March 2002, the multi-exchange-rate system was converged into one rate
at about 7,900 rials per US dollar

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

Communications Iran

Telephones - main lines in use: 6.313 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 265,000 (August 1998)

Telephone system: general 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:
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: 250,000 (2001)

Transportation Iran

Railways: total: 6,130 km broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge standard
gauge: 6,036 km 1.435-m gauge (187 km electrified) note: broad-gauge
track is employed at the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan which
have broad-gauge rail systems; 41 km of the standard-gauge, electrified
track is in suburban service at Tehran (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