IRAN

Iran is a Middle Eastern country slightly larger in land mass than Alaska, located between Iraq and Pakistan, opening onto the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south and the Caspian Sea in the north. Climate is arid or semiarid mountains and deserts, with the Caspian coast having subtropical climate. It's capital city is Tehran. Iran, dating back to 550 B.C., was the center of the Persian Empire, and is home to the world's most ancient human settlements. Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced into exile.

Shi'iah Islam is Iran's national religion, practiced by 89 percent of the population. Sunni Muslims make up another 9 percent. The major languages spoken in Iran include Farsi (Persian) and Persian dialects, Kurdish, and Turkic and its dialects. Oil is Iran's largest crude export.

Comprehensive information on Iran can be found through technorati search for Iran, Nuclear Iran, Iran Contra Affair, terrorism Iran, Persian Empire, and the Iranian Revolution, to name a few. There is also some quick information to be found at BBC, profile Iran. Frontline searches for Iran will bring you to several programs offering. The CIA world factbook gives a briefing.

If you are traveling to Iran from the United States you should check the current travel warnings set out by the U.S. Department of State.

by cooper Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “IRAN”

• IRAN: Tehran fires back at Norway over Shirin Ebadi, who fires a volley of her own

  
  Babylon & Beyond — Authority: 656
  The spokesman for Irans foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, urged Norway to keep quiet about the fate of Shirin Ebadis estate, including a Nobel Peace Prize medal that authorities allegedly swiped from her safe deposit box. "We are surprised that the Norwegian officials have acted without studying the situation ...
  1 hour ago

• The perfect example of socialist production principles: Venezuela’s Venirauto

  
  Fausta's Blog — Authority: 144
  The Economist has a brief case study of automotive ineptitude SELDOM, since the day Adolf Hitler gave the order to produce the Volkswagen, has a car been given such an explicitly ideological mission. But the vehicles that roll, occasionally, off the production line at Venirauto’s factory, west of Caracas, will ...
  1 hour ago

• Obama says world’s patience with Iran is limited

  
  Infowars — Authority: 722
  Andrew Quinn and Jeff Mason Reuters November 27, 2009 The world is losing patience with Iran’s behavior over its nuclear program and Tehran will be responsible for the consequences if it fails to meet its obligations, the White House said on Friday. Robert Gibbs, President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, said ...
  2 hours ago

• dumb mullahs

  
  Dean's World — Authority: 526
  Apparently, the Iranian regime’s hardliners think that a small metal medallion is the source of peace activist Shirin Ebadi’s power. Maybe they think she was going to throw it at them like a Poke-Ball and summon The Green Revolutionizard?
  2 hours ago

• Dubai Digits

  
  zero hedge — Authority: 765
  Debt: United Arab Emirates (via Bank of America - Amortization figures only ) : Total Debt: $184 billion of which... Dubai:     $88 billion Abu Dhabi: $90 billion Dubai: Due in: 2010: $12.0 billion 2011: $19.0 billion 2012: $18.0 billion 2013: $ 7.5 billion 2014: $ 5.5 billion Abu Dhabi: Due ...
  2 hours ago

• Hugs and kisses; Chavez and Ahmadinejad locked in love. Yeah baby.

  
  Vlad Tepes — Authority: 151
  From The Jerusalem Post Nov 26, 2009 6:01 Ahmadinejad to Chavez: ‘We’re going to be together until the end’ ” We feel at home here among our brothers…..we’re going to be together until the end” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during a ...
  2 hours ago

• Ahmadinejad and Chavez renew vows of love

  
  Report on Arrakis — Authority: 603
  "were going to be together until the end," Ahmadinejad to Chavez. No Joke .
  3 hours ago

• IAEA Censures Irans Nuclear Program: White House Cheerleads

  
  Maggie's Notebook — Authority: 638
  Twenty-five countries out of 34 on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted to censure Irans secret nuclear program. White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said the vote was "overwhelming." What he did not say is what the heck the censure means. Thats because it likely means nothing. ...
  3 hours ago

• Iran steals Nobel Peace Prize from recipient

  
  Vlad Tepes — Authority: 151
  From CNNNorway says Iran confiscated Nobel Peace Prize from Iranian activist// -1) {document.write(November 26, 2009 -- Updated 2142 GMT (0542 HKT));} else {document.write(November 26, 2009 4:42 p.m. EST);}// ]]>November 26, 2009 4:42 p.m. EST Iranian judge and activist Shirin Ebadi, pictured here in June, won the ...
  3 hours ago

