Poverty
At least 14 million Iranians live below the poverty line, according to a central bank report quoted by the press today, adding to concern about the welfare of those worst off in Iran as prices soar. The central bank figures, published in the reformist daily newspaper Sarmayeh, represent one in five of Iran's 70 million population. "If an urban family of four makes less than four million rials (USS425) a month then the family is under poverty line," it said.
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/millions-live-below-the-poverty-line-in-iran#ixzz2IKQgWBVi
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/millions-live-below-the-poverty-line-in-iran#ixzz2IKQgWBVi
Unemployment
One of the most vexing questions raised by high youth unemployment in Iran, and in other oil-
rich Middle Eastern countries, is the effect of high reservation wages, which is what economists
call the minimum wage for which a person is willing to work. If youth have the means to
support themselves, such as through transfers from their parents or the state, they will have high
reservation wages, and therefore less incentive to work. High reservation wages can thus induce
long waits or active search for the right job to come along. Thus, the question of whether the
high unemployment rates of youth in oil-rich countries, especially in the Persian Gulf states that
import labor, might be caused by high reservation wages naturally arises.17 Ross advances a similar
hypothesis to explain the low participation of women in the labor markets of oil rich countries
in the Middle East.18 A high reservation wage can be also a consequence of the willingness of
parents to support their children late into their twenties, as it has been argued in the case of
Italy (Manacorda and Moretti, 2006). In Iran, the proportion of men and women living with their
parents has increased over time (see Table 3), suggesting that changing economic circumstances,
rather than parental preferences, has caused children to live with their parents longer. In 1997,
44.3 percent of men 25-29 years old lived with their parents, compared to 56.2 percent in 2008;
for women, these proportions are 16.3 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively.
rich Middle Eastern countries, is the effect of high reservation wages, which is what economists
call the minimum wage for which a person is willing to work. If youth have the means to
support themselves, such as through transfers from their parents or the state, they will have high
reservation wages, and therefore less incentive to work. High reservation wages can thus induce
long waits or active search for the right job to come along. Thus, the question of whether the
high unemployment rates of youth in oil-rich countries, especially in the Persian Gulf states that
import labor, might be caused by high reservation wages naturally arises.17 Ross advances a similar
hypothesis to explain the low participation of women in the labor markets of oil rich countries
in the Middle East.18 A high reservation wage can be also a consequence of the willingness of
parents to support their children late into their twenties, as it has been argued in the case of
Italy (Manacorda and Moretti, 2006). In Iran, the proportion of men and women living with their
parents has increased over time (see Table 3), suggesting that changing economic circumstances,
rather than parental preferences, has caused children to live with their parents longer. In 1997,
44.3 percent of men 25-29 years old lived with their parents, compared to 56.2 percent in 2008;
for women, these proportions are 16.3 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively.
Freedom of speach
Blasphemy against Islam is illegal in Iran.
According to the Press Freedom Index for 2007, Iran ranked 166th out of 169
nations. Only three other countries -Eritrea, North Korea and turkmenistan- had more restrictions on news
media freedom than Iran.
The government of Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council imprisoned 50 journalists in 2007 and all but eliminated press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) has dubbed Iran the "Middle East's biggest
prison for journalists."
According to the Press Freedom Index for 2007, Iran ranked 166th out of 169
nations. Only three other countries -Eritrea, North Korea and turkmenistan- had more restrictions on news
media freedom than Iran.
The government of Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council imprisoned 50 journalists in 2007 and all but eliminated press freedom.
Reporters Without Borders (RWB) has dubbed Iran the "Middle East's biggest
prison for journalists."
War
The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Persian Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the 20th century's longest conventional war after the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was initially referred to in English as the "Persian Gulf War" prior to the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.
The Iran–Iraq War began when Iraq invaded Iran via simultaneous invasions by air and land on 22 September 1980. It followed a long history of border disputes, and was motivated by fears that the Iranian Revolution in 1979 would inspire insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority as well as Iraq's desire to replace Iran as the
dominant Persian Gulf state. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of Iran's revolutionary chaos and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and were quickly repelled; Iran regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.
Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The war finally ended with Resolution 598, a U.N.-brokered ceasefire which was accepted by both sides. At the war's conclusion, it
took several weeks for Iranian armed forces to evacuate Iraqi territory to onour pre-war international borders set by the 1975 Algiers Agreement. The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.
The war cost both sides in lives and economic damage: half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers, as well as civilians, are believed to have died, with many more injured; however, the war brought neither reparations nor changes in borders. The conflict has been compared to World War I in terms of the tactics used, including large-scale trench warfare with barbed wire stretched across trenches, manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, human wave attacks across a no-man's land, and extensive use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas by the Iraqi government against Iranian troops, ivilians, and Iraqi Kurds. At the time of the conflict, the U.N. Security Council issued statements that "chemical weapons had been used in the war." However, due to various outside pressures, the statements never clarified that only Iraq was using chemical weapons, and retrospective authors have claimed, "The international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds.
The Iran–Iraq War began when Iraq invaded Iran via simultaneous invasions by air and land on 22 September 1980. It followed a long history of border disputes, and was motivated by fears that the Iranian Revolution in 1979 would inspire insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority as well as Iraq's desire to replace Iran as the
dominant Persian Gulf state. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of Iran's revolutionary chaos and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and were quickly repelled; Iran regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.
Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The war finally ended with Resolution 598, a U.N.-brokered ceasefire which was accepted by both sides. At the war's conclusion, it
took several weeks for Iranian armed forces to evacuate Iraqi territory to onour pre-war international borders set by the 1975 Algiers Agreement. The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.
The war cost both sides in lives and economic damage: half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers, as well as civilians, are believed to have died, with many more injured; however, the war brought neither reparations nor changes in borders. The conflict has been compared to World War I in terms of the tactics used, including large-scale trench warfare with barbed wire stretched across trenches, manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, human wave attacks across a no-man's land, and extensive use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas by the Iraqi government against Iranian troops, ivilians, and Iraqi Kurds. At the time of the conflict, the U.N. Security Council issued statements that "chemical weapons had been used in the war." However, due to various outside pressures, the statements never clarified that only Iraq was using chemical weapons, and retrospective authors have claimed, "The international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds.