Islamic Republic of Iran

Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Azerbaijan; with Kazakhstan and Russia across the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), it is the second-largest nation in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 78.4 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th most populous nation.

It is a Rimland country. It has predominantly Continentalist geopolitical orientation.

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Geopolitical profile

Geopolitical position:

Position on the geopolitical map:

Rimland. Now predominantly Continentalist geopolitical orientation.

Geopolitical balance:

80% - Eurasianist, 20% Atlanticist.

Main geopolitical allies:

Russia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen (Houthi government), Lebanon (Hezbollah), India, China, Venezuela, North Korea.

Opponents:

USA, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Great Britain, NATO, Saudi-backed government of Yemen.

Neutrality:

Turkey, Continental Europe (changing balance), Africa, Central Asia.

Sphere of national interest.:

Central Asia and Afghanistan
Middle East (Persian Gulf, especially Bahrain, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen

International disputes:

Military Involvement in Syrian conflict, supporting the forces of legal Syrian government.
Supplies of ammo and intelligence cooperation with legal government of Iraq, supporting Iraq in its war against ISIS. Training and financial support of Shia-militia in Iraq.
Supplies of ammo and financial and intelligence support of Hezbollah in its conflict with Israel
Supplies of ammo financial and intelligence support of Houthi government of Yemen in its conflict with Saudi Arabia and allied states.
Informational and financial support of Bahrain Shia opposition

Territorial disputes:

Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed Helmand River tributaries during drought
Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf
Iran and UAE dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea

Ethnosociology:

Ethnical structure:

Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes. Officially Iran does not present information on ethnical proportions of its society. Languages:

Religious structure:

Muslim (official) 99.4% (Shia 90-95%, Sunni 5-10%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian) 0.3%, unspecified 0.4% (2011 est.)

Languages:

Azerbaijani

Persian

Political Ideology:

Political schema :

Iran has its own political ideology based on Shia doctrine Velayat-e faqih (rule of Islamic clerics). It was recognized as a state ideology after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Iran’s ideology combines a revolutionary social element with a strong religious conservatism and goes beyond the traditional dichotomy of Left-Right. It has its own version of oppressors-oppressed distinction -mustazafin ('weak') and mustakbirin ('proud and mighty') and supports social equality as well as a profound religious interpretation of all spheres of life. The ruling doctrine of Iran is revolutionary conservative, theocratic, and is the closest to the Fourth Political Theory.

Geoeconomy:

Economical descriprtion:

State of semi-periphery. The second world.

The economy of Iran is a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector. Some 60% of the economy is centrally planned. It is dominated by oil and gas production, although over 40 industries are directly involved in the Tehran Stock Exchange, one of the best performing exchanges in the world over the past decade. With 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas reserves, Iran is considered an "energy superpower".

Geostrategy:

Geostrategy description:

Main security threats:

American quest for global hegemony
Syrian war
Iraq’s civil war
Israel’s occupation of Palestine
Sunni terrorism and separatists movements (Jundallah and other Sunni extremist movements in Baluchistan, Kurdish Workers Party and other Kurdish militant groups.
Mujahedin-e-Khalq and other oppositional terrorist groups.
Access to the Persian Gulf and the strategically sensitive Strait of Hormuz – a point of contention for hostile navies

Values structure:

Marginal notes:

Traditional values:

Predominantly Shia, Muslim.

Iranian civilizational identity is multidimensional. The first level is ancient Iranian identity, imperial, Apollonian and Indo-European. The second – Islamic Shia identity, which in the case of Iran integrated the majority aspects of earlier pre-Islamic ideology.

The Shia version of Islam is oriented more toward the contemplative, mystic and metaphysical.

The strong feeling of its own otherness as well as its closeness to other Shia communities dominates Iran’s perception of the outer world.

After the Islamic Revolution, the state has used common Islamic rhetoric.

Traditional values are dominant in villages and small towns. In big cities the set of values is more liberal and secular. Anti-Westernization is an axis of official cultural policy

Transnational organizations:

Transnational description:

International Monetary Fund, BRICS (observer), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (observer), United Nations, World Trade Organization (observer), ALBA (observer), Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

National profile

Geography:

Total boundaries:

5894.00km

Border countries:

Islamic Republic of Iran

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Islamic Republic of Iran

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