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Millennium Development Goals in Iran

Iran is the most populated nation in Southwest Asia, with an estimated 68 million people. Poverty reduction and combating HIV/AIDS will be central to the challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although absolute poverty figures in the urban and rural areas have declined in the last 10 years, around 30% of the population remains below the poverty line and relative poverty has increased to over 50%. The UNDP has undertaken several five-year programs to achieve poverty reduction in Iran and is working with the government to produce a National Action Plan for achieving the MDGs.

The country boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world, with over 80% of the population fully literate. However, there is room for improvement, especially in rural populations and for women. Indeed, the biggest MDG problem which the present government has exacerbated is the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Women’s rights in Iran have worsened dramatically in the 25 years since the 1979 Revolution. Overall, there is a dearth of human rights in Iran today.

Iran's low level of engagement with global partnerships in development is the greatest hindrance to its peoples' efforts in overcoming their nation’s development problems. While the country does participate in global bodies, such as the UN, not enough pressure is being placed on the government to adhere to these bodies’ development goals and ideals, and much of these development efforts are lost in rhetoric and bureaucracy, resulting in little actual improvement, especially in critical areas like human rights.

Politics in Iran

Ayatollah Khamenei © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

The 1979 Islamic revolution transformed Iran from an ancient monarchy to a Shiite Islamic system called the Guardianship of the Supreme Jurist (velaayat-e faqih) which calls for an ayatollah (a senior cleric in Shiite Islam who is also an Islamic jurist of the highest rank) to head the nation as its Supreme Leader (the Guardian Jurist or vali-ye faqih but also known as the Leader of the Revolution or rahbar-e enghelaab): the highest legal, spiritual, and military authority in Iran. As such, the only real power rests in the hands of the Supreme Leader, presently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the appointer of the head of the judiciary. Significantly, Khamenei’s authority supersedes that of everyone in the government, including the popularly-elected President.

The Islamic Republic government has legislative, judiciary, and executive branches. The legislative branch consists of a Parliament (majles) and two administrative bodies: the Guardian Council (shoraa-ye negahbaan-e ghaanoon-e asaasi) and the Expediency Council (majma’-e tashkhis-e maslahat-e nezaam). The Parliament consists of 290 members elected by the people. The Guardian Council decides who can stand for candidacy in Parliament and also serves as a Constitutional Court. It consists of 12 men – all clerics, 6 of whom are directly appointed by the Supreme Leader and 6 others who are indirectly appointed by him. The Expediency Council, currently comprised of 28 men, is an assembly of experts, including clerics and non-clerics, whose function is to mediate between the Parliament and the Guardian Council, as well as to be the senior consultants to the Supreme Leader.

The judiciary branch consists of a Head of Judiciary, presently the cleric Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who is appointed by the Supreme Leader, a Supreme Court (whose head is appointed by the Judiciary Head), and lesser courts. Under the current judicial system, the judge is essentially also the prosecutor, jury, and in some cases even the executioner.

Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

The executive branch consists of the Supreme Leader and the President, currently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005 - only the second President in the history of the Islamic Republic who is not a cleric. Perhaps the most significantly powerful entity in the Iranian government is the Assembly of Experts (majles-e khobregan), presently a group of 86 clerics elected for 8 year terms who meet once a year to assess the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts has the power to choose a new Supreme Leader but has thus far never voted to replace the current leader. The current head of the Assembly of Experts is also the head of the Expediency Council: former President Ayatollah Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani.

© Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

On 24 June 2005, in a second-round run-off of the Presidential elections, Rafsanjani was defeated by the Mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The new president has been a controversial figure on the international scene because of his forthright comments on sensitive regional and social issues, most recently at Columbia University where he famously stated that “there are no homosexuals in Iran”. Nonetheless, he has established himself as a figure to be reckoned with and the greatest test of his power will be how he endures Western pressure against Iran’s nuclear research programmes. While much criticism is directed his way, mainly by Western European and American media and politicians, his charismatic presence and candor about present-day imperialism has garnered him noticeable popular and political international support, most prominently from allies in Latin America led by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez. Domestically, Ahmadinejad effectively represents a more accurate face of the regime, leaving little doubt that the basic grievances of civil society, especially regarding human rights and personal freedoms, will not soon be resolved.
Human Rights in Iran

Basic freedoms related to private matters, such as attire, personal relationships, associations, and choice of occupation, are rampantly threatened on a daily basis. Individual rights are continually at stake as Iranians are held under the microscope of the law even for consenting activities in their private lives.

For prisoners in Iran, the situation is far worse. The United Nations reports that the levels of torture and forced confessions committed in Iranian prisons are amongst the highest in the world. People are regularly imprisoned without trial or due process and are held indefinitely while being mentally, physically and sexually tortured mainly for political reasons. The raping of women prisoners has also been widely documented by various human rights organisations and was briefly highlighted internationally in the aftermath of the 2003 Zahra Kazemi death.

Protest for women's rights in Tehran © Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace

Many of today's political prisoners include students from the 1999 student demonstrations. One of the most prominent, Akbar Mohammadi, was able to provide personal testimony of the severe torture he was subjected to in prison before his recent death on 30 July 2006, the first known 1999 student protester to die in prison.

