Iran Offers Shares In State Firms To The Poor

Poor residents of Tehran (file photo) (AFP) October 29, 2006 -- Iran's government has launched a plan to offer heavily discounted shares in state-owned companies to the poor as part of a pledge to spread wealth more fairly.

State media say some 4.6 million people will receive packages of shares worth around $500 each. But the plan does not include Iran's oil and gas industries, and economists fear poor Iranians could find themselves holding stocks in failing companies.


(Reuters)

Women In Iran

Women In Iran

Women in Tehran (epa file photo)

CALLING FOR MORE RIGHTS: Although women played key roles in Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the place of women in post-revolutionary society has been a vexing question. Iranian women have struggled to bring attention to their calls for greater rights in their country's rigid theocratic system, calls that have often clashed with the values proclaimed by conservatives in society. (more)


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