79 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
72.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
3.4 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
4.92 billion cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
26.7 trillion cu m (2004)
Current account balance:
$2.1 billion (2004 est.)
Exports:
$38.79 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and
nuts, carpets
Exports - partners:
Japan 18.4%, China 9.7%, Italy 6%, South Africa 5.8%, South Korea
5.4%, Taiwan 4.6%, Turkey 4.4%, Netherlands 4% (2004)
Imports:
$31.3 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:
industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods,
foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services, military
supplies
Imports - partners:
Germany 12.8%, France 8.3%, Italy 7.7%, China 7.2%, UAE 7.2%, South
Korea 6.1%, Russia 5.4% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$29.87 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$13.4 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$408 million (2002 est.)
Currency (code):
Iranian rial (IRR)
Currency code:
IRR
Exchange rates:
rials per US dollar - 8,614 (2004), 8,193.9 (2003), 6,907 (2002),
1,753.6 (2001), 1,764.4 (2000)
note: Iran has been using a managed floating exchange rate regime
since unifying multiple exchange rates in March 2002
Fiscal year:
21 March - 20 March
Communications Iran
Telephones - main lines in use:
14,571,100 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
3,376,500 (2003)
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: 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: country code - 98; 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
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 hosts:
5,269 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
100 (2002)
Internet users:
4.3 million (2003)
Transportation Iran
Railways:
total: 7,203 km
broad gauge: 94 km 1.676-m gauge
standard gauge: 7,109 km 1.435-m gauge (189 km electrified) (2004)
Highways:
total: 167,157 km
paved: 94,109 km (including 890 km of expressways)
unpaved: 73,048 km (1998)
Waterways:
