Iran

(Click to enlarge)

Iran

(Mapping Specialists, Ltd.)

A country of southwest Asia. Inhabited since c. 2000 B.C. by Iranian peoples, the region later became the core of the Persian Empire. After being conquered by Alexander the Great and ruled by the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, Persia was reestablished under the Sassanian dynasty (A.D. 224-651) and, after invasions by Arabs (7th century), Turks (10th century), and Mongols (13th-14th centuries), was reestablished again under the Safavid dynasty (1502-1736). The country, officially renamed Iran in 1935, was ruled by the Pahlavi dynasty from 1925 until the ouster of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (1979) in a revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who established an Islamic republic. Tehran is the capital and the largest city. Population: 65,400,000.

 

Iran

For more information on Iran, visit Britannica.com.

Western dance took root in Iran during the 1950s. In the early 1950s the American Nila Cram-Cook formed a small company which danced in Persian style but used Western music. In 1958 a ballet academy was founded by Nejad and Aida Ahmadzadeh at the request of the Minister for Culture. From this a company developed rapidly, with the aid of Dollar and de Valois who sent Ann Cock, M. Zolan, S. Vane, and Marion English to teach and stage ballet productions. In 1967/8 this was established as the Iranian National Ballet. The director, de Warren, left in 1971 to study the folk traditions of the country and, under the sponsorship of the Empress Farah, formed the Mahalli Dancers of Iran company which preserved and performed native Iranian dances. Both companies were dissolved after the revolution of 1979.

Country in southwestern Asia between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Iran has an area of 636,290 square miles and an estimated population of 67 million (2004). It is bounded on the north by the Caspian Sea and the republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and on the west by Turkey and Iraq.

Land and Climate

Iran lies on a high plateau with an average altitude of around 4,000 feet, surrounded by the Zagros Mountains, running from the Armenian border to the shores of the Gulf of Oman, and in the north by the Elburz Mountains. An extensive salt desert in the interior is separated from a sand desert by two mountain ranges in the east. Temperatures reach a low of -15°F in the harsh winters of the northwest and a high of about 123°F in the south during the summer, with most of the country enjoying a temperate climate. Average rainfall ranges from 80
inches along the Caspian coast to less than 2 inches in the southeast.

Population

With an estimated population of 67 million in 2004, Iran is one of the most populous countries in the Middle East. It had grown at over 3 percent per annum from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. However, the successful family-planning campaign begun in the late 1980s has decreased the rate to about 1.6 percent. Iran's population is comparatively young; 45.5 percent of the population was under 15 years old in 1986, but that percentage fell to 40 percent in 1996 due to the sharp decline in population growth rate. Approximately two-thirds of Iran's people live in the cities: In 1996 the capital, Tehran, accounted for 7 million; Mashhad for more than 1.9 million; and Tabriz, Isfahan, and Shiraz for more than 1 million each.

About 80 percent of Iran's population is of Iranian origin, of whom the ethnic Persians are predominant. According to the 1986 census 82.7 percent of the population (90.9% in the urban areas and 73.1% in the rural areas) could both comprehend and speak Persian, and another 2.7 percent could understand it. Persians are overwhelmingly Shiʿite Muslims. Azeris, or Azerbaijanis, are Iran's largest linguistic minority. Estimated at 25 percent of the population, they are concentrated in the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan, as well as in and around the cities of Qazvin, Saveh, Hamadan, and Tehran. Iran's second largest ethnolinguistic minority, the Kurds, make up an estimated 5 percent of the
country's population and reside in the provinces of Kerman and Kurdistan as well as in parts of West Azerbaijan and Ilam. Kurds in Iran are divided along religious lines as Sunni, Shiʿite, or Ahl-e Haqq. The predominantly Sunni Baluchis reside mainly in the Sistan/Baluchistan province and make up 2 percent of Iran's population. Other ethnic minorities include the Shiʿite Arabs (5%) and the Sunni Turkmen (2%). Also residing in Iran are nomadic and tribal groups, including the Qashqaʾis, Bakhtiaris, Shahsevans, Afshars, Boyer Ahmadis, and smaller tribes.

According to the 1996 census, 99.5 percent of the population was Muslim. Followers of the other three officially recognized religions included 279,000 Christians, 28,000 Zoroastrians, and 13,000 Jews. An additional 56,000 were listed as followers of other religions, and 90,000 did not state their religion. The majority of the latter two groups are presumed to be Bahaʾis, followers of a religion that has not been officially recognized by the government and has been subjected to persecution since the 1979 revolution.

Education

The modern national education system emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, when the influence of the religious establishment was repressed and the control
of the rising nation-state over the school system was established. The period from 1956 to 2002 saw the rapid expansion of modern education. The number of students at all levels rose from 1.1 million in 1956 to 7.5 million in 1976, 16 million in 1992, and 18.3 million in 2000 (nearly 30% of the total population). The percentage of girls in elementary schools rose from 21 percent of total enrollment in 1926 to 38 percent in 1976 and 47 percent in 1996; girls in secondary schools increased from 6 percent to 35 percent and then to 47 percent in the same years; and the number in universities leaped from almost none in 1926 to 28 percent in 1976, 57 percent in 1996, and more than 61 percent in 2001. As a result of the adult literacy campaign and the expansion of primary education, the literate population age six and over increased from about 15 percent in 1956 to approximately 62 percent in 1976 and 80 percent in 1996.

The educational reforms of 1966 to 1978 marked the transformation of Iran's school system from the French model to one similar to that of the United States. The structure and organization remained virtually intact after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the focus of educators became shaping pupils' behavior according to Islamic values through curriculum and textbooks. Other measures included converting all coeducational schools into single-sex institutions and imposing Islamic dress codes. In 1992 secondary education was reduced from four years to three years and divided into general education (including academic and technical-vocational divisions) and professional education (focusing on
specific, practical work-related skills). The twelfth year of high school became a college preparatory program accepting only high school graduates who pass the entrance examination.

In May 1980 the government closed all universities and appointed a panel, the Cultural Revolution Headquarters, to provide a program of reform for higher education in accordance with Islamic values. When the universities were reopened in October 1981, the University Jihad and other militant groups took control and purged 8,000 faculty members (about half). Following disputes between these groups and the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education over reform issues, the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution was founded in 1984 to supervise the reconstruction of universities. In 2000 government-sponsored colleges and universities accredited by the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education and technical, vocational, and teacher training schools (primarily two-year junior colleges) administered by the Ministry of Education and other government agencies enrolled 413,000 students. In addition, the Open Islamic University (836,000 enrollment in 2000) is open to any student upon the payment of fairly steep tuition and fees.

The Economy

Iran's economy is a mixture of large state and semi-public enterprises, small-scale private manufacturing, trade and service ventures, and village agriculture. State enterprises have expanded substantially since the revolution, and market-reform plans set in motion in the 1990s have made little progress toward privatization of large public enterprises. As noted by the International Monetary Fund in 2003, the "Iranian economy continues to face important challenges: employment creation has not been sufficient to meet the rapid increase in the labor force; inflation is high and rising again; and price subsidies and control continues to hinder economic efficiency; and structural impediments for private sector development remain" (International Monetary Fund, p. 1).

The Iranian economy is heavily dependent on oil, which accounted for 15 percent of the total value of gross domestic product (GDP), 50 percent of state revenue, and 75 percent of total exports from 1996 to 2001. It is estimated that Iran's oil reserves are about 93 billion barrels, or 10 percent of the world's total. Iran also possesses the second largest natural gas reserve in the world, estimated at about 20 trillion cubic meters, or 15 percent of the world's reserves. Hydropower, coal, and solar energy resources are also significant, and there are substantial deposits of copper, zinc, chromium, iron ore, and gemstones.

From 1963 to 1976, Iran's GDP grew by an average annual rate of around 10.5 percent in real terms, and per capita income leaped from some US$170 to over $2,060. The 1978 - 1980 period of revolutionary crisis saw the flight of skilled workers and entrepreneurs, the transfer of large sums of capital abroad, and the abandonment of many productive establishments. Under these circumstances, the GDP in constant 1974 prices fell from 3.7 trillion rials in 1977 to 2.5 trillion in 1980, and per capita GDP declined from 108,000 rials to 63,000 rials. Following a short period of increase in oil revenues and financial recovery, the period of 1985 to 1988 saw an annual GDP decline of 4 percent due to the fall in oil revenues, negative fixed capital formation, and the heightening of the "tanker war" in the Persian Gulf. In the postwar period and between 1988 and 1992 the rise of oil revenues led to an average annual growth rate of 8 percent in the GDP. The annual growth rate of the GDP fluctuated considerably for the next eight years, but averaged about 4 percent. In 2001 agriculture accounted for 19 percent of Iran's GDP, industry for 26 percent, and services for 55 percent. The state together with semi-public organizations created after the revolution own all heavy industries, many other large industrial establishments, and all major transportation networks and agroindustries. Nationalization of large enterprises and confiscation by the revolutionary government considerably expanded the public sector. As a result, all banks (and insurance companies) were owned by the state until 2000, when a more liberal interpretation of the revolutionary constitution led to the enactment of a new law permitting the establishment of privately owned banks and, later, insurance companies. Four newly established private banks compete with state-owned banks.

Modern industry made its appearance in Iran in the early twentieth century, but it was not until the late 1950s that the government adopted a clear industrialization policy. By the early 1970s the average annual growth rate of the industrial sector was more than 10 percent. From the early 2000s, Iran has had an industrial base consisting mainly of import-substituting industries that are subsidized and heavily protected, and dependent on imported materials. Steel, petrochemicals, and copper ore remain Iran's three basic industries.

Only about one-fourth of Iran is potentially suitable for agricultural production - the other three-fourths receives less than 10 inches of rainfall per year - and less than half of the crops grown are irrigated. In 2001 wheat production amounted to 9.5 million, sugar beets 4.6, potatoes 3.6, barley 2.4, rice 2, and onions 1.3 million tons. In 1998 livestock and dairy products included 763,000 tons of red meat, 5 million tons of milk, 720 tons of poultry, and 625 tons of eggs.

After the revolution, imports fell from $14.6 billion in 1977 to $10.8 billion in 1980 and $8.2 billion in 1988. In 1991 imports rose to $25 billion, then declined between 1993 and 1995 due to the fall of oil revenues, reaching an annual average of $14 billion in the late 1990s. Non-oil exports rose from $2.9 billion in 1992 to $4.2 billion in 2000. In 1999 Iran's total exports (including oil) amounted to $21 billion and its imports amounted to $14.3 billion. Iran's main export markets for both oil and non-oil goods are Japan and United Kingdom; together they accounted for nearly one-third of Iran's total exports in 1999. Germany, with an annual export of $1 to $2 billion goods in the postrevolution period, is the main exporter to Iran.

Government

Iran is a theocratic republic that combines the absolute authority of the ruling Shiʿite jurist combined with an elected president and parliament and an appointed chief of the judicial branch. The sovereignty of Shiʿite clerical authority (velayat-e faqih), the supreme spiritual guide, is the deputy of the twelfth Shiʿite imam, the Lord of the Age. He appoints the head of the judiciary branch and the theologians of the Council of Guardians of the Constitution, and as commander in chief of the armed forces, he appoints and dismisses all commanders of the armed forces, Revolutionary Guards Corps, and security forces and is empowered to declare war. The president, elected for four years, is the head of the cabinet and the civilian wing of the government's executive branch.

