Iran

Iran: What’s in a Name?
 Historically known as Persia until 1935,
when Reza Shah Pahlavi asked for the
country to be called by its native name
 Iran means “Land of the Aryans”
 Persia derived from ancient Greek name
for Iran, Persis
 Name comes from a region in southern
Iran called Pars

Location
 Asia: The Middle East
 North: former Soviet Republics
 South: Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
 East: Afghanistan, Pakistan
 West: Turkey, Iraq
 Major Cities: Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad,
Esfahan, Shiraz

Early History
 6,000 years of civilization and 2,500 years of
written history.
 1,400 years of post-Islamic history since the Arab
conquest in 7th century AD: religious and
national subordination and never-ending
conflict.
 Median Dynasty (728-550 BC): created first
Iranian Empire
 Safavid Dynasty (1502-1736): conversion of
population towards Shi’ism
 Qajar Dynasty (1781-1925): constitutional
dynasty; British and Russian spheres of influence

Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979)
 Ruled Iran from the crowning
of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925
to the overthrow of Reza
Shah Pahlavi's son
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in
the Iranian Revolution of
1979.
 By the mid-1930s Reza Shah's
dictatorial style of rule
caused dissatisfaction
among some groups
 Dynasty collapsed following
widespread uprisings in 1978
and 1979.
 Its collapse marks a break in
the ancient tradition of
Iranian monarchy.

Islamic Revolution (1979)
 Transformed Iran from a monarchy under Pahlavi
dynasty to an Islamic republic under Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution and
founder of the Islamic Republic.
 It has been called the third great revolution in history
 Helped make Islamic fundamentalism a political
force
 Constitution based on rule by Islamic jurists
 Khomeini—Supreme leader (lifetime appointment)
 President—Head of the Government
 Cabinet
 Supreme Court
 Legislation

1980s—strained time with US
 52 U.S. diplomats held hostage by group of Iranian
terrorists who took over American embassy in support of
the Islamic revolution.
 444 day hostage crisis ended in 1981
 The incident was seen by many as a blow against U.S.
influence in Iran and its support of the recently fallen Shah
of Iran, Pahlavi, who had recently been allowed into the
United States for cancer treatment.
 In Iran, the crisis is thought to have strengthened the
political hold of radical anti-American forces who
supported the hostage taking.
 The crisis also marked the beginning of American legal
action, or sanctions, that weakened economic ties
between Iran and America.

Iranian Demographics
 Population—nearly 70
million
 Life expectancy at birth
—69 years
 Birth rate—17 per 1,000
persons
 Death rate—6 per 1,000
persons
 Literacy rate—72%
0-14 yrs
15-29 yrs
30-50 yrs
60+ yrs

Ethnicity and Religion
Persians
Azeris
Kurds
Arabs
Other
Shi'a
Muslim
(Islam)
Sunni
Muslim
(Islam)
Other
 Although there are
various sub-groups, the
majority of Iranians
would say their religion
is Islam.
 The largest ethnic group
in Iran is Persians,
followed by Azeris.

Economy
 Mixed System:
 Large and dominating public sector
 Small private sector
 Multinational corporations
 Structure:
 Agriculture 24%
 Industry 28%
 Services 48%
 Major Exports: petroleum, carpets, nuts
 Major Imports: capital goods, food items
 Unemployment rate: 16% and rising

A Youth Powered Society
 Youth Demographic
 Between 15-29 years old—25
million (35%)
 Median age—26 years old
 Legal voting age—16 years old
 Issue of high concern
 High unemployment

Women in Iran
 Higher Education—65%
 Changing Marriage and Child Custody
Laws
 Shirin Edabi: Nobel Peace Prize 2003
 Professional life
 Women in all aspects of work force
 Inequality in senior and managerial jobs

Women and the Islamic Dress
Code

An Advanced and Cultured
Society: Science
 Avicenna
 father of early
modern medicine
(11th
century)
 Biruni
 first anthropologist
(11th
century)

Science (cont.)
 Mina Bissel
 Possible Nobel
Peace prize
candidate for her
scientific work in the
field of cancer
biology and
therapeutics

Art, Media, and Sport
 Andre Agassi
 Former world #1
professional tennis
player.
 Freddie Mercury
 Lead singer of
Queen

Art, Media, and Sport (cont.)
 Christiane Amanpour
 Chief International
Correspondent for
CNN
 Abbas Kiarostami
 internationally
acclaimed film
director; received
100 awards;
President of
Cannes Film
Festival in 2005

Business
 Farzad Nazem
 Chief Technology
Officer and
Executive VP of
Yahoo!
 Firouz Naderi
 Associate Director of
NASA’s Jet
Propulsion
Laboratory

Business (cont.)
 Pierre Omidyar
 Founder and
chairman of eBay
 Omid Kordestani
 Senior VP for World
Wide Sales and Field
Operations of
Google

Cuisine
 Very diverse, with each province
featuring its own dishes
 Base of the cuisine: rice
 Most common ingredients include herbs,
vegetables, saffron, nuts
 World capital of caviar
 Earliest wine production in Iran between
6000 and 5000 BC
 Shiraz wine: produced in 9th
century—
finest wine in Middle East

Nowrooz—Iranian New Year
 Established in 1388
 First day of Spring (equinox)
 Symbolic—rebirth, renewal
 Family celebration without religious
connotation
 Traditions: house cleaning, new clothes,
special dishes, family visiting, Haft-Sin
table

Iran

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