces from Afghanistan. Nadir Shah, an Afshar tribesman from the north, drove off the Afghans and in 1736 established the Afshar dynasty. By the end of the 18th century, Zand rulers, dominant in the south, were replaced by the Qajars, a Turkish tribe.
Qajar power began to fade at the turn of the 19th century. In the 1890s, Shia clerics led a national boycott that made the shah rescind a decree awarding a tobacco monopoly to a foreign agent. In 1906, a coalition of bazaar merchants, clerics, intellectuals, and tribal leaders forced the shah to accept a constitution. Th is liberal initiative was frustrated, however, by the power of the British and Russians, who controlled spheres of influence in the south and north of Iran.
After a period of chaos, the British arranged for a Persian cossack officer, Reza Khan, to come to power, first (in 1921) as minister of war in 1921, then as prime minister, and finally (in 1925) as Reza Shah, the first sovereign of the Pahlavi dynasty. With ruthless authority, he sought to modernize Iran along the lines of Ataturk in Turkey. In 1941, suspecting him of pro-German sympathies, the British forced Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his 21-year-old son, Muhammad Reza. British and Russian forces set up a supply line across Iran to the USSR. In April 1946, the British left, but the USSR refused to withdraw its forces. Under pressure from the United Nations (UN) and the United States, Soviet troops withdrew in December 1946.
Oil, the source of nearly all Iran's national wealth, quickly came to dominate politics after World War II. Muhammad Mossadeq, who, as leader of the National Front in the national assembly (Majlis), led the fight in 1947 to deny the USSR oil concessions in northern Iran, became chairman of the oil committee of the Majlis. On 15 March 1951, the Majlis voted to nationalize the oil industry, which was dominated by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. (AIOC), a prewar concession to the United Kingdom. When the government of Prime Minister Hosein Ala took no immediate action against the AIOC, the Majlis demanded his resignation and the appointment of Mossadeq, who became prime minister in April. The AIOC was nationalized, but its output rapidly declined when the United Kingdom imposed an embargo on Iranian oil, as well as other economic sanctions. As Iran's economic situation worsened, Mossadeq sought to rally the people through fervent nationalistic appeals. An attempt by the shah to replace him failed in the summer of 1952, but by August 1953, Mossadeq had lost his parliamentary majority, but not his popular support. With the backing of a referendum, Mossadeq dissolved the Majlis and then refused to resign when the shah again tried to oust him. The shah fled Iran for four days, but returned on 22 August with backing from the military, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A new conservative government issued an appeal for aid; in September, the United States granted Iran $45 million. Mossadeq was convicted of treason in December.
After 1953, the shah began to consolidate his power. New arrangements between the National Iranian Oil Co. and a consortium of US, UK, and Dutch oil companies were negotiated during April–September 1954 and ratified by the Majlis in October. The left-wing Tudeh (Masses) Party, which had been banned in 1949 but had resurfaced during the Mossadeq regime, was suppressed after a Tudeh organization was exposed in the armed forces. In 1957, two new pseudo-parties (both government-sponsored) arose; both contested parliamentary elections in 1960 and 1961. Meanwhile, Iran became affiliated with the Western alliance through the Baghdād Pact (later the Central Treaty Organization) in 1955. (CENTO was dissolved after Iran pulled out in 1979.) Frontier demarcation agreements were signed with the USSR in April 1957.
US assistance and goodwill were essential for the shah. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy urged him to undertake a more liberal program. Under the "white revolution" of 1962–63, the shah initiated land reform, electoral changes (including, for the first time,
the right of women to hold and vote for public office), and broad economic development. Opposition to the reform program, the dictatorial regime, and the growing American influence was suppressed. Political dissent was not tolerated.
The shah's autocratic methods, his repressive use of the secret police (known as SAVAK), his program of rapid Westernization (at the expense of Islamic tradition), his emphasis on lavish display and costly arms imports, and his perceived tolerance of corruption and of US domination fed opposition in the late 1970s. The economic boom of the previous 15 years also came to an end. Islamic militants, radical students, and the middle class all joined in the revolt, until virtually the entire population turned against the shah. Following nine months of demonstrations and violent army reactions, martial law was declared in Iran's major cities in September 1978, but antigovernment strikes and massive marches could not be stopped. On 16 January 1979, the shah left Iran, appointing an old-line nationalist, Shahpur Bakhtiar, as prime minister. However, the leader of the Islamic opposition, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (the term ayatollah is the highest rank of the Shia clergy), who had spent 15 years in exile, first in Iraq and briefly in France, refused to deal with the Bakhtiar regime. Demonstrations continued, and on 1 February the ayatollah returned to a tumultuous welcome in Tehrān. He quickly asserted control and appointed a provisional government, which took power after a military rebellion and the final collapse of the shah's regime on 11 February.
After a referendum, Khomeini on 1 April declared Iran an Islamic republic. However, the provisional government, led by Medhi Bazargan and other liberal civilians, was unable to exercise control; revolutionary groups made indiscriminate arrests and summary executions of political opponents. Increasingly, radical clerics sought to take power for themselves. The crisis atmosphere was intensified by the seizure, on 4 November 1979, of more than 60 US hostages (50 of them in the US embassy compound in Tehrān) by militant Iranian students who demanded the return of the shah from the United States (where he was receiving medical treatment) to stand trial in Iran. Despite vigorous protests by the US government, which froze Iranian assets in the United States, and by the UN over this violation of diplomatic immunity, 52 of the hostages were held for 444 days; in the intervening period, a US attempt to free the hostages by military force failed, and the shah died in Egypt on 27 July 1980. The crisis was finally resolved on 20 January 1981, in an agreement providing for release of the prisoners and the unfreezing of Iranian assets. A new constitution providing for an Islamic theocracy was ratified by popular referendum in December 1979. In presidential elections in January 1980, 'Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, a moderate who supported the revolution, was elected president. Later elections to the Majlis resulted in victory for the hard-line clerical Islamic Republican Party (IRP).
