Iran

A beautiful blue-domed mosque (Islamic house of warship) symbolizes the importance of
the Islamic faith in Iran. Nearly all Iranians are Muslims.

Iran's economy is characterized by a large hydrocarbon sector, small scale agriculture and services sectors, and a noticeable state presence in manufacturing and financial services. Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas reserves and fourth in proven crude oil reserves.

News Agencies in Iran

The Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA, is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is government-funded and controlled under the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The agency also publishes the newspaper Iran…
Tehran Times began in 1979 as a foreign-language newspaper to air the voice of the Islamic Revolution. The policy that the newspaper has been following has been based on the guideline set by Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Beheshti who said: "Tehran Times is not a state-ownednewspaper, rather it must be the voice of the Islamic Revolution and the oppressed people in the world.”  Since the beginning of Iranian calendar year 1390 (21 March 2011) all the newspaper’s pages are printed in color. Some Americans are contributors supportive of Iran, such as conservative Paul Craig Roberts…

Iran lies in southwestern Asia, north of the Persian Gulf. It is bordered by seven countries. 

Iran's flag and coat of arms were adopted by the Islamic gov­ernment in 1980. The inscription God Is Great appears in Arabic 11 times on both the green stripe and the red stripe of the flag. The white stripe bears the coat of arms, which is the word Allah (the Arabic name for God) drawn in formal Arabic script.

A crowded bazaar has tiny shops and stalls where Iranian merchants sell food, metalware, rugs, textiles, and many other goods. Most cities and towns in Iran have such a market place.

Iranian weight lifters work out in a special athletic club called a zurkhaneh, which means house of strength. Most cities and towns in Iran have at least one zurkhaneh.

Boulevard in Teheran, Iran's capital and largest city, is lined with fashionable shops and modern housing blocks and office buildings. About half the Iranian people live in urban areas.

A typical rural village in Iran has small mud or unbaked brick houses surrounded by high walls. Most villages lie in areas of the countryside where there is enough water for farming.

Religious customs are strictly observed by many of Iran's Muslims. At a prayer gathering, men recite passages from the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Many Iranian women, such as those on the right, follow the tradition of wearing a black, full-length body veil called a chador.

Barren wasteland covers much of Iran. Nomads, such as those above, travel across the countryside with their livestock to sea­sonal grazing areas. About 70 per cent of Iran's land is infertile and practically uninhabited. Most of this land consists of low­land deserts and mountains.

The Caspian Sea Coast is the most heavily cultivated region in Iran. A mild climate and plentiful rainfall enable farmers to grow a variety of crops on the rich land along the sea.

The Caspian Sea Coast is the most heavily cultivated region in Iran. A mild climate and plentiful rainfall enable farmers to grow a variety of crops on the rich land along the sea.

Iran’s Deteriorating Economy: An Analysis of the Economic Impact of Western Sanctions. Iran’s economy is rapidly going downhill, but where resentment will be channeled remains uncertain…

Petroleum accounts for most of the total value of Iran's ex­ports. The country's chief oil- exporting terminal is at Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, led the 1979 revolution that overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini, known in the Western world as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, revolutionary and politician.
Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, also called Islamic Revolution, Persian Enqelāb-e Eslāmī, popular uprising in Iran in 1978–79 that resulted in the toppling of the monarchy on April 1, 1979, and led to the establishment of an Islamic republic.
The economy of Iran is a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector. Some 60 percent of the economy is centrally planned. 
Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the United States imposed sanctions against Iran and expanded them in 1995 to include firms dealing with the Iranian government. In 2006, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1696 and imposed sanctions after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program. U.S. sanctions initially targeted investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals, exports of refined petroleum products, and business dealings with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This encompasses banking and insurance transactions (including with the Central Bank of Iran), shipping, web-hosting services for commercial endeavors, and domain name registration services…
How Sanctions Affect Iran's Economy? - Iran is set for a second round of talks with international negotiators in Baghdad on May 23 on its nuclear program. Some experts and U.S. officials believe that recently imposed sanctions on the country's financial and oil industries are taking an economic toll and encouraging Iran to negotiate. However, Hassan Hakimian, director of the London Middle East Institute and an economics expert, says Iran's economy seems to be doing better than some believe, and that "it remains to be seen" whether the sanctions' bite will impact negotiations. He also says Iran's government, like other governments under sanction, may find ways of shielding itself from the worst economic effects. "Iran has been expecting these sanctions for quite a while, so they are, in a sense, better prepared than most people might realize," he says.

Facts in brief about Iran Capital: Teheran.

Official language: Persian, also called Farsi.

Official name: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran).

Area: 1,648,000 km². Greatest distances— northwest-southeast, 2,213 km; northeast-southwest, 1,370 km. Coastline—2,655 km. Elevation: Highest— Mount Damavand, 5,604 m above sea level.

Lowest— 28 m below sea level along the Caspian Sea. Population: Estimated 1996population—64,073,000; density, 39 people per km^!; distribution, 57 per cent urban, 43 per cent rural. 1986 census—49,445,010. Estimated2001 population—

74,581,000.

Chief products: Agriculture— wheat, sugar beet, rice, barley, nuts. Fishing— caviar. Manufacturing—petroleum products, textiles, cement, brick, food products. Mining— petroleum. National anthem: "Soroude Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran" ("An­them of the Islamic Republic of Iran").

Money: Currency unit— Iranian rial. One rial = 100 dinars.

Important dates in Iran

1500's B.C. Aryans began migrating to Iran and split into two groups, the Medes and the Persians.

550 B.C. The Persian king Cyrus the Great overthrew the

Medes and founded the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire. 331 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Em­pire.

250 B.C. Parthian armies seized control of Iran.

A.D. 224 The Persians overthrew the Parthians.

Mid-600's The Muslim Arabs conquered Iran.

1220 The Mongols invaded Iran.

1501-1722 The Safavid dynasty governed Iran.

1794 The Qajars, a Turkoman tribe, set up a new dynasty that ruled Iran until 1925.

1906 Shah Muzaffar al-Din signed Iran's first Constitution.

1925 Reza Khan became shah.

1951 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi succeeded to the throne.

