Yearbook 2010
Iran. The first official executions of activists who had participated in the protests against the 2009 parliamentary elections were carried out on January 28. Mohammed Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were hanged since being convicted of belonging to a monarchist group and being so-called enemies of God. Earlier in January, a parliamentary committee had admitted that three activists arrested in connection with the unrest had been beaten to death.
In February, the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued its most critical report to date on the Iranian nuclear fission program. Under its new chief Yukia Amano, the agency said it had credible information that Iran had tried to manufacture nuclear warheads. According to softwareleverage, Iran responded, just as before, that it only wanted to develop nuclear power. Turkey and Brazil, both members of the UN Security Council, tried to get Iran to enrich its uranium in Turkey and then use it in a research reactor. The United States rejected the proposal and passed a new resolution on June 9 against Iran in the UN Security Council. The 1929 resolution meant an extended arms embargo and stricter penalties on companies that did business with Iran in areas that could be linked to nuclear fission. But the sanctions exempted the sensitive oil industry so only a week later the US imposed its own tougher sanctions, and in July the EU followed with rules such as restricted Iranian banks’ operations in the EU, stopped Iranian transport flights and prohibited EU companies from exporting products that could be used militarily, such as pipes, and also some equipment to the oil and gas industry. The sanctions also affected Iranian passenger flights within Europe.
In December, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and replaced him with the head of the country’s nuclear energy program Ali Akbar Salehi. The background was, according to analysts, a power struggle between the two conservative leaders, which had expressed during the summer that the president had tried to appoint his own diplomats in the foreign administration.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Iran has a population of 81.8 million (2018). Forty-three-year-old Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning for, among other things. infidelity, after intense international protests in July, the execution was postponed.
Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the Sunni Muslim guerrilla group Jundullah, was arrested in February and executed in Tehran on June 20. He had acknowledged, among other things, blast attacks, robbery, murder and kidnapping. His brother Abdolhamid Rigi, highly regarded within the same group, was executed May 24.
- Abbreviation Finder: Check to see how the two letter abbreviation of IR stands for the country of Iran in geography.
The Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame’s operations in Iran were shut down in August after the company was accused of fraud in the form of pyramid schemes and for trying to damage the security of the Islamic Republic. According to Oriflame, the company’s business concept, with female network vendors, caused a dissatisfaction with the regime. Five employees, including one with Iranian and Swedish citizenship, were arrested. Four of them were released in the next few months, the Swede on November 2.
Economy
Inflation rate | 9.60% |
Unemployment rate | 11.8% |
Gross domestic product (GDP) | 1,640,000,000,000 USD |
GDP growth rate | 3.70% |
GDP per capita | $ 20,100 |
GDP by sector | |
Agriculture | 9.60% |
Industry | 35.30% |
Service | 55.00% |
State budget | |
Revenue | 110.8 billion |
Expenditure | 93.61 billion |
Proportion of the population below the national poverty line | 18.7% |
Distribution of household income | |
Top 10% | 29.6 |
Lower 10% | 2.6 |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.50% |
Investment volume | 27.7% of GDP |
National debt | 39.50% of GDP |
Foreign exchange reserves | $ 132,600,000,000 |
Tourism | 2014 |
Number of visitors | 4,967,000 |
Revenue | $ 1,598,000,000 |
Iran – Tehran
Tehran
Tehran, Persian Tehrān, capital of Iran; 8. 7 million residents (2017), with suburbs 13. 2 million. Tehran, is located on the southern slope of the Elburzberg, 100 km south of the Caspian Sea.
It is a traffic hub and Iran’s administrative, political, financial and cultural center with several universities. The city has a diverse industry with oil refinery, leather, textile, sugar and cement industry as well as pharmaceutical and electrical industries.
Tehran, which accounts for more than half of Iran’s industrial production, has grown very rapidly and is suffering from growth problems, such as traffic jams, air pollution and power and water supply disruptions.
Tehran is known since the 8th century, but did not become significant until the nearby Rayy was destroyed in 1220. During the Safavids, its significance increased further, and the Qajar rulers made Tehran the official capital in 1786, which it has remained since. During the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–79), the city expanded very rapidly, a development that has continued even after the 1979 revolution.