Once
called the “jewel of ancient Persia” Esfahan is a city built along the
Zayandeh River, which once coursed under the thirty or so bridges that
skirt the city. Now, however, the Zayandeh has dried up and become
a series of mere puddles in craters of mud. Still, the bridges remain,
each retaining their own bit of charm. A teahouse rests in the middle of
one bridge’s arches, filled with families who smoke the water pipe with
half-closed eyes. It’s here that I first get a glimpse of the Esfahani
character that is completely contrary to my guide’s impression. Packed
into the tiny teahouse, I wait for a free table when two teenage girls
nearby insist that I join them. My refusal is not considered, and
I spend the next half-hour in blissful contemplation of the world with
two new friends. But while the bridges are a site to behold, nothing can
compare the extraordinary spectacle that is Emam Khomeini Square.
Situated in central Esfahan, it is some 500 meters long, and can be likened
to the national Mall on Washington, if the Mall were surrounded by domes,
palaces, and the cacophony of bazaar merchants hawking their wares.
Over the bazaar’s shops, workers hammer verses from the Qur’an into copper
bowls, or hover over slivers of camel bone, painting miniature polo horses
and men. Around the corner, a man stamps row upon row of paisley
on ivory cloth, while his son paints the folds blue, green, and maroon..
--- Esfahan nesf-e
jahan ~ Half the World --- A Woman's Sojourn to the Islamic Republic of
Iran --
Indian Consulate in Zahidan,
Iran Consulate of India in Zahidan,
Iran Ayatollah Kafemi Street
Behind Gurdwara
PO Box No. 313
City: Zahidan
Phone: 00-98-541-222337
Fax: 00-98-541-221740
Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas,
Iran Consulate of India in Bandar
Abbas, Iran 43, Khiyaban E-Hikmat
Gulsher (South)
PO Box No. 79145-1866
City: Bandar Abbas
Phone: 00-98-761-6661745
Fax: 00-98-761-6664512
Email: consindiabandarabbas@yahoo.co.in
Indonesian Embassy in Tehran,
Iran Embassy of Indonesia in Tehran,
Iran 210 Ghaemmagham Farahani Ave.
(P.O.BOX 11365/4564)
Tehran, Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: (98-21) 8871-6865, 8871-7251,
8855-3655
Fax: (98-21) 8871-8822
Web Site: http://www.indonesian-embassy.ir Email: kbritehran@parsonline.net Office Hours: Sunday - Thursday:
8:30-12:30 , 13:30-16:30
Iraqi Embassy in Iran Embassy of The Republic of Iraq
in Iran Phone: 009821 - 2210672
Fax: 009821- 2233902
Email: tehemb@iraqmofamail.net
Jordanian Embassy in Tehran,
Iran Embassy of Jordan in Tehran,
Iran Shahrak Quds
az 4, Khayaban Flamk
Khayaban 8
Black 1647
009821
City: Tehran
Phone: 88088356-88088551
Fax: 88080496
Email: jordanemby-teh@hotmail
.com Office Hours: Monday - Wednesday:8:30-3:00
Saturday - Sunday:8:30-3:00
Kazakhstani Embassy in Tehran,
Iran Embassy of Kazakhstan in Tehran,
Iran 4, North Hedayat Street, Corner
of Masjed Alley, Darrus, Tehran-I.R of Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: +9821 256-59-33, 256-53-71
Fax: 254-64-00
Email: kazembir@apadana.com,
tehran20022002@mail.ru
Kenyan Embassy in Tehran, Iran Embassy of the Republic of Kenya
in Tehran, Iran 46 Golshar Street
Golestan Bourlevard, Off African
Avenue
P.O. Box 19395/4566
Tehran, Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: + 98 21 22049355/22023234
Fax: + 98 21 22048619/ 22025792
Email: abbas@mfa.go.ke Office Hours: Sunday - Thursday
9.00A.M - 3.30P.M
Kuwaiti Embassy in Tehran, Iran Kuwaiti Embassy in Tehran, Iran P.O.Box 14155-6179
Jerdan Street
Babek Bahrami Street 39
Tehran
Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: (+98-21) 8785997/8
Fax: (+98-21) 8786003
Kyrgyzstani Embassy in Tehran,
Iran Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic Building 12, 4th Naran Jastan Ail
Pasdaran
Tehran
Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: (+98-21) 22830354
Fax: (+98-21) 22281720
Email: krembiri@rier.org,
krembiri@kanoon.net
Malaysian Embassy in Tehran,
Iran Embassy of Malaysia in Tehran,
Iran No. 39, Moghadasi Street,
Niavaran (Bahonar) Street,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: (09821) 22747291-4
Fax: (09821) 22747618
Web Site: http://www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/tehran Email: mwtehran@parsonline.net Office Hours: Sunday - Thursday
8.00 am - 4.00 pm
Malian Embassy in Tehran, Iran Embassy of Mali 10 Masjed Alley
North Hedayat, Darous
Tehran
Iran
City: Tehran
Phone: (+98-21) 88720810
Mexican Embassy in Tehran, Iran Embassy of Mexico in Tehran,
Iran Africa Bird, Street Golfam No. 41
19156-74741
City: Tehran
Phone: (9821) 2205-7586 a 88, *2205-7590*,
2201-2920/21
Fax: (9821) 2205-7589
Moroccan Embassy in Tehran, Iran Embassy of Morocco in Tehran,
Iran AVENUE NIYAVARAN, RUE JAHANSHAHI
IMPASSE TCHAKAVAK-N°4 TEHERAN
City: Tehran
Phone: 00 (98) 21 22 28 48 45
Fax: 00 (98) 21 22 81 38 29
Web Site: http://www.sefaratmaghreb.com/ Email: sifamateh@iranocean.net
The
18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km²,
Iran has a population of over seventy million. It is a country of special
geostrategic significance due to its central location in Eurasia. Iran
is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran
is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea and condominium,
Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran
is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the
Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and on the west by Turkey and Iraq.
Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural,
commercial, and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power,
and holds an important position in international energy security and world
economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas.
Iran
is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations,
with historical and urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC. The first
Iranian dynasty formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian
Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC. They were succeeded by three
Iranian Empires, the Achaemenids, Parthians and Sassanids, which governed
Iran for more than 1000 years. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires
expanded the Persian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau.
Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included
the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids. The blossoming of Persian
literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became
major elements of Muslim civilization and started with the Saffarids and
Samanids. Iran was once again reunified as an independent state in 1501
by the Safavid dynasty who promoted Twelver Shi'a Islam as the official
religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points
in the history of Islam. "Persia's Constitutional Revolution" established
the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy.
Iran officially became an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979, following the
Iranian Revolution. --- From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
