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The name Iran is a cognate of Aryan and literally
means "Land of the Aryans."
Outside of Israel, Iran has the largest Jewish population in the Middle East.
There are currently 1.2 million nomadic Pastoralists in Iran, Organized in over
500 Tribes and independent clans. Cattle - raising & Tribal structure of the society
are both attributed to migratory way of life, yet these are not the only characteristics.
Iran
has about the 20th largest economy in the world. - Ray Takeyh |
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Shah of Iran leaves Andrews Air
Force Base November 16, 1977
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Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh chats
with US Justice Douglas in 1951
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| Cities |
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- Tehran (7,160,094)
- Mashhad (2,463,393)
- Karaj (1,602,350)
- Ishfan (1,600,554)
- Tabriz ( 1,496,319)
- Shiraz ( 1,307,552)
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- Qom (1,081,745)
- Ahvaz (832,969)
- Kermanshah (784,602)
- Orumieh (577,302)
- Zahedan (552,706)
- Rasht (551,161)
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Ayatollah Khomeini
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| Demographics |
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- Population: 68,688,433
- Life Expectancy: 70.26 years
- Literacy: 79.4%
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- Median Age: 24.8 years
- Suffrage: Age 15 - universal
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Iranian President
Khatami visited Riyadh in early May 1999, to strengthen ties between two countries |
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| Enemies
and Allies |
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- Taliban government had very rocky relations with Iran
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Teapot fountain in Lahijan |
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Iran is approximately 55% Persian, and the
rest of the population are ethnic minorities |
| Geographics |
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- Land Size: slightly larger than Alaska
- Total Area: 636,372 square miles
- Water: 0.7%
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Qom Sanctuary |
Iranian crude oil is low quality, a heavy,
sour crude, with lots of sulfur, making it more difficult for oil refineries to deal with. |
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Iran is a net-importer of food and gasoline |
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Shopkeeper in Tehran
Miss Iran |
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| History - Modern |
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Tobacco Rebellion (1892)
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Constitutional Revolution (1905 - 1911)
- 1943: FDR meets with Shah in Tehran
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National Front Movement (1946-1949)
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Abadan Crisis
(March 1951 - 1954)
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Mossadegh
Revolution (Apr 28, 1951 - Aug 19, 1953)
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White
Revolution
- Iran provides material support to Egypt, during
1973 Yom Kippur War, but never formally participates (1973)
- France signs nuclear cooperation pact with Iran
(1974)
- Belgium, Spain, and Germany sign nuclear
contracts with Iran (1976)
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Iranian
Revolution (1979)
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Iran - Iraq
War (1980 - 1988)
- Coup attempt in Bahrain, blamed on Iran, is foiled (1981)
- Iran - Contra
Affair (1986)
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Mass Executions of Apostates, circa 8,000-30,000 (July 19, 1988 -
Dec 1988)
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Death of Khomeini (1989)
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Rafsanjani elected President (1989 -
1997)
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Iran signs natural gas deal to supply
Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia November 1, 1989
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Food riots break out in Tehran and
Ishafan (November 9, 1989)
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Washington Post reports George Bush
running back channel diplomacy with Iran, through Japanese, Swiss,
and Algerian middlemen. (May 2, 1990)
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7.7 Richter earthquake hits northern
Iran, especially villages in mountains north of Tehran (June 21,
1990)
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Turkey seizes ship loaded with
weapons destined for Iran (March 17, 1992)
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Massive flooding across coast of
Caspian sea kills 500 (February 26, 1993)
- US Secretary of State Warren Christopher called Iran an
"international outlaw" and encouraged allies to avoid trading with Iran March
31, 1993
- Rafsanjani implemented many disastrous economic reforms
1993
- US Navy blocks Chinese ship destined for Iran
alleged to
be carrying chemicals for non-conventional weapons. Secretary of State Warren Christopher
claimed the US right to inspect the cargo: "We'll find a way to make sure that those
chemicals of various kinds are not delivered into the wrong hands."' August 14, 1993
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- Iran begins work on 500-mile
Sudanese north-south highway (February 10, 1994)
- Secretary of State Warren Christopher calls Iran “the
world’s most significant state sponsor of terrorism.” (October 25, 1994)
- US imposes sanctions against Iran
(March 1995)
- Khobar Towers bombing (June 25,
1996)
- Rafsanjani travels to Uganda and
Sudan, to help mediate conflict, announces hydroelectric dam for
Uganda (September 8, 1996)
- Khatami elected to the Presidency (May
23, 1997)
- Saudi delegation led by Crown Prince Abdullah attended
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Tehran, a first step towards
normalized relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, following the Khobar Towers bombing,
December 1997.
- US President Clinton "I hope...the day will soon
come when we can enjoy, once again, good relations with Iran...To the people of Iran, I
would like to say that the United States regrets the estrangement of our two nations. Iran
is an important country, with a rich and ancient cultural heritage of which Iranians are
justifiably proud...On behalf of all Americans, I want to extend my personal greetings to
the entire Muslim community, in the United States and around the world." January 28,
1998
- Former President Rafsanjani traveled to Saudi Arabia for
a ten day visit, aimed at healing relations between the two countries, in the wake of the
Khobar Towers bombing. February 26, 1998.
- Russia agrees to work on Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant
(3/1998)
- Khatami meets with Pope John Paul II in Italy - Pushes
Dialogue of Civilizations (1999)
- Iran test fires the Shahab-3
missile, with 800 mile range (July 15, 2000)
- Iran and Sudan sign a memorandum
of economic cooperation (August 29, 2000)
- Khatami re-elected (2001)
- President Khatami CNN Interview (1998)
- Engineering professor Ahmadinejad
elected mayor of Tehran (2003)
- Ahmadinejad elected (2005)
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Iran Nuclear
Standoff (2006 - present)
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Nasir al-Mulk mosque
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| Language |
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- Persian and Persian dialects 58%
- Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%
- Kurdish 9%
- Luri 2%
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- Balochi 1%
- Arabic 1%
- Turkish 1%
- Other 2%
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Tomb of Hafez |
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