1951 The Majlis nationalized the oil industry.

Revolutionaries took control of Iran's government.

War broke out between Iran and Iraq. A cease-fire was declared in 1988.

Iran is an ancient country in the Middle East region of southwestern Asia. It is a land of snow-capped moun­tains, green valleys, and barren deserts. Iran is one of the world's oldest countries. Its history dates back al­most 5,000 years and includes the days of the great Per­sian Empire. In Biblical times, Persian kings ruled a vast territory that included most of southwestern Asia and parts of Europe and Africa. For the story of this early civ­ilization, see  Ancient Persia.

About half of Iran's people live in cities and towns. Teheran is the capital and largest city. Most of the rural population is scattered in thousands of small villages.

Foreign powers have invaded and occupied Iran time and again during its long history. One of the most im­portant invasions occurred in the mid-600’s, when Mus­lim Arabs conquered the country. The Arab conquest had a lasting effect on Iranian culture. The Muslim ca­liphs (religious leaders) governed the country for about 200 years. During their rule, the Islamic faith spread throughout Iran. Today, most Iranians are Muslims.

In the early 1900's, the discovery of oil in southwest­ern Iran gave the country an enormous source of wealth. Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled Iran as shah (king) from 1925 to 1941. In 1941, his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, became shah. Both men used profits from Iran's oil ex­ports to modernize the country and promote economic and social development. But they also ruled as dictators. In 1979, revolutionaries under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Muslim religious leader, overthrew Mo­hammad Reza Pahlavi and took control of Iran. The revo­lutionaries changed Iran's government from a constitu­tional monarchy to an Islamic republic. Their policies have led to strict control over the people's lives, great political violence, a war against neighbouring Iraq, and severe economic problems. The war with Iraq began in 1980. A cease-fire was agreed in August 1988. 
Government

After the 1979 revolution, AyatollahKhomeini and his followers, who included many other religious leaders, drafted a Constitution for the new Islamic republic. The Constitution, which is closely based on the teachings of Islam, went into effect in December 1979. Under the Constitution, the nation's supreme leader is the faqih, a scholar in Islamic law and the recognized religious leader of most Iranians. The Constitution named Khomeini the first ruling faqih of the Islamic republic. It granted him tremendous powers and placed him above all other government officials. Khomeini held the posi­tion of faqih until his death in 1989. The Constitution provides that all citizens 16 years and older may vote in national and local elections.

National government. Iran's Constitution provides tor three branches of government—executive, legisla­tive, and judicial. Members of the Islamic clergy hold many important positions in all three branches.

A president heads the executive branch of Iran's gov­ernment. The people elect the president to a four-year term. The president and a Cabinet carry out government operations. The president chooses Cabinet members.

Iran's lawmaking body is called the Majlis (Consulta­tive Assembly). Its 270 members are elected by the vot­ers to four-year terms. A 12-member Council of Guard­ians reviews all new laws to ensure that they do not violate the Constitution or Islamic principles. The Coun­cil of Guardians consists of 6 lawyers and 6 scholars of Islamic law.

Local government. Iran is divided into 24 ostans (provinces) for purposes of local government. Each ostan has a governor appointed by the national govern­ment and a council elected by the ostan's voters. Ostans are further divided into counties, districts, cities, towns, and villages, each of which has its own system of gov­ernment. The local governments are largely controlled by the national government.

Politics. The Islamic Republican Party (IRP) is the only political party officially recognized by Iran's government. It is controlled by the Islamic clergy. Nearly all candi­dates for important offices belong to the IRP. Parties that oppose the government may not operate freely. But op­position groups work underground against Islamic rule Chief opposition groups include an Islamic socialist or­ganization called Mujaheddin-e Khalq (People's Holy Warriors); ethnic groups, especially Kurds, who seek more local independence; and others who oppose the undemocratic policies of the government.

Courts. A five-member Supreme Council of the Judi­ciary oversees the judicial branch of Iran's government. The council consists of the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the attorney general of Iran, and three judges. The Supreme Court is the nation's highest court. Lower courts are located throughout the country. All judges in Iran must be members of the Islamic clergy. They base their decisions on Islamic law.

Armed forces. Iran's army, navy, and air force are es­timated to have a combined number of about 400,000 members. All men 18 years or older may be conscripted. In addition to its regular army, navy, and air force, Iran's armed forces include the Revolutionary Guards, which is a national police force.

People

Population. Iran has about 58 million people. The population of Iran is increasing about 2 1/2 per cent a year, making it one of the world's fastest-growing na­tions. About 44 per cent of the people are under 15 years of age. In spite of the rapid growth, Iran is thinly populated, with an average of only 35 people per square kilometre. About 70 per cent of Iran's land— chiefly mountain and desert regions—is almost uninhab­ited. Most Iranians live along the Caspian Sea; in the northwestern provinces; and in Teheran and its sur­rounding area.

Ancestry. About two-thirds of the Iranian people are descendants of an Asian people called Aryans. Tribes of Aryans began migrating to Iran from the plains of cen­tral Asia during the 1500's B.C.

Persians, the largest ethnic group of Aryan origin, make up about 60 per cent of Iran's population. Most Persians live in central Iran and on the slopes of the sur­rounding mountains. Other ethnic groups believed to be descended from the Aryans include the Gilanis and Mazandaranis of the north, the Kurds of the northwest, the Lurs and Bakhtiaris of the west, and the Baluchis of the southeast.

Other Iranian ethnic groups include the Azerbaijanis, the Khamseh, the Qashqais, and the Turkomans. In addi­tion, some Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, and Jews live in Iran.

Since the revolution, Iran's leaders have faced many protests from ethnic groups that want greater political and cultural independence. From time to time, fighting has broken out between government troops and mem­bers of such groups as Baluchis, Kurds, and Turkomans.

Language. The official language of Iran is Persian, also called Farsi. Persian belongs to the Indo-European family of languages (see Language [Indo-European]). It has borrowed many words from Arabic, an Afro-Asian language. It is written in the Arabic script.