The legislature comprises two institutions: the parliament (Majles) and the Council of Guardians. Under the provisions of the constitution all bills must be approved by the Majles and then be ratified by the Council of Guardians before they are signed into law by the president. The Majles is a body of 290 legislators elected to four-year terms. The twelve members of the Council of Guardians, consisting of six clerics and six lay judges appointed by the supreme guide, review legislation passed by the Majles and are empowered by the constitution to veto laws considered to violate Islamic or constitutional principles. The appointed Expediency Council, created in February 1988 and formally recognized in an amendment to the constitution in July 1989, rules on legal and theological disputes between the Majles and the Council of Guardians. It is charged with ruling in the best interest of the community, even when such rulings go beyond a strict interpretation of the tenets of Islamic law. The elected Assembly of Experts determines succession to the supreme guide.

The judicial branch consists of regular civil and criminal courts, as well as a special clerical court and revolutionary tribunals that hear civil and criminal suits concerning counterrevolutionary offenses. The head of the judiciary is appointed by the supreme guide. The minister of justice functions as a liaison among the judicial, executive, and legislative branches. The Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution has legislative powers over educational matters.

Iran is divided into twenty-eight provinces (ostans) administered by governors (ostandars) who are nominated by the minister of the interior and appointed by the president. The second level of local government consists of 195 counties (shahrestans) under junior governors (farmandars). At the third level, 500 districts (bakhshs) are under executives (bakhshdars), and at the fourth level, 1,581 clusters of villages (dehestans) are under headmen (dehdars). Villages, the base level, are administered by elected councils. Towns and cities have municipal governments with mayors and councils.

The armed forces and Revolutionary Guards Corps are responsible for defending Iran against foreign aggression. The 300,000-man army is organized into ten divisions and six brigades. The air force consists of about 35,000 men, with more than 400 pilots on active duty and 100 combat aircraft. The 15,000-man navy operates in the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Caspian Sea. It includes two fleets, three marine battalions, and two Russian-made submarines. The 180,000-member Revolutionary Guard Corps is organized into eleven regional commands with four armored divisions and twenty-four infantry divisions, as well as air and naval capacities. Iran's police force incorporates revolutionary committees and the rural police force into the urban police force. The suppression of opposition to the regime is the responsibility of the Ministry of Information and a 100,000-man mobilization corps (basij) recruited from veterans of the Iran - Iraq War (1980 - 1988). Ideological-political bureaus have been established in government agencies and in the armed forces to ensure conformity to the regime's rules of conduct. The armed forces and security organizations are under the command of the supreme spiritual guide.

Since the 1979 revolution various groups, organizations, and factions within the ruling party have fallen into four main political camps. First, those who support the interests of the religious groups (ulama) and the bazaar merchants, and who advocate the traditional Islamic jurisprudence, are referred to as conservatives, traditionalists, or rightists. The conservatives fear the cultural penetration of Western lifestyles and are zealous on cultural issues such as women's rights, Islamic dress codes, music, and the media. In the early post-Khomeini era, a major political shift to the right occurred and the conservative camp prevailed. Second, those who support the cause of the economically deprived (mostazʾafan) and advocate a progressive Islamic jurisprudence, distributive justice, and tighter state control of the private sector are called radicals, leftists, or followers of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini's line. Receptive to Western progressive ideas and more tolerant on cultural issues, the radicals are nevertheless highly suspicious of Western imperialism and Iran's dependency on the world capitalist system. The Bureau for Promotion of Unity (Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat), major student unions, and the young Combatant Clerics (Ruhaniyun-e Mobarez) are among the radical organizations. In much of the 1980s the radicals dominated the regime. Third, those who advocate a pragmatic approach - the new middle-class professional and bureaucratic groups - and are concerned with peaceful coexistence in the modern world under a mixed economy are called pragmatists, centrists, or moderates. Former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has led the centrist camp since its inception in the late 1980s. In the fourth Majles (1992 - 1996) conservatives controlled more than two-thirds of the seats, pragmatists around one-fifth, and radicals about one-tenth.

In the mid 1990s a popular, reformist movement emerged when there was a major shift in the ideological orientation of the leftist faction from a radical to a relatively moderate and liberal interpretation of Islam. The roots of this ideological shift can be traced to a series of political developments since the revolution, including various failures of the revolutionary regime to fulfill its populist and egalitarian promises; a considerable erosion in the legitimacy of the ruling clerics; the successful (though largely silent) resistance by youth and women to the culturally restrictive policies of the Islamic Republic; the rise of a distinctly antifundamentalist, liberal-reformist interpretation of Islam by a number of Iranian theologians and religious intellectuals; and the precipitous decline in the popularity of revolutionary ideas in the 1990s.

The main Islamic opposition to the regime inside the country includes the liberal Iran Freedom Movement (Nahzat-e Azadi-ye Iran), established in the early 1960s under the leadership of Mehdi Bazargan, who was prime minister in the provisional revolutionary government of 1979. Also organized by Bazargan to fight against frequent violations of human rights in Iran was the Society for the Defense of Liberty and National Sovereignty of the Iranian Nation. Another organization active in Iran is the nationalist Nation of Iran Party (Hezb-e Mellat-e Iran). These groups have been outlawed and systematically suppressed by the government. Absence of opportunities for genuine political participation, imposition of a strict Islamic code of conduct, and, above all, shrinking opportunities for employment have led to increasing alienation of young intellectuals and students.

There are several opposition groups among the one million Iranian political and cultural exiles in Europe and the United States, including liberal nationalists such as the National Front, whose origin can be traced to the period of Mohammad Mossadegh, and a number of small groups that advocate the establishment of a secular, Western-style parliamentary system in Iran. Also active are monarchists seeking to resurrect Pahlavi rule through the former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. A few small leftist groups conduct a propaganda campaign against the regime through newspapers and magazines. The most active, militant opposition force has been the People's Mojahedin of Iran (Mojahedin-e Khalq-e Iran). Between 1987 and 2003 it waged guerrilla operations and a military offensive against Iran from its camps across the border in Iraq.

History since 1800

Iran began the nineteenth century under the Qajar Dynasty (1796 - 1925) and the political and economic influence of Russia and Great Britain. Two wars with Russia were ended by the treaties of Golestan (1813) and Turkmanchai (1828), and Russia took over the area north of the Araks River. Following a futile attempt by Iran to reclaim Herat, its former territory in western Afghanistan, the British waged war in 1857 and forced Iran to give up all claims to British-controlled Afghanistan. To resist the European expansionist schemes, Crown Prince Abbas Mirza initiated a series of military reforms in the 1820s that were continued by more comprehensive reforms of the grand vizier Mirza Taqi Khan Amir Kabir in the mid-nineteenth century. Mirza Hosayn Khan Sepahsalar continued the reforms of his predecessor in the early 1870s.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Russia and Britain increased their economic and political domination over Iran. European companies were granted trade concessions that often were disadvantageous to nascent Iranian industries and local merchants. Meanwhile, new ideas of political freedom were introduced by intellectuals and others who had come in contact with the West. The 1890 grant of a tobacco concession by Naser al-Din Shah to a British citizen provoked the local tobacco merchants and the ulama to instigate riots that eventually forced cancellation of the concession. Many intellectuals and popular religious leaders believed that by reforming the government they could improve the country's economic and social conditions and ensure its political independence. Antigovernment protests were led by a broad alliance of Islamic clergymen, intellectuals, and merchants. On 30 December 1906 the ailing monarch, Mozaffar alDin Qajar, finally yielded to demands for a constitution. In 1907 Great Britain and Russia divided Iran into two spheres of influence and a neutral zone. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Iran declared its neutrality; nevertheless, Britain and Russia occupied the country, spying on each other and engaging in hostilities on Iran's territory.

In February 1921 a pro-British journalist, Sayyed Ziya al-Din Tabatabaʾi, and Brigadier Reza Pahlavi staged a bloodless coup and took control of the government in Tehran. With the army as his power base, Reza became the country's monarch in 1925 and founded the Pahlavi Dynasty. After establishing the authority of the central government throughout the country in the 1920s, he tried to Westernize Iran's economic and social institutions in the 1930s. He replaced the traditional religious schools and courts with a secular system of education and a judicial system based on European legal patterns. He created a modern army and national police force and established a number of state-owned industrial enterprises and a modern transport system. The period of his rule (1925 - 1941), however, was marked by suppression of individual freedoms and political activities.

In August 1941 troops from the Soviet Union and Britain invaded Iran and forced Pahlavi to abdicate his throne to his son, Mohammad Reza. After the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Union refused to withdraw its forces from Iran. Through a combination of international pressure and internal maneuverings by Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam, Russia's forces finally left in late 1946, and the pro-Soviet autonomous government of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Kurdistan collapsed. For much of this period, the young shah and his cabinets were forced to conform to the will of the parliament, which was dominated by the old-guard politicians and propertied classes. Following an attempted assassination of the shah on 4 February 1949, the pro-Soviet Tudeh Party was outlawed. The Constitutional Assembly that convened on 21 April granted the shah the right to dissolve the Majles.

At the beginning of the 1950s the National Front, a loose coalition of liberal nationalists under the leadership of Mohammad Mossadegh, demanded greater control over the British-dominated Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The oil industry was nationalized, and Mossadegh became prime minister in April 1951. The Soviet-backed Tudeh Party strongly opposed the nationalization and the Mossadegh government. In a struggle with the shah over control of the armed forces, Mossadegh resigned, and Ahmad Qavam was appointed premier on 18 July 1952. Three days later, riots broke out in Tehran and major cities; Qavam was forced to resign and Mossadegh was reinstated.

In August 1953 a coup conceived by the British MI6 and delivered by the U.S. CIA ousted Mossadegh; Fazlollah Zahedi became prime minister. The new regime ordered the arrest of supporters of the National Front and the Tudeh Party and placed severe restrictions on all forms of opposition to the government. Between 1953 and 1959 the shah's power gradually increased, and the government signed an agreement with a consortium of major Western oil companies in August 1954, joined the Baghdad Pact in October 1955, and with CIA assistance established an effective intelligence agency (SAVAK) in 1957.

In the early 1960s, under increasing pressure from the U.S. Kennedy administration, the shah appointed Ali Amini as prime minister and Hassan Arsanjani as minister of agriculture, and the government initiated a series of social and economic reforms later called the White Revolution. In January 1963 a national referendum supported six reform measures including land reform, women's suffrage, workers' sharing up to 20 percent of industrial profits, and the nationalization of the forests. Major urban uprisings protested the referendum and the government's arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in June 1963. After cracking down on rioters, the shah emerged as an autocratic ruler. He allocated oil revenues among state agencies and projects, and he directly supervised the armed forces and security organizations, foreign policy and oil negotiations, nuclear power plants, and huge development projects. The latter half of the 1960s was marked by relative political stability and economic development, and Iran emerged as the regional power in the Persian Gulf after the withdrawal of British forces in 1971. Following border clashes between Iran and Iraq in the early 1970s, an agreement between the two nations was signed in Algeria in 1975. By the mid-1970s Iran had established close ties not only with the United States and Western Europe but also with the Communist Bloc countries, South Africa, and Israel.

