Iran

G

Culture

The culture of Iran is heavily influenced by Shiism, as is evident in the art, literature, and social structure of the country. There are great traditions of Persian literature, particularly of poetry, and Iranian art and architecture. After the change of government in 1979, the Shiite clergy led a drive for renewed Islamization. Women were encouraged to return to more traditional roles, and initially cinemas were closed and radio stations were prohibited from broadcasting music. These restrictions were subsequently somewhat relaxed. The segregation of men and women at certain social functions was reinstituted. Many women protested against the wholesale acceptance of Western values in the late 1970s by again wearing the traditional chador, a long black cloth draped over the head and body. “Islamic dress” was made compulsory by the government of the Islamic republic. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in many aspects of Iranian culture, even those of the pre-Islamic period.

Iran has a number of notable museums. These include the Iran Bastan Museum, with displays on archaeology, and the Negarestan Museum, with exhibits of Iranian art, both in Tehran; the Qom Museum; and the Pars Museum, in Shīrāz. The National Library is in Tehran; other important book collections are housed in university libraries. See also Iranian Cinema.

IV

Economy

The enormous income from the petroleum industry led in the late 1960s and 1970s to the rapid growth of the entire economy of Iran. Economic planning during this period aimed to create rapidly a modern economy based on heavy industry; however, it was also heavily dependent on the injection of foreign capital, technology, and advisers. Economic growth was, however, accompanied by the neglect of the agricultural sector, massive inflation, an urban population explosion, and wider social divisions, leading to widespread discontent.

The influx of foreign capital and the rate of establishment of new industries dropped sharply after the change in government in 1979. Despite the new government’s revolutionary aims of self-sufficiency, social equity, diversification away from oil, and agricultural improvements, only the latter aim has really met with much success. The economy remains heavily dependent on both oil revenues and imports. Despite austerity measures, inflation (above 50 per cent in 1996) and unemployment (30 per cent, 1996) remain key sources of public discontent. By 1996 Iran was servicing the interest on debts of US$25,000 million to US$30.000 million. Iran is subject to a US trade embargo, and has been threatened with similar action by the EU, unless it can prove that it is not a sponsor of international terrorism. As an oil-producer Iran does not receive any significant amount of aid, and there is opposition to Western aid even in times of urgent need, such as in the 1990 earthquake.

The GNP of Iran (World Bank figure; 2004) is about US$155,329 million, or US$2,930 per capita. The budget for 2006 included revenues of about US$78,852 million and expenditure of US$54,018 million.

A

Petroleum

Iran is noted for the production of petroleum, but oil revenues have declined since US sanctions were imposed in 1995. The principal oilfields, located at the head of the Persian Gulf in the south-western region, are considered among the richest in the world. Reserves are estimated at 92.8 billion barrels, sufficient to maintain present production levels for over 70 years. Iran also has one of the largest reserves of natural gas of any country, amounting to 12.6 per cent of world reserves. The oil industry was nationalized in 1951; petroleum production is controlled by the national Ministry of Petroleum. About 3.6 billion barrels per day of oil were produced in the mid-1990s; in 2003 79 billion cu m (2,790 billion cu ft) of natural gas were also produced, about 20 per cent of which was exported to central Asia. Petroleum output dropped in the late 1970s as part of an effort by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of which Iran is a leading member, and its second largest oil producer, to keep oil prices from declining. They fell for a second time in the 1980s because the principal oil-producing regions were the scene of warfare with Iraq. Much of the oil is normally exported by supertankers loaded at facilities on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.

B

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Most of the best farmland is in the north, south, and west. Under a land-reform programme begun in the 1950s, about 800,000 hectares (2 million acres) were redistributed among peasant farmers. Iran was self-sufficient in agricultural terms until the late 1960s. That decade saw the start of industrially oriented economic development programmes and the neglect of agriculture by the government. However, since the mid-1980s the government has concentrated more on the agricultural sector, encouraging small-scale projects and traditional agrarian systems, including the restoration of traditional irrigation techniques, such as ganats (underground water tunnels). About 40 per cent of agricultural land is irrigated. In 2006 the agricultural sector contributed some 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2006, the annual production of Iran’s principal crops included about 14.5 million tonnes of wheat, 3 million tonnes of barley, 3.60 million tonnes of rice, and 3 million tonnes of grapes. Other important crops include sugar beet, sugar cane, maize, pulses (legume seeds), tobacco, tea, oilseeds, and pistachio nuts, of which Iran is the world’s largest producer. Iran is also particularly noted for its fruit. The Caspian region produces citrus fruits; the Persian Gulf region, dates and bananas; and the central plateau, apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and cherries. Livestock includes an estimated 52.2 million sheep, 25.8 million goats, 9.38 million cattle, 1.77 million donkeys, and 385 million chickens (2006).

Because of concern over excessive cutting, commercial timber-harvesting in Iran was not expanded during the 1970s. Production in 1994 was 6.9 million cu m (243 million cu ft). Commercial fishing is important to the Iranian economy, but it has not been fully developed. As part of efforts to improve returns a US$1.4 million canning plant was opened in 1993 on the island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf. The Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf yield trout, carp, sturgeon, salmon, whitefish, shrimp, and herring. The annual fish catch was about 527,912 tonnes in 2005. Pollution of the seas as a result of the 1990-1991 Gulf War led to a 66 per cent drop in the shrimp catch. Iranian caviar (sturgeon eggs) is considered among the best in the world; caviar sales are strictly regulated to maximize hard currency earnings.

C

Mining

Substantial quantities of iron ore, copper, coal, lead, zinc, chromite, salt, bauxite, and decorative stone are also produced. Production in 2004 was around 5.10 million tonnes of iron ore and 190,000 tonnes of copper.