Iran

Fast Facts

Location: Middle East

Capital: Tehran

Population: 84 million (2021)

Government Type: Unitary Theocratic (Islamic) Republic

Language(s): Farsi, local languages

Climate: Dry, hot, and arid, with more temperate areas along the Caspian Sea coast

GDP: USD $231.55 billion (2020)

Human Development Index Ranking: 0.783 (Moderate-High)

Overview

Iran is a hugely significant power on both a regional and global level - and has been, on and off, since the days of the Persian Empire. It still appears in the news on a frequent basis, often in relation to something involving the United States, Israel, or other major actors. But it is also a mountainous country with verdant gardens, abundant resources, and Zoroastrianism - one of the oldest religions in the world. Due to a fairly autocratic political situation and practices viewed as unfavourable, however, sanctions from Europe, Israel, and North America have largely suppressed Iran, causing an unstable economy and a life expectancy just slightly above the global average. As such, Iran finds itself aligned with the Syrian government, Russia, Iraq, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

History

Credit: Sajad Nori

The first Aryan tribes are believed to have migrated to the plateau approximately 5,000 years ago, though Paleolithic remains as old as 100,000 years have been found in the region. The founders of the Persian Empire were members of a semi-nomadic tribe living on the Iranian plateau in approximately 550 BCE, and united three of the most important sites in the ancient world: Mesopotamia, the Indus River Vally, and the Nile River Valley. The empire would last for two generations before Emperor Xerxes’ failed campaign to conquer Greece, followed by Alexander the Great’s conquest, caused it to collapse in 334 BCE. Various empires, such as the Parthians and Sassanids, spent the next several centuries vying for control of the Iranian plateau. Prior to Muslim Arab conquests in the 7th century, Zoroastrianism had been the primary religion of modern-day Iran. While these conquests did firmly establish Islam within Iran, Iranian culture and nationalism were left largely intact - and still are to this day.

A century after Islamic culture had taken hold in the country, Persians adapted Islam to fit a local context, with their own people participating at the forefront of the Golden Age of Islam. As with countless other nations at the time, Persia would then collapse at the hands of the Mongol Empire - though not for long, as Mongolian incursions into the Islamic world did not stretch particularly far. The Safavid Empire, Iran’s post-Mongol dynasty, would then establish Shi’ite Islam as the national religion, forming a major unified consciousness across the many ethnic groups that still populated the Iranian plateau. By the colonial period, Iran’s economy had been devastated by regional warfare, and the Shah (king) had been forced to appeal to Great Britain for economic relief, and Russia for diplomatic peace, thus triggering a strategic conflict between the two - though both eventually agreed on respective spheres of influence in 1907, as Germany was then viewed as a far greater threat.

During the final Shah’s reign in the 1960s, Iran had moved closer to the West, modernising the country and its economy by selling its vast reserves of oil to foreign powers in an event known as the White Revolution. The benefits of the program, however, were not felt across most of Iranian society, and when oil prices collapsed in the early 1970s, economic stagnation and downturn quickly followed. Sociopolitical oppression, combined with poor economic performance, led to many Iranians turning to radical religious groups, particularly those led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to overthrow the Shah. Khomeini’s revolution in the late 1970s would then create the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is still in place today.

Economy

Despite issues surrounding a dependence on natural resources causing the downfall of the government in recent Iranian history (see above), economic activity on oil and natural gas remains moderately high. The national economy is only just beginning to recover from a decade-long stagnation, brought on by unstable oil prices, foreign sanctions, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, rapid population growth - particularly in rural and agrarian areas - has hampered the country’s ability to deliver on its objectives of economic independence and a better quality of life for its nearly 85 million citizens.

But the Iranian economy is more diversified and resilient than most people may realise. Hydrocarbon production, services, and manufacturing industries are present and robust in Iran, albeit mostly state-owned and run. Access to electricity seems guaranteed across the country, while access to clean water is also slowly growing nationwide. But poverty in Iran is growing, and Faramarz Tofighi (head of the Islamic Labour Council wages committee) stating that," “More than 60 per cent of Iranian society lives in relative poverty…and half of those struggle with extreme poverty”. This is believed to be due to the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran since the Trump administration cancelled the Iranian nuclear deal. With poor economic performance being a critical factor of the 1979 revolution, it is unclear what the effects of this condition may yet be.

The Iranian Nuclear Deal

Credit: Al Jazeera

Known more formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iranian nuclear deal was an agreement to, quite simply, place restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. It seeks to block the four methods Iran could use to build nuclear weaponry, by reducing uranium and plutonium stockpiles, shutting down centrifuges, and accepting the presence of monitoring teams from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). The deal was drafted by the Obama administration, and signed by the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Germany, Russia, and Iran in Vienna, Austria, in 2013.

But in early May, 2018, the Trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal, calling it “defective at its core”, reinstating original sanctions and imposing new ones on Iran. This sparked great concerns amongst European leaders, who have long believed that it suppressed Iranian nuclear capabilities, while improving diplomatic and economic relations. Since the abandonment by the United States, Iran has also taken steps away from following the conditions of the deal.

Can the nuclear deal, therefore, be revived by the Biden administration?

At the time of writing, the answer to this question is not yet clear. President Biden has not yet concluded his diplomatic tour of the Middle East, and discussions surrounding the deal are currently experiencing mixed results. However, Biden has voiced support for re-entering the deal, and exercised more restraint than his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid. But his proposal has not succeeded in Congress, where many American politicians have expressed disappointment that the proposal does not properly address Iranian support for groups identified by the United States as terrorists. Therefore, the future of the Iranian nuclear deal - or lack thereof - very much remains to be seen, in as soon as the coming weeks.

Trivia

-Iran has the highest volcano in Asia, with Mount Damavand standing over 5,600 meters tall.

-Iran has its own calendar, which is also used in Afghanistan. Under this system, the current year is 1443.

-Ancient Persians used yakhchal, or wind catchers, to reduce heat levels in cities. Though this technology is believed to have possibly originated in Egypt, the Persian city of Yazd has the most, and best-preserved ones, on display.

-The Pew Research Center found that most Iranians believe that religious authority should be present in government, but disagree on how much of a role these authorities should play.