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Iran April 2004 IRAN COUNTRY REPORT April 2004 Country Information & Policy Unit IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY DIRECTORATE HOME OFFICE, UNITED KINGDOM Iran Country Report April 2004 CONTENTS 1 Scope of Document 1.1 - 1.7 2 Geography 2.1 - 2.2 3 Economy 3.1 - 3.9 4 History 4.1 Pre - 1979 4.2 - 4.3 1979 - 1989 4.4 - 4.9 1990 - 1996 4.10 - 4.13 1997 - 1999 4.14 - 4.20 2000 4.21 - 4.28 2001 to Current 4.29 - 4.37 Student Unrest - June 2003 4.38 - 4.42 Parliamentary Elections - February 2004 4.43 - 4.45 5 State Structures The Constitution 5.1 Citizenship and Nationality 5.2 - 5.4 Political System 5.5 - 5.9 Political Parties 5.10 - 5.15 Judiciary 5.16 - 5.34 Court Documentation 5.35 - 5.37 Legal Rights and Detention 5.38 - 5.42 Death Penalty 5.43 - 5.45 Internal Security 5.46 - 5.52 Prisons and Prison Conditions 5.53 - 5.58 Military Service 5.59 - 5.61 Medical Services 5.62 Drugs 5.63 Drug Addiction 5.64 - 5.65 Psychiatric Treatment 5.66 - 5.68 HIV/AIDS 5.69 - 5.71 People with Disabilities 5.72 Educational System 5.73 - 5.76 6 Human Rights 6.A Human Rights issues General 6.1 - 6.18 Freedom of Speech and the Media 6.19 - 6.28 Press Law 6.29 - 6.48 Internet and Satellite 6.49 - 6.53 Freedom of Religion 6.54 - 6.60 Legal Framework 6.61 - 6.62 Sunni Muslims 6.63 Christians 6.64 - 6.68 Apostasy/Conversions 6.69 - 6.72 Jews 6.73 - 6.78 Zoroastrians 6.79 - 6.80 Sabeans (Mandeans) 6.81 Baha'is 6.82 - 6.95 Freedom of Assembly and Association 6.96 - 6.103 Employment Rights 6.104 - 6.109 People Trafficking 6.110 Freedom of Movement 6.111 - 6.119 Refugees in Iran 6.120 - 6.126 Iran Country Report April 2004 6.B Human Rights - Specific Groups Ethnic minority groups 6.127 Kurds 6.128 - 6.131 Arabs 6.132 - 6.139 Baluchis 6.140 - 6.141 Azeris 6.142 - 6.144 Women 6.145 - 6.160 The Hijab 6.161 - 6.163 Marriage 6.164 - 5.165 Mehriyeh 6.166 - 6.168 Divorce 6.169 - 6.173 Abortion 6.174 - 6.175 Children 6.176 - 6.179 Child Care Arrangements 6.180 - 6.183 Homosexuals/Transsexuals 6.184 - 6.194 Political Dissent 6.195 - 6.200 Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK or MKO) 6.201 - 6.203 Rastakhiz Party and Monarchists 6.204 - 6.206 Savak 6.207 Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) 6.208 - 6.210 Komala 6.211 6.C Human Rights - Other Issues Adultery 6.212 - 6.218 Illegal Drugs Situation 6.219 - 6.227 Exiles/Dissidents outside Iran 6.228 - 6.232 Annexes Chronology of Events Annex A Annex B Political Organisations Annex C Prominent People Annex D List of Source Material Back to Contents 1. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This Country Report has been produced by the Country Information and Policy Unit, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Home Office, for use by Home Office officials involved in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report provides general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum / human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. It is not a detailed or comprehensive survey. 1.2 The Report is compiled from a wide range of recognised sources and does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. All information in the Report is attributed, throughout the text, to original source material, which has been made available to those working in the asylum / human rights determination process. The Report aims to provide only a brief summary of the source material quoted. For a more detailed account, the relevant source documents should be examined directly. Iran Country Report April 2004 1.3 The information contained in this Country Report is, by its nature, limited to information that we have been able to identify from various well-recognised sources. The contents of this Report are not exhaustive and the absence of information under any particular heading does not imply that any analysis or judgement has been exercised to exclude that information, but simply that relevant information on the subject has not been identified from the sources that have been consulted. Equally, the information included in the Reports should not be taken to imply anything beyond what is actually stated. 1.4 The great majority of the source material is readily available in the public domain. Copies of other source documents, such as those provided by government offices, may be provided upon request. 1.5 All sources have been checked for currency, and as far as can be ascertained, contain information which remained relevant at the time this Report was issued. Some source documents have been included because they contain relevant information not available in more recent documents. 