I
Introduction
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran,
country in southwestern Asia, located on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf.
One of the world's most mountainous countries, Iran contains Mount
Damāvand, the highest peak in Asia west of the Himalayas. The country’s
population, while ethnically and linguistically diverse, is almost entirely
Muslim. For centuries, the region has been the center of the Shia branch of
Islam. Iran ranks among the world’s leaders in its reserves of oil and natural
gas. As is the case in other countries in the petroleum-rich Persian Gulf
region, the export of oil has dominated Iran’s economy since the early 20th
century
In the 6th century bc the territory of present-day
Iran was the center of the Persian Empire, the world’s preeminent power at that
time. For more than 2,000 years, the region’s inhabitants have referred to it
by the name Iran, derived from the Aryan tribes who
settled the area long ago. However, until 1935, when the Iranian ruler demanded
that the name Iran be used, the English-speaking world knew the country as
Persia, a legacy of the Greeks who named the region after its most important
province, Pars (present-day Fārs). Iran was a monarchy ruled by a shah, or
king, from 1501 until 1979, when a yearlong popular revolution led by the Shia
clergy culminated in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of an
Islamic republic.
II LAND AND RESOURCES
A
Natural Regions
In
Within this mountainous rim lies a series of basins
known collectively as the central plateau. They include the Dasht-e Kavir, a
huge salt-encrusted desert in north central Iran; the Dasht-e Lūt, a
sand-and-pebble desert in the southeast; and several fertile oases.
The mountains of
B Rivers and Lakes
Nearly all of
C Coastline
More than half of
D Plant and Animal Life
Although more than 10,000 plant species have been
identified in
A wide variety of native mammals, reptiles, birds,
and insects inhabit
E Natural Resources
Although about one-third of
F Climate
At higher elevations to the west, settlements in the
The central plateau region also experiences regional
variations. In Tehrān, located at an elevation of 1,200 m (3,900 ft) on
the northern edge of the plateau, the temperature averages 2° C (36° F) in
January and 29° C (85° F) in July. The city receives an average of 230 mm (9
in) of precipitation annually. The arid basins of central and eastern
The coastal plains along the Persian Gulf and the
Gulf of Oman in southern Iran have mild winters, with average January temperatures
ranging from 7° C to 18° C (45° F to 64° F) in Khūzestān Province;
average temperatures are even higher in Bandar-e ‘Abbās on the Strait of
Hormuz. Summers are very humid and hot, with temperatures exceeding 48° C (119°
F) during July in the interior areas. Annual precipitation ranges from 145 mm
to 355 mm (6 to 14 in) in this region.
G Environmental Issues
Iran's rapid urbanization and industrialization have
caused major environmental problems. Air pollution, primarily from automobile
and factory emissions, has become a serious problem in Tehrān and other
large cities. A rising incidence of respiratory illnesses prompted the city
governments of Tehrān and Arāk, southwest of the capital, to
institute air pollution control programs. These programs aim to reduce
gradually the amount of harmful chemicals released into the atmosphere.
Pollution of the Caspian Sea has increased substantially since the early 1990s,
reaching levels that threaten sturgeon and other fish that sustain the Iranian
fishing industry. Although Iran enforces stringent controls on the dumping of
municipal and industrial wastes into Caspian waters within its territorial
limits, the other countries that border the Caspian Sea do not control
pollution in the northern two-thirds of the lake. Iran has urged these
countries to sign a binding international agreement for cleaning up the Caspian
Sea and preserving its water quality.
III
PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
The population of Iran was estimated at 66,622,704
in 2002. This figure is more than double the 1975 population of 33,379,000.
Between 1956 and 1986 Iran's population grew at a rate of more than 3 percent
per year. The growth rate began to decline in the mid-1980s after the
government initiated a major population control program. By 2002 the growth
rate had declined to 0.8 percent per year, with a birth rate of 18 per 1,000
persons and a death rate of 5 per 1,000. In 1998, 44 percent of the population
was under age 15, 53 percent was between 15 and 64, and only 4 percent was aged
65 or older.
Overall population density in 2002 was 40 persons
per sq km (105 per sq mi). Northern and western Iran are more densely populated
than the arid eastern half of the country, where population density in the
extensive desert regions is only 1 percent of the national average. In 2000, 62
percent of the population lived in urban areas. About 99 percent of rural
Iranians resided in villages. Only 240,000 were nomads (people without
permanent residences who migrate seasonally), a fraction of the 2 million nomads
counted in 1966.
Tehrān, the country’s capital and largest city,
serves as the main administrative, commercial, educational, financial,
industrial, and publishing center. Iran's other major cities include Mashhad, a
manufacturing and commercial center in the northeast and the site of the
country's most important religious shrine; Eşfahān, a manufacturing
center for central Iran with several architecturally significant public
buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries; Tabrīz, the main industrial
and commercial center of the northwest; Shīrāz, a manufacturing
center in the south near the ruins of the ancient Persian capital of
Persepolis; and Ahvāz, the principal commercial and manufacturing center
in the southwestern oil region.
A Ethnic Groups
Iran’s population is made up of numerous ethnic
groups. Persians migrated to the region from Central Asia beginning in the 7th
century bc and established the first Persian empire in 550 bc. They are the
largest ethnic group, and include such groups as the Gilaki, who live in Gilān
Province, and the Mazandarani, who live in Māzandarān Province.
Accounting for about 60 percent of the total population, Persians live in
cities throughout the country, as well as in the villages of central and
eastern Iran. Two groups closely related to the Persians both ethnically and
linguistically are the Kurds and the Lurs. The Kurds, who make up about 7
percent of the population, reside primarily in the Zagros Mountains near the
borders with Iraq and Turkey. The Lurs account for 2 percent of the population;
they inhabit the central Zagros region. Turkic tribes began migrating into
northwestern Iran in the 11th century, gradually changing the ethnic
composition of the region so that by the late 20th century East Azerbaijan
Province was more than 90 percent Turkish. Since the early 1900s, Azeris (a
Turkic group) have been migrating to most large cities in Iran, especially
Tehrān. Azeris and other Turkic peoples together account for about 25
percent of Iran’s inhabitants. The remainder of the population comprises small
communities of Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Baluchis, Georgians, Pashtuns, and
others.
B Language
Modern Persian is the official language of Iran. An
ancient literary language, Persian was written in the Pahlavi script before the
Arab conquest in the 7th century. A new form written in the Arabic script
developed during the 9th and 10th centuries; this is the basis of the Modern
Persian language used today. As recently as 1950 there were several distinct
dialects of spoken Persian, but due to the spread of public education and
broadcast media, a standard spoken form, with minor regional accents, has
evolved. Important languages of minority groups that have their own
publications and broadcast programs include Azeri (a Turkic language of the Altaic
family), Kurdish, Arabic, and Armenian.
C Religion
Jafari Shia Islam has been the official religion of
Iran since the 16th century. Followers of Shia Islam disagree with Sunni
Muslims, who form the majority of Muslims in the Middle East and the Islamic
world, over the rightful succession to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of
Islam. Iran’s 1979 constitution assigns to the Shia clergy important political
leadership roles in the government. An estimated 93 percent of all Iranians
follow Shia Islam, and nearly all are members of the Jafari group. Because
Jafaris believe there are 12 legitimate successors, or imams, to Muhammad, they
are often called Twelvers. Most of the remaining population belongs to other
Islamic denominations, primarily Sunni Islam. In towns where there are mixed
Muslim communities, religious tensions have surfaced frequently, especially
during major religious observances. Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, is popular
among Shia and Sunni Muslims seeking spiritual interpretations of religion.
Iran also has small communities of Armenian and Assyrian Christians, Jews, and
Zoroastrians. The Baha’i faith, which originated in Iran during the 19th
century, has several thousand secret followers, even though it has been a
target of official persecution since the Islamic republic came to power in
1979.
D Education
Public primary education was introduced in Iran
after the country’s first constitution was drafted in 1906. Predominantly an
urban system, it expanded only gradually and did not include secondary
education until 1925. At the time of the 1979 Islamic revolution, only 60
percent of Iranian children of primary school age, and less than 50 percent of
those of secondary school age, were enrolled in public schools; overall adult
literacy was only 48 percent. Since 1979 the government has given a high
priority to education, with programs focusing on adult literacy, new school
construction, and expansion of public colleges and other institutes of higher
education. By 2001 literacy for all Iranians aged 15 and older had reached 94.6
percent. The literacy rate was higher for males (96.6 percent) than for females
(92.5 percent); the rate was also higher in cities than in rural areas.
Both the public education system and an expanding
private school system consist of a five-year primary school cycle, a three-year
middle school cycle, and a four-year high school cycle. Education is compulsory
for children between the ages of 6 and 11. All villages now have at least a
primary school, and 89.6 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled
in school in 1996. Dropout rates begin during middle school and increase
significantly during high school. In 1996 only 74.2 percent of secondary
school-aged children were enrolled in secondary school. Dropout rates are
significantly higher in rural areas, where there is a shortage of high schools
within easy commuting distance. Although educational opportunities for girls
improved after the revolution, the dropout rate is still higher for girls.
Although 87 percent of girls of eligible age attended primary school, only 69
percent attended secondary school.
