Area Total | 1,648,195 sq km |
Climate | mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian coast |
Natural Resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur |
Imports | UAE 29.8%, China 12.7%, Turkey 4.4%, South Korea 4%, Germany 4% (2017) – industrial supplies, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services |
Government | theocratic republic |
Capital | Tehran |
Population | Population field listing 83,024,745 (July 2018 est.) |
Ethnicity | Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes |
Language | Persian (official), Azeri Turkic and Turkic dialects, Kurdish, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Luri, Balochi, Arabic |
Exports | China 27.5%, India 15.1%, South Korea 11.4%, Turkey 11.1%, Italy 5.7%, Japan 5.3% (2017) – petroleum 60%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets, cement, ore |
News about Iran
- Middle East crisis: Hamas ‘reviewing new Israeli ceasefire proposal’ – as it happenedby Tom Ambrose (now) and Clea Skopeliti (earlier) on April 27, 2024
This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our coverage of the Middle East crisis hereThree people have been killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, including two members of Hezbollah, AFP reports, citing statements from the militant group and official media.Hezbollah released statements mourning the deaths of two fighters from […]
- Jeremy Corbyn’s call for ‘peace’ plays into the hands of anti-western dictators | Letterby Guardian Staff on April 25, 2024
To support arms for Ukraine and defending Red Sea shipping is part of Labour’s anti-fascist tradition, writes Paul MasonTwo years ago in Madrid, I watched Jeremy Corbyn launch a pan-European campaign to end arms supplies to Ukraine. As he did so, a friend in the Ukrainian army sent me a photo of the machine gun that he’d been issued with: it was made in […]
- How Iran has intensified its crackdown on women under cover of war – video explainerby Deepa Parent, Maheen Sadiq and Monika Čvorak on April 25, 2024
Iran's 'morality police' have intensified their crackdown on women defying hijab rules in several cities over the past week in the shadows of the country’s conflict with Israel. Footage circulating online shows an increased number of officials patrolling streets since 12 April and, in some cases, violently dragging women into the back of white vans. It […]
- Oil price could exceed $100 a barrel if Middle East conflict worsens, World Bank warnsby Larry Elliott Economics editor on April 25, 2024
Increase in cost of crude could drive inflation up and force central banks to keep interest rates high• Business live – latest updatesA serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East would push the price of oil above $100 (£80) a barrel and reverse the recent downward trend in global inflation, the World Bank has said.The Washington-based […]
- Lack of action on Iran could lead to more threats and attacks in UK, says journalistby Neha Gohil Community affairs editor on April 25, 2024
Dissidents and broadcasters feeling unsafe after stabbing of Pouria Zeraati in London call for ‘deterrent signal’A former BBC journalist has said the UK government will “pay a heavy price” for its lack of action against the Iranian regime, which could lead to more “threats” and “operations” in Britain, after the stabbing of an Iranian […]
- Clock this delightful paean to dandelions | Brief lettersby Guardian Staff on April 24, 2024
Country diary | Isfahan’s sights | Dilyn the dog’s fleas | Bald truths | Pate expectationsI concur with Val Kirby’s letter (18 April) about Jim Perrin’s prose “in praise of celandines” and her wish that he could turn his silver pen to extolling the virtues of the dandelion. I refer her to a Country Diary from 28 February 2012 by Paul Evans about […]
- Israel and Iran cross the line: inside the 26 April Guardian Weeklyby Graham Snowdon on April 24, 2024
What next for the Middle East? Plus: Britain and the new ‘nanny state’• Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home addressThe tit for tat strikes by Israel and Iran last week may not – yet – have led to all-out regional war. But the direct attacks on each other’s territories have crossed a significant red line and presented the surrounding […]
- Iranian women violently dragged from streets by police amid hijab crackdownby Deepa Parent on April 24, 2024
Video evidence shows multiple arrests after regime launched new draconian campaign against women and girlsHarrowing first-hand accounts of women being dragged from the streets of Iran and detained by security services have emerged as human rights groups say country’s hijab rules have been brutally enforced since the country’s drone strikes on Israel on […]
- Billionaire Jeff Yass linked to $16m in donations to anti-Muslim and pro-Israel groupsby Eli Clifton on April 24, 2024
The TikTok investor is also linked to funding challenges to progressive politicians and against Obama’s Iran nuclear dealTop Republican donor and TikTok investor Jeff Yass is connected to over $16m in funding to anti-Muslim and pro-Israel groups that have advocated for a US war with Iran and other militaristic policies in the Middle East, according to an […]