1.6 This Country Report and the accompanying source material are publicly disclosable. Where sources identified in this Report are available in electronic form the relevant link has been included. The date that the relevant link was accessed in preparing the report is also included. Paper copies of the source documents have been distributed to nominated officers within IND. 1.7 It is intended to revise this Report on a six-monthly basis while the country remains within the top 35 asylum producing countries in the United Kingdom. Information contained in Country Reports is inevitably overtaken by events that occur between the 6 monthly publications. Caseworkers are informed of such changes in country conditions by means of Country Information Bulletins. Back to Contents 2. GEOGRAPHY 2.1. The Jomhoori e Islami e Iran (Islamic Republic of Iran, Persia until 1935) lies in western Asia, and is bounded on the north by the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, by Turkey and Iraq to the west, by the Persian Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south, and by Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east. It has an area of 1.6 to 1.7 million square km. (635,000 to 636,000 sq.mi.) [1a](pg423) [4j](pg1) The climate is one of extremes. It is a land of desert and mountain and is in the main semi-arid with, by contrast, a sub tropical climate in the north and northwest along parts of the Caspian coast. [1a](pg361) This is a result of the considerable rainfall that falls in these areas. The Caspian coast has a hot and humid climate and this region is by far the most densely populated. [1a](pg361) The capital city is Teheran, with an estimated population of 12 -15 million. [26d] The towns of Mashad, Esfahan, Tabriz and Shiraz each have populations of 1 - 3 million; the total Iran Country Report April 2004 population of Iran is an estimated 66 million (2001 estimate). [1a](pg423) [4j] 9pg1) [36] 2.2. The principal language is Farsi Persian and Persian dialects, spoken by about 50 per cent of the population. 27 per cent of the population are Turkic- speaking, Kurdish, Arab, Lur, Baloch, Turkish and others less than 25%. [1b](pg2102) [4j](pg1) The national flag comprises three unequal horizontal stripes of green, white and red, with the emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the stylised word Allah centrally positioned in red and the inscription “God is Great” on the red and green stripes. [1b](pg2102) For further information on geography, refer to Europa Yearbook, source [1a][1b] 3. ECONOMY 3.1. Pre - Revolutionary Iran‘s economic development was rapid. Traditionally an agricultural society, in 1961 Iran initiated a series of economic, social and administrative reforms (that became known as the Shah's White Revolution) [1a](pg361). The core of this program was land reform. By the 1970s, Iran had achieved significant industrialisation and economic modernisation, however the pace of growth had started to slow by the late 70s. [4j](pg4). Increased central control, a result of the Revolution in 1979, disruption caused by the Iran/Iraq war and a general decline in oil prices in late 1985, contributed detrimentally to the economy. [1a](pg391] [4j](pg4) 3.2. In March 1989, Khomeini approved President Rafsanjani’s 5-year plan for economic development. [4j](pg4) Since then Iran’s five-year economic plans have emphasised a gradual move towards a market orientated economy and the development of the private sector. The third five-year plan, which came into force in March 2000, commits the Government to an ambitious programme of liberalisation, diversification and privatisation and the creation of 3.8m new jobs by 2005. The resolution of Iran's external debt problems have eased the policymaking environment, and facilitated the unification of the exchange rate at the start of 2002, but significant political obstacles to rapid reform remain. [24a] However a lack of consensus on the privatisation drive has resulted in delay. [5ad] 3.3. Today, Iran’s economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture and small scale businesses. [1a](pg391) [4j](pg4) [24a] It has been stated by an Iranian official [21aah] that the unemployment rate is 15 per cent nationwide whilst the International Money Fund (IMF) and the CIA Fact Book for 2003 has put it as high as 16 per cent. [5af] [44] However figures quoted in the US State Department country report for 2002 released in April 2003 have estimated unemployment to be between 20 and 25 percent, and inflation at approximately 18 to 20 percent.
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