In June 1981, President Bani-Sadr was ousted by Khomeini; later that month, a bomb explosion at IRP headquarters in Tehrān killed Ayatollah Beheshti, who had been serving as chief justice, as well as 4 cabinet ministers, 20 paramilitary deputies, and dozens of others. Another bombing, on 30 August, killed the new president, Muhammad 'Ali Rajai, and his prime minister, Muhammad Javad Bahonar. The bombings were ascribed by the government to leftist guerrillas. By 1982, at least 4,500 people had been killed in political violence, and some estimates placed the total much higher. In September 1982, Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, who had been foreign minister during the hostage crisis, was executed on charges of plotting to kill Khomeini and establish a secular government.
Iraq, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Iran's political chaos and economic disorder to revive a border dispute that had been settled in 1975 when Iranian and Iraqi representatives reached agreement on the demarcation of their frontiers. Full-scale war erupted in September 1980, when Iraq demanded sovereignty over the entire Shatt al Arab waterway. Iraqi forces invaded Khuzistan in the southwest, and captured the town of Khorramshahr and the oil refinery center of Ābādān. The Iranian army, decimated by the revolution, was slow to mobilize, but by June 1982 it had driven Iraqi soldiers out of Ābādān and Khorramshahr and from all undisputed Iranian territory. Iran then launched its own offensive, invading Iraq and thrusting toward Al Başrah (Basra), but failed to make significant gains. At this point the land war became stalemated, with Iranian and Iraqi troops setting up an elaborate system of trenches. In 1983, Iraq broadened the war zone to include oil-tanker traffic in the northern Persian Gulf.
The Iraqis first attacked Iranian oil installations, disrupting, but not stopping, oil exports from the main oil terminal at Kharg Island. In mid-1983, Iraq took delivery of French jets bearing Exocet missiles. Iran responded that it would close the Strait of Hormuz if Iraq used the missiles. The United States declared the strait a vital interest and said it would use military force to keep the strait open because of the large volume of oil that passed through it on the way to the West. During 1983, the Iraqis also began to attack civilian targets in Iran with long-range missiles. The attacks caused heavy casualties, and Iran responded by shelling Iraqi border cities. In 1984, Iran began to attack Arab shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian forces staged a surprisingly effective attack on Iraqi forces in the Fao Peninsula in February 1986. The Iranians now controlled Iraq's entire border on the Persian Gulf and were in reach of the major Iraqi city of Al Başrah. In April, Khomeini renewed his demands for an end to the war: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein must step down and Iraq must admit responsibility and pay war reparations. Iran rejected all demands for a cease-fire and negotiations until these demands were met.
In November 1986, it was revealed that US national security adviser Robert McFarlane had secretly traveled to Iran to meet with government leaders. The United States supplied Iran with an estimated $30 million in spare parts and antiaircraft missiles in hopes that Iran would exert pressure on terrorist groups in Lebanon to release American hostages. In the wake of this affair, Iran in 1987 attacked Kuwaiti oil tankers reregistered as American tankers and laid mines in the Persian Gulf to disrupt oil tanker shipping. The United States responded by stationing a naval task force in the region and attacking Iranian patrol boats and oil-loading platforms; in the process, the United States accidentally shot down a civilian passenger jet.
As the war continued to take a heavy toll in casualties and destruction and economic hardships persisted on the home front, the clerics maintained firm control through repression and Khomeini's charismatic hold over the people. In 1988, Iran finally yielded to terms for a cease-fire in the war. On 3 June 1989, a few months after calling for the death of novelist Salman Rushdie for blasphemy, Khomeini died of a heart attack. Over three million
people attended his funeral. He was succeeded as the country's spiritual guide by Ali Khamenei. On 28 July 1989, speaker of the parliament Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, a moderate, was elected president with 95% of the vote. Iran remained neutral during the Gulf War, receiving (and retaining) Iraqi planes that were flown across the border for safekeeping. Iran also accepted thousands of Kurdish refugees from Iraq to add to its heavy burden of Afghan refugees from the civil strife in that country. Inflation, shortages, and unemployment—the products of revolution, war, and mismanagement—continued to generate widespread popular discontent, fueled also by dissatisfaction with the closed and repressive political system.
President Rafsanjani was reelected by a significantly smaller margin in 1993 but continued to press for free-market economic reforms. Rising prices in the wake of decreased government economic subsidies led to civil unrest in 1994 and 1995. Clerical conservatives led by Khamenei continued to battle the political moderates for dominance in the 1996 parliamentary elections, without a decisive victory for either side. Then, in the presidential election of May 1997, a moderate cleric, Mohammad Khatami, who favored economic reform, a more conciliatory foreign-policy stance, and less rigid clerical control of the government, won over two-thirds of the vote. In spite of continued opposition by Islamic conservatives, Khatami established a more tolerant climate in the country and expanded civil liberties. His policies received a decisive endorsement by the Iranian electorate when a political coalition led by the reformist president won 141 out of 290 parliamentary seats in the February 2000 elections and 189 seats in the May runoff elections, despite the shutdown of over a dozen liberal newspapers by conservative elements in the government in the weeks preceding the May polling. On 8 June 2001, Khatami won a landslide reelection victory, securing nearly 80% of the popular vote.
US president George W. Bush, in his 29 January 2002 State of the Union address, labeled Iran—along with Iraq and North Korea—an "axis of evil," responsible for seeking out weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorists. Khatami, who long advocated a more pro-Western stance, urged anti-US demonstrators to turn out in large numbers to protest the speech, as the speech had come as a surprise. Although Iran did not support the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime in late 2001, it had expressed sympathy toward US citizens after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, and stated that it would aid any US service personnel in need on Iranian territory during the war in Afghanistan. Iran supported a greater role for the UN in Afghanistan, and pledged resources to help train an Afghan army. Iran was concerned with securing its border with Afghanistan to prevent further destabilization of the region.
In January 2003, in an effort to avoid war Iran urged Iraq to cooperate with UN resolutions requiring it to disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction. Iran took the position that the United States must not take unilateral military action in the dispute, and said that it would not participate or allow its territory to be used in any military action against Iraq. The Iraq War began on 19 March 2003.