Iran has more than 30 tuition-free public
universities (This correct number seems to be double) and many other institutes
of higher learning. These include medical universities and specialized colleges
providing instruction in teacher training, agriculture, and other subjects. In
all, only 17 percent of Iranians of relevant age were enrolled in institutions
of higher learning in 1996. Tehrān serves as a center for higher education,
with more than 15 universities and numerous colleges and institutes. Other
important universities are located in Hamedān, Eşfahān,
Shīrāz, Mashhad and Tabrīz. In addition to the public system,
Iran has a private system of higher education that consists of theological
colleges and the Islamic Free University, which has been developing campuses in
cities throughout the country since its establishment in the late 1980s.
E Social Structure
Iranian society in the early 20th century consisted
of a narrow ruling elite (the Qajar dynasty monarch and his extended family,
court-appointed officials in Tehrān and provincial capitals, major
landlords, and chiefs of large nomadic tribes); a middle tier, including urban
bazaar merchants, the Shia clergy, and artisans; and a large, poor segment
comprising mostly share-cropping peasants and nomads but also some town
dwellers engaged in service-sector trades. Following the overthrow of the Qajar
dynasty in 1925, Reza Shah Pahlavi implemented wide-ranging economic
development programs that stimulated the industrialization and urbanization of
the country. These changes led to the emergence of two new, urban social
groups: a middle class of professionals and technocrats (technical experts) and
a working class engaged in manual and industrial labor. Reza Shah’s son and
successor, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, continued the development programs, and
the two new social groups gradually expanded.
By the late 1970s, however, the professional and
technocratic middle class had divided into secular and religious factions. Both
groups contributed to the overthrow of the shah in 1979; the secular group
objected to the autocratic rule and economic corruption of the monarchy, while
the religious group feared that the shah’s embrace of the West threatened
traditional Islamic morality. The religious middle class, in alliance with the
Shia clergy and under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, gradually
split from the secular middle class and consolidated power after the
revolution. This group pursued an accelerated industrialization program,
causing further expansion of the middle-income population from 15 percent of
the total population in 1979 to 40 percent by 1996. The working class also
expanded, while the peasant and nomad populations decreased; together these
three low-income groups accounted for 53 percent of the population.
High-ranking officials, physicians, and entrepreneurs made up the upper-income
group (7 percent of the population).
F Way of Life
Codes of personal conduct and group behavior that
far predate the Islamic conquest of the 7th century continue to influence
Iranian culture. Enduring cultural values include obligations to extended
family, hospitality toward guests, and striving to act morally. However, social
changes during the 20th century have affected these values. For example, the
new professional middle class began living in nuclear family (consisting only
of father, mother, and children), rather than extended family, residences. Busy
lifestyles in large cities and eight-hour workdays proved incompatible with the
custom of spontaneously inviting friends home for a meal. The increase in
educational opportunities for girls since 1979 raised expectations among women
for work opportunities outside the home. The rapid expansion of the middle
class since the revolution has stimulated the growth of a consumer society in
which various material goods are perceived as status symbols.
The 1979 revolution was heavily imbued with
religious rhetoric. Its leaders subsequently banned many forms of entertainment
that they considered sinful, including casinos, nightclubs and dance halls,
movies that featured nudity or sexual themes, and musical genres such as pop
and rock. For more wholesome entertainment, the government encouraged Iranian
traditional and Western classical music, new films emphasizing family values,
and recreational and sports facilities segregated by gender. Both men and women
were required to dress modestly in public. For women, modest dress, or hejab,
meant covering their hair with a scarf and having no exposed flesh other than
their hands and faces; for men it meant wearing long trousers and long-sleeve
shirts.
The population continued to enjoy pre-revolutionary
leisure activities such as attending sports events, especially soccer, the
national pastime. Popular foods include fresh seasonal fruit, greens, and nuts.
Also popular are traditional Iranian dishes of steamed rice served with minced
lamb and chicken kebabs cooked over charcoal or with traditional stews made
with simmered meat, fruits, legumes, and spices. Tea is always served to guests
in the home and the workplace; fruit juices and carbonated beverages also are
popular. The sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages has been prohibited
since 1979, although there is a black market for bootleg vodka and wine. Other
general recreational and leisure activities include hiking, picnicking,
watching television and videos, and making seasonal visits to Caspian Sea
beaches and various historical sites and religious shrines. In large cities,
shopping and attending movies, concerts, theaters, museums, and poetry readings
also are popular.
G Social Issues
Although government programs have reduced the number
of families with annual incomes below the officially defined poverty line from
47 percent in 1979 to 19 percent in 1996, poverty continues to be a major
social problem. To lessen the impact of poverty, the government provides
low-income families with various subsidies for food, fuel, and utilities.
Health care services remain inadequate in rural areas. Another serious social
problem is the widespread recreational use of illegal drugs, especially among
young men, despite the government’s heavy use of the print and broadcast media
to educate the public about the harmful effects of addiction and drug-related
crime.
H Social Services
Public social services in Iran include a national
health insurance program that provides free or low-cost health care in
government-run city hospitals and village clinics. A social security program,
funded by a special tax on wages and salaries, provides pensions for retired
public sector employees and some private sector employees. It also provides
survivor benefits to widows of deceased retirees and veterans killed in action,
disability payments to family heads incapacitated by work-related injuries or
catastrophic illnesses, and special payments for minor-aged children of
deceased workers. Numerous private organizations also provide various social
services for low-income people.
IV ARTS
Iranian art forms have a long tradition and
distinctive style, as exemplified in architecture, carpets, ceramics,
metalware, painting, and woodwork. Government patronage of artists dates from
more than 2,000 years ago. Aesthetic ideals predating the Islamic conquest of
the 7th century, such as stylized figural representation and geometric shapes,
influenced the evolution of art in Iran during the early Islamic period
(650-1220). Examples of elaborately decorated bronze, ceramic, gold, and silver
objects from this period are preserved in museums. Persian poetry also
developed during this time, and works by several poets of the period are
considered classic literature. During the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722),
considered a golden age for Iranian art, miniature painting and architecture
reached their highest point of development. In the 20th century Iranian artists
and writers began experimenting with new styles and techniques, incorporating
European and East Asian influences into their work.
A Literature
From its beginnings in the 9th century, Modern
Persian literature was dominated by poetry. Important poets of the 9th through
the 12th century include Rudaki, noted for his qasidas (panegyrics, or written
works of praise); Firdawsi, who wrote the famous epic of pre-Islamic Iran, the
Shahnameh (completed in 1010); Omar Khayyam, author of the famous
Rubáiyát; and Nezami, who wrote the collection known as Khamseh
(Quintet). Persian poetry reached its height in the 13th and 14th centuries
with mystical poets Jalal al-Din Rumi, Sa’di, and Hafiz. Subsequently, Persian
literature declined, and for nearly five centuries both poetry and prose
remained uninspired imitation of past masters. A literary revival began in the
late 19th century and has continued to the present. Fiction, especially in the
form of the short story, has emerged as a new and important genre. Modern
Iranian writers include Mashid Amirshahi, Simin Daneshvar, Ismail Fassih,
Houshang Golshiri, and Moshen Makhmalbaf (who also directs films). Writers may
explore many themes that were prohibited prior to the 1979 revolution, such as
political freedom, rebellion against authority, satire of monarchy, and
fictional accounts of suffering under the Pahlavi dynasty. However, since the
revolution, works deemed to be anti-religious have been banned.
Persian art and architecture first developed in the
time of Persian king Cyrus the Great (6th century bc) and experienced a
renaissance during the Sassanid dynasty (224-651 ad). After the Islamic
conquest, the mosque became the major building type, and several new styles of
painting developed and thrived during the Safavid era (1501-1722).
B Art and Architecture
Persian art and architecture first developed in the
time of Persian king Cyrus the Great (6th century bc) and experienced a
renaissance during the Sassanid dynasty (224-651 ad). After the Islamic
conquest, the mosque became the major building type, and several new styles of
painting developed and thrived during the Safavid era (1501-1722).
The 1979 revolution ushered in a period of renewed
creativity in fine and applied arts. The proliferation of exhibits sponsored by
the Ministry of Culture, by various museums, and by private galleries inspired
artistic creativity in mediums as diverse as calligraphy, graphic art,
painting, photography, pottery, and sculpture. The boom in public and private
construction following the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) provided new opportunities
for architects. Most new buildings have tended to be updated versions of the
structures they replaced. Some younger architects have been experimenting with
designs that incorporate traditional architectural motifs into contemporary
buildings. In textile arts, younger designers continue to experiment with new
patterns and color schemes for hand-knotted carpets and woven coverings. See
also Iranian Art and Architecture.
C Music and Dance
Iranian musical tradition is marked by unique vocal
styles and rich solo instrumental performance. Since the 1979 revolution, there
has been a major revival of interest in Iranian traditional and folk music,
both of which are aired regularly on government-run radio and television
stations. Popular nationally known singers and performers of traditional music
include Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammad Reza Lofti, Shahram Nazari, and Mohammad
Shajarian. However, every town has locally famous singers. Traditional musical
instruments include the kamánche, or spiked fiddle; the santur, a
stringed instrument similar to the hammer dulcimer; the setar, which resembles
a lute; and the tar, an ancestor of the guitar. Many Iranian musicians have
acquired international reputations as virtuoso performers of these instruments.
The most popular folk troupes are those performing Azeri Turkish, Kurdish, and
Luri music, as well as Persian seafaring songs from the Persian Gulf coast.