Meanwhile, land reform and the rise of a modern bureaucracy eliminated the traditional foundation of the regime - the ulama, the bazaar merchants, and the landowning classes. They were replaced by entrepreneurs, young Western-educated bureaucratic elites, and new middle classes discontented with the shah and his policies. The entrepreneurial and bureaucratic elites were unhappy with their lack of political power, the intelligentsia resented violations of human rights, and the ulama and the bazaar merchants resented the Western lifestyles, promoted by the state's modernization policies, that contravened Islamic traditions. Under these circumstances, the nucleus of a revolutionary coalition was formed by leaders with ready access to the extensive human, financial, and spatial resources of the bazaar, the mosque, and the school-university networks. They saw an opportunity to challenge the shah after the victory of human-rights champion Jimmy Carter in the U.S. presidential race of November 1976.

In the summer of 1977 a series of open letters written by intellectuals, liberal figures, and professional groups demanded observance of human rights. An article published in the daily Ettelaʾat on 7 January 1978 attacked Khomeini, and violent clashes between religious opposition groups and security forces took place in Qom on 9 January. This conflict marked the beginning of a series of religious commemorations of the fortieth day of mourning (a Shiʿite rite) for those who had been martyred in various cities. In July and August, riots erupted in Mashhad, Isfahan, and Shiraz. September 1978 began with the first mass demonstrations against the shah's regime. Striking government employees brought the oil industry to a standstill on 31 October. Mass strikes continued through early November, when a military government was installed by the shah, and in December hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Tehran. In all, approximately 2,500 persons were killed in clashes between demonstrators and the security forces from January 1978 to February 1979. The shah left Iran for Egypt on 16 January 1979, and Khomeini returned to Tehran on 1 February. Four days later, he appointed Mehdi Bazargan prime minister of a provisional government. On 11 February the army's Supreme Council ordered the troops back to their barracks. Military installations were occupied by the people, and major army commanders were arrested.

The April 1979 national referendum sanctioned the declaration of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the December 1979 national referendum approved the constitution, and in January 1980 Abolhasan Bani Sadr was elected the republic's first president. He was impeached by the Majles for opposing the ruling clerical establishment and dismissed from office by Khomeini in June 1981. In July Mohammad Ali Rajaʾi was elected president; in August a bomb exploded in the prime minister's office, killing the new president and Mohammad Javad Bahonar, the new prime minister. In October Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenehi was elected the third president of the Islamic Republic, and the Majles endorsed the radical prime minister, Mir-Hosain Musavi.

On 4 November 1979 the U.S. embassy in Tehran was occupied by a group of militant students, and sixty-six Americans were taken hostage. The seizure was in response to alleged U.S. interference in Iran's internal affairs and to the U.S. decision in October to admit the shah for medical treatment. President Carter ordered the freezing of some $12 billion of Iran's assets in the United States on 14 November. After 444 days in captivity, the last of the hostages were released on 20 January 1981 as Ronald Reagan was inaugurated U.S. president. Five years later, in September 1986, it was reported that Iran had secretly received 508 U.S.-built missiles in a clandestine "arms-for-hostages" deal with the United States to intercede for the release of American hostages in Lebanon; this episode became known as the Iran - Contra Affair.

Frustrated by an imposed 1975 border agreement and heartened by Iran's military weakness after the 1979 revolution, Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980. After rapidly occupying large areas of southwestern Iran and destroying the oil refinery at Abadan, Iraq's forces became bogged down in siege warfare. In an offensive in May 1982 Iran recaptured the strategic town of Khorramshahr, and its forces entered Iraq. Initiating the "war of the cities," Iraq's forces launched air attacks on Iran's cities in 1984. In May 1987 the United States began direct intervention in Persian Gulf affairs by escorting eleven Kuwaiti oil tankers under the U.S. flag. This action led to increased attacks against oil tankers and merchant ships. After a long pause, the war of the cities resumed in early 1988, when Iraq launched missile attacks against Tehran and other cities, and both Tehran and Baghdad came under fire from ground-to-ground missiles. On 3 July 1988 the U.S. warship Vincennes, stationed in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, shot down a civilian Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. On 18 July Iran accepted UN Security Council cease-fire Resolution 598. The eight-year Iran - Iraq War left about one million casualties and cost several hundred billion dollars in damages and military expenditures.

On 3 June 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini died, and the Assembly of Experts elected President Ali Khamenehi as the supreme spiritual guide of the Islamic Republic; the change of leadership marked the beginning of a major shift of power from the radical left to the conservative right. In July Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected president, and he was re-elected for a second term in 1993. Rafsanjani's policies for economic, sociocultural, and political reforms were obstructed by the radical faction of the left between 1989 and 1993, and then by the rising conservatives on the right. At this juncture, a new coalition was formed between the moderate, pragmatist group that followed Rafsanjani and the radical, leftist faction within the regime who were excluded from power by the conservative and fundamentalist forces.

Mohammad Khatami's 1997 presidential campaign platform emphasized the rule of law, building a civil society, a moderate foreign policy, and the protection of civil liberties guaranteed by the Islamic constitution. His victory was as much a manifestation of the voters' rejection of the extremist politics of the left in the 1980s and the right in the 1990s as it was an affirmation of Khatami's moderate, well-reasoned, and liberal campaign statements. His 1997 electoral triumph over Ali Akbar NateqNuri would not have been possible, furthermore, without the vast human and financial resources that were contributed to his campaign by members of the pragmatist camp of the incumbent president, Rafsanjani, as well as the many formerly radical elements within the regime. During much of Khatami's first presidential term (1997 - 2001), his supporters rallied behind the slogans of civil society and the rule of law, but they were besieged by the conservatives, who had gained effective control over key positions within the Islamic state. These included positions in the judiciary and the Council of Guardians, the armed forces and the militia, the intelligence services and vigilante groups working in tandem with them, the broadcast media, and the para-statal foundations. The latter, putatively philanthropic foundations that are not subject to the fiscal and regulatory agencies of the state, form a massive network of patronage and corruption and "an economy within the economy" that effectively controls as much as one-third of the country's domestic production.

Khatami's election victory in 1997 was followed by two other sweeping wins by reformist candidates in the municipal elections of 1999 and the Majles elections of 2000. In the 2000 election the reformists won some 200 of the 290 seats in parliament, thus giving the pro-Khatami candidates a decisive majority in the legislative body, but the conservatives, on the defensive against a formidable majority of the people, resorted to tactics of intimidation and vigilantism against their political rivals. Through their control of the judiciary they started a systematic crackdown of the press, intellectuals, and other outspoken critics of the regime.

In July 1999 Salam, a popular pro-reform newspaper, was closed by the order of the Press Court. Following peaceful demonstrations on the campus of Tehran University against the closure, militia forces entered the student dormitories and brutally attacked students, killing one of them in the assault, and injuring and arresting hundreds. The dormitory assault ignited a series of protests over the next several days that escalated into full-scale riots when the demonstrators were attacked by vigilante partisans of the Party of God (Ansar-e Hezbollah). In April 2000 the conservative-dominated judiciary continued the campaign of intimidation against the press. More than forty pro-reform newspapers and magazines were forcibly closed because of their alleged "denigration of Islam and the religious elements of the Islamic revolution." Over the next several months, journalists and editors were the primary targets of the conservatives' attacks against the print media. Iran's best-known investigative journalist and the editor of the newspaper Fath, Akbar Ganji, was sentenced to ten years in prison (later reduced to six years) for his writings that implicated several senior officials in the 1998 murders of five intellectuals and political activists. This and the imprisonment of another two dozen well-known journalists prompted the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontiers to dub Iran "the largest prison for journalists in the world."

In April 2000 several prominent Iranian intellectuals, journalists, publishers, and women's rights activists traveled to Berlin to attend an international conference on the future of reform in Iran. Upon their return to Iran many of the participants were brought to trial before the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of conspiring to overthrow the Islamic Republic. In March 2001 the judiciary ordered the closure of the religious-nationalist Iran Freedom Movement (the only tolerated opposition group in the country since the revolution) on charges of attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic, arresting and detaining twenty-one of its leading members. Khatami's failure to implement his promised political reforms and the lack of any significant improvement in the economy during his first four-year term did not prevent him winning the June 2001 presidential election with 77 percent of the vote. In spite of two mandates for change that he has been given by an overwhelming majority of his countrymen, and even though pro-reform candidates are in control of the Majles as well, Khatami faces the same constitutional constraints and political obstacles from his conservative opponents that stymied his first presidential term.

The catastrophic attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 11 September 2001 brought a new phase in United States - Iran relations. Iranian authorities promptly condemned the terrorist attacks, and the mayor of Tehran sent a message of sympathy to the mayor of New York City. The Iranian people showed their sympathy by organizing gatherings in commemoration of the victims of 9/11. In response to the terrorist attacks, the U.S. government put together what it called a coalition against terrorism. As part of this approach, it lent aid to the Northern Alliance, the forces that Iran had supported from their formation in 1996 to fight against the Taliban regime and Osama bin Ladin's forces in Afghanistan. Following 9/11, Iranian and U.S. military advisors worked side by side with Afghan opposition forces to bring down the Taliban. After dismantling the Taliban network and creating a new regime in Afghanistan in Fall 2001, neoconservatives in the Bush administration supported regime change in a number of other countries. This policy unfolded on 29 January 2002 when in his State of the Union address President Bush labeled Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an "Axis of Evil." On 13 December 2002 the United States accused Iran of launching a secret nuclear weapons program and published satellite images of two sites under construction in the towns of Natanz and Arak. Iran denied any military purpose behind its nuclear activities and agreed to inspections by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but refrained from "full cooperation." Despite Iran's insistence that its nuclear program - which included uranium-enrichment activities - was designed to meet its energy needs only, the IAEA gave Iran until 31 October 2003 to provide evidence that it was not trying to build nuclear weapons. Persuaded by the foreign ministers of Great Britain, France, and Germany, Tehran agreed to "total transparency" over its nuclear activities, promising full cooperation with the UN's nuclear agency and agreeing to suspend uranium enrichment, while reserving the right to resume the process if it deemed necessary.

The 2003 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Iranian human-rights activist and ardent reformist Shirin Ebadi, boosting Iranian hopes for the rule of law, justice, and democracy. Yet, in spite of the appeal of liberal-democratic ideas of individual freedom, pluralism, and political tolerance, and the overwhelming endorsement of these ideas in four national elections, the reform movement has had but a limited influence on Iran's political conditions. The willingness of the conservative forces to heed the popular mandate for greater political and cultural freedoms, economic reform, and respect for law - and, above all, for an end to the use of violence - will determine whether a gradualist course of reform will succeed.

Bibliography

Abrahamian, Ervand. Iran between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.

