Telephone : IDD service available. Country code: 98. Outgoing international code: 00.

Telex/Telegram : Facilities are available at the Central Telegraph Office, Sepah Sq. Tehran. There are also telex facilities at the major hotels.

Post : Post Offices are found throughout all cities, towns and villages.

According to the Islamic and social beliefs in Iran, it is necessary for women to be modestly covered & wearing a head scarf.

The import of following goods into Iran is strictly prohibited: Alcohol, narcotics, guns and ammunitions, radio apparatus, fashion magazines and obscene publications, and filmed, recorded or printed material carrying views contrary to those held by the Islamic regulations. Each passenger leaving the country is permitted to take his/her own personal luggage as well as Persian handicrafts, Gelims and one carpet (not bigger than 3 sq meters) as long as they are not antiques. Export of all antiques such as gems, coins, handwritten manuscripts is prohibited.

To export musical instruments, a permit is required from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Legislative power is vested in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles), with 275 members. The chief executive is the President, and both are elected by universal adult suffrage for a four-year term.

A twelve-member Council of Guardians ensures that legislation is in accordance with the constitution and Islamic precepts.

Persian (Farsi) is the most widely spoken language. Arabic is spoken in Khuzestan in the southwest, and Turkish in the northwest around Tabriz. English, French and (to a lesser extent) German are spoken by many businessmen and officials.

Middle East.

Area: 1,648,000 sq km (636,296 sq miles).

Population: 68,727,000 (1998 estimated).

Population Density: 35 per sq km.

Capital: Tehran. Population: 8,042,584(1994)

Iran is located in the Middle East, bounded to the north by the CIS and the Caspian Sea, the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and the west by Iraq and Turkey.

The center and east of the country is largely barren undulating desert, punctured by Qantas (irrigation canals and tree eases, but there are mountainous regions in the west along the Turkish and Iraqi borders and in the north where the Alborz Mountains rise steeply from a fertile belt around the Caspian Sea.

Iranian Rials. Notes are in denominations of RL 10000, 5000, 2000, 1000, 500, 200 and 100. Coins are in denominations of 250, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5.All foreign currencies such as Euro, Pound Sterling, US Dollars and Yens can be exchanged.

Predominantly Islamic; mostly Shiite, with a minority of Sunnis. Many Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians also live in Iran.

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