D Theater and Film
A type of passion play called ta’zia, depicting
events of Shia religious history, developed during the Safavid era (1501-1722)
and enjoyed great popularity during Qajar rule (1794-1925). Influenced by
increased European contact, playwrights of the 19th and early 20th centuries
wrote satires that often called for reform. During the Pahlavi dynasty
(1925-1979), plays were typically patriotic and pro-Western. Since the 1979
revolution, which sought to promote Islamic values, the government has
encouraged playwrights but has prohibited plays considered immoral or
antireligious.
Iranian filmmakers produced the first Iranian
feature films in the early 1930s and have made more than 1,000 movies since
then. Iranian directors often also write the screenplays for their movies.
During the 1990s several Iranian films won awards at international film
festivals. Award-winning filmmakers include Bahram Bayzai, Abbas Kiarostami,
Majid Majidi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Dariush Mehrjui. In 1997 Kiarostami's
Taste of Cherry won the prestigious Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) award for best
film at the Cannes Film Festival, and in 1999 Majidi’s Children of Heaven was
nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film of 1998.
E Libraries and Museums
Of Iranian cities, Tehrān has the largest
number of museums, including Iran Bastan Museum (Museum of Ancient Iran), which
displays archaeological objects unearthed at Iran's pre-Islamic sites.
Tehrān’s museums also include Abgineh va Sofalineh Museum, a museum of
glass art and ceramics with hundreds of chronologically displayed exhibits, and
the Museum of Contemporary Art, which specializes in Iranian and international
painting and sculpture. Other major museums are located in Eşfahān,
Mashhad, Qom, and Shīrāz. Since 1979 the government has constructed
museums in more than 25 provincial capitals. The National Library of Iran,
located in Tehrān, houses many valuable manuscripts and historical
documents. Public libraries exist in hundreds of municipalities.
V
ECONOMY
Although agriculture historically was the most
important sector of Iran’s economy, its share of the gross domestic product
(GDP) has been declining since the 1930s due to the rise of manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the mining sector, which is dominated by the production of oil, has
grown rapidly since Iran nationalized its oil fields in the 1950s. Factory
manufacturing has experienced periods of both rapid growth and stagnation.
Trade and commerce activities have expanded with the country's increasing
urbanization. During the late 1970s the Iranian economy appeared ready to grow
to a level on par with the world’s developed countries, but the 1979 revolution
and the subsequent eight-year war with Iraq strained all economic sectors.
However, the need to produce for the war effort actually spurred
industrialization, as did government spending on infrastructure development.
In the mid-1990s the service sector contributed the
largest percentage of the GDP, followed by industry (mining and manufacturing)
and agriculture. About 60 percent of the government's budget came from oil and
natural gas revenues, and 40 percent came from taxes and fees. Government
spending contributed to average annual inflation rates exceeding 20 percent. In
2000 the GDP was estimated at $105 billion, or $1,650 per capita. Because of
these figures and the country’s diversified but small industrial base, the
United Nations classifies Iran's economy as semi-developed.
A Government Role in the Economy
Government planning plays an important role in
Iran’s economy. Since the late 1940s the government has designed and
implemented multiyear planning programs with the goal of industrial
diversification. After the 1979 revolution, the government continued the
industrialization that the shah had pursued but emphasized economic
self-sufficiency, which required greater investment in agriculture. However,
the flight abroad in 1978 and 1979 of most of the social and political elite,
along with their capital (estimated at more than $28 billion), combined with
the costly war with Iraq in the 1980s, left Iran’s economy severely damaged.
In the 1990s the Iranian government sought to
privatize state industries to stimulate the ailing economy. In 1991 about 45
percent of large industry was government-owned. The majority of heavy
industry—including steel, petrochemicals, copper, automobiles, and machine
tools—was in the public sector, while most light industry was privately owned.
That year the government announced plans to privatize 400 state-run factories;
however, the actual sale of these companies proceeded slowly. A five-year
development plan for the period from March 1995 to March 2000 calls for the
creation of 2 million new jobs, primarily through stimulation of the private
sector, especially industry.
B Labor
In 2000 Iran’s labor force was estimated at 19.7
million, of which women accounted for 27 percent. Unemployment stood at about
10 percent for the labor force as a whole, although the unemployment rate for
women and men aged 16 to 25 exceeded 20 percent. The agriculture and service
sectors employed the greatest number of workers. Although there are numerous
government-affiliated trade associations, there are no independent labor unions
in Iran.
C Services
Urbanization has contributed to significant growth
in the service sector. In 2000 the sector ranked as the largest contributor to
the GDP (59 percent) and employed 45 percent of workers. Important service
industries include public services (including education), commerce, personal
services, professional services (including health care), and tourism. The
tourist industry declined dramatically during the war with Iraq in the 1980s
but had revived significantly by the mid-1990s. About 1,700,000 foreign
tourists visited Iran in 2000; most came from Asian countries, including the
republics of Central Asia, while a small share came from the countries of the
European Union and North America. The most popular tourist destinations are
Eşfahān, Mashhad, and Shīrāz.
D Agriculture
Iran’s agricultural sector contributed 19 percent of
the GDP in 2000 and employed 23 percent (1996) of the labor force. Since 1979
commercial farming has replaced subsistence farming as the dominant mode of
agricultural production. Some northern and western areas support rain-fed
agriculture, while other areas require irrigation for successful crop
production. Wheat, rice, and barley are the country’s major crops. Total wheat
and rice production fails to meet domestic food requirements, however, making
substantial imports necessary. Other principal crops include potatoes, legumes
(beans and lentils), vegetables, fruits, fodder plants (alfalfa and clover),
oil seeds, nuts (pistachios, almonds, and walnuts), cotton, sugarcane, sugar
beets, herbs, spices (including cumin, sumac, and saffron), tea, and tobacco.
Honey is collected from beehives, and silk is harvested from silkworm cocoons.
Livestock products include lamb, beef, goat meat, poultry, eggs, milk, butter,
cheese, wool, and leather. Major agricultural exports include fresh and dried
fruits, nuts, animal hides, processed foods, and spices.
E Mining
Although the mining sector contributed 17 percent of
the GDP in 1996, mineral extraction in Iran employs less than 1 percent of the
labor force. Petroleum has long been the country’s most important mineral
resource. Since 1913 Iran has been a major oil exporting country. In the late
1970s it ranked as the fourth largest oil producer and the second largest oil
exporter in the world. Following the 1979 revolution, however, the government
reduced daily oil production in accordance with an oil conservation policy.
Further production declines occurred as result of damage to oil facilities
during the war with Iraq. Oil production began increasing in the late 1980s due
to the repair of damaged pipelines and the exploitation of newly discovered
offshore oil fields in the Persian Gulf. By 1999 Iran’s annual oil production
was 1.3 billion barrels; two-thirds was exported. Iran also has the world's
second largest reserves of natural gas; these are exploited primarily for
domestic use.
Although the petroleum industry provides the
majority of economic revenues, about 75 percent of all mining sector employees
work in mines producing minerals other than oil and natural gas. These include
coal, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, barite, salt, gypsum, molybdenum,
mica, silica, talc, uranium, and gold. The mines at Sar Cheshmeh in Kermān
Province contain the world's second largest lode of copper ore. Large iron ore
deposits lie in central Iran, near Bafq, Yazd, and Kermān.
F Manufacturing
Iran has a long tradition of producing artisan
goods, including carpets, ceramics, copperware and brassware, glass, leather
goods, textiles, and woodwork. Iran’s rich carpet-weaving tradition dates from
pre-Islamic times, and it remains an important industry. Large-scale
manufacturing in factories began in the 1920s and developed gradually. During
the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq bombed many of Iran’s petrochemical plants, and the
large oil refinery at Ābādān was badly damaged and forced to
halt production. Reconstruction of the refinery began in 1988 and production
resumed in 1993. However, the war also stimulated the growth of many small
factories producing import-substitution goods and materials needed by the
military. By 2000 manufacturing contributed 16 percent of the GDP and employed
18 percent of the labor force. Important manufactured products included
petrochemicals, steel, carpets, textiles, cement, processed foods (including
refined sugar), copper wire, aluminum, electronics, refrigerators, footwear,
appliances, paints, plastics, automobiles, machinery, railroad cars, leather,
furniture, cigarettes, utensils, glass, paper, and handicrafts.
G Forestry and Fishing
Although they contribute very little to the GDP and
employ a small percentage of workers, fishing and logging are important
industries in specific regions. Logging takes place primarily in the forests of
the Elburz Mountains, where various deciduous and conifer trees are harvested
for construction, furniture, pulp, industrial uses, and fuel. Fishing fleets
operate out of several ports on the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf
of Oman. Caviar harvested from Caspian Sea sturgeon is an important export
item. Grouper, shrimp, and tuna caught in the Persian Gulf are important for
the domestic and export markets. Various species of rock lobsters are caught in
the Gulf of Oman.
H Energy
Between 1979 and the mid-1990s Iran quadrupled its
electric power output through the construction of several new natural gas,
combined cycle (using both gas and steam), and hydroelectric power stations.
Thermal plants supply 93 percent of the country’s electricity, and
hydroelectric facilities provide most of the rest. In 1975 the government began
building a nuclear power plant at Būshehr, on the Persian Gulf coast. The
partially completed plant was bombed during the war with Iraq. In 1995 Russia
signed an agreement to finish construction of the plant.
