Iran

• rugged, mountainous rim;
• high, central basin with deserts, mountains;
• small, discontinuous plains along both coasts

lowest point:

Caspian Sea -28 m

highest point:

Kuh-e Damavand 5,671 m

total:

72.88 cu km/yr (7%/2%/91%)

per capita:

1,048 cu m/yr (2000)

• periodic droughts, floods;
• dust storms, sandstorms;
• earthquakes

• air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents;
• deforestation;
• overgrazing;
• desertification;
• oil pollution in the Persian Gulf;
• wetland losses from drought;
• soil degradation (salination);
• inadequate supplies of potable water;
• water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste;
• urbanization

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.93 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A

vectorborne diseases:

Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and malaria

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

noun:

Iranian(s)

adjective:

Iranian

conventional long form:

Islamic Republic of Iran

conventional short form:

Iran

local long form:

Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran

local short form:

Iran

former:

Persia

name:

Tehran

geographic coordinates:

35 40 N, 51 25 E

time difference:

UTC+3.5 (8.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 30 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan);
• Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan-e Jonubi, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khorasan-e Shomali, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan

• The Supreme Court (Qeveh Qazaieh) and the four-member High Council of the Judiciary have a single head and overlapping responsibilities;
• together they supervise the enforcement of all laws and establish judicial and legal policies;
• lower courts include a special clerical court, a revolutionary court, and a special administrative court

• formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in Iran and most conservatives still prefer to work through political pressure groups rather than parties, and often political parties or coalitions are formed prior to elections and disbanded soon thereafter;
• a loose pro-reform coalition called the 2nd Khordad Front, which includes political parties as well as less formal groups and organizations, achieved considerable success at elections to the sixth Majles in early 2000;
• groups in the coalition include: Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Executives of Construction Party (Kargozaran), Solidarity Party, Islamic Labor Party, Mardom Salari, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO), and Militant Clerics Society (Ruhaniyun);
• the coalition participated in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004;
• following his defeat in the 2005 presidential elections, former MCS Secretary General and sixth Majles Speaker Mehdi KARUBI formed the National Trust Party;
• a new conservative group, Islamic Iran Developers Coalition (Abadgaran), took a leading position in the new Majles after winning a majority of the seats in February 2004;
• following the 2004 Majles elections, traditional and hardline conservatives have attempted to close ranks under the United Front of Principlists;
• the IIPF has repeatedly complained that the overwhelming majority of its candidates have been unfairly disqualified from the 2008 elections

groups that generally support the Islamic Republic:

• Ansar-e Hizballah-Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh);
• Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader;
• Islamic Engineers Society;
• Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat);
• active pro-reform student group: Office of Strengthening Unity (OSU);
• opposition groups: Baluchistan People's Party (BPP);
• Freedom Movement of Iran;
• Marz-e Por Gohar;
• National Front;
• and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations;
• armed political groups that have been repressed by the government: Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI);
• Jundallah;
• Komala;
• Mujahidin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO);
• People's Fedayeen;
• People's Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK)

• none;
• note - Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy;
• address:
  • Iranian Interests Section,
  • Pakistani Embassy,
  • 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
  • Washington,
  • DC 20007
  ;
• telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990;
• FAX [1] (202) 965-1073

• none;
• note - the American Interests Section is located in the Swiss Embassy compound at Africa Avenue, West Farzan Street, number 32, Tehran, Iran;
• telephone [98] 21 8878 2964 or 21 8879 2364;
• FAX [98] 21 8877 3265

• three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red;
• the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band;
• ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

agriculture:

25%

industry:

31%

services:

45% (June 2007)

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

33.7% (1998)

• wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, sugar cane, fruits, nuts, cotton;
• dairy products, wool;
• caviar

general assessment:

currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected

domestic:

• the addition of new fiber cables and modern switching and exchange systems installed by Iran's state-owned telecom company have improved and expanded the main line network greatly;
• main line availability has more than doubled to nearly 24 million lines since 2000;
• additionally, mobile service has increased dramatically serving nearly 30 million subscribers in 2007

international:

• country code - 98;
• submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG);
• Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan;
• HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan;
• satellite earth stations - 13 (9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat) (2007)

• condensate 7 km;
• condensate/gas 397 km;
• gas 19,161 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 570 km;
• oil 8,438 km;
• refined products 7,936 km (2007)

total:

8,367 km

broad gauge:

94 km 1.676-m gauge

standard gauge:

8,273 km 1.435-m gauge (146 km electrified) (2006)

total:

172,927 km

paved:

125,908 km (includes 1,429 km of expressways)

unpaved:

47,019 km (2006)

total:

74

by type:

bulk carrier 18, cargo 34, chemical tanker 4, container 6, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 3

foreign-owned:

1 (UAE 1)

registered in other countries:

115 (Barbados 2, Bolivia 1, Cyprus 10, Hong Kong 15, Malta 79, Panama 7, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2008)

Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh):

• Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force of the Military of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Niru-ye Hava'i-ye Artesh-e Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran; includes air defense);
• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC):
  • Ground Forces,
  • Navy,
  • Air Force,
  • Qods Force (special operations),
  • and Basij Force (Popular Mobilization Army)
  ;
• Law Enforcement Forces (2008)

• 19 years of age for compulsory military service;
• 16 years of age for volunteers;
• 17 years of age for Law Enforcement Forces;
• 15 years of age for Basij Forces (Popular Mobilization Army);
• conscript military service obligation - 18 months;
• women exempt from military service (2008)

males age 16-49:

20,212,275

females age 16-49:

19,638,751 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

17,416,126

females age 16-49:

16,928,226 (2008 est.)

male:

766,668

female:

727,654 (2008 est.)

• Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed tributaries to the Helmand River in periods of drought;
• Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf;
• Iran and UAE dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which are occupied by Iran;
• Iran stands alone among littoral states in insisting upon a division of the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors

current situation:

• Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude;
• Iranian women are trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution and for forced marriages to settle debts;
• Iranian children are trafficked internally and Afghan children are trafficked into Iran for the purpose of forced marriages, commercial sexual exploitation, and involuntary servitude as beggars or laborers

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - Iran did not provide evidence of law enforcement activities against trafficking, and credible reports indicate that Iranian authorities punish victims of trafficking with beatings, imprisonment, and execution;
• Iran has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

• despite substantial interdiction efforts and considerable control measures along the border with Afghanistan, Iran remains one of the primary transshipment routes for Southwest Asian heroin to Europe;
• suffers one of the highest opiate addiction rates in the world, and has an increasing problem with synthetic drugs;
• lacks anti-money laundering laws;
• has reached out to neighboring countries to share counter-drug intelligence