ain, South Korea

Imports: $13.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery, military supplies, metal works,
foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, technical services, refined oil products

Imports - partners: Germany, Italy, Japan, UAE, UK, Belgium

Debt - external: $21.9 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $116.5 million (1995)

Currency: 10 Iranian rials (IR) = 1 toman; note - domestic figures are
generally referred to in terms of the toman

Exchange rates: Iranian rials (IR) per US$1 - 1,754.90 (January 2000),
1,725.93 (1999), 1,751.86 (1998), 1,752.92 (1997), 1,750.76 (1996),
1,747.93 (1995); black market rate: 7,000 rials per US$1 (December
1998); note - as of May 1995, the "official rate" of 1,750 rials per
US$1 is used for imports of essential goods and services and for oil
exports, whereas the "official export rate" of 3,000 rials per US$1 is
used for non-oil exports and imports not covered by the official rate

Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March

@Iran:Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 7 million (1998 est.)

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

Telephone system: 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 have
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 (199