While Khatami was in office, a youth movement formed representing people who rejected the rule of Iran's hardline clerics and the "Islamic democracy" of the reformers. Many sought to live in a state based on the rule of law where the clergy's rule is abolished. In November 2002, Hashem Aghajari, a history professor, was sentenced to death on charges of insulting Islam. He had given a speech in which he stated that each generation should reinterpret aspects of Islam rather than simply following religious leaders. Thousands of students protested against the ruling—the largest in three years.
Parliamentary elections, which marked the end of the campaign for political and social reform, were held on 20 February 2004. The conservative Guardian Council disqualified 43% of the 8,000 candidates who had entered the election, including most reformist incumbents who ran. There were calls for a boycott of the election. Reformists who chose to contest the election took only about 20% of the seats decided in the first round of voting. The conservative win was consolidated in the second round of voting in May. Another victory for conservatives came with the 2005 presidential election, when the ultraconservative former mayor of Tehrān, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, beat former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with more than 61% of the vote in the second round. Ahmadinejad appealed to the poor in securing his win.
On 26 December 2003 more than 31,000 people were killed in an earthquake in the Kerman province of southeast Iran. The city of Bām—including its famous Citadel and 85% of all buildings—was largely destroyed. On 22 February 2005 more than 600 people were killed in an earthquake near the city of Zarand, Kerman province.
The European nations of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom led efforts to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear research program. By 2005, Iran resumed what it claimed was a civilian nuclear research program, but which Western nations fear could be used to develop nuclear arms.
Before the 1979 revolution, Iran was an absolute monarchy, with the constitution of 1906 modified in 1907 and amended in 1925, 1949, and 1957. The shah was the chief of state, with sweeping powers. He commanded the armed forces, named the prime minister and all senior officials, and was empowered to dissolve either or both legislative houses. The legislative branch comprised the national assembly (Majlis) and the senate. Members of the Majlis were elected for four-year terms from 268 constituencies by adults 20 years of age and older. Half of the 60 senators were named by the shah, and half were elected. Members of the Majlis ostensibly represented all classes of the nation, while the somewhat more conservative Senate consisted of former cabinet ministers, former high officials, and retired generals.
The constitution of December 1979, which was approved in a public referendum and revised in 1989, established an Islamic republic in conformity with the principles of the Shia faith. Guidance of the republic is entrusted to the country's spiritual leader (faqih ) or to a council of religious leaders. An appointed Council of Guardians consists of six religious leaders, who consider all legislation for conformity to Islamic principles, and six Muslim lawyers appointed by the supreme judicial council, who rule on limited questions of constitutionality. In accordance with the constitution, an 86-member Assembly of Experts chooses the country's spiritual leader and may nullify laws that do not conform to Islamic tenets. In 1998, seats on the council (which have eight-year terms) were opened for the first time to nonclerics.
The executive branch consists of a president and council of ministers. The president is elected by popular vote to a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms and supervises government administration. Candidates for the presidency and parliament must have the approval of Iran's spiritual leaders. The Majlis consists of 290 members elected directly to four-year terms. Iran has the lowest voting age in the world: suffrage is universal for those ages 15 and over.
There were more than 800 candidates for president in 2001, and the Council of Guardians narrowed them to 10. Mohammad Khatami was the sole moderate, with all of the other candidates having ties to conservative or hard-line parties. On 8 June 2001, Khatami secured 77% of the popular vote, with four-fifths of 43 million eligible voters turning out. In 2005, more than 1,000 candidates initially put forth their names for president, but the Council of Guardians disqualified all but seven. In the run-off election held on 24 June 2005, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani faced Tehrān mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In a surprise victory, Ahmadinejad beat Rafsanjani with more than 61% of the vote. Almost 60% of all eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots. The next presidential election was scheduled for 2009.
During the reign of Reza Shah (1925–41), political parties were not permitted to function. After 1941, parties sprang up, but most of them were of an ephemeral nature. The Communist-oriented Tudeh (Masses) Party was better organized than the others and benefited from the services of devoted followers and foreign funds. In 1949, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the shah was traced to the Tudeh, and it was banned. It continued to work through front groups, and its views were reflected in some periodicals, but the organization was extinguished in the shah's post-1953 crackdown.
In 1957, the government created facade political parties, the Nationalist (Mellioun) Party, headed by Manochehr Eqbal, then prime minister, and the People's (Mardom) Party, headed by former prime minister Asadullah Alam, Neither of these parties ever attracted any popular following. In 1975, the shah ordered the formation of a single political organization, the Iran Resurgence (Rastakhiz) Party, into which were merged all existing legal parties. Three cardinal principles were cited for membership in the party: faith in Iran's constitution, loyalty to the monarchical regime, and fidelity to the "white revolution." This party, like others before it, lacked a popular base.
After the overthrow of the shah's regime in February 1979, new political parties were formed, the most powerful being the Islamic Republic Party (IRP), which took control of the Majlis. However, power was wielded primarily by the military, the president, the clerical elite, and the heads of the bonyads (autonomous financial organizations that have considerable power and were formed from the confiscated wealth of the former royal family and its cronies).
As of 2006 Iran's parliament, or Majlis, is made up of various groups representing a spectrum of views ranging from hard-line radical Islam to moderates and liberals. Moderates generally hold less hostile views about the West while still believing in an Islamic republic. In 1997, a moderate politician, Mohammad Khatami, was elected president of Iran. The moderates scored a further triumph in the parliamentary elections of February and May 2000. A moderate reformist coalition headed by Khatami won 189 out of 290 seats in the Majlis, with radical Islamists winning 54, independents 42, and religious minority parties 5. The following organizations had success at the 2000 parliamentary elections: Assembly of the Followers of the Imam's Line, Freethinkers' Front, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Moderation and Development Party, Servants of Construction Party, and the Society of Self-sacrificing Devotees. Khatami was reelected president in 2001 after receiving just under 77% of the vote.
In 2004, the hard-line Guardian Council banned 3,605 reformist candidates out of a total 8,157 candidates running for parliament. About 80 of the candidates were sitting members of parliament. The first round of elections was held on 20 February 2004. Reformists who chose to contest the election took only about 20% of the seats decided in the first round. The conservative win was consolidated in the second round of voting in May. Conservatives held 190 seats, reformers took 50, independents, 43; religious minorities, 5; and 2 seats were vacant as of 2005. The next legislative election was scheduled for February 2008.