Akhavi, Shahrough. Religion and Politics in Contemporary Iran:Clergy - State Relations in the Pahlavi Period. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1980.

Amuzegar, Jahangir. Iran's Economy under the Islamic Republic. London: I. B. Tauris, 1993.

Ashraf, Ahmad. "Charisma, Theocracy, and Men of Power in Postrevolutionary Iran." In The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, edited by Myron Weiner and Ali Banuazizi. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1994.

Ashraf, Ahmad. "From the White Revolution to the Islamic Revolution." In Iran after the Revolution: The Crisis of an Islamic State, edited by Sohrab Behdad and Said Rahnema. London: I. B. Tauris, 1995.

Ashraf, Ahmad, and Banuazizi, Ali. "Iran's Tortuous Path toward 'Islamic Liberalism.'" International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 15, no. 2 (Winter 2001): 237 - 256.

Ashraf, Ahmad, and Banuazizi, Ali. "The State, Classes, and Modes of Stabilization in the Iranian Revolution." State, Culture, and Society 1, no. 3 (1985).

Dabashi, Hamid. Theology of Discontent: The Ideological Foundation of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. New York: New York University Press, 1993.

Hooglund, Eric, ed. Twenty Years of Islamic Revolution: Political and Social Transitions in Iran Since 1979. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002.

International Monetary Fund. "Islamic Republic of Iran and IMF." Public Information Notices (25 August 2003).

Moin, Baqer. Khomeini: The Life of the Ayatollah. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1999.

Moslem, Mehdi. Factional Politics in Post-Khomeini Iran. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002.

Schirazi, Asghar. The Constitution of Iran: Politics and the State in the Islamic Republic. London: I. B. Tauris, 1997.

— AHMAD ASHRAF

The art of sophisticated cookery in Iran can be traced to antiquity. It has, according to existing literature, preserved its basic mode of preparation for more than a thousand years, enhanced by refinement of dishes and new recipes created in the kitchens of royalty and ordinary folk. Iranian food is prepared with such delicate subtlety that every ingredient used can be tasted and every aromatic spice added can be appreciated.

Food of Ancient Persia

History. The Persian Achaemenid empire, founded by Cyrus the Great in 549 B.C.E., dominated the ancient world for almost two centuries. At the height of its power it extended from the Indus in the east to Asia Minor and Egypt in the west, uniting Medes, Persians, and Parthians, as well as many other tribes and peoples, in fealty to the dynasty. Presumably the people living in that vast expanse with its varied climates each formed their own culinary culture according to indigenous food products, naturally available, grown, or reared. Yet all cultures converged at the Achaemenid court and were elaborately manifested at the table of the king of kings.

There are no known recipes left of that period. The references to food in the Avesta and Elamite tablets from Persepolis dated 509–494 B.C.E. indicate that the Achaemenid diet consisted of dairy products from cows, sheep, goats, and mares; meat from oxen, rams, goats, and wild or reared fowls; grains for making bread; ales; wines; dried fruit; and nuts and seeds also used for pressing oil.

Each season, the nomad kings and the court moved from capital to capital. Winter was spent in Babylon or Susa, where the wine was fermented from dates and grapes; spring in Ecbatana, where meat, dairy products, and herbs were ample; and autumn in Persepolis, where fruit, wild vegetables, and seeds were in abundance.

Narratives by Greek authors of the period reveal the sumptuous preparation and the abundance of food in that fertile realm. Ctesias (405–397 B.C.E.) and Dinon indicate that 15,000 men ate daily in the court of the Achaemenid king of kings. The Greek writer Polyaenus (second century C.E.) recounts that the food brought to the court for distribution as well as for the preparation of three meals a day was formulated by Cyrus and engraved on a bronze column. It included great quantities of different grades of wheat, barley, and rye, floured or treated; grains of corn and parsley; salt; male livestock; gazelles; poultry; geese; pigeons; small wild birds; dairy; watercress; onions and garlic; pickled radishes and beetroots; cured capers; juice of sweet apples; conserve of sour pomegranates; honey; oils of almond, terebinth, sesame seed, and acanthus; raisins dark and light; nuts; sweetened seeds; vinegar; mustard, anise, cumin, celery, and safflower seeds; saffron; cardamom; and dill flower. Xenophon (430–355 B.C.E.) notes that what was served at the king's table was prepared in exquisite taste by expert cooks and bakers who were engaged in a constant search for new recipes and would invent a variety of pastries and cakes.

Herodotus (fifth century B.C.E.) relates that the Persians ate varied desserts and sweets. Birthdays were celebrated by giving great feasts. Side dishes, served at regular intervals, punctuated the introduction of the principal dishes. Large animals, including big fowl like ostrich, were stuffed and roasted whole; birds were stuffed and seasoned with capers. Meat cured in sophisticated fashion was served.

The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (first century B.C.E.) reflects on the variety of delicacies brought from Persia to Babylon, in particular fish from the Persian Gulf. Polyaenus remarks on the exquisite mixture of cardamom and other spices, vinegar, and pepper, and upon the use of aromatic herbs from which oil was also extracted for medicinal purposes.

It is said that soldiers normally received meat and bread, but on long journeys and campaigns were sustained by onion soup and bread. To this day eshkaneh, basically made with onions, flour, and turmeric, is cooked in different parts of Iran. Seasonal or dried herbs and fruit—dried or fresh—are added, and, combined with one or two eggs, the dish can serve a big family. It remains the food of the populace, while the stuffed beast or fowl, boghlameh, is served mainly at tribal feasts by those who can afford the luxury. Pierre Briant, quoting Polyaenus, remarks in Histoire de l'Empire Perse (p. 300) that when Alexander the Great defeated Darius III and seized Persepolis (331 B.C.E.), ordering the bronze pillars to be destroyed, he said with laughter that such a diet weakens the body and the mind and was the cause of the defeat of the Persians.

Following Alexander's demise, his successors, the Seleucid Greek rulers (323–64 B.C.E.), were overthrown by the Parthians of western Iran. The Parthians (250 B.C.E.–224 C.E.) revived the national spirit that came to full flowering under their successors, the Sassanians (224–652 C.E.). The culinary culture of the aristocracy and preparation of food in this period are revealed in a rare Pahlavi manuscript, "King Husrav and His Boy" (translated: J. Unvala, Paris), a reliable source that withstood the destruction of libraries by the Islamic army in 636 or 637. In the text Khosrow II and a companion discuss, among the pleasures of life, the variety of Epicurean cuisine. Some dishes are in certain ways similar to what is eaten in the early twenty-first century in certain parts of Iran. For example, the boy recommends that the meat of a two-month-old kid fed on mother's milk and cow's milk marinated with herbs be cooked and served with whey (kashk). In Yazd (central Iran), Kerman, and Azerbaijan, bōzghōrmēh is still a popular dish. It features chunks of goat's meat or mutton as a dominant substitute, fried with chopped onions, seasoned with turmeric and cinnamon, sprinkled with tarragon and mint or saffron, and topped by thick yogurt or kashk. As for sweets, almond, walnut, and pistachio are used in making delicate cookies, as they were many years ago. A jelly made with quince juice is now called mōjassamēh-ye beh. In jams and preserves the peel of baalang, a large citrus fruit, is still popular in Fars and Gilan provinces. Quince jam continues to be made in most parts. Cucumber and walnut jams and pickles are remembered recipes in Qazvin.

Other later sources, too, elaborate the sophisticated Sassanid cuisine. An eleventh-century scholar, Tha'alebi of Neishapur, describes in his "History" a variety of dishes including wild birds and other game, fish, lamb, and veal marinated in vinegar, mustard, stock, garlic, dill, and green and black cumin, or in yogurt, flavored with spices, and stewed, broiled, or roasted according to different recipes; barbecued chicken flavored with cane sugar, skewered and grilled; stuffed vine leaves; puddings made of rice, milk, honey, butter, eggs, and rosewater; and delicacies and sweets using countless aromatics. He mentions that peasants marinated their meat in brine and pomegranate juice.

Festivals. Festivals were frequent in ancient Persia. For the ancient Persian herdsmen and farmers, the revival of nature in the spring was a terrestrial renewal of life, so people equated the New Year with the spring equinox. Before the equinox, reverence for the seven Ēmshāspands(archangels) in the Zoroastrian religion was symbolized in seven cereals and pulses grown in clay pots to predict the quality of the next harvest. In the five leap days (the year being 360 days) preceding Nōwrūz (New Year's festival), festivities would begin. Food, including milk and honey, sweetmeats, nuts, and dried fruits, was prepared and bonfires were lit on rooftops to attract the Farvahars, or guardian angels of the ancestors, who would descend for the annual reception in which wining and dining continued for five days following Nōwrūz.

Yaldā is still celebrated, marking the birth of Mithra on the longest night of the year. Throughout the long night of Yaldā, fresh fruit specially preserved for the occasion, seven kinds of nuts, and a range of dried fruit were consumed in a joyous vigil held to drive out the darkness in anticipation of the sun's rebirth. Apart from Mēhrgān or Sadēh little is known of other such festivals.

After the Arab invasion in the seventh century, a great number of Zoroastrians migrated to India, taking with them their culinary culture. However, the art of Persian cookery and the etiquette of eating (ādāb-é sōfrēh) at a spread (sōfrēh) laden with a colorful array of food survived. These, in later years, highly influenced the Arab, the Ottoman, and the Indian culinary cultures.

In the eighth century, Iranians who helped the Abbasid caliphs gain power passed on the refined Sassanid recipes to Baghdad. This is apparent in a range of cookery books written in Arabic in subsequent centuries.

In the fifteenth century, the haute cuisine that evolved at the Ottoman court was in the style of the Teimurid court of Persia. From the sixteenth century, when a descendant of the Teimurid dynasty in Iran established the Moghul empire in Delhi, the first cookery books, written in Persian and Urdu by Iranian scholars of the imperial court, appeared. In parallel, cookery books were written in Iran by master chefs in the Safavid court and in the nineteenth century in the Qājār court of Na-ser od-Dīn Shāh, showing further refinement in the art of cooking, of rice, in particular.

Modern Iranian Cuisine

Rice. Rice in Iran is steamed to a unique perfection, bringing out its full flavor and fragrance, turning the grains into light, fluffy chēlōw (plain rice) that may be eaten with khōrēsh (stew) or grilled meat (chēlōw kabāb). Rice can be steamed with meat, herbs, vegetables, sour cherries, or pulses in many varieties, colors, and mixtures (pōlōw) as a crisp crust (tah-dig) is formed at the bottom of the cooking vessel. It can be garnished with saffron, barberries, and slivers of orange peel, pistachio, and almond. Rice with beaten eggs, yogurt, and saffron, steamed with layers of cooked meat, eggplant (aubergine), or spinach turns into yet another sumptuous dish known as tahchin.

The best rice is grown in the Caspian provinces of Gīlān and Māzandarān; it is also cultivated in limited quantity in the Lenjān district of Ēsfahān and along the Qēzēl Ōzan River near Zanjān. The major grades of quality long-grain rice, with their elongated form and characteristic fragrance, Sadri Dōmsīah and Tārōm, are the best known for perfume and taste.