Persian is used in schools and in all official communi­cations by the Iranian government. Almost all the people speak Persian, either as their native tongue or as a sec­ond language. Spoken Persian has several local dialects, which differ greatly in pronunciation. Other languages spoken in Iran include Arabic, Baluchi, Kurdish, and var­ious Turkic dialects.

Way of life

The Islamic government has brought great changes in lie Iranian way of life. It has eliminated the modernizing policies of previous governments and has tried to rid ran of Western influences. The government controls all entertainment and bans whatever it considers to be unslamic. It requires schools to stress the teachings of Islam. Iranian women have even less freedom than do women in many other Islamic cultures. The country's leaders have increasingly restricted freedom of speech and other civil rights to keep their control.

City life. About half of all Iranians live in urban areas. Many cities in Iran have an older, traditional section and a modern section. Blue-domed mosques (Islamic houses of worship) stand in the older sections. Most traditional sections also have a bazaar, where merchants sell food, handmade products, and other goods. The bazaar spreads out in a network of narrow passageways lined with tiny shops and stalls. Domed brick roofs over parts of the bazaar protect merchants and customers from sun and rain.

The modern sections of Iran's cities have hospitals, schools, homes, and office buildings. In the newer dis­tricts of the biggest cities, cinemas, parks, and fashion­able shops and restaurants border wide, tree-lined ave­nues.

City housing includes modern blocks of flats and tra­ditional Iranian houses. Traditional houses are small mud or brick buildings surrounded by high walls. Each house opens onto a central courtyard decorated with a few trees, flowers, and a small pool of water. Most dwellings have Western-style furniture. Persian rugs—handwoven Oriental rugs made in Iran—cover the floors of almost all homes.

Rural life. About half of Iran's people live in rural areas. Most rural villages are farming communities lo­cated in regions that have enough water to grow crops.

The typical Iranian village is centred on a small square and a wide main street. A mosque and a public bath stand on the square. The only store in many vil­lages is a small grocery. Most villages have no clinic, and only a few of the larger villages have a school.

Most rural families live in one- or two-room tradi­tional houses. The houses are made of mud or unbaked brick and have thatched or flat mud roofs. Simple rugs or felt mats cover the floors. The people sit on cushions and sleep on mattresses on the floor. They eat their meals off a cloth spread out on the floor. Houses in most villages lack electricity and running water.

Some of Iran's rural people are nomads. They travel across the countryside with their sheep, goats, and other livestock to seasonal grazing areas. The nomads live in round, black felt tents. When the nomads travel, they pack all their possessions on the backs of donkeys or camels. See Nomad.

Religion. About 98 per cent of the Iranian people are Muslims. More than 90 per cent of them belong to the Shi ah sect of Islam, which is the state religion of Iran. Most of the rest belong to the Sunni sect.

About 350,000 Baha'is make up Iran's largest religious minority (see Baha'i's). Baha is have never had legal rec­ognition in Iran and are forbidden to practise their faith. Iran also has some Christians, Jews, and followers of an ancient Persian religion called Zoroastrianism (see Zo­roastrianism). The Islamic government has little toler­ance for Iran's religious minorities. Baha'is in particular have been severely persecuted.

Clothing. Most city dwellers in Iran wear Western- style clothing. Many women in the cities also wear long, usually black, body veils called chadors over their other clothes. A woman drapes a chador around her body,

across her shoulders, over her head, and sometimes across the lower part of her face. The wearing of a chador is based on Islamic moral teachings. The govern­ment strongly encourages women to wear chadors or head coverings. Most men in rural villages dress in rough cotton shirts, baggy black trousers, and some­times long blue or black cotton coats. Most rural women wear loose blouses and black cotton trousers gathered at the ankles. They cover their heads with scarfs instead of using chadors.

Food and drink. The main foods of the Iranian peo­ple are rice and bread. They often mix rice with meat and vegetables or cover it with a thick, spicy sauce.

Most Iranians eat bread at every meal. Traditional Ira­nian dishes include abgusht (a thick meat and bean soup); dolmeh (vegetables stuffed with meat and rice); and kebab (lamb roasted on a skewer). Popular bever­ages include fruit syrups mixed with water, sweetened tea, and a yoghurt drink called dough.

Recreation. Iranians spend much of their leisure time visiting one another and entertaining friends and relatives in their homes. They also enjoy a variety of sports, including basketball, soccer, volleyball, and weight lifting. Many men practise a traditional form of weight-lifting exercises and gymnastics at athletic clubs called zurkhanehs. The word zurkhaneh means house of strength.

Iranians celebrate many religious and national holi­days. A major holiday is Now Ruz, the Iranian New Year. Now Ruz begins on the first day of spring. Fifteen days before the new year starts, most families plant wheat or lentil seeds in a shallow bowl. The green sprouts that appear symbolize the coming of spring. On New Year's Eve, families gather for elaborate banquets. People spend the first few days of the Now Ruz holidays visiting nearby friends and relatives. On the 13th day of the new year, the last day of the Now Ruz celebration, almost all Iranians go on picnics.

Education. Only about 48 per cent of Iranian people aged 15 or older can read and write. The law requires all children from 7 to 13 years of age to attend school. However, many children, especially in rural areas, do not go to school because of a shortage of classrooms and teachers. Iran has about 65 universities and col­leges. The University of Teheran, with about 21,000 stu­dents, is the largest university.

The arts. Iran has long been famous for its architec­ture, painting, and poetry. Early architects in Iran built magnificent mosques and palaces. They decorated the walls and domes with brightly coloured mosaic and tile designs. Traditional Persian painting features delicate detail work and jewellike colours.

Three of the greatest Persian poets—Firdausi, Hafiz, and Saadi—lived before 1400. The works of Hafiz are probably the most popular poems in Iran. People some­times use his Divan, a collection of mystical poems, to help plan their lives. They open the book at random and use the first line they see as a guide to action. See Fir­dausi; Hafiz; Saadi.