Iran is divided into 28 ostans (provinces), each headed by a governor-general; the governor-general and district officials of each province are appointed by the central government. The ostans are subdivided into sharestans (counties), which are in turn divided into bakhsh (districts). Each bakhsh consists of two or more dehistans, which are composed of groups of villages or hamlets. Each of the municipalities (shahrdarys ) is headed by a mayor. Some sharestan officials are elected; others are appointed by Tehrān.
The overthrow of the shah and the approval in 1980 of a constitution making Iran an Islamic state have radically changed Iran's judicial system. The 1980 constitution was revised in 1989.
In August 1982, the supreme court invalidated all previous laws that did not conform with the dictates of Islam, and all courts set up before the 1979 revolution were abolished in October 1982. An Islamic system of punishment, introduced in 1983, included flogging, stoning, and amputation for various crimes. There are two different court systems: civil courts and revolutionary courts.
The judicial system is under the authority of the religious leader (faqih ). A supreme judicial council responsible to the faqih oversees the State Supreme Court, which has 33 branches. The chief justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the faqih to a five-year term and must be a Muslim cleric and judicial expert. The Ministry of Justice oversees law courts in the provinces.
The revolutionary courts try cases involving national security, political offenses, narcotics trafficking, and "crimes against God." Although the constitution guarantees a fair trial, the revolutionary courts provide almost no procedural safeguards. The trials in revolutionary courts are rarely held in public and there is no guarantee of access to an attorney.
A Special Clerical Court deals with crimes committed by members of the clergy, including what can be termed ideological offenses, such as issues like interpretations of religious dogma deemed not acceptable to the establishment clergy.
Elements of the prerevolutionary judicial system continue to be applied in common criminal and civil cases. In these cases the
right to a public trial and the benefit of counsel are generally respected. In 1995 the government began implementing a law authorizing judges to act as prosecutor and judge in the same case.
The constitution states that "reputation, life, property, (and) dwelling(s)" are protected from trespass except as "provided by law." However, in practice, security forces do not respect these provisions.
In 2005, the total active armed forces of Iran numbered 420,000 with 350,000 reservists. The Iranian Army had 350,000 active personnel. Their equipment included 1,613 main battle tanks, 80 light tanks, 35 reconnaissance vehicles, 610 armored infantry fighting vehicles, 640 armored personnel carriers, and more than 8,196 artillery pieces, which included over 876 multiple rocket launchers. The Air Force had active personnel numbering an estimated 52,000, including 15,000 air defense personnel. The Air Force had 281 combat capable aircraft, including 153 fighters and 102 fighter ground attack aircraft. Iran's Navy had 18,000 active personnel in 2005. Major naval units included three tactical submarines, three frigates, two corvettes, five mine warfare vessels, and more than 254 patrol/coastal craft. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (Pasdaran) was estimated at over 125,000 active personnel. The land-based element was estimated at more than 100,000 active members, while the naval element had 20,000 active personnel, including a 5,000-member Marine force. In addition, there was also an Air Force element. Although there was no data as to how many active personnel comprised that force, it was responsible for controlling Iran's strategic missile force, which consisted of one brigade and one battalion. Iran's paramilitary forces had 40,000 active members, which included security troops and border guards. There was also a reserve of the Popular Mobilization Army (Basij Resistance Force), which upon mobilization, could reach up to one million combat capable personnel. As of 2006, it was widely believed that Iran was developing the capability to produce nuclear weapons. The official military budget in 2000 (the latest year for which data was available) was $9.7 billion or 3.1% of GDP.
Iran is a charter member of the United Nations, having joined on 24 October 1945, and belongs to ESCAP and several nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, UNESCO, UNIDO, the World Bank, and WHO. Iran is also a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), G-24, G-77 and the Colombo Plan. It is a founding member of OPEC and a leading supporter of higher petroleum prices. Iran is one of ten members in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
Iran's revolutionary government has aligned itself with the radical Arab states of Libya and Syria, which were the only Arab countries to support Iran in its war with Iraq (1980–88). Since before 1979, Iranian foreign policy has been to curtail superpower influence in the Persian Gulf area. It also encourages the Islamization of the governments throughout the Middle East, in such countries as Sudan, Algeria, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Th is policy of Islamization includes strong anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiments. Despite past troubles with Iraq, Iran remained neutral during the 2003 US-led coalition invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the ousting of the Hussein government. Iran is considered to be a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States. Iran is part of the Nonaligned Movement.
In environmental cooperation, Iran is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the London Convention, the Montréal Protocol, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on Climate Change and Desertification.
A country with a substantial economic potential, Iran witnessed rapid economic growth during the reign of Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. Development of its extensive agricultural, mineral, and power resources was financed through oil revenues. The traditional land tenure system, under which farmers were sharecroppers, was replaced through a land reform program inaugurated in 1962. In addition to carpets, Iran produced a variety of consumer goods and building materials. Oil, however, became the lifeblood of the economy. With the astonishing growth of its oil revenues, Iran became a major world economic power, whose investments helped several industrialized countries pay for their oil needs during the 1970s.
The economy changed drastically after 1979. The war with Iraq, which curtailed oil exports, coupled with the decrease in the price of oil, especially in 1986, sent oil revenues spiraling downward from $20.5 billion in 1979 to an estimated $5.3 billion in 1986. This forced annual GDP growth down from 15.2% in 1982 to 0.2% in 1984; GDP was estimated to have fallen by 8% in 1986. The war's drain on the state budget, the drop in oil prices, poor economic management, declining agricultural output, an estimated 1987 inflation rate of 30–50%, and large budget deficits combined to put enormous strains on the economy.
After Iran accepted a UN cease-fire resolution in 1988, it began reforming the economy with the implementation of the Islamic republic's first five-year social and economic development plan for 1989–94. The plan emphasized revitalizing market mechanisms, deregulating the economy, and rebuilding basic infrastructure. These reforms led to economic growth and lowered budget deficits. GDP grew an average 7% a year in real terms over 1989–92. The general government deficit was reduced from 9% of GDP in 1988 to an estimated 2% in 1992. The inflation rate decreased from 29% in 1988 to around 10% in 1990, but had redoubled to 20% in 1991–92.
