Leaving Iran In Iran the government wants to control people’s beliefs and actions It stops them from expressing opinions that are different from what the government believes People in Iran cannot gather in groups to protest against things they disagree with Those who do so are treated harshly People are also treated badly because of their religion beliefs or ethnic group The government does not want its citizens to have beliefs or religions different from their own There are also some terrorist groups in Iran Because of this many other countries will not do business with Iran Turkey Syria Jordan 4 Caspian Sea Tehran Iran shares borders with many countries including Afghanistan Pakistan Turkey and Iraq Iraq Iran Afghanistan Kuwait Saudi Arabia Pakistan India Gulf of Oman Persian Gulf United Arab Emirates
UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights of children all over the world Think about these rights as you read this book Around 7 million Iranians do not have enough money to buy the basic things they need to survive such as food and clothing Over the past several years thousands of people have been killed or arrested by the government because of their different values Many have left their homes to find safety Some people remain in the country They are called internally displaced persons IDPs Thousands of people have fled Iran These people are refugees Refugees flee their homeland because of unsafe conditions They are different from immigrants Immigrants choose to leave to look for better opportunities in another country Iran’s flag 5
My Homeland Iran Iran is a small country in Asia It has mostly flat desert land that is surrounded by mountains Nearly 83 million people live in Iran Tehran is Iran’s capital and its largest city Most people in Iran live near the Zagros Mountains in the west and the Elburz Mountains in the north Elburz Mountains Tehran Zagros Mountains Before 1935 Iran was named Persia Persian is the official language of Iran Persians are the main ethnic group in the country Other ethnic groups include Kurds Balochs Arabs and Turkics Most Persians are Muslim which means that they practice the religion of Islam There are two main branches of Islam Sunni and Shia Most Iranians are Shia Muslims More than 8 million people live in Tehran 6
This street is in Susa Iran’s oldest city Iran is one of the oldest countries in the world People have lived there for tens of thousands of years Iran’s first big city Susa was built more than 5,000 years ago The country has many beautiful buildings and gardens from long ago in history Today there are many modern buildings in Iran’s cities too More than of the people in Iran are Muslim About Iran’s Story in Numbers 99 percent 90 to 96 percent 5 to 10 percent are Shia Muslim while are Sunni Muslim 7