Iranian craftworkers make beautiful jewellery, pot­tery, and metalware. Their handwoven Persian rugs are prized throughout the world for their graceful patterns and soft colours. The complicated designs of the rugs often require months of labour to complete. Other tradi­tional arts in Iran include embroidery, silk weaving, and woodcarving.

Land

Iran lies in southwestern Asia, northeast of the Ara­bian Peninsula. The country faces Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea, and Turkmenistan on the north and Af­ghanistan and Pakistan on the east. The Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman lie to the south. Iraq and Turkey bor­der Iran on the west.

Iran covers 1,648,000 square kilometres. The country can be divided into four major land regions: (1) the Inte­rior Plateau, (2) the Mountains, (3) the Caspian Sea Coast, and (4) the Khuzistan Plain.

The Interior Plateau lies in central and eastern Iran. It occupies about half the country's total area. The pla­teau stands about 900 metres above sea level and is largely surrounded by mountains. Much of the Interior Plateau consists of two immense, almost uninhabited deserts, the Dasht-e Kavir and the Dasht-e Lut. They are among the most arid and barren deserts in the world. Together, they cover over 98,000 square kilometres.

The Mountains. Two vast mountain ranges—the El­burz and the Zagros—rim most of the Interior Plateau. The Elburz Mountains stand along Iran's northern bor­der. They form a spectacular wall between the Caspian Sea Coast region and the Interior Plateau. Iran's highest peak, Mount Damavand, rises 5,604 metres above sea level in the Elburz range. The northern slopes of the El­burz receive plentiful rainfall, and farmers grow a vari­ety of crops on the rich land. The southern slopes of the range are relatively barren and dry.

The Zagros Mountains extend south and east from the borders of Turkey and Azerbaijan to the Persian Gulf. Many people live in wide, fertile valleys in the northern and central parts of the range. However, the extremely dry and rugged southern section is thinly populated. Smaller mountain ranges lie along the Gulf of Oman and the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Caspian Sea Coast is a narrow strip of lowland between the Caspian Sea and the rugged slopes of the Elburz Mountains. A mild climate and abundant, year- round rainfall have made it the most heavily populated region in Iran. Farmers there grow cotton, rice, sugar cane, tea, and other crops on the fertile land.

The Khuzistan Plain lies north of the Persian Gulf, between the border of Iraq and the Zagros Mountains. The region has Iran's richest petroleum deposits. The Khuzistan Plain is also an important agricultural area.

Climate

Iran's climate varies from region to region. Winter I temperatures in the mountainous areas of the northwest drop as low as —29° C. But the long, severe winters are hollowed by mild summers. In contrast, the Khuzistan plain has extremely hot, humid summers with an aver- i temperature of about 35° C. However, winters on I the plain are mild and pleasant.

Most of the Interior Plateau has a very dry climate. Te- I heran, which lies on the plateau at the foot of the Elburz , vtountains, receives an average of only about 23 centi­metres of rain a year. Average temperatures in the city range from 2° C in January to 29° C in July. Winter tem­peratures drop to freezing in the Dasht-e Kavir and the Dasht-e Lut, but summer temperatures soar as high as 54° C. An average of about 5 centimetres of rain fails on I the deserts yearly.

The Caspian Sea Coast is Iran's only region of abun­dant rainfall. It receives about 100 centimetres of rain a year. Temperatures in the region seldom rise above 32“ C or drop below freezing.

Economy

The economy of Iran grew rapidly during the 1960's and 1970's. The government, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, used part of Iran's enormous oil revenues to finance many new businesses and industries. From 1962 to 1977, Iran's gross national product (GNP)—that is, the total value of all goods and services produced yearly—multiplied several times.

The revolution of 1979 severely damaged the Iranian economy. Thousands of managers, technicians, and other highly trained workers opposed to the Islamic government left Iran. Many factories closed because of the lack of skilled workers. The war against Iraq and

continuing political unrest also disrupted the economy. Oil production and exports dropped. The GNP de­creased sharply after the revolution.

Service industries account for about 46 per cent of Iran's gross national product and employ about 31 per cent of all workers. These industries include govern­ment agencies, hospitals, schools, and other institutions that supply important community services. Banks, insur ance companies, restaurants, and many other business establishments also provide essential business, commu­nity, or personal services. Other service industries in­clude trade, transportation, and communication.

Mining accounts for about 25 per cent of Iran's gross national product. But it employs only about 1 per cent of the nation's workers. Petroleum is by far Iran's most im­portant mineral. The country's oil fields contain about 48 billion barrels of petroleum. The National Iranian Oil Company, which is owned by the government, operates the oil industry. Although petroleum output has de­creased sharply since the 1979 revolution, Iran remains one of the world's leading oil producers. It also pro­duces much natural gas. Other minerals in Iran include chromite, coal, copper, iron ore, lead, and zinc. But few of these mineral deposits have been developed.

Manufacturing accounts for about 17 per cent of Iran's gross national product and employs about 32 per cent of all workers. The country's chief manufactured products are bricks, cement, food products, petroleum products, and textiles. Iranian factories also produce chemicals, leather goods, machine tools, refined cop­per, steel, and tobacco products.

Agriculture accounts for about 12 per cent of the country's GNP and employs about 36 per cent of the workers. Only about 12 per cent of the land can be farmed because of a severe water shortage. Iran must import much of its food. Wheat and barley are grown on about 75 per cent of the cultivated land. Farmers also grow such crops as cotton, dates and other fruits, len­tils, maize, nuts, rice, sugar beet, tea, and tobacco. Cat­tle, goats, and sheep provide dairy products and meat.

Fishing industry. The chief product of Iran's fishing industry is the eggs of sturgeon caught in the Caspian Sea. The eggs are used to make a salty delicacy called caviar. Iranian fishing crews also catch carp, catfish, whitefish, and white salmon in the Caspian. The Persian Gulf catch includes sardines, shrimp, sole, and tuna.