Other impacts of the first plan included a growth in agricultural production of 5.6%; industrial production of 15%; water, gas and electricity of 18.9%; and transport of 11.9%. In 1991, the government adopted a structural adjustment program similar in nature to the kind the IMF imposes on developing nations in exchange for aid. Iran, however, did not need aid, but rather imposed the adjustments on itself in an effort to liberalize its economy, making it more market-oriented while still retaining an authoritarian regime. The structural adjustments advocated by then-president Rafsanjani included privatizations of state-owned enterprises, deregulation, cutting government subsidies, and encouraging foreign investment. While marginally well-intentioned, the Rafsanjani reforms led to little economic improvement. Privatization was especially ineffective. Political corruption and rampant cronyism led to many enterprises ending up in the hands of a small
clique of well-connected elites. By 1997, 86% of Iran's GDP came from state-owned businesses. Deregulation also hit considerable snags. In 1996 alone, more than 250 regulations on imports and exports were issued by 24 ministries—many of them repetitive or contradictory.
In April 1995, the United States imposed trade and investment sanctions against Iran, in reprisal for what the United States believed was Iran's continued support of international terrorism. This move, unduplicated even by the strongest allies of the United States, had some economic impact—most notably a precipitous drop in the value of the rial, which the government was forced to prop up.
The GDP growth rate stood at 5.28% in 2000, 5.82% in 2001, 7.64% in 2002, and 6.1% in 2003. For 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth was expected to average 5.6% and 4.8%, respectively. GDP on average grew at a rate of 5.6% over the 2001–05 period. Inflation averaged 14.6% from 2001–05. The unemployment rate stood at 11.2% in 2004, but it is significantly higher among young people. The Iranian economy in the mid-2000s remained determined by its reliance upon oil, and continued to pass through periods of boom and bust as oil prices rose and fell on the volatile international markets. The state remained the dominant economic actor, as it was the recipient of crude oil revenue. The oil sector's share of GDP declined from 30–40% in the 1970s to 10–20%, particularly as a result of war damage to production facilities and OPEC output ceilings. Nevertheless, oil revenue provides about 80% of export earnings and some 40–50% of government revenue; therefore, the hydrocarbons sector receives the vast majority of domestic and foreign investment flows. The services sector has grown, but bureaucracy, the uncertainty of long-term economic planning, and currency-exchange restrictions have made services a volatile sector. The agricultural sector has been aided by state investment, with the improvement of packaging and marketing helping to develop new export markets. Export-based agricultural products—such as dates, flowers, and pistachios—have seen substantial growth, aided by large-scale irrigation projects, although successive years of serious drought in 1999–2001 put a damper on growth in the agricultural sector. In 2005, agriculture accounted for 11.8% of GDP, with industry contributing 43.3% and services 44.9%. As of 2001, 30% of the labor force was engaged in agriculture, with 25% in industry and 45% in services.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported that in 2001 Iran's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $456 billion. The per capita GDP was estimated at $7,000. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 5%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 17.3%. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 19% of GDP, industry 26%, and services 55%.
According to the United Nations, in 2000 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $320 million. Worker remittances in 2001 totaled $326.4 million. Foreign aid receipts amounted to about $2 per capita.
The World Bank reported that in 2001 per capita household consumption (in constant 1995 US dollars) was $964. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the same period private consumption grew at an annual rate of 5%. Approximately 20% of household consumption was spent on food, 32% on fuel, 12% on health care, and 8% on education. It was estimated that in 1996 about 53% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.
Iran's labor force was estimated at 23.7 million in 2005. In 2001 (the latest year for which data was available), an estimated 30% of the employed workforce was in agriculture, 25% was in industry, and 45% was in the service industry. As of 2004, unemployment was estimated at 11.2%.
The labor code grants workers the right to form and join their own organizations, however, the government-controlled Workers' House is the only authorized national labor organization. The Workers' House controls all workers according to government objectives. Strikes are not permitted. Islamic principles and dress are strictly observed at work with transgressions subjecting the worker to penalties. Workers cannot bargain collectively.
The Labor Law forbids employment of minors under 15 years of age, but these regulations are not enforced. Forced and bonded labor by children remains a serious problem. In 1997, the minimum wage was $2.80 per day. Many middle class citizens work several jobs to support their families. The Labor Code stipulates a 6-day, 48-hour workweek, with one rest day.
Of Iran's total area, 11% is cultivated, 27% consists of permanent pastures, and 7% is forest and woodland. The remaining 55% consists of wasteland, lakes, mountains, desert, and urban areas. About one-third of the labor force is employed in agriculture. In 2003, the total land area under cultivation was estimated at 18.2 million hectares (44.9 million acres).
Progress in Iranian agriculture was greatly stimulated by the land reform of 1962–63, under which 4,025,680 farmers and their family members had taken title to their land by 1975, after the old land tenure system was abolished. However, with a rapidly increasing population and a sharply rising standard of living, Iran is no longer self-suffi cient in its agricultural production, and food imports have risen steadily.
In 2004, Iranian agricultural production (in thousands of tons) included wheat, 14,000; sugar beets, 6,050; barley, 2,700; rice, 3,400; grapes, 2,800; apples, 2,400; oranges, 1,900; dates, 880; cotton, 105; tea, 52; and tobacco, 21. Almonds and pistachios are grown primarily for export. In 2004, Iran was the largest producer of pistachios in the world (275,000 tons, or 50% of global production), and the fifth-largest producer of almonds (after the United States, Syria, Spain, and Italy), at 80,000 tons.
As of 2003, some 7.65 million hectares (18.9 million acres) were under irrigation. The fifth development plan (1973–78) envisaged an overall increase of 5.5% in agricultural production, but the revised plan raised the target to 8% annually, rescheduled allocations over six years instead of five, and slowed down the projects.