Stews. Iranian cuisine in general is the art of cooking the available nutrients in a way that pleases the eye and the palate and balances the functions of the body. Recipes consider food's properties and elements to formulate an equation in which the ingredients blend harmoniously, each counterbalancing the excess effect of the other on the digestive system.

Khōrēsh, derived from the Persian verb khōrdan (to eat), is a kind of stew prepared to these rules. The base for every khōrēsh is fried onions (garlic is added in the northern and southern regions), meat or poultry, the appropriate spices and seasoning. These are left to simmer in water to a desired consistency, then lightly fried vegetables, herbs, or fruit are added. Depending on vegetables and herbs in season, countless varieties are made all over Iran. For example, chopped mint and parsley would make khōrēsh-é na'najafari with celery, or, in the spring, rhubarb, greengages, acanthus, or young green almonds with verjuice (sour grape juice) as seasoning. The famous khōrēsh-é fēsēnjān, which turns into a thick light or dark brown sauce, is made of ground walnuts seasoned with pomegranate juice or paste and has a sweet and sour taste. The cooling effect of pomegranate juice balances the warm and rich property of walnuts. This is an autumn and winter khōrēsh customarily made with duck, or with chicken or meatballs as substitutes. In late autumn it can be made with ripe walnuts and pomegranate juice. In winter chunks of eggplant or pumpkin, dried prunes, and apricots may be added. It is then called mōtanjan. A further derivation is anār-āvīj (pomegranate paste or juice and herbs), prepared in the Caspian region. Another speciality is khōrēsh-é ghōrmēh-sabzi made with mixed herbs and red kidney beans (in the south, blackeyed beans) with whole dried limes used for fragrance, freshness, and seasoning. Also common is khōrēsh-e gheimeh (diced meat) with split peas, served plain or with fried potato sticks and dried lime as seasoning or eggplant, zucchini (courgettes), or celery with sour grapes as seasoning, quinces, or apples with sweetened vinegar as seasoning, etc. A luxury, known from the imperial court of the Qājārs (nineteenth century), is gheimēh-mōrassa' (jeweled diced meat), which in place of split peas uses skinned whole pistachios with ample saffron for aroma and color.

Khōrāk and side dishes. Khōrāk, also derived from the verb khōrdan ('to eat') cooked with or without meat, cover an extensive range and reflect the significant contributions of Gīlān and Azerbaijan provinces. Among these dishes are kabāb, a variation of charcoal-grilled meat, fowl, or fish; shāmi—meat cooked with split peas pounded and kneaded with eggs, ground cumin, and saffron, shaped in a round patty and deep-fried; kūkū, a form of thick puffed omelette or soufflé of different vegetables or herbs; dōlmēh—stuffed vegetables or vine or cabbage leaves; tās-kabāb, meticulously arranged layers of onion, meat, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, and quinces or apples (depending on the season), sprinkled with cardamom and cinnamon, chopped dried lime, and prunes steam-cooked in its own juice on low heat; kashk-bādēm-jān—fried eggplant topped with kashk (whey) and tastefully garnished; mīrzāghāsēmi, grilled eggplant cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and eggs. Side dishes are prepared with various vegetables cooked or raw and mixed with yogurt seasoned with aromatic herbs.

Fish. Fish is cooked in a variety of ways in the Caspian Sea provinces and alongside the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. In the Khuzistan region well-spiced baked fish seasoned with tamarind is among the specialities whereas in the Caspian area it is barbecued or stuffed with herbs, including dried pomegranate seeds, baked and served with bitter oranges. The Caspian caviar is an important item for export, and the large grey and the rare golden of the Iranian coast are famous among connoisseurs.

Bread. Bread or nān is revered as a gift from God. Except in the rice-growing areas along the Caspian coast, it is the staple food of Iranians. Khōrēshs and khōrāks are eaten with nān as well as rice. Made in a flat form, the most common varieties of bread are sangak (baked on pebbles), tāftūn, thin lavāsh, thick barbari, nān-é shīrmāl (dough mixed with milk), and crispy nān-é rōghani (dough mixed with butter).

Soups. Āsh is the general name for a thick soup made with herbs, rice, or pulses with or without meat, served plain or variably seasoned. It is another prominent and universal feature of Iranian cuisine. The recipe for āsh-e sac (spinach soup) has been passed down from the Sassanid era. Āsh cooked using barley, wheat, or noodles and kashk is a convenient dish in tribal life. Ābgūsht (literally meat juice) is made with mutton, onions, turmeric, chickpeas, pinto beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and dried lime; the stock is separated and the rest is pounded into a paste. It is the sustaining food of all classes. Other variations of ābgūsht are derived from this basic form. Another soup is known as kallēh-pācheh (sheep's head and pig's feet in a bouillon); when homemade, tripe is often added. Halīm is a homogeneous porridgelike soup made with wheat and pounded meat of lamb, turkey, or goose, garnished with melted butter and powdered cinnamon. Kūftēh refers to tiny to very large meatballs in onionbased soup. The kūftēh tabrīyi of Azerbaijan is so large that it can hold a chicken, an egg, prunes, barberries, orange peel, and almonds in its center.

There are cold soups for summer. Ābdūgh, a soup made from cucumber, raisins, and herbs in diluted yogurt is everybody's meal. Ēshkanēh, made with fresh fruit such as sour cherries, is both refreshing and filling.

Confections and preserves. A common confection is hālva, prepared from flour, butter, diluted sugar, saffron, and rosewater. Tar hālva, a sophisticated version of hālva, is prepared with ground rice instead of flour and with crushed orange peel or yellow rose petals. Other well-known desserts are shōllēhzard, made with rice, water, butter, sugar, saffron, and almond slivers and garnished with cinnamon and crushed pistachio; masqati, made with starch, water, sugar, butter, cardamom, and almond slivers; and yakhdarbēhēsht, prepared with starch, milk, and sugar. All are perfumed with rosewater or orange-blossom water.

Jams, preserves, torshis (pickles), and sherbets (soft and refreshing cold drinks) such as sērkangēbin, made of sugar water, vinegar, and mint, and others prepared with the juice of rhubarb or various fruits, are prominent features of Iranian culinary culture. The techniques of long conservation of herbs, vegetables, meat, fish, and dairy have been passed on from one generation to another and have been developed in homes mainly by women, the keepers of the household.

Cookies and pastries. Cookies and pastries in Iran are generally delicate in form with a subtle aroma, prepared with variation on basic recipes in different regions. Bāghlava, made with phyllo pastry, finely ground almonds or pistachio, sugar and light syrup, flavored with cardamom and rosewater, finely cut into small diamond-shaped pieces, is a popular confection. Now commercially produced, it was conventionally a homemade product except in Yazd, where confectioners, as a cherished tradition, have specialized in its production. Similarly, numerous petit fours, made with finely ground rice or chickpeas or coconut or almond, are produced. Apart from Yazd, as examples, Esfahān specializes in the production of gaz (nugat); Qum in sōhān (a kind of fudge made of germinated wheat, garnished with crushed pistachio); Kērmānshāh and Qazvīn in nān-é bērēnji (rice cookies) and kāk or nān-é yōkhēh (a fine phyllo made of flour, butter, eggs, and milk, rolled and cut into small pieces, baked and sprayed with powdered sugar); the specialty of Shīrāz is nōghl (sugared slivered almond or pistachio, or muskwillow seed). In rural and tribal areas, kōlūcheh, a kind of shortbread, is popularly produced, mainly for festivities.

Street food. Hot steaming beetroots, grilled pumpkins, baked potatoes, boiled broad beans, and cooked lentils served with powdered Persian marjoram seed sold by peddlers in winter, and liver kabābs rolled in flatbread with or without fresh herbs and chopped onions sold all year round are characteristic features of the popular culture. As further examples, a number of puddings and sweetmeats as well as dried barberry or prunella soaked in water for the juice can be added to the list.

Persian food has not reached the international market. Until the early decades of the twentieth century, people holding high functions or the aristocracy saw to their business in the outer quarters of their home. They were fed together with their employees, assistants, and guests by the kārkhānēh (workshop), as the kitchen was known in a big household. It was in such kitchens that great chefs trained cooks who specialized in certain branches of cooking and accepted apprentices to ensure the continuity of the tradition.

Commercial sale of food was limited to qahvēhkhē-neh (coffee or, in fact, tea houses), where basic dishes are prepared; chēlōw-kabābīs, where only rice and kabobs are served; and certain shops that function only very early in the morning or late in the evening, selling one item like rice pudding, halīm, or tripe. Restaurants are a post–World War I phenomenon mainly introduced by Armenian, Caucasian, and Russian émigrés from the former Soviet Union. They introduced their own cookery rather than commercializing the Persian cuisine.

Feasts and rituals. Cookies, dried fruit, nuts, and sweets are prepared for Nōwrūz (the New Year festival). The traditional dish for New Year's Eve is sabzi-pōlōw (rice with herbs) with fried or smoked fish. On New Year's Day rēshtēh-pōlōw (noodles with rice), spiced and artfully garnished, is served. Festivities end with a picnic on the thirteenth day, at which āsh-é rēshtēh (noodle soup made with herbs, pulses, and kashk) and bāghēla-pōlōw (rice steamed with broad beans and dill) are the main features.

Observation of religious mourning is customary during the first ten days of the first month of the lunar Islamic calendar to commemorate the martyrdom of Hossein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad. The occasion includes offerings in the form of food and puddings to the poor. Rice and khōrēshs are served in the evenings. On the tenth day, the well-to-do offer puddings such as shōllēhzard or hālva to ensure good health for the loved ones. In the month of Ramadan a whole range of sophisticated condiments of fine quality are made available for those fasting and feasting during daylight hours.

Bibliography

Abu Eshaq Shirazi, Mowlana. Divan-e At'ameh, edited and published by Mirza Habib Esfahani. Istanbul, a.h. 1302/ 1884–1885. Gives recipes in satirical poetry. The edition includes a glossary by the editor.

Afshar, Iraj, ed., Ashpazi-ye Dōwrēh-ye Safavi: Matn-e Dōw Rāsēlēh az ān Dōwrēh. Tehran: Entesharat-e Seda va Sima, a.h. 1360/1981. Includes two major works on cookery from the Safavid period, Kārnēmeh: dar Bāb-e Tabbākhi va San'at-e Ān of Hāji Mohammad Ali Bāvarchi Baghdādi, a.h. 927/1521 a.d, pp. 33–184; and Māddat al-Hayāt of Nurallāh, a.h. 1003/1594–1595 a.d., pp. 185–256. This also includes a valuable list of references to a number of Arabic and Persian manuscripts and rare nineteenth-century prints.

Āshpazbāshi, Mīrza Ali Akbar Khān. Sōfrēh-yé At'ameh. Tehran: Bōnyād-é Farhang-é Iran, a.h. 1352/1974. Written by the chef at the Court of Nāser od-Dīn Shāh in 1883–1884 at the request of Dr. Desire Tholozan.

Batmangelij, Najmieh K. A Taste of Persia: An Introduction to Persian Cooking. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1999.

