Islamic Republic of Iran

Muharrem SarIslamic Republic of Iran

ContentCountryHistorical BackgroundGeographySocietyEconomy Government and PoliticsForeign RelationsNational Security

CountryFormal Name: Islamic Republic of Iran / Persian (Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran)Government Type: Theocratic republicTerm for Citizen(s): Iranian(s)Capital: TehranOther Major Cities (in order of population): Mashhad, Esfahan, Tabriz, Karaj, Qom, and Ahvaz (totally 31 provinces)Independence: In the modern era, Iran always has existed as an independence countryFlag: The flag was adopted after the 1978-79 Revolution,

Before 1979 RevolutionAfter 1979 Revolution

Historical BackgroundEarly HistoryThe first Iranian state was the Achaemenian Empire in about 550 B.CFollowed it the Greeks in about 330 B.CThe Parthians ruled from 247 B.C until A.D. 224And the Sassanians who governed from A.D. 224 until the Arabs conquered Iran in A.D. 642The Arabs brought with them Islam, which eventually became the predominant religion.In the centuries that followed, Iran has ruled by a succession of Arab, Iranian and Turkic dynasties.In 1501 the Iranian Safavis made up a strong empire under Ismael I and also established Shia Islam as the official religion.

The Qajars (1795-1925)In 1795 the Qajar family established a dynasty that would rule Iran until 1925.A popular desire for accountable government led to the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-7 and the formation of a parliament.In 1921 army officer Reza Khan provided military support for a coup against the government.

The Pahlavis (1925-1979)

Following parliaments deposition of the Qajar dynasty in 1925, he became shah of Iran, adopting the surname PahlavisAs Reza Shah Pahlavi, he restored order and sought to modernize the economy and society and to forge cultural links abroad.

8In the 1960s, Iran recovered from the economic disruption of the oil nationalization period, but the authoritarian rule of the shah provoked political discontentDuring this period, Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini developed a following as an anti-government leader and was sent into exile (1964), first to Turkey and subsequently to IraqBetween 1965 and 1977, Iran enjoyed improved prosperity, expanded regional influence, and relative stability

Increased anti-government protests against Westernalization process of the shah administration in 1977 and early 1978 that developed into a nationwide revolutionary movementKhomeini, in Iraq, emerged as the leader of an increasing strong opposition movement, and organized nationwide strikesAs a result, the shah decided to leave the country

Khomeini returned back from exile on February 1, 1979, refused to recognize the authority of the shahs prime minister, and appointed a provisional governmentPower struggle started between two the governments, the monarchy effectively ended

The Islamic Republic of IranFollowing a national plebiscite, an Islamic republic was proclaimed officially on April 1, 1979The provisional government was composed of a coalition of nationalist and religious leaders who had moderate views with respect to social and economic changesThe latter group, in particular, wanted to end all ties with the United StatesIn November 1979, students affiliated with the latter group occupied the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 53 U.S. diplomats hostage for the next 14 mountsThis incident was a turning point in terms of U.S.-Iran relations, which represents a decisive break!

Between 1980 and 1988, during the Iran-Iraq war that resulted in more than 200.000 Iranian deaths, serious differences between the moderate and militant factions of the revolutionary governmentIn 1989 the death of Khomeini removed the one figure with authority to arbitrate between the two mutually antagonistic political factions:

Reformists: A liberal interpretation of the constitution and Islamic law but there were themselves some disagreements with respect to economic, political and social policiesConservatives: The strict and literal interpretation of the constitution and Islamic lawDuring the presidency of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsancani (1989-97), reformist controlled a majority of seats in parliament until 1992In both 1992 and 1997 parliamentary elections the conservatives won a majority of seats, thus, many reforms weakened and stopped.Mohammad Khatami (in officially 1997-2005), the administration of Rafsancanis successor, encountered the same resistanceReformists won again a majority of seats in the 2000 parliamentary elections and enacted several notable pieces of reform legislationHaving lost control of the parliament, conservatives tried to use their influence in the judiciary and bureaucracyConservatives regained control of the parliament in the 2004 elections, continued control of conservatives with Ahmedinejad last election in 2010

GeographyLocation: Iran is located in the Middle EastSize: Its total area is nearly 1.65 million square kilometersDisputed Territory: Three island in the Persian Gulf that are occupied by IranMaritime: The one of the most important river that the Shatt al Arab waterway was established by treaty in 1975 that draws the maritime border with IraqPrincipal Rivers: Iran has no major riversClimate: Irans climate is mostly arid (kurak) and semi-arid

Natural Resources: Iran has enormous reserves of oil and natural gas

Oil reserves: more than 130 billion barrels (third in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq)Natural Gas reserves: more than 32 trillion cubic meters (second in the world behind Russia)Mineral resources: chromium, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, red oxide, salt, sulfur and uranium

SocietyPopulation: Irans population is 76,923,300 (July 2010 est.), of that number, approximately one-third is rural and two-thirds urbanIran hosted more than 660,000 Afghan and 54,000 Iraqi refugees

Ethnic Groups and Languages: The main ethnic groups in Iran are Persians (approximately 51 percent) {CIA Factbook}Azerbaijani Turks : 24 %Gilaki and Mazandarani : 8 %Kurds : 7 %Arabs : 3 %Lur : 2 %Baluchis : 2 %Turkmens : 2 %Other : 1 %