• Engagement: The Breakfast of Champions

  
  The League of Ordinary Gentlemen — Authority: 683
  Reading through this story coming out of Iran , I find myself increasingly agreeing with Maziar Bahari about pressing engagement with Iran in terms of pointing out how the actions of the current government have “consequences”. As more and more stories like the aforementioned, along with Bahari’s Jon Stewart ...
  4 hours ago

• White House says world moving toward new Iran sanctions

  
  The Political Carnival — Authority: 683
  By GottaLaff Lets just avoid those "pre-emptive strike" words, okay? The United Nations nuclear agency Friday blasted Iran for obstructing investigations into its suspected nuclear weapons program and demanded that the Islamic Republic stop enriching uranium at a once-secret facility. In response, the ...
  4 hours ago

• Irans nuclear program continues

  
  HULIQ - Citizen News Review — Authority: 678
  Despite international complaints against its uranium enrichment program, Iran insists that its program is for peaceful purposes. Facing increasing world isolation as Russia and China join other world powers in condemning the enrichment of uranium. Iran remains constant that it is only enriching uranium for peaceful ...
  4 hours ago

• The bootstrap theory of propaganda

  
  In These New Times — Authority: 139
  Stephen GowansWhat’s Left 23rd November, 2009 U.S. politicians are, through assertion and repetition, attempting to create as common knowledge the idea that Iran has a nuclear weapons program and that the last presidential election in Iran was fraudulent, even though there is no evidence to back either claim.In ...
  4 hours ago

• Oslo “outraged” over Iran’s confiscation of Nobel Peace Price medal

  
  Flopping Aces — Authority: 665
  In 2003 Dr [Shirin] Ebadi became the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the peace prize, which was awarded for her campaign for democracy and human rights. She was abroad during President Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in June and has spent the past five months travelling the world to draw attention to ...
  4 hours ago

• Iran: The Campaign to Free Atefeh Nabavi

  
  Enduring America — Authority: 623
  An EA reader brings us news of a campaign on behalf of Atefeh Nabavi ( Persian-language site here ), the first woman to receive a prison sentence for post-election protest. Nabavi was sentenced on Tuesday to a mandatory four years in jail for participating in the mass demonstration on 15 June, three days after the ...
  4 hours ago

• Thanks Giving

  
  Anna's Clue Tank — Authority: 104
  Lets be thankful we are not Iranian pro-democracy dissidents imprisoned hoping the US will save them. Lets be thankful we are not pro-Karzai forces hoping the US will stay the course. Lets be thankful we are neither Czech or Pole who depended upon the US to keep its word. Lets be thankful we have a President who ...
  5 hours ago

• Iran and Yemen in tit-for-tat battle for street cred

  
  The Guardian - guardian.co.uk — Authority: 987
  Governments rename streets in honour of rebel fighters and protesters Iran is embroiled in a game of tit for tat with Yemen after Tehran thoroughfares were renamed in honour of anti-government rebels in the Arabian peninsular country. Iranians reportedly designated a street in their capital The Martyrs of Saada, ...
  5 hours ago

• White House Praises IAEA Rebuke Of Iran

  
  Political Punch — Authority: 821
  ABC News’ Devin Dwyer reports:White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today’s “overwhelming vote” by the International Atomic Energy Agency condemning Iran for its secret uranium enrichment plant reflects international resolve that Iran be more transparent in its nuclear pursuits. The U.N. nuclear ...
  5 hours ago

• IAEA Board Censures Iran, Sanctions May Not Be So Easy

  
  Newshoggers.com — Authority: 644
  By Steve Hynd With any Iranian nuclear fuel swap deal seemingly DOA , the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency has swiftly passed a vote condemning Iran for not being forthcoming enough in answering charges  derived from the dodgy Laptop of Death and has called upon Iraq to close the Qom "hole in a ...
  5 hours ago

• Report: Iran confiscated Nobel Peace Prize from activist

  
  AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — Authority: 157
  Its so wrong in so many ways. CNN : Iranian authorities confiscated the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize given to human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, Norway said Thursday. "The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadis bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and ...
  5 hours ago

Comments about IRAN