One prominent human rights campaigner, Shirin Ebadi, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work as a human rights lawyer. However, Ebadi has since been criticized for keeping a low profile, and has not been a key figure in the recent major battles for human rights, namely the highly publicized arrest of women demonstrating for equal rights in June 2006 and March 2007. Women continue to bear the brunt of human rights abuse, most commonly through being accused of violations of chastity which can result in death by stoning or hanging.

The capacity of the Iranian NGO sector to stand up for the rights of citizens has been significantly reduced over the last 2 years as US attempts to stimulate moves toward regime change in Iran have backfired. Vast sums voted by Congress for this purpose ($66m in 2006) have created an atmosphere of suspicion and a crackdown on civil society activities. The 2007 arrests of several Iranian-American academics accused of attempting to foment a soft revolution in Iran , of which Haleh Esfandiari was the most prominent, should also be seen in this context.
Conflict in Iran

Internationally, Iran’s most contentious security issue is over nuclear weaponry. Accusations and negotiations continue, as Iran proclaims its right to possess the weapons whilst denying that its nuclear technology is developing for anything other than civil purposes. In September 2006, a leaked letter from the UN inspection agency, the IAEA, disclosed that the intelligence committee of US Congress may have distorted the extent of Iran's nuclear weapons capacity. Nevertheless, in December 2006, the UN Security Council approved sanctions which prohibit the supply of nuclear technology to Iran and these have been further tightened in March 2007 as another deadline for suspension of uranium enrichment passed.

The United States and its allies continue to push for tighter sanctions even as human rights organizations worldwide denounce the real effects of sanctions on ordinary Iranians rather than the government. The US also puts pressure on international businesses and banks to restrain from significant investment in Iran.

The IAEA is currently seeking full disclosure by Iran of the current status of its nuclear technology, with a view to reporting to the UN in November 2007. Debate over the conflict has resulted in a massive blogging campaign by Iranians, as they make their voices heard by the world.
Health in Iran

Iran has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in any predominantly Muslim country. The situation has reached potentially epidemic proportions as needle drug use in full-capacity prisons is on the rise and extramarital and pre-marital sexual relations are also at unprecedented levels, especially through prostitution. The government was slow to acknowledge the problem and is still not totally forthright with estimates of the numbers affected, despite establishing an HIV/AIDS section in the Department of Health in 2002. An estimated 30,000 Iranians are HIV positive, though this number is rapidly rising and believed by experts to be at least 3 times that figure.
Information and Media in Iran

Iran is consistently at the top of lists of international press freedom violations and enforces strict censorship of the Internet. There has also been a significant government crackdown on online journalists and bloggers. Nevertheless, Iranians have turned to the Internet as a beacon of some freedom of expression, with Persian being among the top ten blogging languages in the world. The Iranian Minister of Information has announced that, by the end of the year 2007, 35 million Iranians will be online - which would amount to half the population and put Iran towards the top of worldwide internet users.

Akbar Ganji © Amnesty International - International Secretariat

Journalists in Iran are continuously harassed, imprisoned and tortured for reporting any news or expressing any opinions that are deemed by authorities to be critical of either the government or of Islam. One of the most prominent jailed journalists, Akbar Ganji, released in March 2006, has undertaken an international lecture tour to mobilize the need for press freedom and democracy in Iran and sent a widely read letter to the UN Secretary General in September 2007 criticizing worldwide attention on Iran’s nuclear issue while press freedom, civil liberties, and human rights remain significant problems in Iran.
The Economy in Iran

Iran’s economy is mainly driven by its oil which comprises 10% of the total known worldwide reserves. Oil revenues account for around 40-50% of government income, though this share has fallen since the Revolution. The main contributor (51%) to GDP is the service sector which includes trade, real estate, public services, transport, financial institutions and social and personal services. While there is a significant gap between rich and poor, there is now for the first time in Iran a strong and growing middle class.

Privatisation, especially of land, has led to an exponential growth in property development and a new class of nouveau-riche Iranians who have made overnight fortunes from the high property values which are valued in U.S. dollars.

Unemployment hovers around 16-20%, a figure that is compounded by the annual arrival of the baby-boomer generation (75% of the population is under the age of 35) seeking entry to the workforce.
The Environment in Iran

The varied landscape of Iran creates many environmental concerns. The arid central plateau, the mountainous regions of the Northwest and the deciduous forests of the North near the Caspian Sea are abundant in wildlife which requires protection and sustainable management.

Iran’s biggest environmental problem is air pollution. The capital, Tehran, was recently identified by the United Nations as the most polluted city in the world. This is largely due to the inefficient and environmentally damaging exhaust systems of cars in the densely populated city of 12 million. Schools and government offices are frequently closed due to air toxins as high as three times the maximum acceptable levels for human sustenance.

Bam before the earthquake © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

On 26 December 2003, the city of Bam, in Southeast Iran experienced one of the worst earthquakes in recorded history, registering 7.5 on the Richter scale. The disaster resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 people and left another 100,000 people homeless and deprived of their livelihoods. Immediate and well-organized international assistance poured into Bam to help the earthquake victims but few have returned to a normal lifestyle and many still struggle with basic needs.



Shirin Sadeghi was born in Iran but raised in the United States. She is a journalist, most recently for the BBC World Service, scholar and singer who speaks 6 languages. She is currently based in London.

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