Trade. Petroleum accounts for more than 95 per cent of the total value of Iran's exports. The country also ex­ports caviar, cotton, dried fruits, mineral ores, nuts, Per­sian rugs, and spices. Its leading imports include elec­tric appliances, food, industrial machinery, medicine, and military equipment. Iran's chief trading partners in­clude Australia, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Turkey, and Germany.

Transportation and communication. Rugged ter­rain has made it difficult and expensive to develop a modern system of transportation in Iran. Only about a third of the country's roads are paved. Most Iranians travel by bus. In rural areas, bicycles, donkeys, horses, and mules are also important means of transportation. The government owns the country's rail system. Iran Air, a government-owned airline, flies within Iran and to some foreign countries. Teheran has the country's chief airport. Most of Iran's trade is handled by Persian Gulf ports. Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf is the country's chief oil-exporting terminal.

Iran publishes 5 daily newspapers and about 90 mag­azines. It has several radio stations and two major TV stations. All newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV broadcasts must meet strict government standards.

History

Early days. The first major civilization in what is now Iran was that of the Elamites, who may have settled in southwestern Iran as early as 3000 B.C. In the 1500's B.C, Aryans began migrating to Iran from central Asia. Even­tually, two major groups of Aryans settled in Iran. One group settled in the northwest and founded the King­dom of Media (see Media). The other group lived in southern Iran, in an area that the Greeks later called Persis. The name Persia comes from Persis. Both the Medes and the Persians called their new homelands Iran, mean­ing land of the Aryans. By the 600's B.C, the Medes had become rulers of the Persians.

The Achaemenid Empire. About 550 B.C, the Per­sians, led by Cyrus the Great, overthrew the Medes. Cyrus was a member of a Persian dynasty (family of rul­ers) called the Achaemenid. By 539 B.C., Cyrus had con­quered Babylonia, Palestine, Syria, and all Asia Minor. Cyrus' son Cambyses added Egypt to the Achaemenid Empire in 525 B.C In 522 B.C, Darius I became king. Under his rule, the empire prospered. Darius built roads, established shipping lines, and introduced gold and silver coins. At its peak in 500 B.C., his vast empire stretched west into what is now Libya, east to what is now Pakistan, and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to the Aral Sea in the north.

After the mid-400's B.C, the Achaemenid Empire de­clined under the rule of a series of weak kings. In 331 B.C., Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered the empire. Alexander wanted to combine the Greek and Persian cultures to create a new world empire. But he died in 323 B.C. without achieving his goal. One of his generals, Seleucus, founded a new dynasty, the Seleu-

cid. The Seleucids governed Iran until about 250 B.C, when armies from Parthia, a kingdom southeast of the Caspian Sea, conquered the country (see Parthia).

The Sassanid dynasty. In A.D. 224, the Persians, led by Ardashir, overthrew the Parthians. Ardashir founded the Sassanid dynasty, which ruled Iran for more than 400 years. During that period, Iranian art flourished. Th_e Sassanid kings also improved the country's cities, roads and irrigation system. But their reign was weakened by constant warfare with the Romans. Sassanid rule was ended by a new force of conquerors—Muslims from Arabia. For a more detailed history of Iran before the Arab conquest, see Persia, Ancient.

The rise of Islam. Arabian armies conquered Iran in the mid-600's. The Arabs converted most Iranians to Islam. Arabic replaced Persian as the official language of Iran. By the mid-SCO's, Iran had become a world centre of art, literature, and science. But Arab control weak­ened during the 900's, and Iran broke into a number of small kingdoms under various Iranian rulers.

By the mid-1000's, Seljuk Turks from Turkestan had conquered most of Iran. The Seljuks and other Turkish tribes ruled until 1220. That year, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, swarmed over Iran. They destroyed many cities and killed thousands of people. Iranian civilization declined under Mongol rule. During the 1400's, the Mongols began fighting among themselves for power and gradually lost control of Iran.

The Safavid dynasty. In the late 1400's and early 1500's, the Safavis, a Turkish tribe, gained control over several regions in Iran. In 1501, the tribe's leader, Ismail, was crowned king, founding the Safavid dynasty. The greatest Safavid king was Shah Abbas, who ruled from 1587 to 1629. He stopped invasions by Ottoman Turks and by Uzbek tribes from Turkestan. Shah Abbas and his successors strongly supported the development of ar­chitecture and other arts. Isfahan, which became the Sa­favid capital in 1598, was known as one of the world's most beautiful cities. Safavid kings ruled Iran until 1722, when armies from Afghanistan invaded the country and captured Isfahan.

The rule of Nadir Shah. During the 1730's, Nadir Shah, a Turkish tribesman, drove the Afghans out of Iran and became king. He went on to conquer Afghanistan.

In 1739, Nadir Shah took the city of Delhi in India. He brought back many treasures from India, including the jevvel-encrusted Peacock Throne. Nadir Shah was assas­sinated in 1747. Various Iranian leaders then struggled for power. In the 1750's, Karim Khan, a Kurd of the Zand tribe, gained control of Iran.

The Qajar dynasty. After Karim Khan died in 1779, vvar broke out between the Zands and the Qajars, a Tur­koman tribe from the Caspian Sea region. During this period, Iran lost Afghanistan and other areas that Nadir Shah had conquered. The Qajars finally defeated the Zands in 1794. The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran until 1925. The Qajars established their capital in Teheran, where [nost of their supporters lived.

In 1826, Russia invaded Iran. Russia wanted to expand its territory and gain an outlet to the Persian Gulf. It de­feated Iran in 1827. In 1828, the two nations signed the Treaty of Turkomanchai. The agreement gave Russia the land north of the Aras River, the present boundary be­tween the two countries. In 1856, Iran tried to recapture its former territory in northwestern Afghanistan. But Creat Britain controlled Afghanistan and declared war on Iran. In 1857, Iran and Britain signed a peace treaty, under which Iran gave up all claims to Afghanistan.

British and Russian influence in Iran increased during the rest of the 1800's. In the early 1900's, a British corpo­ration, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, began to de­velop the oil fields of southwestern Iran.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, Iranian intel­lectuals and Iranians who had come into contact with the West introduced new ideas of political freedom into the country. Many Iranians began to demand a constitu­tional government. In 1906, the Qajar monarch, Shah Muzaffar al-Din, was forced to give Iran its first Constitu­tion and a parliament, the Majlis.

