Iran 2002 World Cup

[Princesex Voskamp]

Is the world entering a new age of global disorder? Signs point to yes: we see simultaneously the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, a war in the Levant, and a short, sharp war in the Caucasian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. These seemingly separate conflicts are in fact connected not just by a coincidental moment in time, but by the actors involved. From Russia to Iran to a veritable smorgasbord of terrorist groups, bad actors have unleashed turmoil in a swath of territory stretching from Ukraine to Azerbaijan to Yemen.

Is this burgeoning period of global history truly different from what preceded it? After all, there is no period in living memory in which the world can truly be said to have been at peace. Since the close of World War II, the United States has fought wars or engaged in military interventions in East Asia, Southeast Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Insurgencies and civil wars have been regular features across much of the developing world. Terrorism has been an ever-present concern since the 1970s. The Rwandan Genocide occurred during what might be considered the high-water mark of global order in the 1990s, with the genocide in Darfur following just a decade later.

In the meantime, Xi is likely assessing what he can get away with in this incipient age of global disorder. He may already be trying to take advantage, most notably in the South China Sea. The past year has been marked by near-unrelenting pressure on the Philippines. That it is targeted at the only American treaty ally with South China Sea claims is no accident. Beijing is clearly testing the Biden Administration at a time when it is grappling with other conflicts and has been signaling that it is eager to stabilize US-China relations. Put another way, he is testing both the legitimacy of an order in which international differences are supposed to be solved peacefully and whether American (and allied) power is capable of upholding it.

The main point. The United States has an interest in defending the global order in which it has thrived. If Washington fails to do so, a Chinese turn to aggression will become far more likely.

Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Iran, Islamic Rep..

This page presents high-level information for Iran, Islamic Rep.'s climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications are derived from the Kppen-Geiger climate classification system, which divides climates into five main climate groups divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter). Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Iran, Islamic Rep.'s country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.

Iran encounters several natural disasters. This country is one of the most seismically active countries in the world, where several major fault lines cover at least 90% of the country. In addition, due to less precipitation and more droughts, fire in forests is growing and vast area of the country, 91 million ha, is prone to floods. More than 22 billion cm of runoff is created from floods which lead to soil erosion. Drought is another natural hazard which is mostly due to water resources mismanagement. Furthermore, central and eastern parts of the country are the main regions affected by sandstorm. Contrary to the sandstorm, dust storm distributes mostly in western provinces. It originates mainly from Wadi areas of Iraq and Saudi Arabia as a result of degraded ponds.

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Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei often accuses the independent media of being manipulated by foreign forces. As the head of the country's main political, military and judicial institutions, he can order the arrests of journalists and sentence them to long prison terms, and even the death penalty.

The target of unprecedented sanctions and plagued by corruption, Iran is in an alarming economic situation that has had a major impact on the media and journalists. Several media outlets have been closed in recent years and around 100 journalists have lost their jobs.

Salehi, a nuclear physicist who with Zarif was a key negotiator of the 2015 nuclear agreement, believes that if Iran clings to Russia, China, or America, it will be a disaster; Instead, Iran must stand in the middle of this triangle.

At the same time, Pezeshkian understands that he cannot fulfill campaign promises to improve the Iranian economy without obtaining relief of U.S. sanctions and getting off the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global watchdog against terrorism financing and money laundering. Ties with Russia and China and membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS and the Eurasian Economic Union cannot make up for sanctions.

Javad Heiran-Nia directs the Persian Gulf Studies Group at the Center for Scientific Research and Middle East Strategic Studies in Iran. His book, Iran and the Security Order in the Persian Gulf, is being published by Routledge. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @J_Heirannia.

The electoral system in Iran does not meet international democratic standards. The Guardian Council, controlled by hard-line conservatives and ultimately by the supreme leader, vets all candidates for the parliament, the presidency, and the Assembly of Experts. The council typically rejects candidates who are not considered insiders or deemed fully loyal to the clerical establishment, as well as women seeking to run in the presidential election. As a result, Iranian voters are given a strictly limited choice of candidates.

Only political parties and factions loyal to the establishment and to the state ideology are permitted to operate. Reformist groups have come under increased state repression, especially since 2009, and affiliated politicians are subject to arbitrary detention and imprisonment on vague criminal charges.

While some space for shifts in power between approved factions within the establishment has existed in the past, the unelected components of the constitutional system represent a permanent barrier to opposition electoral victories and genuine rotations of power. In May 2021, for example, then outgoing first vice president Jahangiri, who is considered a reformist, was disqualified from running for president.

Men from the Shiite Muslim majority population dominate the political system. Women remain significantly underrepresented in politics and government. While President Raisi appointed Ensieh Khazali as vice president for women and family affairs in September 2021, he nominated no women to serve in the cabinet the month before. No women candidates have ever been allowed to run for president.

Five seats in the parliament are reserved for recognized non-Muslim minority groups: Jews, Armenian Christians, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, and Zoroastrians. However, members of non-Persian ethnic minorities and especially non-Shiite religious minorities are rarely awarded senior government posts, and their political representation remains weak.

The powers of the elected parliament are similarly restricted by the supreme leader and the unelected Guardian Council, which must approve all bills before they can become law. The council often rejects bills it deems un-Islamic. Nevertheless, the parliament has been a platform for heated political debate and criticism of the government, and legislators have frequently challenged presidents and their policies.

Corruption remains endemic at all levels of the bureaucracy, despite regular calls by authorities to tackle the problem. Powerful actors involved in the economy, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and bonyads (endowed foundations), are above scrutiny in practice, and restrictions on the media and civil society activists prevent them from serving as independent watchdogs to ensure transparency and accountability.

Authorities have resisted recent attempts to uncover official corruption. In July 2021, four journalists working for state-run news sites were convicted of defamation and disseminating false news after they reported on suspected corruption in the Oil Ministry, though they reportedly received no prison terms. In July 2022, activist Vahid Ashtari received a two-year prison sentence and was banned from media-related activities after he revealed information about a controversial shopping trip taken earlier in the year by the family of parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

In response to the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, authorities tightly restricted access to related information, including the number, status, and treatment of arrested demonstrators and other political prisoners.

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