I Transportation
Iran has an extensive paved road system linking most
of its towns and all of its cities. In 1998 the country had 167,157 km (104,000
mi) of roads, of which three-fifths was paved. There were 30 passenger cars for
every 1,000 inhabitants. Trains operated on 5,995 km (3,725 mi) of railroad
track. The country’s major port of entry is Bandar-e ‘Abbās on the Strait
of Hormuz. After arriving in Iran, imported goods are distributed throughout
the country by trucks and freight trains. The Tehrān- Bandar-e ‘Abbās
railroad, opened in 1995, connects Bandar-e ‘Abbās to the railroad system
of Central Asia via Tehrān and Mashhad. Other major ports include Bandar-e
Anzalī and Bandar-e Torkeman on the Caspian Sea and Korramshahr and
Bandar-e Khomeynī on the Persian Gulf. More than 30 cities have airports
that serve passenger and cargo planes. Iran Air, the national airline, was
founded in 1962 and operates domestic and international flights. All large
cities have mass transit systems using buses, and several private companies
provide bus service between cities. Tehrān and Eşfahān are in
the process of constructing underground mass transit rail lines.
J Communications
The press in Iran is privately owned and reflects a
diversity of political and social views. A special court has authority to monitor
the print media and may suspend publication or revoke the licenses of papers or
journals that a jury finds guilty of publishing antireligious material,
slander, or information detrimental to the national interest. In 1996, 32 daily
and 470 non daily newspapers were in circulation. The majority of these are
published in Persian, but newspapers in English and other languages also exist.
The most widely circulated periodicals are based in Tehrān. Popular daily
and weekly newspapers include Hamshahri, Jomhuri-ye Islami, Kayhan, Resalat,
Salaam, Sobh-e Emrooz, Khorasan and the Teheran Times (an English-language
paper).
The government runs the broadcast media, which in
1995 included 3 national and more than 50 local radio stations, as well as 3
national and 28 local television stations. In 1997 there were 263 radios and 71
television sets in use for every 1,000 residents. There were 149 telephone
lines and 33 personal computers for every 1,000 residents. Computers for home
use became more affordable in the mid-1990s, and since then demand for access
to the Internet has developed. In 1998 the Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications began selling Internet accounts to the general public.
K Foreign Trade
In 1998 Iran exported 918 million barrels of crude
oil per day. In the mid-1990s annual foreign currency revenues varied depending
on the international price of oil; non-oil exports brought in $4 to $5 billion
annually. Major non-oil exports include carpets, chemicals, steel, fresh and
dried fruits, nuts, animal hides, textiles, copper, and caviar. The country’s
leading purchasers are Japan, South Korea, Italy, South Africa, and Greece.
Since the value of Iran's imports generally is less than the value of its
exports, the country maintained a favorable balance of trade for most years
between 1989 and 1997. Principal imports include machinery, chemicals,
transport equipment, iron and steel, wheat, rice, live animals, and scientific
instruments. Primary suppliers of imports are Germany, Japan, Italy, France,
the United Kingdom, Argentina, and South Korea.
Iran has had no direct trade with the United States
since 1995, when the U.S. government banned all commercial and financial
transactions between U.S. companies and Iranian public and private entities.
The United States took this action because it believed Iran was planning to
develop weapons of mass destruction and was supporting international terrorism.
Iran is a founding member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund,
and the Economic Cooperation Organization (an organization promoting economic
and cultural cooperation among Islamic states).
L Currency and Banking
Iran’s unit of currency is the Rial. The official
exchange rate averaged 8,500 rials to the U.S. dollar in 2004. In 1979 the
government nationalized all private banks and announced the establishment of a
banking system whereby, in accordance with Islamic law, interest on loans was
replaced with handling fees; the system went into effect in the mid-1980s. The
banking system consists of the central bank, which issues currency; eight
commercial banks that are headquartered in Tehrān but have branches
throughout the country; two development banks; and a housing bank that
specializes in home mortgages. The Tehrān Stock Exchange trades the shares
of more than 400 registered companies.
VI GOVERNMENT
The Safavid dynasty established Iran as a monarchy
under a shah, or king, in 1501. Although the ruling dynasty changed in the 18th
century, the system of government did not change significantly until 1906, when
a popular revolution forced the shah to accept a constitution that limited his
powers. The 1906 constitution remained law until 1979, but after 1925 it was
ignored in practice by the Pahlavi dynasty shahs, who created a highly
centralized government over which they ruled as virtual dictators. Beginning in
the early 1950s, popular disaffection with arbitrary rule increased gradually,
culminating in the 1979 Islamic revolution. This revolution replaced the
monarchy with a republican form of government guided by the principles of Shia
Islam. Shia clergy who had played a key role in mobilizing opposition to the
shah obtained important positions in the postrevolutionary government. The
principal religious figure, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was accepted widely as
the country's leader even though he did not participate in the actual
governance of the country.
Although the clergy continued to dominate the
highest ranks of the government in the 1990s, it was divided into liberal and
conservative factions. Liberal clergy wanted to relax some of the religious
restrictions on Iranian society. In the late 1990s conservatives controlled the
legislature and the judiciary, and liberals under President Mohammed Khatami
controlled the executive. Although Khatami won the 1997 presidential election
by a landslide, conservatives sought to undermine his authority in many ways.
In 1998 an Iranian court, in a trial that was widely seen as politically
motivated, convicted the liberal mayor of Tehrān of corruption for illegally
funneling city funds into Khatami’s election campaign. In 1999 liberals won
control of most local council seats in the country’s first municipal elections.
Liberals won control of the legislature in 2000, and Khatami was reelected in
2001.
A Constitution
In the summer of 1979 a popularly elected assembly
drafted the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran; this constitution was
approved in a popular referendum in December. It named Khomeini to serve as
Iran’s supreme spiritual leader, an office called velayat-e faqih (guardianship
of the religious jurist; the holder of the office is the faqih), and provided
for an elected assembly of senior clergy to select Khomeini’s successors. The
constitution also stipulated as head of state an elected president who would
choose a prime minister to be head of government, subject to legislative
approval. It preserved the pre-revolutionary elected parliament, the Majlis, as
the legislature. In 1989 voters approved 45 amendments to the constitution, the
most important of which downgraded the religious qualifications for the faqih,
eliminated the office of prime minister, and made the president both head of
state and head of government. The Majlis set 15 as the minimum age for voting.
B Velayat-e Faqih
The faqih generally oversees the operation of the
government to ensure that its policies and actions conform to Islamic
principles. The faqih is a spiritual leader whose religious authority is above
that of the president and any other officials. However, in keeping with the
practice established by Khomeini, the faqih is expected to refrain from
involvement in the day-to-day affairs of governance. An 83-member Assembly of
Experts, popularly elected every eight years, is responsible for choosing the
faqih (or a council of three to five faqihs, if there is no consensus on a
single faqih) from among the most politically and religiously qualified Shia
clergy.
C Executive
The chief executive and head of state is the
president, who is elected to a four-year term and may be reelected to one
additional term. The president may appoint as many vice presidents as he deems
appropriate; he also appoints a cabinet of ministers. Vice presidents do not
need legislative approval, but all cabinet ministers chosen by the president
must receive a confirmation vote from the Majlis. The faqih is empowered to
dismiss a president who has been impeached by the Majlis.
D Legislature
Legislative authority is vested in the Majlis, a
single-chamber parliament. Its 290 members, 5 of whom represent non-Muslim
religious minorities, are popularly elected for four-year terms. The Majlis can
force the dismissal of cabinet ministers by no-confidence votes and can impeach
the president for misconduct in office. Although the executive proposes most
laws, individual deputies of the Majlis also may introduce legislation.
Deputies also may propose amendments to bills being debated.
A 12-member Council of Guardians ensures that all
legislation enacted by the Majlis conforms to Islamic principles and the
constitution. The Council of Guardians also approves candidates for
presidential, Majlis, and other elections. In 1997 the conservative-controlled
Council of Guardians used this power to disqualify many liberal candidates from
the election to the Assembly of Experts. Members of the Council of Guardians
serve six-year terms. Six of the members must be clergymen appointed by the
faqih, and six must be Muslim lawyers appointed by the judiciary. Conflicts
between the Council of Guardians and the more secular Majlis led Khomeini in
1988 to create the Expediency Council, a body charged with resolving
legislative disputes. The Expediency Council comprises the six clergymen from
the Council of Guardians and seven leading government officials.
E Judiciary
Islamic law was introduced into Iran’s legal system
following the Islamic revolution of 1979. The country’s highest judicial body
is the Supreme Council of Justice, a five-member group of senior clergy that
supervises the appointment of all judges and codifies Islamic law. The council
also drafts all legislation pertaining to civil and criminal offenses; the
Majlis then debates the drafts and may amend any proposed bill before voting to
accept or reject it. The faqih appoints the head of the Supreme Council of Justice;
constitutional amendments passed in 1989 combined this office with that of
chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court reviews decisions of the lower
courts and renders judgments regarding their conformity to Islamic legal
principles and the constitution. There are three types of lower courts in Iran:
revolutionary, civil, and criminal. Revolutionary courts try cases involving
antirevolutionary behavior, a broadly defined category that includes crimes
ranging from plots to overthrow the government by violent means to trafficking
in illegal drugs. Civil courts hear suits involving disputes between
individuals or corporate entities. Criminal courts deal with murder and theft.
In addition, there are special administrative courts, such as the Court of the
Clergy and the Press Court, that hear cases of professional misconduct.