World War I and Reza Shah. Iran became a battle­ground during World War I (1914-1918), even though it remained neutral. Russian troops, defending the oil fields at Baku on the Caspian Sea, fought the Turks in northwestern Iran. A British army defended the Khuzis­tan oil fields against attack by Iran's Qashqai people. The Qashqai rebels were led by German agents.

In 1921, Seyyed Zia al-Din Tabatabai, an Iranian politi­cian and journalist, and Reza Khan, a cavalry officer,

overthrew the Qajar government. In 1925, Reza became shah and changed his family name to Pahlavi. Reza Shah introduced many programmes to modernize Iran and to free it from foreign interference.

The nationalist movement. Iran declared its neu­trality soon after World War II began in 1939. But the Al­lies wanted to use the Trans-Iranian Railway to ship war supplies from Great Britain to the Soviet Union. Reza Shah refused to cooperate. British and Soviet troops in­vaded Iran in 1941. They forced Reza Shah to give up the throne. His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, became shah. The new shah signed a treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union that allowed them to use the railway and to keep troops in Iran until the end of the war.

The presence of foreign troops in Iran during the war stirred up nationalistic feelings among many Iranians. In the Majlis, a group of nationalists led by Mohammad Mossadegh demanded an end to British control of the oil industry. In 1951, the Majlis voted to place the oil in­dustry under government ownership and control. After the prime minister refused to carry out the law, he was dismissed and replaced by Mossadegh.

In 1953, a British boycott of Iranian oil, together with a surplus of oil on the world market, made it impossible for Iran to sell its oil abroad. Iran suffered heavy finan­cial losses, and the shah tried to remove Mossadegh from office. Mossadegh and his followers then forced the shah to go into exile. But the shah, with the help of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), returned to power after a few days, and Mossadegh was arrested.

Reforms and growing unrest. During the early 1960's, the shah began a series of economic and social reforms known as the White Revolution (later called the Shah-People Revolution). His programmes included a large-scale land reform programme that redistributed the holdings of wealthy landlords among the peasants who worked the land. The shah also promoted educa­tion, improved social welfare services, and gave women the right to vote. At the same time, he used Iran's in­creasing oil revenues to develop industrial projects and to provide a base for future economic growth.

Politically, the shah exercised nearly absolute control over the government. His vast power aroused much op­position, especially from students and intellectuals. His critics denounced him for denying freedom of speech and other civil rights and for using a secret police force—called the Savak—to crush opposition to his rule. They also claimed that his policies and government cor­ruption were ruining Iran's economy. Many conservative Muslims believed that the shah's modernization pro­grammes violated traditional Islamic teachings.

Revolution and the Islamic Republic. In the late 1970's, the various opponents of the shah united under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Muslim religious leader. In January 1979, the shah left Iran after mass demonstra­tions, strikes, and riots against his rule. The next month, the revolutionaries took control of the government.

Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic. He and his followers set up a new government based on the teachings of Islam. Khomeini became the faqih, or su­preme leader, of Iran. For the first year after the revolu­tion, a Revolutionary Council appointed by Khomeini carried out the new government's policies. Hundreds of officials of the shah's government were tried in revolutionary courts and put to death by firing squads. The Is- amic government shut down newspapers and maga­zines, banned political parties, closed universities, and placed many restrictions over the people's personal freedoms. In 1980, the Iranian people elected the first president and the first Majlis of the republic.

The new government was bitterly anti-American be­cause the United States had supported the shah. In Oc­tober 1979, President Jimmy Carter allowed the shah to enter the United States for medical treatment. On No­vember 4, Iranian revolutionaries seized the United States Embassy in Teheran and held a group of Americans—chiefly embassy workers—as hostages. The United States and many other countries denounced this action as a violation of international law and demanded that the hostages be freed. The revolutionaries said they would release the hostages if the U.S. government re­turned the shah to Iran for trial. The United States re­fused to do so. The shah moved to Panama in December 1979 and to Egypt in March 1980. He died in Egypt in July 1980. The revolutionaries freed the hostages on Jan. 20, 1981.

Iran today faces serious economic and political problems. In 1980, it began fighting a war with Iraq over territorial disputes and other disagreements. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed or injured, and over a million people were left homeless. Iraqi aeroplanes also bombed many industrial targets and civilian centres in Iran.

Iran's oil exports dropped sharply because of a de­crease in production and the war with Iraq. The decline in export income has made it difficult for Iran to pay for needed imports. As a result, the country has serious shortages of food and other basic goods. Rapidly rising prices and a high rate of unemployment have added to Iran's economic problems which seem like continuing for many years into the post-war period.

The government has also been troubled by conflicts among its leaders. Many original leaders of the revolu­tion were accused of working against the Islamic repub­lic and were dismissed from their posts. Also, numerous high-ranking officials have been victims of assassina­tions and other acts of violence carried out by opposi­tion groups. Rivalries still exist among different groups in the government. Discontent and opposition to the government have arisen as a result of mismanagement of the economy. The government has executed, tor­tured, or imprisoned thousands of its opponents.

During the war between Iran and Iraq, fighting spread to the Persian Gulf region. Shipping vessels of Kuwait, which borders the gulf, and of several other countries became targets of attacks. In 1987, the United States agreed to help provide safety for Kuwaiti ships. Clashes took place between the United States and Iran. For example, Iran laid mines in shipping routes and fired on U.S. vessels and helicopters that had been sent to the gulf. U.S. response to these actions included sink­ing three Iranian patrol boats and destroying oil plat­forms in the gulf that Iranians were using as a base of operations. In July 1988, the U.S. Navy warship Vin­cennes mistakenly shot down an Iranian passenger air­plane while battling Iranian gunboats. The ship's radar had led the captain to believe the aircraft was a hostile fighter. Iranian officials said 290 people were killed.