Briant, Pierre. Histoire de l'Empire Perse: de Cyrus à Alexandre. Paris: Fayard, 1996.

Daryabandari, Najaf. Kētāb-é Mōstatāb-e Āshpazi: Az Sīr tā Piyāz, in co-operation with Fahimeh Rastkar, 2 vols. Tehran: Nashr-e Kārnāmēh, a.h. 1379/2000.

Ghanoonparvar, Mohammad R. Persian Cuisine, Book Two: Regional and Modern Foods. Lexington, Ky.: Mazdâ, 1982–1984. In English and Persian.

Mōntazami, Rosa. Hōnar-e Āshpazi. 9th ed. Tehran: Shērkat Offset, a.h. 1361/1982, 1st edition printed in a.h. 1347/1968.

Richard, Josephine (Nēshāt-ed-Dōlēh). Tabbakhi-ye Nēshāt.

Tehran, n.d.

Richard Khan, Yūsēf (Mō'addab-al-Mōlk). Rēsālēh-yé Tabbākhi. Tehran, 1903.

Roden, Claudia. The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Rev. ed.

New York: Knopf, 2000.

Sancisi-Weerdenberg, Heleen. "Persian Food: Stereotypes and

Political Identity." In Food in Antiquity, edited by John Wilkins, David Harvey, and Mike Dobson, pp. 286–302. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995.

Shaida, Margaret. The Legendary Cuisine of Persia. Henley-on-

Thames, U.K.: Lieuse, 1992.

Simmons, Shirin. A Treasury of Persian Cuisine. East Sussex,

England: Book Guild, 2002.

Wilkins, John, David Harvey, and Mike Dobson, eds. Food in

Antiquity. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995.

Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. Encyclopaedia Iranica. (Articles on cookbooks, cooking, berenj, and cookies.) London; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983–1989; Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazdâ Pulishers, 1990–.

Zubaida, Sami, and Richard Tapper, eds. Culinary Cultures of the Middle East. London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 1994.

—Maryam Matine-Daftary

(i-ran, i-rahn, eye-ran)

Republic in the Middle East, bordered by Armenia, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan to the north; Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east; the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south; and Iraq and Turkey to the west. Its capital and largest city is Teheran.

• Core of the ancient Persian Empire, Iran was known as Persia until 1935.
• The United States supported the regime of the shah (king) Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was forced by popular opposition to leave the country in 1979.
• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ruled from 1979 until his death in 1989, imposing strict Islamic law.
• In 1979, Iranian militants attacked the U.S. embassy and seized hostages, including sixty-two Americans, who were held until 1981.
• Iraq unsuccessfully invaded Iran in 1980.
• The Iranian government was widely believed to have controlled the taking of U. S. hostages in Lebanon. (See Iran-Contra affair.)
• The 1990s saw some moderating elements emerge to challenge the conservative heirs to Khomeini.

The international dialing code for Iran is:   98

Iran

Iranian Rial

---

Background:

Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI was forced into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government with ultimate political authority vested in a learned religious scholar referred to commonly as the Supreme Leader who, according to the constitution, is accountable only to the Assembly of Experts. US-Iranian relations have been strained since a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4 November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88, Iran fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military forces between 1987 and 1988. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and remains subject to US, UN, and EU economic sanctions and export controls because of its continued involvement in terrorism and its nuclear weapons ambitions. Following the election of reformer Hojjat ol-Eslam Mohammad KHATAMI as president in 1997 and similarly a reformer Majles (parliament) in 2000, a campaign to foster political reform in response to popular dissatisfaction was initiated. The movement floundered as conservative politicians, through the control of unelected institutions, prevented reform measures from being enacted and increased repressive measures. Starting with nationwide municipal elections in 2003 and continuing through Majles elections in 2004, conservatives reestablished control over Iran's elected government institutions, which culminated with the August 2005 inauguration of hardliner Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD as president. The UN Security Council has passed a number of resolutions (1696 in July 2006, 1737 in December 2006, 1747 in March 2007, 1803 in March 2008, and 1835 in September 2008) calling for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities and comply with its IAEA obligations and responsibilities. Resolutions 1737, 1477, and 1803 subject a number of Iranian individuals and entities involved in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs to sanctions. Additionally, several Iranian entities are subject to US sanctions under Executive Order 13382 designations for proliferation activities and EO 13224 designations for support of terrorism.

Location:	Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
Geographic coordinates:	32 00 N, 53 00 E
Map references:	Middle East
Area:	total: 1.648 million sq km land: 1.636 million sq km water: 12,000 sq km
Area - comparative:	slightly larger than Alaska
Land boundaries:	total: 5,440 km border countries: Afghanistan 936 km, Armenia 35 km, Azerbaijan-proper 432 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 179 km, Iraq 1,458 km, Pakistan 909 km, Turkey 499 km, Turkmenistan 992 km
Coastline:	2,440 km; note - Iran also borders the Caspian Sea (740 km)
Maritime claims:	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: bilateral agreements or median lines in the Persian Gulf continental shelf: natural prolongation
Climate:	mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast
Terrain:	rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts, mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts
Elevation extremes:	lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Kuh-e Damavand 5,671 m
Natural resources:	petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur
Land use:	arable land: 9.78% permanent crops: 1.29% other: 88.93% (2005)
Irrigated land:	76,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:	137.5 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):	total: 72.88 cu km/yr (7%/2%/91%) per capita: 1,048 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:	periodic droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms; earthquakes
Environment - current issues:	air pollution, especially in urban areas, from vehicle emissions, refinery operations, and industrial effluents; deforestation; overgrazing; desertification; oil pollution in the Persian Gulf; wetland losses from drought; soil degradation (salination); inadequate supplies of potable water; water pollution from raw sewage and industrial waste; urbanization
Environment - international agreements:	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:	strategic location on the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, which are vital maritime pathways for crude oil transport

Population:	66,429,284 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 21.7% (male 7,394,841/female 7,022,076) 15-64 years: 72.9% (male 24,501,544/female 23,914,172) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,725,828/female 1,870,823) (2009 est.)
Median age:	total: 27 years male: 26.8 years female: 27.2 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:	0.883% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:	17.17 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:	5.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:	-2.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:	urban population: 68% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 35.78 deaths/1,000 live births male: 35.98 deaths/1,000 live births female: 35.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 71.14 years male: 69.65 years female: 72.72 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:	1.71 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:	0.2% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:	86,000 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:	4,300 (2007 est.)
Major infectious diseases:	degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea vectorborne diseases: Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever and malaria note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
Nationality:	noun: Iranian(s) adjective: Iranian
Ethnic groups:	Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%
Religions:	Muslim 98% (Shia 89%, Sunni 9%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i) 2%
Languages:	Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%
Literacy:	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 77% male: 83.5% female: 70.4% (2002 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):	total: 13 years male: 13 years female: 13 years (2005)
Education expenditures:	5.1% of GDP (2006)

Country name:	conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Iran conventional short form: Iran local long form: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran local short form: Iran former: Persia
Government type:	theocratic republic
Capital:	name: Tehran geographic coordinates: 35 40 N, 51 25 E time difference: UTC+3.5 (8.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:	30 provinces (ostanha, singular - ostan); Ardabil, Azarbayjan-e Gharbi, Azarbayjan-e Sharqi, Bushehr, Chahar Mahall va Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan-e Jonubi, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khorasan-e Shomali, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh va Buyer Ahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazi, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Qom, Semnan, Sistan va Baluchestan, Tehran, Yazd, Zanjan
Independence:	1 April 1979 (Islamic Republic of Iran proclaimed)
National holiday:	Republic Day, 1 April (1979)
Constitution:	2-3 December 1979; revised in 1989 note: the revision in 1989 expanded powers of the presidency and eliminated the prime ministership
Legal system:	based on Sharia law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:	18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:	chief of state: Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI (since 4 June 1989) head of government: President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD (since 3 August 2005); First Vice President Parviz DAVUDI (since 11 September 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers selected by the president with legislative approval; the Supreme Leader has some control over appointments to the more sensitive ministries note: also considered part of the Executive branch of government are three oversight bodies: 1) Assembly of Experts (Majles-Khebregan), a popularly elected body charged with determining the succession of the Supreme Leader, reviewing his performance, and deposing him if deemed necessary; 2) Expediency Council or the Council for the Discernment of Expediency (Majma-e-Tashkise-Maslahat-e-Nezam) exerts supervisory authority over the executive, judicial, and legislative branches and resolves legislative issues on which the Majles and the Council of Guardians disagree and since 1989 has been used to advise national religious leaders on matters of national policy; in 2005 the Council's powers were expanded to act as a supervisory body for the government; 3) Council of Guardians of the Constitution or Council of Guardians or Guardians Council (Shora-ye Negaban-e Qanun-e Assassi) determines whether proposed legislation is both constitutional and faithful to Islamic law, vets candidates for suitability, and supervises national elections elections: Supreme Leader is appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term and third nonconsecutive term); last held 17 June 2005 with a two-candidate runoff on 24 June 2005 (next presidential election slated for 12 June 2009) election results: Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD elected president; percent of vote - Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD 62%, Ali Akbar Hashemi-RAFSANJANI 36%
Legislative branch:	unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami or Majles (290 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 14 March 2008 with a runoff held 25 April 2008 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - conservatives/Islamists 167, reformers 39, independents 74, religious minorities 5, other 5
Judicial branch:	The Supreme Court (Qeveh Qazaieh) and the four-member High Council of the Judiciary have a single head and overlapping responsibilities; together they supervise the enforcement of all laws and establish judicial and legal policies; lower courts include a special clerical court, a revolutionary court, and a special administrative court
Political parties and leaders:	formal political parties are a relatively new phenomenon in Iran and most conservatives still prefer to work through political pressure groups rather than parties; often political parties or coalitions are formed prior to elections and disbanded soon thereafter; a loose pro-reform coalition called the 2nd Khordad Front, which includes political parties as well as less formal groups and organizations, achieved considerable success in elections for the sixth Majles in early 2000; groups in the coalition included the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Executives of Construction Party (Kargozaran), Solidarity Party, Islamic Labor Party, Mardom Salari, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO), and Militant Clerics Society (Ruhaniyun); the coalition participated in the seventh Majles elections in early 2004; following his defeat in the 2005 presidential elections, former MCS Secretary General and sixth Majles Speaker Mehdi KARUBI formed the National Trust Party; a new conservative group, Islamic Iran Developers Coalition (Abadgaran), took a leading position in the new Majles after winning a majority of the seats in February 2004;; following the 2004 Majles elections, traditional and hardline conservatives have attempted to close ranks under the United Front of Principlists and the Broad Popular Coalition of Principlists; several reformist groups, such as the Islamic Revolution, came together as a reformist coalition in advance of the 2008 Majles elections; the IIPF has repeatedly complained that the overwhelming majority of its candidates have been unfairly disqualified from the 2008 elections
Political pressure groups and leaders:	groups that generally support the Islamic Republic: Ansar-e Hizballah-Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh); Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader; Islamic Engineers Society; Tehran Militant Clergy Association (Ruhaniyat); active pro-reform student group: Office of Strengthening Unity (OSU); opposition groups: Baluchistan People's Party (BPP); Freedom Movement of Iran; Marz-e Por Gohar; National Front; and various ethnic and Monarchist organizations; armed political groups that have been repressed by the government: Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI); Jundallah; Komala; Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO); People's Fedayeen; People's Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK)
International organization participation:	CP, ECO, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, SAARC (observer), SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US:	none; note - Iran has an Interests Section in the Pakistani Embassy; address: Iranian Interests Section, Pakistani Embassy, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007; telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990; FAX [1] (202) 965-1073
Diplomatic representation from the US:	none; note - the US Interests Section is located in the Embassy of Switzerland No. 39 Shahid Mousavi (Golestan 5th), Pasdaran Ave., Tehran, Iran; telephone [98] 21 2254 2178/2256 5273; FAX [98] 21 2258 0432
Flag description:	three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band

