IRAN (Nasra)

Iran known as Persia, which included parts of Iraq, Iran has a long, creative and glorious history. Unlike many other Middle Eastern countries, Iran managed to remain independent throughout much of its history. Today it has a population of about 70 million persons. Principle ethnic groups are Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7% and Arab 3%. Iran is a Muslim country, with 89% Shi'a and 10% Sunni Muslims. The remaining 1% belongs to Jewish, Bahai and Zoroastrian faiths. The Bahai and Zoroastrian faiths originated in Iran. Major Languages of Iran are Persian (Fars) and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Baluchi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%. Since 1979, Iran is an Islamic Republic.Iran is situated east of Iraq, beyond the Tigris River, Shatt Al-Arab waterway and east of the Persian Gulf, across from Saudi Arabia. To the north, it borders on former Soviet Central Asian countries including Armenia Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea. It also borders on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, and Turkey to the west. 1979 January 16: The Shah leaves Iran, as his new government can't control the situation in the country anymore.
February 1: Khomeini returns to Iran. A period of antagonism starts. Processes against the supporters of the Shah starts, and hundreds are executed. Many demonstrations are held in protest to the new rules, like extreme regulations on women's dress.
March 30: Referendum on the new Iranian constitution is held, where the Islamic republic is chosen.
November: Iranian students storm the US embassy, taking 70 people, the majority Americans, as hostages. 18 are released before the end of November. This conflict would last more than one year, and has more than anything else formed the West's image of the present regime of Iran as an anti-Western one.Iran's Nuclear Program - Toward the end of 2003 Iran's nuclear program came under the scrutiny of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Work on a nuclear reactor to be built by Siemens at Bushehr had begun in the time of the Shah, and was nearing completion in 1979, when the revolution occurred. The Ayatolah Khomeini pronounced the project "unislamic." The Iraqis bombed damaged the Bushehr site during the Iran-Iraq war. However, Iran decided subsequently to renew the program. Nuclear power has fallen out of favor in most countries since the reactor mishap at 3 Mile Island in 1979, and more especially after the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. However, Iranians claim that they want to develop nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels, citing pollution concerns as well as eventual depletion. Indeed, Teheran is very polluted primarily because of vehicle and refinery emissions. This is partly due to subsidies of oil prices by the Iranian government. Though it has over 9% of the world's oil reserves and over 16% of the world's gas, Iran has neglected its fossil fuel substrate because foreign companies would not provide spare parts and know-how following the revolution. Wells may have become unusable due to neglect. Iran still has more than enough gas and oil to meet its increasing energy needs though for many years to come.