al assessment: inadequate but currently
being modernized and expanded with the goal of not only improving
the efficiency and increasing the volume of the urban service but
also bringing telephone service to several thousand villages, not
presently connected

domestic: as a result of heavy investing in the telephone system
since 1994, the number of long-distance channels in the microwave
radio relay trunk has grown substantially; many villages have been
brought into the net; the number of main lines in the urban systems
has approximately doubled; and thousands of mobile cellular
subscribers are being served; moreover, the technical level of the
system has been raised by the installation of thousands of digital
switches

international: HF radio and microwave radio relay to Turkey,
Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Syria, Kuwait,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; submarine fiber-optic cable to UAE with
access to Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG);
Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic line runs from Azerbaijan
through the northern portion of Iran to Turkmenistan with expansion
to Georgia and Azerbaijan; satellite earth stations - 9 Intelsat and
4 Inmarsat; Internet service available but limited to electronic
mail to promote Iranian culture

Radio broadcast stations: AM 72, FM 5, shortwave 5 (1998)

Radios: 17 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 28 (plus 450 low-power repeaters)
(1997)

Televisions: 4.61 million (1997)

Internet country code: .ir

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (2000)

Internet users: 100,000 (2000)

Iran Transportation

Railways: total: 5,600 km

broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge

standard gauge: 5,506 km 1.435-m gauge (146 km electrified)

note: broad gauge track is employed at the borders with Azerbaijan
and Turkmenistan which have broad-gauge rail systems (2001)

Highways: total: 140,200 km

paved: 49,440 km (including 470 km of expressways)

unpaved: 90,760 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: 904 km

note: the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic
for about 130 km; channel has been dredged to 3 m and is in use

Pipelines: crude oil 5,900 km; petroleum products 3,900 km; natural
gas 4,550 km

Ports and harbors: Abadan (largely destroyed in fighting during
1980-88 war), Ahvaz, Bandar 'Abbas, Bandar-e Anzali, Bushehr,
Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni, Bandar-e Lengeh, Bandar-e Mahshahr, Bandar-e
Torkaman, Chabahar (Bandar Beheshti