Languages: Persian, the official languages, is spoken as a mother tongue by at least 58 percent of the population and as a second language Turkic and Turkic dialects by a large proportion of remaining 26 percent.Kurdish : 9 %Luri : 2 %Balochi : 1 %Arabic : 1 %Others : 2 %

Religion: The constitution declares Shia Islam to be the official religion of Iran. At least 90 percent of Iranians are Shia Muslims, and about 9 percent are Sunni MuslimsThe constitution recognizes Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism as legitimate minority religions. The Bahai faith is not recognized as a legitimate minority religionIndividuals of all religions are required to observe Islamic codes on dress and gender segregation in publicEconomyIrans economy is dominated by the oil industrymore than 80 percent of export earnings came from oil and gas! Most economic activity is controlled by the statePrivate sector activity is typically limited to small-scale workshops, farming, and servicesGDP: $ 827.1 billion (2009 est.)Unemployment rate: 11.8 % (2009 est.)Inflation rate: 13.5 % (2009 est.)Industries: essentially petroleum, petrochemicalsExports: $ 70.32 billion (2009 est.)Imports: $ 57.16 billion (2009 est.)Transportations and Telecommunications(under the economy as a sub-title)Constant construction and expansion of the road and rail networks, even during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), have resulted in an overland transportation systemPorts destroyed during the war have been rebuilt, and new ones on the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf have been developed.Air transportation is relatively inexpensiveMost phases of telecommunications services are controlled by the stateGovernment and Politics IFollowing the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79, a national referendum approved a new constitutionAccording to constitution, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a republic with separation of powers among to the executive, judicial and legislative branchesThe senior figure in the system is the faqih (leader)The constitution named Ayatollah Khomeini as the first faqih Leaders are elected by a majority vote of the Assembly of ExpertsThe legal system based on sharia (Islamic Law)The constitution specifies that the president must be a Shia Muslim

Velayet-i Fakih (Ulemann nderlii)It is not an institution, but a conceptPoliticized with Khomeini (The name of his book in 1970 had written `Velayet-i Fakih: The Islam State` )The leader is selected by people (halk)Checking institution of the laws in terms of the seriahRepresentative of 12 imams (sna Aeriye) According to the 57. article of constitution as the supreme religion leader has a voice in executive, legislative and judiciary

Government and Politics IIThe legislative branch consists of a parliament, or Majlis, and the Guardians CouncilThe comprises 290 deputies for four-yearsIn 2005 some 12 women held seats:?Suffrage is universal at age 16Political parties were legalized in 1998The constitution guarantees freedom of the pressFreedom of speech is not guaranteedRadio and television broadcasting is controlled by the state

Foreign Relations IThe election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997 led to improved relations with Irans neighbors and with most of the West, excluding Israel and the United StatesAnd also stressed commercial and geopolitical relations with Western Europe and JapanIt is important matter that foreign relations have been an area of consensus among conservatives and reformers since the late 1980 In the early 2000s, the Khatami regime tried to find common ground with the United States, but did not archive to complete the normalization process

Foreign Relations IIThe Bush administative declared axis of evil, including especially Iran!In 2002 brought relations to a new low in the post-1989 periodBeginning in 2004, relations deteriorated further because U.S. officials believe that Iran intends to develop nuclear weaponsThe Bush administration also expressed that Iran might be supporting insurgents against U.S. forces in Iraq and Palestinian groups opposed to the peace process in IsraelThe relations, in that time, with the United States and the Europe of Iran declined because of Iran nuclear energy planYet, Russia on the contrary to others supported to Iran in nuclear energy process, and build twin nuclear reactors

Foreign Relations IIIAfter the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iran has established cooperative relations with the interim government and tried to force Iraqi Shia political partiesRelations with other regional Arab countries are relatively goodIran has also relatively good relations particularly in the area of military cooperation with China, India, and RussiaRelations with significant neighbors Turkey and Pakistan have been correct, but not close Foreign Relations IVBroadly speaking, Iran is close-gate for many countries in the world. Especially, Ahmedinejad administration hold till 2005 election a strict policy against the WestIran Nuclear Crisis going on as main discussion between two sides= useless sanctions!Iran is a member of the many international organizationsIt is also a signatory to international environment agreements

National SecurityUnder a unified command with the leader as commander in chief including about 420,000 active personnel in the regular forces and 125,000 in the auxiliary Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsModernizations of the navy, seen as vital for protecting interests in the Persian GulfTechnology purchased from North Korea and China(axis of evil!!!)There are some military agreements with RussiaThe most remarkable external threats are Israel and U.S.As internal threat, Iran is a main transit country for narcotics from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan; also from Europe, Central Asia and the Gulf region

Terrorism and IranDuring 2005 several incidents of domestic terrorism occurred using bombs in public placesMost of these were in areas of ethnic tensionsAlthough Iran has condemned all terrorist actions abroad, against Israel and U.S., but Iran is the most active sponsor of terrorism according to the West brother!Iran has supplied funding, haven, and weapons for the Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic JihadThank you for listening!