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”

• The Geopolitics behind the phoney US war in Afghanistan

  
  War On You: Breaking Alternative News — Authority: 571
  The Geopolitics behind the phoney US war in Afghanistan By F. William Engdahl , 21 October 2009 One of the most remarkable aspects of the Obama Presidential agenda is how little anyone has questioned in the media or elsewhere why at all the United States Pentagon is committed to a military occupation of ...
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• Reality Check: The Hajj

  
  Muslims Against Sharia — Authority: 613
  This month, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims from around the globe are converging upon the Saudi Arabian holy cities of Mecca and Medina to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage that believers are supposed to make at least once in their lives as long as they have the health and the means to manage it. The ...
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• No Room in Obama’s Jerusalem for the Jew

  
  Muslims Against Sharia — Authority: 613
  By Daniel Greenfield The same media which can’t be bothered to notice that there is a proxy war going on between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen, with Saudi jets bombing civilian targets. Who have paid no attention whatsoever to a week of violence between Algerians and Egyptians that included stonings and death ...
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• Tehran

  
  Kiwiblog — Authority: 624
  Flew out of Dubai at 1.15 am and landed in Tehran at just after 3 am. To my surprise I flew through passport control and customs. Of course it helped that I had an entry visa. If you try and get one on the spot, you will often be turned down. Got to Paul’s place around 4 am, and caught up on some sleep. Then just ...
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• Iranian forces practise defending nuke sites

  
  CKA Canadian News — Authority: 167
  Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defence war games aimed at protecting the countrys nuclear facilities against any possible attack, state television reported.
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• Venezuelas Hugo Chavez defends "Carlos the Jackal" throws in His Lot With Mugabe and Ahmadinejad

  
  Newsvine - Killfile's Column - Articles and Seeds — Authority: 143
  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has defended jailed killer "Carlos the Jackal" and several world leaders he says are wrongly considered "bad guys".In a speech to international socialist politicians, Mr Chavez said "Carlos", a Venezuelan, was not a terrorist but a key "revoluti …
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• When it Comes to Iran, America’s Muslim POTUS Won’t Hear “No” For an Answer

  
  Winds Of Jihad By SheikYerMami — Authority: 575
  By Barry Rubin/Rubin ReportQuestion: What does Iran have to do to get across the fact that it isn’t making a deal on its nuclear program?Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says she doesn’t consider...
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• Iran has begun five days of large-scale war games to simulate attacks on its nuclear sites, officials said, warning it will retaliate if provoked.

  
  Newsvine - Killfile's Column - Articles and Seeds — Authority: 143
  The head of Irans air defence said the aim of the exercises was to thwart aerial reconnaissance and air attacks.Another official warned Tehran would retaliate with a missile strike on Tel Aviv, if it was attacked by Israel.Iran is under intense pressure over its nuclear prog …
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• Islam is the light for Mattel, backs Burka Barbie

  
  Creeping Sharia — Authority: 576
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• Iran begins military war games

  
  The Washington Post — Authority: 970
  Tehran says large-scale air defense drill aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities has begun.
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• Hume Defends American Exceptionalism: Obama Foreign Posture Exactly Backward

  
  NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — Authority: 833
  On Foxs Nov. 22 "Fox News Sunday," former "Special Report" anchor and Fox News senior political correspondent was dead spot on target in many regards when it came to criticizing the tack President Barack Obama has taken with his foreign policy gestures. First, Hume reflected on how Obama reacted on his trip to Asia ...
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• Thanks Mr. Zakani

  
  Pedestrian — Authority: 139
  Really, this has got to be one of the most important pieces of – official state – news to get out after the election. I know some of  you have declared that the election is no longer an issue, but I beg to differ.  Book after book has been written about the 1953 coup. So as a voter, I’d at least like to know ...
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• Iranian Fear Of Attack Fuels Defense Exercises

  
  Eagle World News - Daily Newspaper Articles & Archives — Authority: 514
  TEHRAN - Iran has begun military exercises simulating a defense against any attack on its nuclear facilities.  The United States and Israel have not ruled out a military option should negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program fail.  A top official in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps downplayed the threat of ...
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• Former Muslims turn Christian are released after 9 months of prison for not denying their faith yet their future remains uncertain

  
  Values Voter News — Authority: 489
  "Iranian Christians are celebrating the release of two former Muslims held in Tehrans Evin Prison for nearly nine months. Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, were released Wednesday without bail but are reported to be in poor health. The Christian converts were arrested March 5 on charges of ...
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• Three key lessons from Obama’s China tour

  
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  Three key lessons from Obama’s China tourBy Tony Karon, Time, November 21, 2009Russia may be engaged in a geopolitical chess game with the U.S. aimed at recovering from the demise of its great power status, but China is different. It pushes back against U.S. initiatives only when those are deemed inimical to its ...
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• Cleric wields religion to challenge Iran’s theocracy

  
  War in Context — Authority: 500
  Cleric wields religion to challenge Iran’s theocracyBy Michael Slackman, New York Times, November 22, 2009For years, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri criticized Iran’s supreme leader and argued that the country was not the Islamic democracy it claimed to be, but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Now many ...
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• The Danger of Imitation Defeating Creation

  
  DARING THOUGHTS — Authority: 100
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• The Ivory Tower is Prostituting Itself for Money

  
  JammieWearingFool — Authority: 726
  Well, now we know what the price was to allow a genocidal madman a forum at the (ahem) prestigious Ivy League university. Seems like these people would sell anything for a buck.Anti-Israel, pro-Iran university professors are being funded by a shadowy multimillion-dollar Islamic charity based in Manhattan that the feds ...
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• U.S. and Mexico align against brutal narcotics trade

  
  Survival News Network — Authority: 144
  To avenge the arrest of their leader, Mexican drug cartel commandos went on a rampage this summer across the lawless state of Michoacan, seizing 12 Mexican police officers and dumping their bound and stripped corpses in a pile beside a busy highway.The slaughtered federal agents, it later emerged, had something in ...
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• U.S. and Mexico align against brutal narcotics trade

  
  Survival News Network — Authority: 144
  To avenge the arrest of their leader, Mexican drug cartel commandos went on a rampage this summer across the lawless state of Michoacan, seizing 12 Mexican police officers and dumping their bound and stripped corpses in a pile beside a busy highway.The slaughtered federal agents, it later emerged, had something in ...
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