Under the revolutionary government's first five-year plan (1983–88), agriculture was to receive 15.5% of total allocations, with food self-sufficiency the primary objective. However, because of the war with Iraq, planned expenditures were never attained. Moreover, food self-suffi ciency still remains only a goal: imports of agricultural products exceeded exports by nearly $1.3 billion in 2004.
Not only is animal husbandry the major occupation of nomadic and seminomadic tribes scattered over Iran, but each farming village also keeps flocks that graze on the less productive areas. In 2005 there were 54,000,000 sheep, 26,500,000 goats, 8,800,000 head of cattle, 550,000 water buffalo, 146,000 camels, and 280,000,000 chickens. Cattle are raised as draft animals and for milk and are not fattened for beef. Sheep produce many staple items: milk and butter, animal fat for cooking, meat, wool for carpet making, and skins and hides. During 2002–04, livestock production was up 2.1% from 1999–2001, and up 32% from 1992–94.
The Caspian Sea provides a seemingly inexhaustible source of sturgeon, salmon, and other species of fish, some of which spawn in the chilly streams that flow into this sea from the high Elburz Mountains. In 2003, the total fish catch was 440,835 tons. Caviar of unrivaled quality is produced by the Iranian Fisheries Co., formerly a joint Russo-Iranian venture but now wholly owned by the government of Iran. About 200,000 kg (440,000 lbs) of caviar are sold per year, most of which is exported, providing a substantial share of the world's supply. Exports of fish products in 2003 amounted to nearly $80.5 million. The fishing grounds of the Persian Gulf were long neglected, but during the 1970s new fishing fleets and packing and conserving facilities were established. The Iran-Iraq war and consequent environmental damage retarded the development of fisheries in this region. Total marine catch has more than doubled from 1982–84 levels.
About 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) were covered by forest in 2000. An estimated 844,000 cu m (30 million cu ft) of roundwood were produced in 2003; about 29% was used for fuel. Along the northern slopes of the Elburz Mountains from near sea level to an altitude of about 2,100 m (7,000 ft) are dense stands of oak, ash, elm, beech, ironwood, cypress, walnut, and a number of other varieties. The high plateau forests of Fars, Kurdistan, Luristan, and Khorasan comprise sparse stands of scrub oak, ash, maple, cedar, wild almond, and pistachio. Date palms, acacias, and tamarisks grow in the Persian Gulf area. The deciduous forests on the Caspian littoral are among the best in the world. The timber industry is controlled by the government; its potential annual capacity is 3 million cu m (106 million cu ft). In 2000, forest plantations covered 2,284,000 hectares (5,643,000 acres). Imports of forest products totaled $615.7 million in 2004.
A forest ranger school was started in 1957 as an extension of the government's forest service. In 1963, a forestry college was established at Karaj, west of Tehrān, to train forestry engineers.
Iran possessed extensive and varied mineral resources and was the world's third-largest producer of gypsum. Of Iran's 2,700 mines, most were privately owned and 2,000 were active, producing 42 minerals; some 65% of the mines produced building and construction materials and 20% were stone quarries. The mining sector accounted for 24% of Iran's industrial output of $15.4 billion, and mineral and metal exports amounted to $645 million. Mineral exports included chromite, refined sulfur, lead, zinc, copper, and decorative stone. Iron, steel, and chemicals were leading export commodities. While the petroleum and petrochemicals industries were Iran's top industries in 2002, the production of cement and other construction materials ranked fourth.
Production of gypsum in 2003 (from the Semnan region, east of Tehrān) was an estimated 10.5 million tons, up from 10.38 million tons in 2002. Estimated production of iron ore and concentrate (by gross weight) in 2003 and 2002 totaled 16.1 million tons and 11.3 million tons, respectively. Copper concentrate (29–35% Cu) output by gross weight in 2003 totaled 389,790 metric tons. Bauxite production (gross weight) totaled an estimated 450,000 metric tons in 2003, while output of mined chromite concentrate (by gross weight) in that same year was estimated at 500,000 metric tons. Lead concentrate production by gross weight in 2003 was estimated at 16,000 metric tons. Output of mined zinc concentrate by gross weight in 2003 was estimated at 240,000 metric tons, while manganese mine production by gross weight that same year was estimated at 4,300 metric tons. Mined molybdenum concentrate output by gross weight was estimated at 125,000 metric tons in 2003. Total sulfur output in 2003 was estimated at 1,360,000 metric tons. Marble production (blocks, crushed, and slabs) was estimated at 7.7 million tons in 2003.
Iran also produced orpiment and realgar arsenic concentrates, gold, silver, asbestos, barite, borax, hydraulic cement, clays (bentonite, industrial, and kaolin), diatomite, feldspar, fluorspar, turquoise, industrial or glass sand (quartzite and silica), lime, magnesite, nitrogen (of ammonia and urea), perlite, natural ocher and iron oxide mineral pigments, pumice and related volcanic materials, salt, caustic soda, stone (including granite, marble, travertine, dolomite, and limestone), celestite strontium, natural sulfates (aluminum potassium sulfate and sodium sulfate), and talc. Iran also may have produced ferromanganese, ferromolybdenum, nepheline syenite, phosphate rock, selenium, shell, vermiculite, and zeolite, and had the capacity to mine onyx.
In 2000, the government merged the Ministry of Mines and Metals and the Ministry of Industry to form the Ministry of Industry and Mines. For its third five-year economic development plan (2000–05), the government proposed to privatize 40 mineral industry companies affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Mines, having already divested itself of numerous smaller mineral enterprises. Since 1998, the government has allowed foreign investment in solid mineral exploration joint ventures, and, in 1999, showcased 102 mining and mineral-processing projects at the First International Mines and Metals Investment Forum. The Iranian constitution prohibited foreign control over natural resources. To diversify and expand the economy in the wake of declining oil prices in the late 1990s, the government sought to increase metal production.
Iran's proven oil reserves as of 1 January 2005 were estimated by the Oil and Gas Journal at 125.8 billion barrels, up from 89.7 billion barrels as of 1 January 2003; these constituted 10% of the world's known reserves, and were exceeded only by those of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. However, in July 2004, Iran's oil minister placed the country's proven oil reserves at 132 billion barrels after discoveries in Khuzestan province's Hosseineih and Kushk fields. In 2004, Iran produced around 4.1 million barrels of oil per day, of which crude oil accounted for 3.9 million barrels per day. Domestic oil demand in 2002 was placed at an estimated 1.4 million barrels per day, with oil exports estimated for 2004 at 2.5 million barrels per day.