Iran and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire in their war in Au­gust 1988 Negotiations for a permanent peace agree­ment started shortly after the cease-fire began.

Khomeini died in 1989. Iran's top religious leaders chose Ali Khamenei to succeed Khomeini as faqih. Kha­menei had been Iran's president. Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected Iran's new president.

Iran lies in one of the world s major earthquake zones, and the country periodically has been struck by devastating earthquakes. One of the most serious of these occurred in June 1990 in northwestern Iran. The Iranian government estimated that 40,000 people died.

Questions

How did the Arab conquest influence Iran?

What does the name Iran mean?

Why is the Caspian Sea Coast the most heavily populated region in Iran?

What is a zurkhaneh? A chador! Now Ruz!

How did the revolution of 1979 change Iran's government?

What was the White Revolution?

How did the Islamic revolution damage Iran's economy?

Why do many Iranian children not attend school?

How did Mohammad Reza Pahlavi become shah?

What is Iran's most important mineral?

Ancient Persia

A bronze Persian head was cast in the 1000's B.C.

Silver drinking cup was used by a king or nobleman.

Persian coins. The Achaemenid coin, was minted in the 400's B.C. The Sassanian coin, dates from about A.D. 400.

The winged Ahura Mazda, was the chief god of ancient Persia and symbol of Zoroastrianism.

An Achaemenid cylinder seal shows King Darius killing a lion. Impressions were made by rolling the seal across soft clay.

Investiture of Ardashir I, a rock relief sculpture at Naqshi Rustam, near Persepolis, shows Ardashir, founder of the Sassamid dynasty, taking the symbol of royalty from Ahura Mazda, the supreme Zoroastrian god.

Persian Empire about 500 B.C. - This map shows the Achaemenid Empire at its peak in about 500 B.C, during the reign of Darius I. Persis, later called Persia, was the centre of an empire that stretched west to the central Mediterranean Sea, east to northeastern India (now Pakistan), and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to the southern part of the present-day Soviet Union in the north. Darius ruled from several capitals.

Ancient Persia, was a land that included parts of what are now Iran and Afghanistan. Under Cyrus the Great, Darius I, Xerxes, and other leaders, it became the home of a great civilization and the centre of a vast empire. The name Persia came from Persis, which was the Greek name for the region. The Persians themselves called the region the land of the Aryans, from which the name Iran comes. The Persians called their language Aryan.

The early Persians were nomads who came to the area from what is now the southern Soviet Union in about 900 B.C. They were good organizers and administrators, and the empire they created lasted over 200 years. They made important contributions in government, law, and religion. The Persians developed an efficient system of postal delivery using relays of fast horses. They also built an irrigation system and tried to standardize weights and measures. For a quotation about their postal system, see Post office (Ancient times).

The Persians treated their subjects better than earlier rulers had, and they probably influenced the action and policies of later governments. Alexander the Great build on Persian accomplishments to unify his empire. So did the Arabs in building their civilization.

In the 500's B.C., Persia became the centre of the vast Achaemenid Empire, which included most of the known world. It extended from North Africa and southeastern Europe in the west to India in the east, and from the Gulf of Oman in the south to the Caucasus Mountains and Syr Darya River in the north. Persians invaded Greece in the early 400's B.C. But the Greeks drove them from Europe, ending the empire's expansion. Alexander the Great conquered the empire in 331 B.C. Later, Parthians and Sassanids controlled Persia before it was conquered by Arabs in A.D.641.

Way of life

The people. Ancient sculptures show that the Persians were a handsome people with long, straight noses. Persians dressed in long robes, later called caftants  and wore jewellery and false hair.

Most of the common people lived in mud huts, very much like the huts in which many of the country people of Iran live today. Nobles and kings built large stone houses and palaces. The ruins of some of these build­ings are still standing today.

The Persians adopted many of the customs of the Elamites, the people they had conquered. But they kept many traditions of the nomadic (wandering) peoples. For example, they taught their sons to ride horses, shoot bows, and speak the truth. The Persians considered it a disgrace to lie or to be in debt.

S Early Persian families formed into clans, and clans into tribes. But as the empire grew, social units larger than the family began to disappear. Persian men could have several wives. A king could select his wives only from the six highest families. Rulers had large harems, where all the women in the family lived.

Language and literature. The people of ancient Per­sia spoke Old Persian, a language of the Indo-European family related to the Sanskrit language of India and to modern Persian. The Persians developed a cuneiform system of writing (see Cuneiform). But the cuneiform system was used only for royal inscriptions, because few people could read it. The Persians used Aramaic, a Semitic language related to Hebrew, as a written lan­guage. Aramaic was widely used in Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia then, and the Persians extended its use to India, central Asia, and Asia Minor (now Turkey). Local languages were used in various parts of the empire.

Little is known of the literature of ancient Persia. But stories of ancient heroes still survive, probably passed down by minstrels and through folk tales.

Religion. The Persians believed in gods of nature, such as the sun and sky. The people believed the gods had social powers. Mithra, the god of light, for example, controlled contracts. The Persians had no temples. They prayed and offered sacrifices on mountains.

Zoroaster (or Zarathustra), a prophet who lived some­time between 1400 and 1000 B.C, reformed the ancient religion. Fie preached a faith based on good thoughts, words, and deeds, emphasizing a supreme god called Ahura Mazda, "the wise spirit." Zoroaster's followers, called Zoroastrians, gradually spread his religion all over Persia. Zoroaster's teachings are found in the Gathas, part of a holy book called the Avesta.

Art and architecture in ancient Persia was a unique mixture of Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, and other cultures. Remains of huge royal palaces that stood at Pasargadae, Persepolis, and Susa have been found in what is now Iran. Goblets, plates, and other objects made of gold during the Persian Empire have been found. After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, silver became popular, and many silver art objects have been found. Many museums exhibit ancient Persian textiles, rugs, and pottery.