- EU ministers warned not to relax support for Ukraine amid requests for air defence aidby Jennifer Rankin in Brussels on April 22, 2024
Member states warned at meeting not to be complacent but ministers stop short of pledging Patriot missilesEU ministers have been warned against “relaxing” support for Ukraine but stopped short of new pledges to supply air defence systems that Kyiv is urgently seeking to defend itself against relentless Russian bombardment.The Ukrainian government has […]
- Middle East crisis: More than 200 bodies recovered from temporary mass graves in Nasser hospital, local authorities say – as it happenedby Martin Belam (now) and Jamie Grierson (earlier) on April 22, 2024
Residents return to site in search of bodies of loved ones following withdrawal of Israeli forces last month. This live blog is closedIsrael has yet to provide evidence of Unrwa staff terrorist links, Colonna report saysHaaretz reports that Israeli security forces have arrested two people suspected of carrying out a car ramming in Jerusalem. Three people […]
- Iran seems like it’s in escalation mode – but all-out war with Israel is the last thing it wants | Lina Khatibby Lina Khatib on April 22, 2024
The country is on the defensive. While Israel has ironclad support from its allies, Tehran is vulnerable and isolatedTit-for-tat confrontation between Israel and Iran has sparked concerns about escalation dragging the Middle East into all-out war. Such a scenario remains unlikely because neither Israel nor Iran would benefit from full-on conflict. But while […]
- As the world dithers, Ukraine’s plight grows ever more precarious | Observer editorialby Observer editorial on April 21, 2024
Defeat would be a catastrophe not only for Kyiv, but also for the future security of EuropeUkrainians were understandably dismayed last week as they watched the US, Britain and France rush to defend Israel against a barrage of Iranian missiles and armed drones.That’s not because they support the regime in Tehran. It’s because Nato countries have denied […]
- Middle East crisis – as it happened: US denies carrying out airstrikes in Iraq after explosion at military baseby Amy Sedghi (now); Clea Skopeliti (earlier) on April 20, 2024
‘The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,’ the US military’s Central Command said Paul Scruton, Lucy Swan, Iona Serrapica and Alex Olorenshaw have created a visual guide to Friday’s events in Iran via graphics, video and satellite images.You can take a look at it here: Continue reading...
- Gaza death toll passes 34,000 as Israel and Iran missile strikes grab global attentionby Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024
Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasionThe death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah.The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has […]
- Israel is fighting on four fronts – but the defeat may come at homeby Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024
The IDF is embroiled in simultaneous conflicts with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran and in the West Bank – but hadn’t reckoned on the social and political divisions this would causeYoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, described the conflict Israel was engaged in as a “multi-front war” earlier this month.Israeli forces were fighting Hamas inside Gaza […]
- In breaking their fragile truce, Israel and Iran have opened a Pandora’s box | Simon Tisdallby Simon Tisdall on April 20, 2024
Skirmishes between the pair have until now been muted, but the tit-for-tat attack on Isfahan shows how the Gaza conflict is fuelling global tensionsIsrael’s retaliation, when it came, was surprisingly limited. Iran minimised the significance of Friday’s air attacks on a military base near Isfahan and other targets, denying they were externally directed. […]
- Gulf states’ response to Iran-Israel conflict may decide outcome of crisisby Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor on April 19, 2024
Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s futureIran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and […]
- Diplomacy and drones: how Israel’s reported attack on Iran unfoldedby Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem on April 19, 2024
Country’s leaders took time to weigh response to Iran’s strike under gaze of allies urging restraintMiddle East crisis: live updatesJust before dawn on Friday the explosions of air defence systems woke Iranians across the historic city of Isfahan. The breaking news alerts that followed roused people around the world, to worry that the region had moved a […]
- World leaders urge calm after Israeli drone strike on Iran ratchets up tensionby Julian Borger in Washington and Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem on April 19, 2024
Tit-for-tat attacks have breached taboo of direct strikes on each other’s territory but Tehran has no ‘immediate’ plans to retaliateWorld leaders urged calm on Friday after Israel conducted a pre-dawn drone sortie over Iran following a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that crossed an important red line that has for decades held the Middle East back from a […]