More than half of Iran's 40 producing fields contain over 1 billion barrels of oil. Most of the reserves are located in onshore fields in the Khuzestan region. The onshore Ahwaz, Marun, Gachsaran, Agha Jari, Bibi Hakimeh, and Pars fields alone account for half of annual oil production. In 1999 Iran announced its largest oil discovery in 30 years, at the Azadegan field in Khuzestan. It is thought to have reserves totaling as much as 24 billion barrels. Oil revenues rose from $5.1 billion in 1986 to an estimated $16.4 billion in 2002, when they accounted for about 90% of total export revenues.
In 2004, Iran's natural gas reserves were estimated at 26.7 trillion cu m, and are exceeded only by those in Russia. However, approximately 62% of Iran's natural gas reserves are situated in nonassociated fields and have yet to be developed. Iran's output in 2003 was estimated at 79 billion cu m, up from 59,400 million cu m in 2000. More than one-quarter of Iran's natural gas reserves have been discovered since 1992. Domestic demand for natural gas was estimated for 2003 at 72.4 billion cu m, with exports and imports for that year estimated at 3.4 billion cu m and 4.92 billion cu m, respectively. Exploitation of natural gas is controlled by the National Iranian Gas Co. In the mid-1990s, Iran began developing extensive gas export plans. Inside Iran, a network of pipelines connects Tehrān, Qazvin, Esfahān, Ābādān, Shirāz, and Mashhad to Ahvāz and the gas fields. In 1995, Iran played an important role in regional talks concerning the construction of a 3,200 km (2,000 mi) pipeline that would carry gas from Turkmenistan to European markets via Iran, Turkey, and possibly Ukraine. Also in 1995, Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement to ship up to 450 million cu m per day via a 1,600 km (1,000 mi) overland pipeline to Pakistan. At the end of 2001, Iran signed an agreement to build a pipeline to transmit natural gas to Azerbaijan from Khoi in the northwestern part of the country.
Although Iran is one of the world's leading oil-producing countries, Iranian industry formerly depended on other energy sources, such as electricity, coal, and charcoal. Recently, however, oil and especially gas have been used increasingly in manufacturing. In 2002, Iran's electric power generating capacity was placed at 34.222 million kW, with 31.419 million kW dedicated to conventional thermal fuel plants. Hydropower accounts for 2.803 million kW of capacity for that year. Electric power output in 2002 came to 129 billion kWh, with consumption that year at 119.9 billion kWh. Iran plans to construct ten nuclear power plants by 2015 in order to provide about 20% of the country's power needs. As of 2000, there were five small nuclear reactors in operation.
Principal industries are oil refining, petrochemicals, steel, and copper. In 1987, there were six primary refineries—at Ābādān, Bakhtaran, Tehrān, Shirāz, Esfahān, and Tabriz—with a potential capacity of 950,000 barrels per day. In late 1980, Iraqi bombing forced the closure of the Ābādān refinery, which had a total capacity of 600,000 barrels per day and was one of the world's largest refineries. Several other refineries suffered lesser damage during the war. The Kharg Island oil terminal also was severely damaged by bombing in 1985. Construction by a Japanese consortium of a $4-billion petrochemical complex at Bandar-e Khomeini, near the Iraqi border, was halted by the war; by mid-1983, the installation, which was 85% complete, had already been attacked six times. In September 1984, the Japanese withdrew their technicians from the site because of renewed Iraqi bombing. Iran took on much of the financial responsibility for the plant, and the ending of all payments of Japanese credits and loans in February 1986 meant that the plant would never be completed according to the original plans. After the cease-fire in 1988, Iran began to rebuild its damaged oil export facilities, concentrating mainly on the rehabilitation of Kharg Island. A 500,000-barrel reservoir terminal at Uhang Island was put into operation in March 1993. The oil complex on the southern island of Lavan was reopened after reconstruction at the end of April 1993. The Ābādān refinery became operational again at 200,000 barrels per day in May 1993. Esfahān's oil production unit became operational in 1992/93, while the construction of a new refinery at Bandar-e 'Abbās was underway. Major refinery products are motor fuel, distillate fuel oil, and residual fuel oil. Oil refining manufacturers had a combined capacity of 1.47 million barrels per day in 2000.
In 2005, Iran had proven oil reserves of 125.8 billion barrels. Oil production that year was 4.3 million barrels per day, of which 93% was crude oil. In 2005, Iran had estimated net exports of 2.7 million barrels of oil per day, the second-largest exporter in the Persian Gulf region. The Doroud 1 & 2, Salman, Abuzar, Foroozan, and Sirri fields comprise the bulk of Iran's offshore output, all of which is exported. Iran planned extensive development of existing offshore fields, and hoped to raise its offshore production capacity to 1.1 million barrels per day, from 675,000 barrels per day in 2004. Iran's major refineries in 2005 were at Ābādān, Esfahān, Bandar Abbas, Tehrān, Arāk, Tabriz, Shirāz, Kermānshāh, and Lavan Island.
The natural gas industry has boomed in Iran, with the second-largest proven reserves in the world (940 trillion cubic feet in 2005). In 2005, Iran produced 2.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In October 2004, Iran and China announced the signing of a deal for Chinese investment in Iran's oil fields and the long-term sale of Iranian natural gas to China, which could eventually be worth $100 billion. The gas agreement entailed the annual export of some 10 million tons of Iranian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a 25-year period. The agreement could eventually reach 15–20 million tons a year, taking the total value to as much as $200 billion. Iran must first build the plants to liquefy the natural gas. This agreement was seen as a blow to US sanctions on Iran. The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), first enacted in 1995, penalizes companies investing more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sector; it was renewed in 2001 for five years. Iran hoped the gas deal with China would encourage other countries (such as Japan,
India, Russia, and European countries) to reconsider doing business with Iran.
