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.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Iran”

• Team Obama fails to notice the REAL bad guys because they go after political enemies instead

  
  DPGI - the aftermath — Authority: 438
  emocrats have never been good at going after the important threat:November 7, 2009THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DROP THE BALL: “While DHS was busy putting tea parties and anyone who dares fly the official military Gadsen flag on the domestic terrorist watch list, a real terrorist was spouting off online, [...]
  1 hour ago

• Quote of the Day: Aimless Obama

  
  DPGI - the aftermath — Authority: 438
  “I never thought I’d hear myself say it,” one Democrat told me. “But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something.”via Bloodless President Barack Obama makes Americans wistful for George W Bush.
  1 hour ago

• Irans proxy war on Israel

  
  Not a sheep — Authority: 147
  Remember me blogging that Iran was planning a coordinated war against Israel in January 2010. Well take a read of Long War Journal on Irans many infractions against International law and the weapons they are supplying to various terrorist organisations across the Middle East. And there is this picture of the ...
  2 hours ago

• Iran names and shames well-paid actors

  
  The Guardian - guardian.co.uk — Authority: 982
  Publicity over £55,000 fee paid to Iranian actor Mohammad Reza Golzar for three days work leads to threats of tax crackdown Being paid £55,000 for three days of playing an angel is nice work, if you can get it. But the princely sum commanded by Mohammad Reza Golzar, one of Irans top actors, for the role in a film ...
  2 hours ago

• Irans top lawmaker warns Russia missile delay

  
  CKA Canadian News — Authority: 508
  TEHRAN, Iran — A senior Iranian lawmaker warned Russia that its delay in delivering an anti-aircraft missile defence system to Tehran could harm relations between the two countries, state television reported Sunday.
  3 hours ago

• Autumn on the Silk Road Means . . . Pickles!

  
  Silk Road Gourmet - blog — Authority: 108
  Autumn Means Pickles! Cucumbers, capers, ginger, garlic, peppers, beans, asparagus, onions:  Any vegetable out there – and quite a few fruits as well make excellent pickles.  All along the Silk Road, harvest time and the weeks and months that follow are a time when, in many traditional cultures, foods are ...
  3 hours ago

• WHO IS A CATHOLIC? POWERHOUSE PRIESTS SPAR OVER WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CATHOLIC

  
  San Francisco Sentinel — Authority: 150
  Archbishop Raymond Burke, left, argues that pro-choice Catholics should be denied Communion and funeral rites. Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, right, has staunchly defended his participation in Ted Kennedy’s funeral Mass. BY AMY SULLIVAN Time Magazine The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church ...
  4 hours ago

• Bluff or serious threat?

  
  The Blue Voice — Authority: 130
  If this report from Rupert Murdochs Sky News is right, this will destroy a great deal of the positive things that the Obama administration has been able to accomplish with a more pragmatic foreign policy. Weve been hearing these reports for years now. The Times of London , also a Murdoch property, used to report ...
  4 hours ago

• Hezbollah, Fearing War, Digs In

  
  Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines — Authority: 726
  Hezbollah is reportedly prepping for another possible conflict with Israel, stocking up on arms and reinforcing fixed positions, as fears grow that the Netanyahu government will launch a new assault against Lebanon as a precursor to any attack against Iran and its nuclear facilities. The Guardian: Hezbollah is ...
  4 hours ago

• WHO IS A JEW? COURT RULING IN BRITAIN RAISES QUESTION

  
  San Francisco Sentinel — Authority: 150
  David Lightman with his daughter, who was denied admission to the Jews’ Free School because her mother’s conversion was not recognized. But a court ruling has voided the admissions policy. BY SARAH LYALL The New York Times LONDON — The questions before the judges in Courtroom No. 1 of Britain’s ...
  4 hours ago

• Iran: A List of Journalists Detained Since 12 June

  
  Enduring America — Authority: 627
  The Latest from Iran (8 November): Challenge Renewing? Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis From Tehran Bureau : The following is a list of those whose arrest and imprisonment have been ...
  4 hours ago

• Tehran Fumbles Diplomatic Ball With Turkey Over Nukes

  
  Shadowed Forest of World Politics — Authority: 121
  Following up instantly on my thought about Turkey as a neutral guarantor of everyone’s honesty in the delicate negotiations over Western reprocessing of Iranian uranium, El Baradei has proposed the idea only to have Iranian media immediately throw cold water on it, leaving Erdogan just a bit humiliated. That is no ...
  4 hours ago

• Saudi-Iranian Friction over Houthis, Haj

  
  Crossroads Arabia — Authority: 436
  Saudi Arabia and Iran have never been best of friends, each viewing the other with suspicion and, I’d suggest, some envy. That they follow very different forms of Islam is just the starting point of the tensions. Saudi media is reporting on those tensions manifest in both the Yemen border conflict, where it sees ...
  5 hours ago

• Shorter Question Everything

  
  Question Everything — Authority: 139
  Poland, US and RussiaWarsaw has denied Russian media reports that Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked Washington to deploy US troops to protect Poland. On Thursday, the Russian Interfax news agency quoted Sikorski as saying Poland had requesting the United States and NATO to deploy troops in Central ...
  5 hours ago

• Barack Wussain Obama

  
  Bloodthirsty Liberal — Authority: 148
  I have to apologize for our appalling lack of grace and manners in observing the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the hostages in Iran, and our administration’s craven response—then and now—to that brazen violation of international law.Thank goodness Caroline Glick did it for us:[T]housands of Iranians in ...
  5 hours ago

• Why Ahmadinejad Voted Against Occupying the U.S. Embassy in 1979

  
  NYT > Theater — Authority: 916
  This week, on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the United States Embassy in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not mention that, as a student leader in 1979, he had voted against the plan to seize the U.S. compound and suggested taking the Soviet Embassy instead.
  6 hours ago

• Why Ahmadinejad Voted Against Occupying the U.S. Embassy in 1979

  
  The Lede — Authority: 749
  This week, on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the United States Embassy in Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not mention that, as a student leader in 1979, he had voted against the plan to seize the U.S. compound and suggested taking the Soviet Embassy instead.
  6 hours ago

• Iran to Russia: “We want our missiles! Give them to us!”

  
  ShortFormBlog — Authority: 590
  “Avoiding delivery of S300 defense system to Iran, if that is Russia’s official stance, would be a new chapter in breaking promises by the Russians.” Iranian parliament member Alaeddin Boroujerdi • On the country’s desire to get promised high-grade missiles from Russia. Boroujerdi is the leader of ...
  6 hours ago

• Peres et Ahamadinejad en visite au Brésil, en même temps !

  
  WOMEN'S LENS - Un coup d'oeil fminin — Authority: 141
  Le quotidien israélien Maariv et Yedioth Aharonot rapportent, vendredi 6 novembre 2009, que le président de l’Etat d’Israël Shimon Peres doit entamer une tournée officielle en Amérique latine, lundi 9 novembre prochain, et devrait se trouver à Rio de Janeiro quelques jours seulement avant l’arrivée du ...
  7 hours ago

• NYT > World: Medvedev Says Russia May Back Sanctions on Iran if Deal Falls Apart

  
  A Couple Things — Authority: 469
  This is a syndicated post. Original article from NYT > World , available at NYT > World . The statement by President Dmitri A. Medvedev resembles an earlier one, but it takes on added significance now because Iran has equivocated on the international agreement.
  9 hours ago

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