Political Science

In almost any country in the world, there are respective problems and issues that each nation has to deal with. The nature of these dilemmas tends to vary depending upon its causes and effects. Nevertheless, issues that are related to environment, crime, and disease are among the areas that almost any country has to face. In relation to this, the country of Iran also has to face challenges regarding the condition of their environment, the crime rate in their country, and the diseases that their citizens are suffering from. It is necessary that the problems in these areas are immediately and properly attended to because these are great impediments in the robustness of the country, especially in terms of the welfare of the people. As such, it is the main goal of this paper to discuss Irans environment, crime, and disease.

Country Profile
The Islamic Republic of Iran or simply known as Iran is a country that is located in Western Asia. The term Iran is a cognate of the word Aryan, which means Land of the Aryans (Axworthy, 2008). Previously, Iran was referred to as Persia and is still interchangeably used in the cultural contexts (Axworthy, 2008).

Iran has a total area of 1,648, 195 square kilometers, which make it the eighteenth largest country in the world. Iran is also populated with more than 70 million people. The country is also recognized to have a geostrategic significance because of its advantageous territory in the Middle East and central Eurasia.  The neighboring countries of Iran include Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan as well as Kazakhstan and Russia on the North. Iran is also direct neighbors to Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman on the south, Iraq on the west, and Turkey on northwest (Axworthy, 2008). The capital of Turkey is Tehran, which is recognized as the countrys largest city and also the center of activity of the nation in terms of the political, cultural, commercial, and industrial realm. In addition, the official religion of Iran is Shia while its official language is Persian (Akhavi, 1980). Furthermore, Iran also holds an essential role in the Western Asian Region as well as in the international community because of its large petroleum and natural gas reserves, which allows it to have an essential position in the international energy security and world economy (Cheissari, 2006).

Environment
Iran is currently experiencing numerous environmental problems, which have disadvantageously affected the country. Just like any nation, Iran is also threatened by the problem of climate change in the world. Many environmentalists have pointed out that the burning of fossil fuel and coal is one of the major contributing factors that worsen climate change. In line with this, Iran is one of the major countries in the world that capitalizes in the production of petroleum products, which makes the country among the major emitters of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The effects of climate change are belief to be most felt in the future. However, environmental degradation is already happening in Iran (National Geographic, n.d.). Recently, 30 to 40 hours of rain have caused flood in the northern parts of Iran as compared 25 years ago wherein a similar that would even last for 100 hours will not cause flood in the country. The flood problem of Iran could be rooted from the massive deforestation that is happening in the country, which hundred of death tolls and inflicting millions of dollars in terms of property damage (Farzan, 2004).

Air pollution is also another environmental problem in the country. Due to the fact that the major source of income of the country comes from petroleum products, it is observable that there are fuel refineries in the country as well as mining sites for coals, which are the main caused of the air pollution in the country. In relation to this, the carbon dioxide emission that are coming from vehicles, especially in the countrys capital of Tehran further aggravate the problem of air pollution (National Geographic, n.d.). The air pollution in Iran has already reached its crisis stage when Tehran was engulfed by high levels of carbon monoxide and other pollutants for several weeks. Due to this, many people have already suffered from diseases and even death because of the air pollution in the country (United States Energy Information Administration, 2000).

Crimes
The country of Iran also has to deal with numerous problems when it comes to the crimes that are observable in the country. The main cause of crime in Iran is brought about by drug abuse. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2007), about 60 of inmates in prisons around Iran are those who are arrested for drug-related crimes. Similarly, it has also been mentioned that the poverty in the country as well as the disparity between the rich and the poor is also a major reason for the crimes committed by convicts in Iran (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2007).

Human trafficking is also a major and growing problem in Iran. A growing number of human beings are experiencing trafficking, into and from Iran. The human trafficking in the country is run by criminal rings, which uses women for sexual exploitation. In relation to this, the existence of organized criminal networks in the human trafficking in Iran also results to other crimes like trade of narcotics and small arms (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2007). This situation is proven by the trafficking of Afghans and Iranian children to the gulf Region littoral states in order to be used for racing in camel riding, sexual exploitation, and drug trade. Furthermore, the geographic location of Iran that has a bridge to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East make human trafficking a very attractive business because of the lower risk in being caught with this kind of illegal practice (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2007).

Disease
Based on the study conducted by the World Health Organization (2006), the leading cause of death, using the data starting from the year 1999, were attributable to communicable and parasitic diseases. In relation to this, according to the Department of Disease Control, there are more than 30,000 people in Iran who have HIV-positive cases. The main cause of the propagation of HIV-AIDS in the country is the high rate of drug abuse in young population (World Health Organization, 2006).

In relation to this, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are also among the leading diseases in Iran. The leading caused of Hepatitis B is usually obtained by transfer of the disease from the mother to its baby (Central Intelligence Agency, 2009). On the other hand, Hepatitis C is mostly brought about by liver problems and the sharing of needles because of drug abuse (World Health Organization, 2006).

The government of Iran has come a long way in addressing the health problems of its citizens, especially through their partnership with international organizations. Based on the law of the country, it is part of the responsibility of its government to provide adequate health care to its people (Axworthy, 2008). Nevertheless, there is still much to be improved when it comes to the health insurance and access to health care facilities of the people (World Health Organization, 2006).