Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Capital: Tehran
The Iran Bulletin
Weekly Brief: September 28, 2015
Top Story Russia is escalating its military presence in Syria. American officials report (though Russia denies) that Russia has at least 28 warplanes deployed at an airbase near Latakia, on the Syrian coast. Russia also began flying surveillance missions in Syria with drones, a week after sending artillery and tanks to an airbase controlled by the Syrian government at […]
Weekly Brief: April 27, 2015
Top Story American President Barack Obama acknowledged on Wednesday that an American drone strike on an al Qaeda compound along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in January killed two hostages, an American and an Italian. Mr. Obama claimed that the mistake was due to faulty intelligence, and that American officials had no reason to believe the hostages […]
Weekly Brief: April 20, 2015
Africa Al-Shabab militants drove a car loaded with explosives into a government compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Tuesday. After the explosion, gunmen stormed the government offices and killed at least 17 people, including eight civilians and two soldiers. Security guards and Somali special forces soldiers eventually managed to secure the building, killing five attackers.
Weekly Brief: April 13, 2015
Africa One of the gunmen responsible for the attack on Kenya’s Garissa University College last week, which killed 148 people, was the son of a Kenyan district official. He had been missing for over a year, since dropping out of law school. His father has been cooperating with authorities since reporting his son missing last […]
Weekly Brief: April 6, 2015
Top Story Parties negotiating limits on Iran’s nuclear program announced a framework agreement on Thursday, which they intend to finalize by the end of June. The talks had intensified ahead of a March 31 soft deadline for a deal. By Monday, three primary sticking points remained: the process of lifting restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program after 10 years, […]
Weekly Brief: March 30, 2015
Middle East Fighting in Yemen continued to escalate this week. On Wednesday, the Houthi rebels seized an airbase as they moved closer to the city of Aden, where President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sheltered. By Thursday, Mr. Hadi had briefly sought shelter in Oman before moving on to Riyadh. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia led airstrikes against the Houthis in […]
Weekly Brief: October 18, 2013
A short Weekly Brief focused mostly on the Middle East covers developments in Iran’s nuclear programs; an update on Syria, including fallout at the United Nations; concerning developments regarding violence and political division in Iraq; and efforts to combat organized crime in Mexico.
History
Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces led by Ayatollah Ruhollah KHOMEINI established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority vested in a learned religious scholar referred to commonly as the Supreme Leader who, according to the constitution, is accountable only to the Assembly of Experts - a popularly elected 86-member body of clerics. US-Iranian relations became strained when a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and held embassy personnel hostages until mid-January 1981. The US cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in April 1980. During the period 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military forces. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to US, UN, and EU economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement in terrorism and its nuclear weapons ambitions. Following the election of reformer Hojjat ol-Eslam Mohammad KHATAMI as president in 1997 and a reformist Majles (legislature) in 2000, a campaign to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction was initiated. The movement floundered as conservative politicians, through control of unelected institutions, prevented reform measures from being enacted and increased repressive measures. Starting with nationwide municipal elections in 2003 and continuing through Majles elections in 2004, conservatives reestablished control over Iran's elected government institutions, which culminated with the August 2005 inauguration of hardliner Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD as president. His controversial reelection in June 2009 sparked nationwide protests over allegations of electoral fraud. The UN Security Council has passed a number of resolutions calling for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities and comply with its IAEA obligations and responsibilities. In mid-February 2011, opposition activists conducted the largest antiregime rallies since December 2009, spurred by the success of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Protester turnout probably was at most tens of thousands and security forces were deployed to disperse protesters. Additional protests in March 2011 failed to elicit significant participation largely because of the robust security response, although discontent still smolders. Deteriorating economic conditions due primarily to government mismanagement and international sanctions prompted at least two major economically based protests in July and October 2012.
Geography
Metric Units
| Total Area | 1,648,195 sq km |
| Land Boundaries | 5,440 km |
| Border Countries | Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km |
| Coastline | 2,440 km |
| Terrain | rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts |
| Minimum Elevation | -28 m |
| Maximum Elevation | 5,671 m |
| Climate | mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast |
| Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur |
| Arable Land | 10.05% |
| Permanent Crops | 1.08% |
Economy
| Gross Domestic Product | $997.4 billion |
| GDP (per capita) | $13,100 |
| GDP Growth | -0.9% |
| Unemployment Rate | 15.5% |
| Population in Poverty | 18.7% |
| GINI Index | 44.5 |
Budget & Debt
| Expenditures | $92.63 billion |
| Revenue | $131.2 billion |
| Current Account Balance | $-7.22 billion |
| External Debt | $9.45 billion |
Trade
| Exports | $66.37 billion |
| Export Items | petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets |
| Export Partners | China 21.4%, Japan 9.1%, Turkey 8.8%, India 8.1%, South Korea 8%, Italy 5.3% (2011) |
| Imports | $66.97 billion |
| Import Items | industrial supplies, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services |
| Import Partners | UAE 30.9%, China 17.4%, South Korea 7.1%, Germany 4.8%, Turkey 4.2% (2011) |
People
| Population | 79,853,900 |
| Population Growth | 1.24% |
| Ethnic Groups | Persian 61%, Azeri 16%, Kurd 10%, Lur 6%, Baloch 2%, Arab 2%, Turkmen and Turkic tribes 2%, other 1% |
| Religion | Muslim (official) 98% (Shia 89%, Sunni 9%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i) 2% |
| Life Expectancy | 70.62 years |
| Infant Mortality | 1.03 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality | 1.9 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
| Electricity Production | 213.7 billion kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 173.1 billion kWh |
| From Fossil Fuels | 86.1% |
| From Nuclear | 0% |
| From Hydroelectric | 13.7% |
| From Renewable Sources | 0.1% |