Responsibility for the administration of courts is vested in the Ministry of
Justice. More than 100 crimes—including murder, drug trafficking, spying,
terrorism, treason, rape, adultery, and corruption—carry the possibility of a
death sentence.
F Local Government
Iran is divided into 28 provinces, each headed by a
governor appointed by the Ministry of Interior. The provinces are further
divided into counties, each headed by an executive appointed by the Ministry of
Interior on the recommendation of the provincial governor. Each county includes
two or more districts, which are headed by district commissioners appointed by
the county executive. The districts are subdivided into urban municipalities
and rural areas. Each municipality has an elected council; the rural areas
encompass a number of villages, each run by elected village councils. The local
councils have the power to regulate zoning and issue building permits. They
also organize the provision of, and assess fees for, various public services.
G Political Parties
Political parties developed in Iran during the
1940s. Most parties were banned after forces loyal to the shah overthrew Prime
Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and instituted martial law in 1953, although many
continued to operate secretly until the 1979 revolution, when they reemerged
openly. Immediately after the revolution, Iran’s leading clerics established
the Islamic Republican Party (IRP), which dominated politics until it was
dissolved in 1987 due to internal dissent. Following uprisings by several
opposition parties in 1981, new regulations made it increasingly difficult for
political groups to hold public meetings and recruit new members. An official
body was created to license political parties, but since 1987 it has recognized
the legal existence of only a few parties.
Nevertheless, the government tolerates political
activities by various associations that function as de facto parties by
endorsing candidates for legislative and presidential elections. One such
unofficial party, the Jamiyat-e Ruhaniyan Mobarez (Association of Militant
Clergy), generally supports legislation favorable to private business. The
Majma-e Ruhaniyat-e Mobarez (Society of Militant Clergy), which dominated the
Majlis from the late 1980s until 1992, advocates government regulation of the
economy and progressive income taxes to redistribute wealth equitably. The
Kargozaran-e Sazandegi (Servants of Construction), followers of former president
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, support a strong government role in development
projects. The Nezhat-e Azadi (Liberation Movement of Iran) stresses the need
for expanding and protecting civil liberties. The (Hezb-e Mosha Karat-e Islami
Iran (Islamic Iran Participation Party), supporters of Khatami, stress the need
to create a civil society based on the rule of law.
H Defense
Upon the recommendation of the president, the faqih
appoints a joint chief of staff to coordinate the five branches of the armed
forces. These consist of an army (totaling 350,000 forces in 1997), an internal
security force known as the Revolutionary Guard (125,000), a rural police force
(40,000), a navy (20,600), and an air force (45,000). In addition, a total of
200,000 men and women were enlisted in a volunteer reserve force, the Basij. A
two-year period of military service is required of all male citizens of Iran
aged 18 and older. The Ministry of Defense exercises general supervision over
the armed forces. In general, the military is under the tight control of the
civilian government, and armed forces personnel are encouraged to avoid
involvement in partisan politics.
I International Organizations
Iran is a charter member of the United Nations (UN)
and belongs to all of its specialized agencies. The country is also a founding
member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which promotes
solidarity among nations where Islam is an important religion, and the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Iran also belongs to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
VII
HISTORY
Arab Muslim armies began their conquest of the
Persian Sassanian Empire in ad 636 and during the next five years conquered all
of Iran, with the exception of the Elburz Mountains and the Caspian coastal
plain. They finally put an end to the Sassanid dynasty in 651. For the next two
centuries, most of Iran (which at that time extended beyond Herāt in what
now is western Afghanistan) remained part of the Arab Islamic empire. The
caliphs (successive Islamic leaders) ruled initially from Medina in present-day
Saudi Arabia, then from Damascus, Syria, and finally from Baghdād, Iraq,
as each city became the seat of the caliphate. Beginning in the late 9th
century, however, independent kingdoms arose in eastern Iran; by the mid-11th
century, the Arab caliph in Baghdād had lost effective control of
virtually all of Iran, although most of the local dynasties continued to
recognize his religious authority
From the time of Islamic conquest, Iranians
gradually converted to Islam. Most had previously followed Zoroastrianism, the
official state religion under the Sassanid dynasty, but minority groups had
practiced Christianity or Judaism. By the 10th century the majority of Iranians
probably were Muslims. Most Iranian Muslims adhered to orthodox Sunni Islam,
although some followed various sects of Shia Islam. The Ismailis, a Shia sect,
maintained a small but effectively independent state in the Rūdbār
region of the Elburz Mountains from the 11th through the 13th century. Iran's
unique identity as a bastion of Jafari, or Twelver, Shia Islam (which
constitutes the main body of Shia Islam today) did not develop until the 16th
century.
A Turks and Mongols
In the 11th century Turkic tribes began migrating to
Iran, settling primarily in the northwest. The Seljuk Turks (see Seljuks), who
had converted to Sunni Islam in the 10th century, defeated local rulers and
established dynasties that ruled over most of the country until the Mongol
invasions in the 13th century. Mongol rule proved disastrous for Iran. The
Mongols destroyed major cities such as Ardabīl, Hamadān,
Marāgheh, Neyshābūr, and Qazvīn, and they killed almost all
of the inhabitants as punishment for resistance. Ray and Tus, the largest and
most important cities in Iran, were destroyed by the Mongols and never rebuilt.
The Mongols devastated many regions, especially Khorāsān and
Māzandarān, by destroying irrigation networks and cropland. The harsh
rule of the Mongols contributed to a continuing economic decline throughout the
13th century.
Prior to 1295 Iran's Mongol rulers, followers of
shamanism or Buddhism, did not accept the Islamic faith. Their official
indifference or open hostility toward Islam stimulated the transformation of
Sufi brotherhoods into religious paramilitary organizations. Although nominally
Sunni, many of these brotherhoods became increasingly tolerant of Shia ideas,
even incorporating these ideas into their own belief systems. In 1295 Mongol
ruler Ghazan Khan, himself a convert to Islam, restored Islam as the state
religion, further bolstering the growth of new Islamic ideas.
Ghazan and his immediate successors also adopted
policies that reversed Iran's economic decline. In the late 13th and early 14th
centuries, cities that had escaped the destruction of the Mongol invasions,
such as Eşfahān, Shīrāz, and Tabrīz, emerged as new
centers of cultural development. However, from 1335 to 1380 civil strife
weakened central authority. Between 1381 and 1405 invasions by Turkic conqueror
Tamerlane destroyed more of Iran’s cities and undid most of the progress Ghazan
had achieved.
B Safavid Rule
During the 15th century several competing families
and tribes, mostly of Turkic origins, ruled over various parts of Iran. Notable
among them were the Safavids, who headed a militant Sufi order founded in the
northwest by Shaikh Safi of Ardabīl in the early 14th century. His
descendant, Ismail I, conquered first Tabrīz and then the rest of Iran. In
1501 he proclaimed himself shah (king), a title commonly used by Iranian rulers
in pre-Islamic times. This marked the beginning of the Safavid dynasty and was
the first time since the 7th century that all of Iran was unified as an
independent state. Ismail embraced Jafari Shia Islam, established it as the
state religion, and began to convert the largely Sunni population to this Shia
sect.
Ismail used the new religion to mobilize armies
against the Ottomans—Sunni Muslims who controlled a vast empire to the west. Intermittent
warfare between the Safavids and the Ottoman Empire continued for more than 150
years as successive rulers of each accused one another of heretical beliefs.
Although this lengthy conflict helped shape Iran's identity as a Shia country,
the real conflict between the Safavids and the Ottomans was over territory,
especially the Zagros Mountains region and the fertile plains of present-day
Iraq. In 1509 Ismail gained control of the Iraqi territory, but it fell into
Ottoman hands when Ottoman ruler Süleyman I conquered Baghdād in 1534.
After several unsuccessful campaigns, the Safavids
finally recaptured Baghdād in 1623 under Abbas I. (They held the city for
15 years before the Ottomans gained permanent control in 1638.) During his
reign, Abbas moved the Safavid capital from Tabrīz, which was dangerously
close to the Ottoman border and had been occupied briefly by the Ottomans, to
the centrally located city of Eşfahān. He embellished
Eşfahān with many bridges, mosques, palaces, and schools. Most of these
structures still stand, and they are among the best-preserved examples of
Islamic architecture in the world. Abbas also encouraged trade with Europe,
especially England and The Netherlands, whose merchants bought Iranian carpets,
silk, and textiles.
The Safavid empire gradually declined after the
reign of Abbas II ended in 1666. To finance lavish personal lifestyles, later
shahs imposed heavy taxes that discouraged investment and encouraged corruption
among officials. Shah Sultan Hosain, who ruled from 1694 to 1722, tried to
convert forcibly his Afghan subjects in eastern Iran from Sunni to Shia Islam.
In response, an Afghan army under Mir Mahmud rebelled, marching across eastern
Iran and capturing the Safavid capital of Eşfahān. After a brief
siege of the city, the Afghan army executed the shah in 1722, thus ending
Safavid rule of Iran. The sudden dissolution of the empire plunged Iran into a
70-year period of relative turmoil, marked by internal civil strife and efforts
by Ottoman and Russian forces to occupy border zones. Military leader Nadir
Shah, based in Mashhad, succeeded in freeing Iran from foreign occupation in
the 1730s and soon extended his rule eastward, but his empire collapsed upon
his assassination in 1747. Karim Khan Zand, based in Shīrāz,
established a brief period of tranquility in the mid-1700s but was not able to
extend his control over all of Iran.
