_#_Disputes: Iran and Iraq restored diplomatic relations on 14
October 1990 following the end of the war that began on 22 September
1980; progress had been made on the major issues of contention--troop
withdrawal, prisoner-of-war exchanges, demarcation of the border,
freedom of navigation, and sovereignty over the the Shatt al Arab
waterway--but written agreements had yet to be drawn up when frictions
reemerged in March 1991 in the wake of Shia and Kurdish revolts in
Iraq that Baghdad accused Tehran of supporting;
Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR;
occupies three islands in the Persian Gulf claimed by UAE (Jazireh-ye
Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or
Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb); periodic
disputes with Afghanistan over Helmand water rights; Boluch question with
Afghanistan and Pakistan
_#_Climate: mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
_#_Terrain: rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts,
mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
_#_Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper,
iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
_#_Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 27%; forest and woodland 11%; other 54%; includes irrigated 2%
_#_Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; desertification
_*_People
_#_Population: 59,051,082 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 66 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 65 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Iranian(s); adjective--Iranian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 25%, Kurd 9%, Gilaki
and Mazandarani 8%, Lur 2%, Baloch 1%, Arab 1%, other 3%
_#_Religion: Shia Muslim 95%, Sunni Muslim 4%, Zoroastrian, Jewish,
Christian, and Bahai 1%
_#_Language: 58% Persian and Persian dialects, 26% Turkic and Turkic
dialects, 9% Kurdish, 2% Luri, 1% Baloch, 1% Arabic, 1% Turkish, 2% other
_#_Literacy: 54% (male 64%, female 43%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 15,400,000; agriculture 33%, manufacturing 21%;
shortage of skilled labor (1988 est.)
_#_Organized labor: none
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Islamic Republic of Iran
_#_Type: theocratic republic
_#_Capital: Tehran
_#_Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (ostanha,
singular--ostan); Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari,
Azarbayjan-e Khavari, Bakhtaran, Bushehr,
Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars,
Gilan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman,
Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh va Buyer
Ahmadi, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran,
Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
_#_Independence: 1 April 1979, Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed
_#_Constitution: 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of
the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership
_#_Legal system: the new Constitution codifies Islamic principles of
government
_#_National holiday: Islamic Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
_#_Executive branch: cleric (faqih), president, Council of Ministers
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly
(Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Cleric and functional Chief of State--Leader of the Islamic
Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989);
Head of Government--President Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI
(since 3 August 1989);
_#_Political parties and leaders: there are at least 14 licensed
parties; the three most important are--Tehran Militant Clergy
Association, Mohammad Reza MAHDAVI-KANI;
Militant Clerics Association, Mehdi MAHDAVI-KARUBI and Mohammad Asqar
MUSAVI-KHOINIHA;
Fedaiyin Islam Organization, Sadeq KHALKHALI
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 15
_#_Elections:
President--last held NA July 1989 (next to be held April 1993);
results--Ali Akbar HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI was elected with only token
opposition;
Islamic Consultative Assembly--last held 8 April 1988 (next
to be held June 1992); results--percent of vote by party
NA;
seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA
_#_Communists: 1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore; 15,000 to 20,000 est.
sympathizers; crackdown in 1983 crippled the party; trials of captured
leaders began in late 1983 and remain incomplete
_#_Other political or pressure groups: groups that generally
support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah, Hojjatiyeh Society,
Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students Following the Line
of the Imam; armed political groups that have been almost completely
repressed by the government include Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO),
People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic Party; the Society for the
Defense of Freedom is a group of liberal nationalists that has been
repressed by the government for accusing it of corruption
_#_Member of: CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OIC, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is
Algeria--Iranian Interests Section, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 965-4990;