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:

93.3 cu km/yr (7%/1%/92%)

per capita:

1,306 cu m/yr (2004)

• 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

noun:

Iranian(s)

adjective:

Iranian

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.89 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea

vectorborne diseases:

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever

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 (2013)

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 42 N, 51 25 E

time difference:

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

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins fourth Tuesday in March; ends fourth Thursday in September

• 1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed);
• notable earlier dates: 16 January 1979 (Shah Reza PAHLAVI flees Iran to escape popular political revolt against his rule);
• 12 December 1925 (modern Iran established under the PAHLAVI Dynasty);
• 1905-1907 (constitutional revolution resulting in establishment of a parliament);
• A.D. 1501 (Iran reunified under the Safavid Dynasty)

• previous 1906;
• latest adopted 24 October 1979, effective 3 December 1979;
• amended 1989 (2013)

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of a president and NA judges)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court president appointed by the head of the Supreme Judicial Council in consultation with judges of the Supreme Court;
• president appointed for a 5-year term;
• other judge appointments and tenure NA

subordinate courts:

• Penal Courts I and II;
• Islamic Revolutionary Courts;
• Courts of Peace;
• Special Clerical Court (functions outside the judicial system and handles cases involving clerics);
• military courts

• formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in Iran and most conservatives still prefer to work through political pressure groups rather than parties;
• 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 in elections for the sixth Majles in early 2000;
• groups in the coalition included the 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 (MCS; Ruhaniyun);
• the coalition participated in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004 but boycotted them after 80 incumbent reformists were disqualified;
• 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;
• ahead of the 2008 Majles elections, traditional and hardline conservatives attempted to close ranks under the United Front of Principlists and the Broad Popular Coalition of Principlists;
• several reformist groups, such as the MIRO and the IIPF, also came together as a reformist coalition in advance of the 2008 Majles elections;
• the IIPF has repeatedly complained that the overwhelming majority of its candidates were unfairly disqualified from the 2008 elections

• 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 US Interests Section is located in the Embassy of Switzerland No. 39 Shahid Mousavi (Golestan 5th), Pasdaran Ave., Tehran, Iran;
• telephone [98] 21 2254 2178/2256 5273;
• FAX [98] 21 2258 0432

• 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;
• green is the color of Islam and also represents growth, white symbolizes honesty and peace, red stands for bravery and martyrdom

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

agriculture:

16.9%

industry:

34.4%

services:

48.7% (2012 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.6%

highest 10%:

29.6% (2005)

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 fixed-line network greatly;
• fixed-line availability has more than doubled to more than 27 million lines since 2000;
• additionally, mobile-cellular service has increased dramatically serving roughly 56 million subscribers in 2011;
• combined fixed and mobile-cellular subscribership now exceeds 100 per 100 persons

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) (2011)

• state-run broadcast media with no private, independent broadcasters;
• Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the state-run TV broadcaster, operates 5 nationwide channels, a news channel, about 30 provincial channels, and several international channels;
• about 20 foreign Persian-language TV stations broadcasting on satellite TV are capable of being seen in Iran;
• satellite dishes are illegal and, while their use had been tolerated, authorities began confiscating satellite dishes following the unrest stemming from the 2009 presidential election;
• IRIB operates 8 nationwide radio networks, a number of provincial stations, and an external service;
• most major international broadcasters transmit to Iran (2009)

• condensate 7 km;
• condensate/gas 973 km;
• gas 20,794 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 570 km;
• oil 8,625 km;
• refined products 7,937 km (2013)

total:

8,442 km

country comparison to the world: 24

broad gauge:

94 km 1.676-m gauge

standard gauge:

8,348 km 1.435-m gauge (148 km electrified) (2008)

total:

198,866 km

country comparison to the world: 26

paved:

160,366 km (includes 1,948 km of expressways)

unpaved:

38,500 km (2010)

total:

76

country comparison to the world: 60

by type:

bulk carrier 8, cargo 51, chemical tanker 3, container 4, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2

foreign-owned:

2 (UAE 2)

registered in other countries:

71 (Barbados 5, Cyprus 10, Hong Kong 3, Malta 48, Panama 5) (2010)

major seaport(s):

Bandar-e Asaluyeh, Bandar Abbas

river port(s):

Bandar Emam Khomeyni (Shatt al-Arab)

container port(s) (TEUs):

Bandar Abbas (2,752,460)

Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh):

• Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (IRIAF), Khatemolanbia Air Defense Headquarters;
• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC):
  • Ground Resistance Forces,
  • Navy,
  • Aerospace Force,
  • Quds Force (special operations)
  ;
• Law Enforcement Forces (2011)

• 18 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 is 18 months;
• women exempt from military service (2012)

males age 16-49:

23,619,215

females age 16-49:

22,628,341 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

20,149,222

females age 16-49:

19,417,275 (2010 est.)

male:

715,111

female:

677,372 (2010 est.)

• Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed Helmand River tributaries during 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;
• Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea;
• Afghan and Iranian commissioners have discussed boundary monument densification and resurvey

current situation:

• Iran is a presumed source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• Iranian and Afghan boys and girls are forced into prostitution domestically;
• Iranian women are subjected to sex trafficking in Iran, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Europe;
• Azerbaijani women and children are also sexually exploited in Iran;
• Afghan migrants and refugees and Pakistani men and women are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Iran;
• NGO reports indicate that criminal organizations play a significant role in human trafficking in Iran

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - Iran does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• the government does not share information on its anti-trafficking efforts, making it difficult to assess the country's human trafficking problem or the government's attempts to curb it;
• NGOs report that laws against human trafficking, forced labor, and debt bondage remain unenforced because of a lack of political will and widespread political corruption;
• there is no evidence that the government has a process to identify trafficking victims, refers victims to protective services, or has made efforts to prevent human trafficking (2013)

• 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