C The Qajar Dynasty
In 1794 Agha Mohammad Khan defeated numerous rivals
and brought all of Iran under his rule, establishing the Qajar dynasty. The
Qajars were a Turkic tribe that held ancestral lands in present-day Azerbaijan,
which then was part of Iran. Agha Mohammad established his capital at
Tehrān, a village near the ruins of the ancient city of Ray (now Shahr-e
Rey). Agha Mohammad’s nephew and successor, Fath Ali Shah, ruled from 1797 to
1834. Under Fath Ali Shah, Iran went to war against Russia, which was expanding
from the north into the Caucasus Mountains, an area of historic Iranian
interest and influence. Iran suffered major military defeats during the war.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, Iran recognized Russia's
annexation of Georgia and ceded to Russia most of the north Caucasus region. A
second war with Russia in the 1820s ended even more disastrously for Iran,
which in 1828 was forced to sign the Treaty of Turkmanchai acknowledging
Russian sovereignty over the entire area north of the Aras River (territory
comprising present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan).
During the reign of Mohammad Shah, from 1834 to 1848,
Russia began expanding its political influence into Iran. Another world power,
Britain, also took interest in the region in order to protect its growing
empire in India. Because of Iran’s strategic location between the southern
borders of Russia and the westernmost borders of British India, both Britain
and Russia regarded an independent Iran as a convenient buffer area between the
two empires. At the same time, both powers preferred Iran to have a weak
central government so that they could more easily influence the country's
internal affairs.
Foreign interference and territorial encroachment
increased under the rule of Nasir al-Din Shah (1848-1896) and his son, Muzaffar
al-Din Shah (1896-1906). Both men contracted huge foreign loans to finance
expensive personal trips to Europe. Neither ruler was able to prevent Britain
and Russia from encroaching into regions of traditional Iranian influence. In
1856 Britain prevented Iran from reasserting control over Herāt, which had
been part of Iran in Safavid times but had been under non-Iranian rule since
the mid-18th century. Britain supported the city's incorporation into
Afghanistan, a country Britain helped create in order to extend eastward the
buffer between its Indian territories and Russia's expanding empire. Britain
also extended its control to other areas of the Persian Gulf during the 19th
century. Meanwhile, by 1881 Russia had completed its conquest of present-day
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, bringing Russia’s frontier to Iran's northeastern
borders and severing historic Iranian ties to the cities of Bukhoro (Bukhara)
and Samarqand. Several trade concessions by the Iranian government put economic
affairs largely under British control. By the late 19th century, many Iranians
believed that their rulers were beholden to foreign interests.
C1 The Constitutional Revolution
During the early 1900s the idea gradually spread
among Iranians that the only effective way to save the country from government
corruption and foreign manipulation was to make the shah accountable to a
written code of laws. By 1905 this sentiment had grown into a popular movement,
the Constitutional Revolution. Following a year of demonstrations and strikes,
Muzaffar al-Din Shah was forced to agree to the creation of an elected
parliament (the Majlis) and a constitution that limited royal power,
established a parliamentary system of government, and outlined the powers of
the legislature.
Britain and Russia, apparently fearing that a strong
Iranian government might act too independently and threaten their interests in
the region, agreed in 1907 to divide Iran into spheres in which each would
exercise exclusive influence. Russia then encouraged Mohammad Ali Shah,
Muzaffar’s successor who resented the constitutional limits on his authority, to
dissolve the Majlis. In 1908 the shah attempted a coup against the elected
government, bombing the Majlis building and dissolving the assembly. After a
year of fighting between supporters of the constitution and forces loyal to the
shah, the constitutionalists prevailed and deposed Mohammad Ali, who fled to
Russia. His young son Ahmad Shah, vowing to respect the constitution, was
installed under a regent.
The restoration of the Majlis and constitutional
government failed to end foreign influence in Iran. In 1901 a British subject
had been granted an exclusive 60-year concession to explore Iran for oil.
Commercially valuable quantities of oil were discovered in southwestern Iran in
1908, and exports began in 1911. In 1914 the British government purchased 51
percent of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (formed in 1909; renamed the
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, or AIOC, in 1935), and from then on behaved
increasingly like a sovereign power in southwestern Iran. Meanwhile, in 1910
Russia assisted Mohammad Ali Shah in an invasion of Iran and an unsuccessful
attempt to overthrow the government. The following year, Russia occupied
Tabrīz and forced the Majlis to dismiss American financial advisor William
Morgan Shuster, whom the Majlis had invited to Iran to reorganize the national
finances; Shuster’s reforms strengthened Iran but threatened Russian and
British interests.
C2 World War I and Its Aftermath
During World War I (1914-1918), Britain and Russia,
who were allies, launched attacks from Iran against the Ottoman Empire, which
was allied with Germany. Although Iran proclaimed neutrality in the war,
several battles were fought in western Iran between Russian and Ottoman forces.
These battles destroyed many villages, killed several hundred Iranian
civilians, and caused near-famine conditions that probably caused the death of
several thousand more. The inability of the Iranian government to protect the
country provoked rebellions and autonomy movements in northern Iran between
1915 and 1921.
Meanwhile, in 1919 Britain induced the Iranian prime
minister to sign a treaty giving Britain substantial political, economic, and
military control over Iran. This agreement would have made Iran a virtual
protectorate of Britain, and it aroused the anger of Iranian nationalists. Opposition
to the treaty in newspapers and popular demonstrations dissuaded successive
governments from submitting it to the Majlis for ratification. By 1921 both
Britain and Iran had let the draft treaty quietly die.
D Reza Shah Pahlavi
The continuing political strife in Iran alarmed many
nationalists, including Reza Khan (later Reza Shah Pahlavi), an officer in
Iran’s only military force, the Cossack Brigade. Joining a newspaper publisher
known for his admiration of British politicat institutions, Reza Khan used his
troops in 1921 to support a coup against the government. Within four years he
had established himself as the most powerful person in the country by
suppressing rebellions and establishing order. In 1925 a specially convened
assembly deposed Ahmad Shah, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, and named
Reza Khan, who earlier had adopted the surname Pahlavi, as the new shah.
Reza Shah had ambitious plans for what he called the
modernization of Iran. These included developing large-scale industries,
implementing major infrastructure projects, building a cross-country railroad
system, establishing a national public education system, reforming the
judiciary, and improving health care. He believed only a strong, centralized
government managed by educated personnel could carry out his plans. He sent
hundreds of Iranians, including his own son, to Europe for training. Between
1925 and 1941 Reza Shah’s numerous development projects transformed Iran.
Industrialization, urbanization, and public education progressed rapidly, and
new social classes—a professional middle class and an industrial working
class—emerged. However, by the mid-1930s Reza Shah's dictatorial style of rule,
including the harsh and arbitrary treatment of his opponents and restrictions
on the press, caused increasing dissatisfaction in Iran.
Throughout his reign, Reza Shah tried to avoid
involvement with Britain and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR;
formed from the Russian Empire in 1922). Although many of his development
projects required foreign technical expertise, he tried to avoid awarding
contracts to British and Soviet companies, believing—as did most Iranians—that
this would open the way for their governments to exercise influence in Iran.
Although Britain, through its ownership of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company,
controlled all of Iran's oil resources, Reza Shah preferred to obtain technical
assistance from France, Germany, Italy, and other European countries. This
created problems for Iran after 1939, when Britain and Germany became enemies
in World War II. Although Reza Shah proclaimed Iran's neutrality, Britain
insisted that the German engineers and technicians in Iran were spies with
missions to sabotage British oil facilities in southwestern Iran. Britain
demanded that Iran expel all German citizens, but Reza Shah refused, claiming
this would adversely impact his development projects.
E World War II and Its Aftermath
Following Germany's invasion of the USSR in June
1941, Britain and the Soviet Union became allies. Both turned their attention
to Iran. In addition to their suspicions about the role of German technicians
in Iran, Britain and the USSR saw the newly opened Trans-Iranian Railroad as an
attractive route for transporting supplies from the Persian Gulf to the Soviet
Caucasus region. However, Iran's neutrality ruled out this option. In August
1941, after Reza Shah again refused to expel all German nationals, Britain and
the USSR invaded Iran. They swiftly defeated the Iranian army, arrested Reza
Shah and sent him into exile, and took control of Iran's communications and
coveted railroad. In 1942 the United States, an ally of Britain and the USSR
during the war, sent a military force to Iran to help maintain and operate
sections of the railroad.
The British and Soviet authorities allowed Reza
Shah's system of political and press repression to collapse and constitutional
government to evolve with minimal interference. They permitted Reza Shah's son,
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, to succeed to the throne after he promised to reign
as a constitutional monarch. In January 1942 the two occupying powers signed an
agreement with Iran to respect Iran's independence and to withdraw their troops
from the country within six months of the war’s end. A U.S.-sponsored agreement
at the 1943 Tehrān Conference reaffirmed this commitment. In late 1945,
however, the USSR refused to announce a timetable for its withdrawal from
Iran's northwestern provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, where
Soviet-supported autonomy movements had developed. Although the USSR withdrew
its troops in May 1946, tensions continued for several months. The dispute,
which became known as the Azerbaijan crisis, was the first case to be brought
before the Security Council of the United Nations. This episode is considered
one of the precipitating events of the emerging Cold War, the postwar rivalry
between the United States and its allies and the USSR and its allies.
Meanwhile, Iran's political system became
increasingly open. Political parties soon developed, and the 1944 Majlis
elections were the first genuinely competitive elections in more than 20 years.