Economy - overview:	Iran's economy is marked by an inefficient state sector, reliance on the oil sector, which provides the majority of government revenues, and statist policies, which create major distortions throughout the system. Most economic activity is controlled by the state. Private sector activity is typically limited to small-scale workshops, farming, and services. Price controls, subsidies, and other rigidities weigh down the economy, undermining the potential for private-sector-led growth. Significant informal market activity flourishes. Corruption and shortages of goods are widespread. President Mahmud AHMADI-NEJAD has proposed reforms to Iran's system of price controls and subsidies, particularly on food and energy. However, previous government-led efforts at reform - such as fuel rationing in July 2007 and the imposition of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) in October 2008 - were met with stiff resistance and violent protests. High oil prices in recent years allowed Iran to greatly increase its export earnings and amass over $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves. But with oil prices currently below $40 per barrel, the Iranian government is facing difficulties. Tehran has formulated a 2009 budget that anticipates lower oil prices. The government has drawn down the country's Oil Stabilization Fund, and may be dipping into foreign exchange reserves. Iran continues to suffer from double-digit unemployment and inflation - inflation climbed to 26% as of June 2008. Underemployment among Iran's educated youth has convinced many to seek jobs overseas, resulting in a significant "brain drain."
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$842 billion (2008 est.) $790.6 billion (2007) $733.2 billion (2006) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):	$382.3 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	6.5% (2008 est.) 7.8% (2007 est.) 5.8% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$12,800 (2008 est.) $12,100 (2007 est.) $11,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 10.8% industry: 44.3% services: 44.9% (2008 est.)
Labor force:	24.35 million note: shortage of skilled labor (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	agriculture: 25% industry: 31% services: 45% (June 2007)
Unemployment rate:	12.5% according to the Iranian government (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line:	18% (2007 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 33.7% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:	44.5 (2006)
Investment (gross fixed):	27.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:	revenues: $51 billion expenditures: $103 billion (FY09/10 est.)
Fiscal year:	21 March - 20 March
Public debt:	25% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	28% note: official Iranian estimate (2008 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:	12% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:	$46.13 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:	$68.71 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:	$109.7 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:	$45.57 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:	wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, sugar cane, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar
Industries:	petroleum, petrochemicals, fertilizers, caustic soda, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), ferrous and non-ferrous metal fabrication, armaments
Industrial production growth rate:	4.5% excluding oil (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:	193 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:	145 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:	2.775 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - imports:	2.54 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - production by source:	fossil fuel: 97.1% hydro: 2.9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:	4.7 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:	1.6 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:	2.8 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports:	210,000 bbl/day (2007)
Oil - proved reserves:	138.4 billion bbl based on Iranian claims (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:	111.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	111.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	6.2 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	6.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	26.85 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:	$27.47 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:	$106.4 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:	petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets
Exports - partners:	China 15%, Japan 14.3%, Turkey 7.4%, South Korea 7.3%, Italy 6.4% (2007)
Imports:	$67.79 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:	industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services
Imports - partners:	China 14.2%, Germany 9.6%, UAE 9.1%, South Korea 6.3%, Russia 5.7%, Italy 5% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:	$96.56 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Debt - external:	$21.77 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:	$6.954 billion (2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:	$993 million (2008 est.)
Currency (code):	Iranian rial (IRR)
Currency code:	IRR
Exchange rates:	Iranian rials (IRR) per US dollar - 9,142.8 (2008 est.), 9,407.5 (2007), 9,227.1 (2006), 8,964 (2005), 8,614 (2004) note: Iran has been using a managed floating exchange rate regime since unifying multiple exchange rates in March 2002

Telephones - main lines in use:	23.835 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	29.77 million (2007)
Telephone system:	general assessment: currently being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not presently connected domestic: the addition of new fiber cables and modern switching and exchange systems installed by Iran's state-owned telecom company have improved and expanded the main line network greatly; main line availability has more than doubled to nearly 24 million lines since 2000; additionally, mobile service has increased dramatically serving nearly 30 million subscribers in 2007 international: country code - 98; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG); Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion to Georgia and Azerbaijan; HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; satellite earth stations - 13 (9 Intelsat and 4 Inmarsat) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:	AM 72, FM 6, shortwave 5 (1998)
Radios:	17 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:	29 (plus 450 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:	4.61 million (1997)
Internet country code:	.ir
Internet hosts:	2,860 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):	100 (2002)
Internet users:	23 million (2007)

Airports:	317 (2008)
Airports - with paved runways:	total: 130 over 3,047 m: 40 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 23 914 to 1,523 m: 32 under 914 m: 6 (2008)
Airports - with unpaved runways:	total: 187 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 144 under 914 m: 31 (2008)
Heliports:	14 (2007)
Pipelines:	condensate 7 km; condensate/gas 12 km; gas 19,246 km; liquid petroleum gas 570 km; oil 7,018 km; refined products 7,936 km (2008)
Railways:	total: 8,367 km broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge standard gauge: 8,273 km 1.435-m gauge (146 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:	total: 172,927 km paved: 125,908 km (includes 1,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 47,019 km (2006)
Waterways:	850 km (on Karun River; additional service on Lake Urmia) (2008)
Merchant marine:	total: 74 by type: bulk carrier 18, cargo 34, chemical tanker 4, container 6, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 3 foreign-owned: 1 (UAE 1) registered in other countries: 115 (Barbados 2, Bolivia 1, Cyprus 10, Hong Kong 15, Malta 79, Panama 7, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1) (2008)
Ports and terminals:	Assaluyeh, Bandar Abbas, Bandar-e-Eman Khomeyni

Military branches:	Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force of the Military of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Niru-ye Hava'i-ye Artesh-e Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran, IRIAF; Air Defense Command being formed); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Qods Force (special operations), and Basij Force (Popular Mobilization Army); Law Enforcement Forces (2008)
Military service age and obligation:	19 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for volunteers; 17 years of age for Law Enforcement Forces; 15 years of age for Basij Forces (Popular Mobilization Army); conscript military service obligation - 18 months; women exempt from military service (2008)
Manpower available for military service:	males age 16-49: 20,212,275 females age 16-49: 19,638,751 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:	males age 16-49: 17,658,573 females age 16-49: 17,148,290 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:	male: 700,213 female: 664,846 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures:	2.5% of GDP (2006)

Disputes - international:	Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed tributaries to the Helmand River in periods of drought; Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Iran and UAE dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which are occupied by Iran; Iran stands alone among littoral states in insisting upon a division of the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors
Refugees and internally displaced persons:	refugees (country of origin): 914,268 (Afghanistan); 54,024 (Iraq) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:	current situation: Iran is a source, transit, and destination country for women trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude; Iranian women are trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution and for forced marriages to settle debts; Iranian children are trafficked internally and Afghan children are trafficked into Iran for the purpose of forced marriages, commercial sexual exploitation, and involuntary servitude as beggars or laborers tier rating: Tier 3 - Iran did not provide evidence of law enforcement activities against trafficking, and credible reports indicate that Iranian authorities punish victims of trafficking with beatings, imprisonment, and execution; Iran has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)
Illicit drugs:	despite substantial interdiction efforts and considerable control measures along the border with Afghanistan, Iran remains one of the primary transshipment routes for Southwest Asian heroin to Europe; suffers one of the highest opiate addiction rates in the world, and has an increasing problem with synthetic drugs; lacks anti-money laundering laws; has reached out to neighboring countries to share counter-drug intelligence

---

Recipes

Dolma (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Yogurt and Mint Sauce
Kebab Morgh (Grilled Skewered Chicken)
Shirazi (Cucumber and Tomato Salad)
Halva
Dugh (Sparkling Yogurt Drink)
Lettuce Dipped in Honey and Vinegar Dressing
Shir-Berenj (Rice Pudding)
Iranian Rice Cakes
Maast (Homemade Yogurt)
Feta Cheese and Vegetable Tray
Desser Miveh (Persian Fruit Salad)

Geographic Setting and Environment

Iran is located in southwestern Asia. It covers an area of 1,648,000 square kilometers (636,296 square miles), slightly larger than the state of Alaska. Iran is geologically unstable, and experiences periodic earthquakes. In 1978, a deadly earthquake struck eastern Iran, killing at least 25,000 people.

Air and water pollution are significant problems in Iran. Twenty-five percent of the rural people do not have pure water.

History and Food

Since the beginning of human civilization in present-day Iran, a series of peoples has invaded and conquered the region, exposing the area to new customs, beliefs, ideas, and foods, as well as bringing Iranian customs and foods back to their own home countries. The ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Turks are just a few of the groups that have had an influence on Iranian culture and its cuisine.

Iranian cuisine is often referred to as "Persian." This is because, until 1934, Iran was known as Persia. The Persians are an ancient culture believed to have originated in central Asia as far back as 2000 B.C. At one time, Persian territory stretched as far east as India. Curry (a spice) was adapted from the people of India and incorporated into the Persian (now Iranian) cuisine. Modern spicy curry stews demonstrate India's influence.

The Indians also adapted foods from the Persians. When the Moghuls invaded India in 1526, they brought with them ingredients from the Persian cuisine, which they highly admired. A northern Indian cuisine called mughulai is modeled after what the Persians commonly ate: mounds of rice seasoned with saffron, topped with nuts, raisins, and various meats. Dishes such as kofta (KOFtah, meatballs) and pilau (POO-lau) are now common to both Iranians and northern Indians.

Several of Iran's most prominent dishes originated from the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and Russians. Greece invaded present-day Iran in the A.D. 200s, introducing stuffed grape leaves. Yogurt may have originated from either Greece or Turkey, where it is also a dietary staple. The Iranian food rules that categorize foods into "hot or "cold" is believed to have been derived from ancient Greek theories of medicine (See Mealtime Customs). Dishes made of lamb, dates, and figs were brought into the Persian diet during the Arab invasion of the 600s.

Three hundred years later, the Turks expanded their Ottoman Empire into Persian territory. The idea of stuffing leaves, vines, fruits, and vegetables with various fillings (Turkish dolma) was reinforced by the Turks. Dolma and kofte (meatballs) have become very popular throughout the Middle Eastern countries. The kebab (cubes of skewered meat) is probably the most important introduction by the Turks—it has become one of Iran's national dishes. Strong Turkish coffee was also introduced. Once a widely consumed Iranian beverage, it has now fallen behind the popularity of chây (tea). The strong, dark tea is brewed in an urn called a samovar, a Russian word. Tea most likely originated in Russia.