Economy. Early Persians were farmers. They raised grain and livestock. Deserts covered much of the high­land region, and the peasants developed irrigation to grow wheat, barley, oats, and vegetables. They used un­derground tunnels to avoid evaporation by the hot sun, and brought water as much as 160 kilometres from the mountains to the valleys and plains. Highland Persia had few large towns until Alexander the Great conquered it. Crafts developed after cities were founded. Pottery, weaving, and metal work in copper, iron, gold, and sil­ver became important occupations. Pots and pans be­came more important than weapons, armour, and farm­ing tools. Potters and weavers made clothing, pottery, and rugs for the people.

Caravans carried trade goods from many parts of the world through Persia to the Mediterranean Sea. Impor­tant articles of trade included precious and semipre­cious stones, and spices. A silk route to central Asia and China was opened, probably during the 100's B.C. Trade routes from Mesopotamia to the Far East led across Per­sia, skirting the central desert.

Other routes led east to India, and north to the Cauca­sus Mountains and the Black Sea. The Persians built roads between the important cities in their empire. The most famous was the royal road that linked Sardis in

western Asia Minor to Susa near the Persian Gulf. The Persians used the roads to deliver post swiftly by relays of horsemen.

Government

Well-organized bureaus governed the Achaemenid Empire (about 550-331 B.C.). The empire was divide into provinces called satrapies, each satrapy governed by an official called a satrap. Satraps ruled and lived like minor kings. But the king of kings, who ruled the empire from Persia, had final and absolute authority. The kings codified (systematized) the laws in various parts of the empire. Troops in the satrapies were controlled by the central government. A secret service, which the Greek called the "eyes and ears of the king," informed the king of affairs throughout the empire.

Under the Parthians (155 B.C.-A.D. 225) and Sassanids (A.D. 224-641), Persians kept the title king of kings. Some of these Persian rulers were strong, but others were weak. Local lords exercised great powers during the Parthian period. A powerful state church existed under the Sassanids. Priests served in important civil post, that church and state remained separate.

History

Early civilization. The first known civilization in Persia was that of the Elamites, who settled the region perhaps as early as 3000 B.C. Tribes of Medes and Persians wandered into Persia beginning about 900 B.C. The Medes created the first state on the Persian plateau about in 700 B.C., and reached the height of their power in the late 600's B.C. The Persians, led by Cyrus the Great, overthrew the Medes in about 550 B.C

The Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus enlarged the Me­dian empire by seizing the kingdom of Lydia around 545 BC and gradually absorbing Greek colonies in Ionia, in western Asia Minor. He called this the Achaemenid Em­pire, after his ancestor, Achaemenes. He conquered Babylonia in 539 B.C and freed the Jews in captivity there. They returned to Palestine. Cyrus was killed in 530 B.C. He had created an empire that extended from the Mediterranean Sea and western Asia Minor to the upper Indus River in what is now northern Pakistan, and from the Gulf of Oman to the Aral Sea.

Cambyses, Cyrus' son, conquered Egypt in 525 B.C, but died on his way back to Persia. A civil war for con­trol of the empire followed, and Darius I, a relative of Cambyses, became king in 522 B.C.

Darius reorganized the government under the satrapy system, established the absolute power of the king of kings, and developed a regulated system of taxation. He also built palaces at Persepolis and Susa, two of his cap­itals. He expanded the Persian Empire into southeastern Europe and into what is now southern Pakistan.

About 513 B.C, the Persian army invaded the area west and north of the Black Sea, but did not conquer much land. Darius sent an army into Greece in 490 B.C., but it was defeated by Athenian forces at Marathon. Da­rius died in 486 B.C., while preparing for new attacks on Greece.

Xerxes, Darius' son, invaded Greece in 480 B.C., and defeated a force of Spartans and other Greeks after a fierce battle at Thermopylae. But the Persians suffered crushing defeats at Salamis and Plataea, and were driven from Europe in 479 B.C. See Greece, Ancient (The Persian Wars).

After Xerxes' death, Persia declined. But the empire continued to exist in spite of revolts until 331 B.C., when Alexander the Great defeated a huge Persian army at the Battle of Arbela (sometimes called the Battle of Gaugamela). This ended the Achaemenid Empire, and Persia be­came part of Alexander's empire.

The Seleucid dynasty. More than 10 years after Al­exander's death in 323 B.C., one of his generals, Seleucus, started a dynasty that ruled Persia and nearby areas. The Seleucids founded many cities and introduced Greek culture into western and central Asia. From 155 B.C, the Parthians won control of Persia.

The Parthian Empire lasted until A.D. 224. The Par­thians built a large empire across eastern Asia Minor and southwest Asia. During the last 200 years of their rule, the Parthians had to fight the Romans in the west and the Kushans in what is now Afghanistan. Civil wars erupted in the Parthian Empire.

In about A.D. 224, a Persian named Ardashir over­threw the Parthians and seized the Parthian Empire.

After more than 550 years under other rulers, Persians again ruled Persia.

The Sassanid dynasty, named in honour of Sassan, grandfather of Ardashir, ruled Persia until the mid-600's. Wars between Persians and Romans continued through much of the Sassanian reign. After the Romans adopted Christianity in the 300's, the conflict seemed to become a religious struggle between Christianity and Zoroastri­anism, the religion of the Persians.

The Sassanian civilization reached its high point in the mid-500's. Persians won several victories over the Ro­mans, and reconquered land that had been part of the Achaemenid Empire. Persian troops advanced to the wails of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), then the capital of the Byzantine (East Roman) Empire. But they were defeated there and forced to withdraw from all the land they had conquered.

The rise of Islam, a new religion in Arabia, brought a sudden end to the Sassanid dynasty in the mid-600's. Arabs invaded Persia and defeated the Persians in 637 and during the 640's. Islam spread across the Persian plateau. But the new Islamic rulers kept much of Persia's organization, art and architecture, and culture.

For the history of Persia after the Arab conquest, see Iran (History).

Related articles:

Alexander the Great          

Clothing (Ancient times)  

Cyrus the Great

Mithras

Persepolis

Salamis

Satrap

Darius I        

Darius III     

Susa

Thermopylae

Magi  

Marathon     

Media

Xerxes 1

Zoroastrianism