A plant in Ābādān for the production of plastics, detergents, and caustic soda was completed in the 1960s. Since then, the petrochemical industry has expanded considerably: by the mid-2000s, Iran's attempt to diversify its economy resulted in its investing some of its oil revenue in the petrochemicals sector and other areas. Petrochemicals has been the main element of the postwar industrialization program. The heavy metals industry began in 1972 with the start of steel production at Esfahān National Steel Mill in Esfahān. Manufactured goods include diesel engines, motor vehicles, television sets, refrigerators, washing machines, and other consumer items.
The textile industry has prospered in recent years with increased production of cotton, woolen, and synthetic fabrics. The making of handwoven carpets is a traditional industry in Iran that flourishes despite acute competition from machine-made products. However, carpet exports declined throughout the war years. To promote self-suffi ciency, Iran has encouraged development of the food-processing, shoemaking, paper and paper products, rubber, pharmaceutical, aircraft, and shipbuilding industries. Other industrial products include cement, nitrogenous fertilizer, phosphate fertilizers, and refined sugar.
Iran's industrialization program was set back by political turmoil and labor disruptions of the late 1970s and by the revolutionary government's nationalization of industries in the summer of 1979, causing a flight of capital and trained managers. However, the sector recovered somewhat by 1983/84, when the government reported a 23% gain in industrial production.
The development plan of 1989–94 increased funding to develop heavy industry. A privatization decree in June 1991 led to the identification of 390 public manufacturing and trading firms for divestiture; of these, 185 were already been divested. Industrial production grew at a rate of 5.3% during 1988–98, as opposed to a–3.4% rate during the 1970s. The industrial production growth rate stood at 3% in 2005 (excluding oil). Market reforms were set to continue after 2000, but were placed in question when a conservative parliament was elected in May 2004 and a conservative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in June 2005.
The "white revolution" of the 1960s, which emphasized industrialization, involved the importation of petroleum technology and the training of Iranian technicians abroad, but it did not improve Iran's indigenous technology. The principal scientific institution in Tehrān is the International Scientific Research Institute, founded in 1955. Specialized learning societies include the Iranian Mathematical Society and the Iranian Society of Microbiology, both headquartered in Tehrān. Also in the city are the Animal Husbandry Research Institute and the Institut Pasteur. Iran has 37 universities offering degrees in basic and applied sciences. Following the removal of the shah and the formation of an Islamic revolutionary government, Iran suffered a "brain drain" as foreigntrained scientists and engineers either fled the country or refused to return after their education. In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 37% of college and university enrollments. As of 2001, there were 484 researchers and 390 technicians per million people. High technology exports in 2002 were valued at $64 million, or 3% of GDP.
Outside the major cities, most goods are sold in small shops or open-air markets. Most large enterprises are controlled by the state. Privately owned shops for trade and services are typically small. Textile industries are located in Esfahān and Shirāz. Kermān is known for production and distribution of fine carpets. Hamadān is an important trade center for agricultural products from the surrounding areas.
Business hours are from 8 am to 2 pm, Saturdays through Wednesdays. Since Friday is the official Muslim holy day, many establishments close early on Th ursday afternoons or are completely closed on Thursdays. Banking hours are 7:30 am to 2 pm on weekdays and 7:30am to 12 pm on Thursdays. Shops are open from 10 am to 9 pm, Saturdays through Thursdays, and department stores are open until 9:30 pm.
In 2005, major imports included machinery, military supplies, metal works, food, pharmaceuticals, technical services, and refined oil products.
Iran's most expensive export is crude petroleum, which accounts for the majority of its commodity exports revenues (80%). Petrochemicals made up 4.1% of merchandise exports in 2004. Other exports included floor coverings and fruits and nuts, with pistachios accounting for 2.4% of merchandise exports in 2004. Iran accounts for 10% of the world's carpet exports.
Iran's leading markets in 2004 were Japan (18.5% of total exports); China (9.6%); and Italy (6%). Iran's leading suppliers in 2004 were Germany (12.3% of total imports); France (8.4%); and China (7.5%).
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Iran had a favorable trade balance, but substantial imports of services resulted in an annual deficit on current accounts. Long-term capital inflows from private sources reached a peak in 1965; between 1968 and 1973, capital
| Country |
Exports |
Imports |
Balance |
| World |
33,788.0 |
25,638.1 |
8,149.9 |
| Areas nes |
28,179.2 |
748.7 |
27,430.5 |
| United Arab Emirates |
910.2 |
3,079.8 |
-2,169.6 |
| Iraq |
437.6 |
… |
437.6 |
| Germany |
349.8 |
2,816.0 |
-2,466.2 |
| Japan |
348.7 |
959.9 |
-611.2 |
| Azerbaijan |
291.0 |
… |
291.0 |
| India |
258.3 |
949.5 |
-691.2 |
| Afghanistan |
227.4 |
… |
227.4 |
| China |
220.9 |
1,410.2 |
-1,189.3 |
| Italy-San Marino-Holy See |
160.2 |
1,620.9 |
-1,460.7 |
| (…) data not available or not significant. |
| Current Account |
|
|
12,645.0 |
| Balance on goods |
|
13,138.0 |
|
| Imports |
-15,207.0 |
|
|
| Exports |
28,345.0 |
|
|
| Balance on services |
|
-914.0 |
|
| Balance on income |
|
-200.0 |
|
| Current transfers |
|
621.0 |
|
| Capital Account |
|
|
… |
| Financial Account |
|
|
-10,189.0 |
| Direct investment abroad |
|
… |
|
| Direct investment in Iran |
|
39.0 |
|
| Portfolio investment assets |
|
… |
|
| Portfolio investment liabilities |
|
… |
|
| Financial derivatives |
|
… |
|
| Other investment assets |
|
-8,257.0 |
|
| Other investment liabilities |
|
-1,971.0 |
|
| Net Errors and Omissions |
|
|
-1,373.0 |
| Reserves and Related Items |
|
|
-1,083.0 |
| (…) data not available or not significant. |
from foreign governments played a prime role in Iranian development. By 1974, with a net trade surplus of $17.7 billion and a current account surplus
