Political parties and leaders: the following organizations appeared to have achieved considerable success at elections to the sixth Majlis in early 2000: Assembly of the Followers of the Imam's Line, Freethinkers' Front, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Moderation and Development Party, Servants of Construction Party, Society of Self-sacrificing Devotees
Political pressure groups and leaders: active student groups include
the pro-reform "Organization for Strengthening Unity" and "the Union of
Islamic Student Societies'; groups that generally support the Islamic
Republic include Ansar-e Hizballah, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution,
Muslim Students Following the Line of the Imam, and the Islamic Coalition
Association; opposition groups include the Liberation Movement of
Iran and the Nation of Iran party; armed political groups that have
been almost completely repressed by the government include Mojahedin-e
Khalq Organization (MEK), People's Fedayeen, Democratic Party of Iranian
Kurdistan; the Society for the Defense of Freedom
International organization participation: CCC, CP, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, G-19,
G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,
ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Diplomatic representation in the US: none; note - Iran has an Interests
Section in the Pakistani Embassy; address: Iranian Interests Section,
Pakistani Embassy, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007;
telephone: [1] (202) 965-4990
Diplomatic representation from the US: none; note - protecting power in Iran is Switzerland
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah in the shape of a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom) in red is centered in the white band; ALLAH AKBAR (God is Great) in white Arabic script is repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the top edge of the red band
Economy Iran
Economy - overview: Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures. President KHATAMI has continued to follow the market reform plans of former President RAFSANJANI and has indicated that he will pursue diversification of Iran's oil-reliant economy although he has made little progress toward that goal. The strong oil market in 1996 helped ease financial pressures on Iran and allowed for Tehran's timely debt service payments. Iran's financial situation tightened in 1997 and deteriorated further in 1998 because of lower oil prices. The subsequent rise in oil prices in 1999-2000 afforded Iran fiscal breathing room but does not solve Iran's structural economic problems, including the encouragement of foreign investment.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $426 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)