Reformist parties were determined to prevent a return to authoritarian rule by
the monarchy, while parties opposed to economic and social reforms tended to
ally themselves with the shah. Foreign intervention remained a sensitive issue
for all parties. Reformists accused conservative politicians of collaborating
with foreigners to preserve their privileges. With foreign troops withdrawn and
the Azerbaijan crisis resolved, British control of Iran's oil fields became the
central issue regarding foreign intervention. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
(AIOC), which was owned by the British government, continued to produce and
market all Iranian oil under the terms of the 1901 concession. The AIOC
provided a modest royalty payment, which was only a fraction of its annual
profits, to the government of Iran. As early as the 1930s, some Iranians began
advocating the nationalization of the country's oil fields; after 1946, this
effort developed into a major popular movement.
F Mosaddeq and Oil Nationalization
In the mid-1940s Mohammad Mosaddeq, an Iranian
statesman and a member of the Majlis, emerged as the leader of the oil
nationalization movement. This movement sought to transfer control over the oil
industry from foreign-run companies to the Iranian government. Throughout his
political career, Mosaddeq consistently advocated three goals: to free Iran of
foreign intervention, to ensure that the shah remained a democratic monarch and
not a dictator, and to implement social reforms. He believed ending foreign
interference was a prerequisite for success in other areas, and he was
convinced that as long as the AIOC controlled Iran's most important natural
resource, foreign influence was inevitable. Beginning in 1945 he led a
successful campaign to deny the Soviet Union an oil concession in northern
Iran. Although he resisted joining political parties, Mosaddeq agreed in 1949
to head the National Front, a coalition of several parties that supported oil
nationalization. Within a year the National Front had members in cities and
towns throughout the country and had become adept at organizing mass political
rallies.
Conservative political groups, backed by the shah,
opposed nationalizing the AIOC, partly because they believed such a course
would cause irreparable harm to relations with Britain and partly because they
distrusted Mosaddeq's populism. However, as the nationalization movement grew,
fewer and fewer politicians openly challenged Mosaddeq on the oil issue. In an
effort to forestall nationalization, the shah appointed military officer Ali
Razmara as prime minister in 1950. This move increased the scale of
demonstrations in favor of nationalization and against a government that
increasingly was denounced as a puppet of foreign interests. Razmara was
assassinated in 1951 after only a few months in office, and the more militant
supporters of nationalization applauded his death. Sensing the popular mood,
the Majlis passed a bill nationalizing the AIOC, then took the unprecedented
step of appointing Mosaddeq prime minister over the shah's objections.
In response to these events, Britain enforced a
blockade on oil exports from Iran, a move that deprived Iran of foreign exchange.
Although Iran had not relied on oil revenues prior to 1951, Mosaddeq's
development budget anticipated this income; its absence severely hindered
efforts to stimulate the economy and implement social reforms. Attempts to
secure foreign financial assistance proved unsuccessful because most countries
and international financial institutions feared offending Britain. The
escalating crisis also discouraged private investment inside Iran. Mosaddeq,
like many other Iranian political leaders, hoped the United States would
intervene to resolve the crisis. Initially, the United States tried to mediate
a compromise. By 1952 it had persuaded Britain to accept the principle of oil
nationalization. However, the various diplomatic efforts ultimately failed to
resolve the dispute.
In early 1953, when a new administration came to
power in the United States, U.S. policy toward Iran began to change. The United
States now became sympathetic to British arguments that Mosaddeq's government
was causing instability that could be exploited by the USSR to expand its
regional influence. As the Cold War escalated, world superpowers began to
interpret political developments around the globe as "wins" or
"losses" for the U.S.-led Western bloc and the Soviet-led Eastern
bloc. Although Mosaddeq advocated Iranian neutrality in the Cold War conflict,
neither side wanted to "lose" Iran. Consequently, the United States
decided to use its Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to help overthrow
Mosaddeq. By this time, many conservative politicians in Iran, some senior
military officers, and the shah were prepared to work with the CIA to bring
down the Mosaddeq government. The coup, carried out in August 1953, failed
initially, and the shah was forced to flee the country. After several days of
street fighting in Tehrān, however, army officers loyal to the shah gained
the upper hand. Mosaddeq was arrested, and the shah returned in triumph.
The Iranian government restored relations with
Britain in 1953 and concluded a new oil agreement the following year. Under the
new agreement, the concession formerly held by the AIOC passed to a consortium
of British, Dutch, French, and U.S. oil companies; this consortium was to share
the profits of oil operations in Iran with the Iranian government. Although the
agreement increased Iran’s share of the oil profits, production levels and sale
price remained under foreign control.
G Mohammad Reza Shah’s Consolidation of Power
Although he had succeeded his father as shah in
1941, prior to 1953 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi had been overshadowed by
Mosaddeq and other politicians and seemed destined to remain a passive,
constitutional monarch. Following the coup, however, he moved to consolidate
power in his own hands. With the help of the military and later a secret police,
the Savak, the shah created a centralized, authoritarian regime. He suppressed
opposition by former National Front supporters and Communists, tightly
controlled legislative elections, and appointed a succession of prime ministers
loyal to him. In 1961 the shah dissolved the Majlis, instructing the prime
minister to rule by decree until new elections were held.
Initially, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi did not
demonstrate the same enthusiasm for development and reform programs that his
father had shown. His early reforms were undertaken only with prodding from the
United States, which believed that dissatisfied Iranian peasants were
susceptible to influence by local agents of the USSR. In the early 1960s more
than 60 percent of Iran’s inhabitants were sharecroppers who received a
subsistence share (usually 20 percent) of the harvest from their landlords. A
land reform program implemented between 1962 and 1971 required landlords to
sell most of their land to the government, which then resold it to the peasants.
Although widely promoted as a major rural reform effort, only half of the
peasants obtained any land under the program, and about three-quarters of those
receiving land got less than 6 hectares (15 acres).
Mohammad Reza Shah took more interest in industrial
and public works projects, and between 1963 and 1978 numerous development
schemes contributed to an increase in industrialization and urbanization. The
shah presented his program as an integral part of a wider reform effort known
as the White Revolution, initiated to prevent a Red, or Communist, revolution
from originating at the grass roots level. The middle class expanded, but much
of the urban growth resulted from the migration of poor villagers seeking city
jobs. Consequently, slums proliferated on the outskirts of cities. Government
policy focused on the creation of modern industrial facilities but neglected
the development of social services. The construction activity under the White
Revolution stimulated expectations of political and social change. Oil revenues
tripled after 1973 due to higher prices and increased sales, providing ready
funding for the shah’s programs. However, economic success only caused the
shah’s regime to become more repressive as his confidence in his rule grew.
H Growing Opposition to the Shah
Because of his collaboration with the CIA to
overthrow Mosaddeq in 1953, the shah was never able to overcome a popular
perception that he was merely a tool for foreign interests. Mosaddeq’s ouster
had shocked the nation, and over the years his image as a national hero had
grown stronger despite the fact that the shah’s government had banned any
publications that mentioned his name. Furthermore, because of the CIA’s role in
the overthrow, most Iranians saw the United States, even more so than Britain
or the USSR, as a threat to Iran's national interests. Strong relations between
the United States and Iran at the official level, especially an alliance
whereby the United States assisted in the buildup of Iran's military, fed the
public’s fears. In the early 1960s the shah's government drafted legislation
granting diplomatic status to U.S. military personnel stationed in Iran.
Nationalists denounced the bill as a reversion to the detested extraterritorial
legal privileges accorded to British and Russian citizens in Iran before 1925.
One of the shah’s most vocal opponents was the
leading Shia scholar, or ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini was arrested in
1962 after publicly speaking out against the bill, and his arrest instantly
elevated him to the status of national hero. Although released the following
year, he refused to keep silent. He instead broadened his criticisms of the
regime to include corruption, violations of the constitution, and rigging of
elections. Khomeini’s second arrest in June 1963 led to three days of rioting
in many Iranian cities; the military suppressed the riots only after more than
600 people had been killed and more than 2,000 injured. Fearing that Khomeini
would assume martyr status if he were kept in prison or executed for treason,
the shah exiled him to Turkey in 1964. Khomeini eventually settled in the Shia
theological center of An Najaf in Iraq. From there he maintained regular
contact with his former students in the Iranian city of Qum. These students formed
the nucleus of a covert anti-shah movement that was growing among the clergy.
In 1971 Khomeini published a book, Velayat-e faqih, that provided the religious
justification for an Islamic government in Iran.
The shah also failed to win mass support among the
secular middle class of professionals, bureaucrats, teachers, and
intellectuals. This social group, created as a result of his father’s reforms
and expanded during the 1960s and 1970s due to the shah’s own development
plans, tended to be highly nationalistic and looked back nostalgically to the
Mosaddeq period as an era of genuine democracy. Like the clergy and the
religiously inclined traditional middle class of merchants and artisans, the
secular middle class resented the lack of meaningful political participation
and the close ties the shah had established with the United States. They
criticized the shah's promotion of Iran beginning in the late 1960s as
America’s security pillar in the Persian Gulf region. Despite their commonality
of views, the secular and religious groups had distrusted one another in the
1950s and 1960s. The growing severity of political repression during the 1970s
gradually brought them closer together, however, and by 1977 various secular
and religious opposition movements were prepared to cooperate against the
shah's regime.
