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”

• Iran’s Larijani warns of less cooperation with IAEA (AFP)

  
  Relevant News — Authority: 178
  AFP - Parliament speaker Ali Larijani warned on Sunday that Iran could "seriously decrease" cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog after it demanded that Tehran halt work on a second nuclear plant.
  2 hours ago

• Russia will deliver S-300 anti-aircraft system to Iran in 2 months

  
  BuzzFlash.net: published — Authority: 530
  Russia has ensured that it will honor a deal providing Iran with the S-300 sophisticated anti-aircraft system, Tehrans envoy to Moscow says....the Russian side has cited technical problems which it said it was working on to fix....neither Iran nor Russia planned to "go back" on the contract, which he said was ...
  2 hours ago

• Iranian lawmaker: Iran could leave nuclear treaty

  
  CKA Canadian News — Authority: 168
  TEHRAN, Iran — A conservative Iranian legislator warned Saturday that his country may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after a UN resolution censuring Tehran -- a move that could seriously undermine world attempts to prevent Iran from devel
  2 hours ago

• Turkey's New Shift

  
  Sabbah — Authority: 142
  By Alastair Crooke* | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz Recep Tayyip Erdoğan While the United States and Europe have been struggling to find a path forward in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Afghanistan and Iran, the strategic ground upon which their assumptions about the region rest has begun to shift ...
  2 hours ago

• Iran: The Routes of 16 Azar

  
  Enduring America — Authority: 607
  The most interesting news last night was low-key but noticeable. In early evening details of the routes for the protests of 16 Azar (7 December) spread across Twitter. There were references to new student movements organised in recent days. It is still more than a week before National Students Day, but I have a sense ...
  3 hours ago

• Growing international pressure on Iran

  
  Jewish Issues Watchdog — Authority: 127
  From THE JERUSALEM POST, Nov. 28, 2009, by HILARY LEILA KRIEGER and HAVIV RETTIG GUR : The US and Israel expressed satisfaction over the weekend with what officials from both countries termed "a growing momentum" of international pressure on Iran to halt activities that would enable it to construct nuclear ...
  3 hours ago

• The Latest from Iran (29 November): The Routes of 16 Azar

  
  Enduring America — Authority: 607
  0745 GMT: Brazil Says No Sanctions. A quick post-script on the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution on Iran’s nuclear programme: Brazil’s ambassador to the IAEA is making clear that his country stands against harsher measures , as sanctions “will only lead to a hardening of the Iranian position”. ...
  3 hours ago

• Daily View 2×2: 29 November 2009

  
  LibDemBlogs — Authority: 176
  Its Sunday. Its 7am. Its time for cats, but first blogs and the news. 2 Must-Read Blog Posts What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Heres are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator: Zac Goldsmith admits to being a non-dom and avoiding paying tax in UK: I think you can ...
  4 hours ago

• Iran speaker warns West on nuclear cooperation (Reuters)

  
  Blogger — Authority: 168
  Reuters – Iran’s parliament could move to reduce Tehran’s cooperation level with the U.N. nuclear agency watchdog if the West continues to pressure the Islamic state over its nuclear program, speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday. Read the original here:  (Reuters)"> (Reuters)">Iran speaker warns ...
  4 hours ago

• Has the War on Terror Been A Success?

  
  race42008.com — Authority: 633
  I’m neither a neo-conservative nor a Wilsonian democrat but I’m inclined to say that the war on terror has been a success. As it see it there are three answers you can give to whether we’ve won or not. (1) Yes. (2) No. (3) Too Early to Tell. Cautious as I am I’d be inclined to answer (3) but I think ...
  4 hours ago

• Iran to Pull Out of Nuclear Treaty

  
  OPNTALK — Authority: 134
  I really do not know what else I can say on this. Hey folks, It really gets frustrating. I really do not know what else I can say on this. I have been watching "Little Hitlers" rise in power in Iran. I have been telling you they want to Wipe Israel off the map, chant death to America, and CONTINUE to build a ...
  6 hours ago

• IAEA sends “strongly worded” memo to Iran

  
  osmoothie — Authority: 441
  Hot Air, “ The IAEA’s “ovewhelming display of disapproval” for Iranian nuclear program is… ” One day after the director general of the United Nations nuclear watchdog castigated Iran for blocking inquiries into its nuclear program, the organization’s governing body added a further rebuke Friday, ...
  6 hours ago

• Will more sanctions against Iran work?

  
  Middle East Strategy at Harvard — Authority: 539
  From Raymond Tanter On November 27, 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted a strong resolution that expressed “serious concern that Iran has constructed an enrichment facility at Qom [Iran] in breach of its obligation to suspend all enrichment related activities.” This censure of Tehran ...
  7 hours ago

• The Day In Israel: Sunday Nov 29th, 2009

  
  Israellycool — Authority: 501
  The Israeli Foreign Ministry welcomed an IAEA resolution criticizing Iran for defying a UN Security Council ban on uranium enrichment, censuring it for secretly building a uranium enrichment facility, and demanding that it immediately suspend further construction. Israel’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the IAEA ...
  7 hours ago

• Ahmadinejad, Chaves “together to the end”

  
  The Tizona Group — Authority: 439
  One can only hope, when it comes to them, it’s soon . Posted in Ahmadinejad, Anti-Semitism, Iran, Left, Middle East, politics, Socialism, Venezuela
  7 hours ago

• Iran to start cooperating voluntarily with the IAEA -- no, wait...

  
  Jihad Watch — Authority: 757
  Theyre actually halting voluntary cooperation with the IAEA. The poor genocidal dears feel as if theyre being picked on. "Iran to halt voluntary cooperation with IAEA," from the Tehran Times , November 29: TEHRAN - Iran officially announced that it will cease its voluntary cooperation with the IAEA after the ...
  8 hours ago

• Weekend reading on foreign policy and national security issues

  
  The Western Experience — Authority: 475
  by JasonNY Times | Diplomacy 1o1 (on Obama’s failure between Israel and Arab states)Peacemaking takes strategic skill. But we see no sign that President Obama and Mr. Mitchell were thinking more than one move down the board. The president went public with his demand for a full freeze on settlements before securing ...
  8 hours ago

• Iran hints it could withdraw from nuclear treaty (Iran checkmates Obama and the UN)

  
  Stupidica — Authority: 175
  A conservative Iranian legislator warned Saturday that his country may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after a U.N. resolution censuring Tehran — a move that could seriously undermine world attempts to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons. Irans official news agency quoted a hardline political ...
  8 hours ago

• Rudd plays careful hand at CHOGM

  
  Ohaiyo Business Magazine — Authority: 135
  Prime Minister Kevin Rudds appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is an exercise in double-purpose diplomacy. First, he wants to keep a high profile among his Commonwealth colleagues, meeting all the big players of this 53-nation group: Britains Gordon Brown, Indias Manmohan Singh, South ...
  9 hours ago

• Iran hints it could withdraw from nuclear treaty

  
  Joejolly's Weblog — Authority: 136
  Lawmaker, news agency make statements; discussion set for Sunday Ap Associated Press Nov. 28, 2009 TEHRAN, Iran – A conservative Iranian legislator warned Saturday that his country may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after a U.N. resolution censuring Tehran — a move that could seriously ...
  10 hours ago

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