ld 8 April and 13 May
1988 (next to be held April 1992); results--percent of vote by party
NA;
seats--(270 seats total) number of seats by party NA

Communists: 1,000 to 2,000 est. hardcore; 15,000 to 20,000 est.
sympathizers; crackdown in 1983 crippled the party; trials of captured leaders
began in late 1983 and remain incomplete

Other political or pressure groups: groups that generally
support the Islamic Republic include Hizballah,
Hojjatiyeh Society, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, Muslim Students
Following the Line of the Imam, and Tehran Militant Clergy Association;
Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), People's Fedayeen, and Kurdish Democratic
Party are armed political groups that have been almost completely repressed by
the government

Member of: CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, IDA, IDB, IFC,
ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, IPU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNIDO,
WHO

Diplomatic representation: none; protecting power in the US is
Algeria--Iranian Interests Section, 2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 965-4990;
US--protecting power in Iran is Switzerland

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red; the
national emblem (a stylized representation of the word Allah) in red is centered
in the white band; Allah Akbar (God is Great) in white Arabic script is
repeated 11 times along the bottom edge of the green band and 11 times along the
top edge of the red band

- Economy
Overview: Since the 1979 revolution, the banks, petroleum industry,
transportation, utilities, and mining have been nationalized, but the
new five-year plan--the first since the revolution--passed in January
1990, calls for the transfer of many government-controlled enterprises
to the private sector. War-related disruptions, massive corruption,
mismanagement, demographic pressures, and ideological rigidities have kept
economic growth at depressed levels. Oil accounts for 90% of export
revenues. A combination of war damage and low oil prices brought a 2%
drop in GNP in 1988. GNP probably rose slightly in 1989, considerably
short of the 3.4% population growth rate in 1989. Heating oil and gasoline
are rationed. Agriculture has suffered from the war, land reform, and shortages
of equipment and materials. The five-year plan seeks to reinvigorate the
economy by increasing the role of the private sector, boosting nonoil
income, and securing foreign loans. The plan is overly ambitious but
prob