I The Islamic Revolution
The spark that ignited the revolution was a
pro-Khomeini demonstration in Qum in January 1978. Police intervened, the
demonstration turned into a riot, and about 70 people were killed before calm
was restored. From his exile in Iraq, Khomeini called upon his followers to
commemorate the victims on the 40th day after their deaths, in accordance with
Iranian mourning customs. In February they held services at mosques throughout
the country, and demonstrations in Tabrīz turned into riots during which
more people were killed. Thus began a cycle of nationwide mourning services
every 40 days, some of which turned violent and resulted in more fatalities. By
late summer, when it became clear that the government was losing control of the
streets, the shah imposed martial law on Tehrān and 11 other cities. This
move only escalated tensions. Employees in different industries and offices
began striking to protest martial law, and within six weeks a general strike
had paralyzed the economy, including the vital oil sector
By October the strikes and demonstrations were
becoming a unified revolutionary movement. From the security of his exile in
Iraq, Khomeini continued to denounce the corruption and injustices of the
shah's regime, as well as its dependence on the United States. His sermons were
recorded, duplicated on thousands of cassette tapes, and smuggled into Iran.
The tapes appealed equally to religious Iranians and members of the secular middle
class. Alarmed by Khomeini’s growing influence, the shah persuaded the Iraqi
government to expel him. Khomeini immediately found asylum in France, where
access to the international media made it even easier for him to communicate
with supporters in Iran. In November the shah realized that the army could not
indefinitely contain the mass movement, and he began making plans for his
departure from Iran. He left the country in mid-January 1979. Two weeks later,
Khomeini returned to Iran in triumph after more than 14 years in exile. On
February 11, 1979, the royalist government was overthrown, and in a referendum
on April 1 Iranians voted overwhelmingly to establish an Islamic republic.
J Islamic Republic
In February 1979 Khomeini asked Mehdi Bazargan to form
a provisional government. By spring the national solidarity that had been so
crucial to the ultimate success of the revolution had begun to erode as various
political groups competed for power and influence. The secular parties had no
leader of comparable stature to Khomeini and soon were marginalized. Of the
many religious groups, the most influential was the Islamic Republican Party
(IRP), formed by former students of Khomeini. Its principle opponents were two
nonclerical religious parties, the moderate Liberation Movement of Iran, to
which Bazargan belonged, and the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MK), which espoused radical
programs for the redistribution of wealth and tended to be anticlerical.
Bazargan resigned in November 1979 in protest over
the hostage crisis. In December voters approved a new constitution. Khomeini,
as faqih, or supreme spiritual leader, held the highest authority in the
country. In January 1980 voters elected Abolhassan Bani-Sadr as the first
president of the republic. Following parliamentary elections in March, the
Majlis and Bani-Sadr could not agree on a presidential nominee for prime
minister. In August Bani-Sadr reluctantly accepted the IRP candidate, Mohammad
Ali Rajai, as prime minister. The president and prime minister clashed often,
and in June 1981 the Majlis dismissed Bani-Sadr. Rajai subsequently was elected
president and chose IRP head Mohammad-Javad Bahonar as his prime minister.
In June 1981 the MK, which had clashed frequently
with the IRP throughout 1980, launched an armed uprising against the
IRP-dominated government. The MK succeeded in killing more than 70 top IRP
leaders by bombing the party headquarters in late June. Two months later the MK
assassinated both Rajai and Bahonar. By mid-1982 the government had suppressed
the party through severe measures that included mass arrests and summary
executions of more than 7,000 suspected MK members. In 1983 the government
dissolved the communist Tudeh Party, leaving the Liberation Movement of Iran as
the only officially recognized party in opposition to the IRP. As internal
political stability returned, distinct ideological factions emerged within the
IRP. These internal rifts eventually would cause the IRP to dissolve itself in
1987. Meanwhile, elections in October 1981 brought Seyed Ali Khamenei, one of
the founders of the IRP and a member of the Majlis, to power as president.
J1 The Iran-Iraq War
In September 1980, Iraq launched a surprise invasion
of Iran. Iraq wanted to prevent the new Iranian republic from inciting Iraqi
Shias to rise up against the secular Iraqi regime. The war, which continued
until August 1988 when both states accepted the terms of a UN-mediated
cease-fire agreement, took a toll on Iran. More than 170,000 Iranians were
killed, up to 700,000 were injured, 18,000 men were still listed as missing in
action eight years after the cease-fire, and nearly 2.5 million civilians fled
from the main battle areas in the western part of the country. Industrial
plants, businesses, homes, public buildings, and infrastructure suffered
cumulative damages in excess of $30 billion. The cities of
Ābādān and Khorramshahr, as well as several towns and hundreds
of villages, were virtually destroyed. Vital oil production and export
facilities sustained heavy and repeated damage. At the same time, the war
created a sense of national solidarity that helped the new government
consolidate power, and it stimulated the growth of numerous small industries
producing goods for the war effort. During the war, Iran gave refuge to more than
200,000 Iraqi nationals who fled from their own government and absorbed more
than a million Afghan refugees who fled following the 1979 Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan.
J2 Recent Developments
Since the end of hostilities with Iraq, the
government of Iran has focused on reconstruction. It implemented two five-year
plans (1989-1994 and 1995-2000), both designed to rebuild the war-devastated
regions in the west and to develop major infrastructure projects such as dams,
electric power plants, hospitals, highways, port facilities, railroads, and
schools. Since 1989 there has been intense political controversy over the
government's role in economic development. In general, politicians who favor a
strong government role in national economic planning have controlled the
executive branch. The Majlis often has opposed such government policies, either
out of a conviction that the plans ignored the lower classes or out of a desire
to promote the interests of private business.
The death of Khomeini in 1989 may have contributed
to the competition among the political elite. During the initial ten years of
the Islamic republic, Khomeini did not involve himself in routine governmental
affairs but rather served as an arbiter who suggested compromises when the
executive and legislative branches could not agree. Because of his charisma and
authority as leader of the revolution, politicians always deferred to his
suggestions. In the absence of a political figure of comparable stature,
political debates became more protracted, and compromises were more difficult
to achieve.
The Assembly of Experts chose Khamenei, who would
complete his second term as president that year, to succeed Khomeini as faqih.
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had been speaker of the Majlis from 1980 to 1989,
won the 1989 presidential election and was reelected in 1993. As president,
Rafsanjani supported the "alternative thought" movement, which
advocated official tolerance of more diverse cultural and political views,
especially in the press. Mohammed Khatami, who served as minister of Islamic
guidance and culture under both Khamenei and Rafsanjani beginning in 1982,
crafted this policy. In 1992, after a more conservative Majlis was elected,
Khatami resigned, but he continued to serve as cultural advisor to President
Rafsanjani. Khatami's opposition to censorship and arbitrary government had
wide popular appeal that helped him win almost 70 percent of the vote in the
1997 presidential election. As president, Khatami continued to advocate
political reform and freedom of the press as essential for the creation of a
civil society. Khatami’s liberal policies have met with opposition from
conservatives who distrust popular government. The intense political
competition between liberals and conservatives has been reflected in the press
and in street demonstrations. In 1998 two liberal politicians and three liberal
writers were killed in separate incidents that the Khatami government blamed on
conservatives in the Ministry of Information.
In February 2000 Iranian voters favored proreform
candidates in elections to the Majlis. The elections appeared to provide a
popular mandate for Khatami’s reform efforts, although sweeping changes were
not expected.
In the 1990s Iran also sought to improve its foreign
relations. The protracted hostage crisis with the United States had brought
international disfavor upon the Islamic republic. As a result, it had received
little international support when Iraq invaded in 1980 or during the long years
of war. Furthermore, in 1989 Khomeini issued a fatwa that absolved of sin
anyone who killed British novelist Salman Rushdie, whose book The Satanic
Verses (1988) many Muslims considered offensive to Islam. The fatwa, which
Rafsanjani said could not be revoked, strained relations with Britain and other
Western nations. Nevertheless, Iran achieved normal relations with most
countries under Rafsanjani and Khatami, although there were intermittent
periods of political tension with European countries such as Britain, France,
and Germany. In 1998 Iran’s foreign minister signed an agreement promising that
the Iranian government would not implement the fatwa. This prompted Britain to
restore full diplomatic relations with Iran.
Throughout the 1990s Iran's leaders continued to
distrust the United States, which they perceived as hostile to their
revolution. Likewise, the United States remained deeply suspicious of Iran's
regional intentions, believing that Iran was developing weapons of mass
destruction and supporting international terrorism. The two countries had
unofficial contacts in the early 1990s but failed to resolve their differences.
In 1993 the United States, viewing Iran as a threat to U.S. interests in the
Middle East, adopted a policy to prevent Iran from gaining too much regional
power. In 1995 the United States banned all U.S. trade with and investment in
Iran, and in 1996 it drafted a law placing sanctions on non-U.S. companies that
invest in Iran. The 1996 legislation became a source of friction between the
United States and its own allies. Iran exploited the discord to expand its
economic ties with Canada, European Union countries, and Japan
Following Khatami’s election as president in 1997,
the United States began reassessing its policy toward Iran. In 1998 the United
States began to encourage non-official cultural exchange programs with Iran and
cooperation with the Islamic Republic on international issues of mutual
interest, such as finding peaceful compromises for the civil war in
Afghanistan. Khatami was reelected president in 2001.
Contributed By:
Eric Hooglund
Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2003. © 1993-2002
Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.