See Dolma (Stuffed Grape Leaves) recipe.

See Yogurt and Mint Sauce recipe.

Foods of the Iranians

Iranian food (also referred to as Persian food) is some of the most delicious and fresh in its region. It is also quite healthy, using only small amounts of red meat (usually lamb or beef), emphasizing larger amounts of grains (especially rice), fruits, and vegetables. Although it is often lumped under the category of general "Middle Eastern" fare, the Iranian cuisine is able to retain its uniqueness in a variety of ways. One of these ways is preparing meals with contrasting flavors, such as a combination of sweet and sour or mild and spicy.

The country's cuisine is largely based on berenj (rice). It is relatively inexpensive and grown locally, making it an affordable and readily available staple in the everyday diet. A typical Iranian meal is often a heaping plate of chelo (CHEH-loh; plain, cooked rice) topped with vegetables, fish, or meat. It also provides a cool contrast to spicy meat toppings. The two national rice dishes are chelo and polo (POH-loh; rice cooked with several ingredients). There are seemingly endless varieties of dishes that can be prepared with rice in Iran.

Nân (bread), a round, flat bread that can either be baked or cooked over a bed of small stones, is the other staple food of Iranian cuisine. There are several varieties, including lavâsh, a very thin, brittle bread served for breakfast, and sangak (sahn-GAHK), a thicker, chewier variety that is usually marked by small "dimples" in the crust. Villages often make their own nân, while those who live in the city are frequently seen leaving bakeries with armfuls of freshly made loaves.

Meat, particularly chicken and lamb, is most commonly eaten as kebabs (KEE-bahbs), pieces of meat served on a skewer. Âsh (soups) and khoresh (stews) make popular entrees to most Iranian meals and often contain such meat. Abgoosht (up-GOOSHT) is a hearty soup made of mutton (sheep meat) and chickpeas. Soups are drunk directly from the bowl. Koftas (meatballs), vegetables (such as eggplant), fruits (such as quince, an apple-like fruit), and even yogurt (an Iranian mainstay) are often added to soups and stews.

Quinces, pears, grapes, dates, apricots, and Iranian melons flavored with rosewater are typically eaten for dessert. Halva (HAHL-wah, a sesame treat) and baklava (bahk-LAH-vah, crisp paper-like pastry layered with nuts and honey) are common throughout the Middle East. Iranians also love ice cream and puddings. Although sugared chây (tea) is the country's most treasured beverage and ghahvé (coffee) is highly popular, Iranians (particularly children) often enjoy a sweet drink after large meals. Palouden (PAO-loo-den), a rose- and lemon-flavored drink, dugh (sour milk or yogurt mixed with sparkling water) and fresh fruit juices can be made at home or bought in cafes and at street stalls.

See Kebab Morgh (Grilled Skewered Chicken) recipe.

See Shirazi (Cucumber and Tomato Salad) recipe.

See Halva recipe.

See Dugh (Sparkling Yogurt Drink) recipe.

Food for Religious and Holiday Celebrations

Almost all (about 98 percent) of Iranians are Shi'ah Muslims. They follow Shi'ah Islam, the government religion, and celebrate Muslim holidays throughout the year. Many of the country's religious holidays celebrate the birthdays of imams (religious leaders). One such leader is the Prophet Muhammad, who is remembered each year with a celebration called Mouloud (moo-LOOD). Ashura is a day to remember the Prophet's grandson, Husayn, who was murdered in A.D. 680. On this day, parades typically crowd city streets and people give money or food to the poor if they can afford to.

Ramadan is the most sacred time of the year for Muslims. For an entire month, Muslims fast (do not eat or drink) from sunrise to sunset every day, hoping to cleanse their bodies and minds and remember those who are less fortunate. Restaurants and food stores are often closed or have limited hours during this holy month. Ramadan ends with the sighting of the new moon. The three-day festival marking Ramadan's end is known as Eid al-Fitr. During this time, the month-long fast is broken by community prayer, and then followed by a large feast with family and friends.

Now Ruz (no-ROOZ), the Iranian New Year, takes place on the first day of spring (March 21) and is probably the most important festival in Iran. Iranians of all ages eagerly await this day (literally meaning "new day"), and look forward to a new beginning and an abundance of delicious meals and sweets.

Festivities for Now Ruz begin nearly two weeks ahead of time—planting seeds, buying clothes, and cleaning homes. Haft sin (hoft-SEEN) is a tradition in which tables are decorated with seven items that symbolize triumph over evil, including sir (garlic) and senjid (olives). Samanu (sah-muh-NOO), a pudding made from flour, sugar, and walnuts, is also made at this time. For additional good luck, a mother will often eat one cooked egg for every one of her children.

Beginning on the day of Now Ruz and lasting for two weeks, feasting and visiting with friends and relatives takes place while schools and offices remain closed. Iranian sweets and snacks such as fruits, nuts, pastries, puddings, and tea, are placed on tables in anticipation of visiting guests. Iranian rice cakes and sabzi polo, a rice dish flavored with herbs, are popular foods. On the thirteenth day of the New Year, called Sizdeh Bedar (seez-DAH-bee-DAR), it is believed that homes are filled with bad luck. To help chase it away, sabzeh (wheat or lentil seeds grown during haft sin) are thrown out the window and a picnic outdoors is enjoyed. At 5 P.M., it is customary to eat lettuce leaves dipped in a honey and vinegar dressing, accompanied by tea.

When Iranians make their container of sabzeh, or green sprouts, for Now Ruz, they sometimes simply scatter the seeds over a plate and keep them moistened with water as they sprout and grow. They may also choose to fill a porous clay pot or jar with water and attach the seeds to the outside of the jar with strips of cloth until they stick to the moist surface. The strips are then removed and the sprouts grow upward in sunlight—green and full.

Sprouts, similar to those grown by Iranians, can be grown by filling a bowl or other container with sterile potting mix from a plant nursery, and scattering lentils or grains of barley or wheat thickly across the surface of the potting mix. The mix should be watered until it is evenly moist throughout, and then the container should be covered loosely with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture. The seeds will sprout if the container is left on a sunny windowsill; the surface should be sprinkled with water once or twice a day to keep the seeds moist.

After three days, the seeds should have begun to sprout and the plastic wrap may be removed. When the sprouts are a few inches tall, they may be tied into a bunch with a pretty ribbon, or snipped and added to a salad.

See Lettuce Dipped in Honey and Vinegar Dressing recipe.

See Shir-Berenj (Rice Pudding) recipe.

See Iranian Rice Cakes recipe.

Mealtime Customs

Upon entering an Iranian home and removing one's shoes at the door, a gift or reciprocated dinner invitation should be offered to the host. When the meal is ready to be served, the host will place large platters of food on top of the sofreh (sof-RAY, tablecloth) that rests on top of a floor rug. Diners sit cross-legged in front of individual settings of plates, bowls, and silverware (typically a fork and a spoon). Iranians of the opposite sex (unless related) do not sit next to one another while eating. Talking is also kept to a minimum.

Although most meals will offer bread, rice, and meat (often a kebab), Iranians often choose what foods will be served by following a set of food rules that originated from ancient Greek medicine. Foods are classified as either "hot" or "cold," depending on the food's heating or cooling effect on the individual (rather than the food's actual temperature). Hot foods include meats, sweets, and eggplant. Yogurt, cucumbers, and fish classify as cold. Iranians try to serve a balance of hot and cold foods. After dinner, chây (tea) is commonly accompanies fresh fruit for dessert, although more elaborate meals or special occasions will include pastries such as baklava or halva.

Iranians consume three meals a day, including snacks (usually nuts, seeds, fruit, or a light yogurt dish). Soph'ha'neh (breakfast), separate from the typical Iranian fare of lunch and dinner, usually consists of hot tea, cheese, and fresh baked bread from the local bakery or home kitchen. Some choose to purchase it from "bicycle breadmen" who travel from door to door, selling leftover bread for a reduced price. Northern provinces prefer asal (honey) with cooked, cold rice and fish. Central Iranians enjoy yogurt and soft cream, while southern Iranians prefer cheese and dates.

A child's weekday (Saturday through Thursday) breakfast before school is often the same as that of adults: tea, honey, bread, and feta cheese. Similar to breakfast, the light lunch served by most schools typically includes fresh fruit, dates, pistachio nuts, bread, and cheese.

See Maast (Homemade Yogurt) recipe.

See Feta Cheese and Vegetable Tray recipe.

See Desser Miveh (Persian Fruit Salad) recipe.

Politics, Economics, and Nutrition

About 6 percent of the population of Iran is classified as undernourished by the World Bank. This means they do not receive adequate nutrition in their diet. Of children under the age of five, about 16 percent are underweight, and roughly 19 percent are stunted (short for their age).

Unemployment, caused by Iran's unstable economy, helps to contribute to urban and rural poverty. Such poverty often leads to hunger and undernourishment. An absence of cooked eggs, beans, lentils, and nuts from the diet can lead to protein deficiency. Similarly, a lack of fruits and vegetables can result in an overall vitamin deficiency. Many families affected by the country's shaky economy cannot afford to purchase or grow themselves the necessary foods for a healthy diet.

Further Study

Books

Greenway, Paul. Iran. 2^nd ed. Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 1998. Rajendra, Vijeya and Gisela Kaplan. Iran. Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1996.

Sanai, Hussein, ed. Iran: The Land of Norooz. Tehran, Iran: Iran Exports Publications Co. Ltd., 1994.

Spencer, William. Iran: Land of the Peacock Throne. Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1997.

Web Sites

Epicurious. [Online] Available http://www.epicurious.com (accessed April 12, 2001).

FarsiEats.com. [Online] Available http://www.farsieats.com/recipes/ (accessed April 11, 2001).

Iran. [Online] Available http://knight3.cit.ics.saitama-u.ac.jp/hobbies/iran/food.html (accessed April 10, 2001).

The Iranian. [Online] Available http://www.iranian.com (accessed April 11, 2001).

Iranian/Persian Recipes. [Online] Available http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/F.Mokhtarian/recipes/ (accessed April 10, 2001).

Mezzetta. [Online] Available http://www.mezzetta.com/dolmas.html (accessed April 12, 2001).

PersianOutpost.com. [Online] Available http://www.persianoutpost.com/htdocs/album/food001.html (accessed April 11, 2001).

Films

"The White Balloon." Iranian director Jafar Panahi, 1996. 85 minutes. This is a story of a seven-year-old Iranian girl named Razieh who asks her mother for money to buy a special goldfish for the Now Ruz celebration. (Goldfish in a bowl of water are traditionally placed on the table this time of year.) Eager to purchase one, Razieh travels through the city of Tehran on her journey to the pet store. As she does so, she meets people of many different cultures. The differences and similarities of people from all over the world become apparent in this charming film.

---

A type of aircraft inspection in which the aircraft is inspected and needed repairs are carried out. IRAN stands for “inspect and repair as needed.”

---

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)