Ok, time for the answers!
Just to make the scoring easier, the correct answer was (almost) always the last choice in the list.
Let’s review!
1) Most people in Iran are ethnic Arabs:
A) True
B) False
Iranian/Persian peoples are ethnically different from ethnic Arabs. Only about 10% of Iran’s population is ethnic Arab.
2) Iran has elected Members of Parliament who are Jewish:
A) False
B) True
Definitely true. His name is Morris Motamed and he’s been a member of the Iranian parliament since 2000. Meanwhile the U.S. elected its first Muslim representative in November 2006.
3) Iran has used its military to attack Israel:
A) Once
B) Several times
C) Never
The militaries of Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have all attacked Israel at one point or another. Iran has not.
4) In the last 20 years, the United States military has attacked Iran on Iranian soil:
A) Never
B) Several times
Operation Preying Mantis and Operation Prime Chance were the U.S. military actively supporting Iraq against Iran in the 1980-1988 war.
Operation Eagle Claw was the failed rescue attempt of the American hostages in Tehran.
5) After the American military shot down an Iranian passenger plane in 1988:
A) The American government apologized and paid restitution to the victims
B) The American government awarded medals to the men who shot down the plane for “heroic achievement”
C) The American government neither apologized nor paid restitution
D) B and C
The American government did indeed award medals to the crew for “heroic achievement” and never apologized for shooting down a passenger plane, killing 290 people, including 66 children. The Vincennes was inside Iranian waters at the time.
6) The predominate language spoken in Iran today is:
A) Arabic
B) Iranian
C) Urdu
D) Farsi
Also known as “Persian”.
7) The predominante language spoken in Iran today is related to:
A) Dari
B) English
C) Russian
D) All of the above
Farsi/Persian is extremely similar to Dari. As a member of the “Indo-European” family of languages, Farsi/Persian is also related to Russian and English.
In contrast, Arabic and Hebrew are Semitic tongues and come from a completely different language group.
8) Dari is a language spoken by many people in:
A) Iraq
B) Syria
C) Afghanistan
Dari is, for all intents and purposes, nearly identical to Farsi. Dari is the Afghan word for the Persian language while Farsi is the Iranian term.
9) The United States military currently is stationed or operating out of how many countries on Iran’s border?
A) One
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
E) Five
Iran borders the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkemistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.
There are currently American troops in Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Iraq. The troops in Azerbaijan and Pakistan are either on unofficial/covert missions or are serving in an “advisory” capacity, but they are definitely there.
10) The United States support Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran:
A) Financially
B) By sharing military intelligence
C) By supplying conventional weapons and encouraging American allies to also do so
D) By providing the necessary ingredients for chemical and biological weapons
E) All of the above
The U.S. also re-flagged oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and used its Navy to defend them against Iran.
11) Although Iran has large petroleum deposits, it has a shortage of gasoline for its own domestic use:
A) False
B) True
Iran has a very chronic deficit of gasoline, due primarily to a lack of refining capabilities and extremely low gasoline prices.
To put it in a nutshell: Iran makes more money selling crude petroleum than it would in refinining it and selling it at home. Therefore Iran has a major petroleum shortage despite having some of the world’s largest deposits of crude.
12) The position of President in Iran is the most powerful office in the country:
A) False
B) True
The president of Iran is elected but the head of the Iranian government is Ayatollah Ali Khameni now, known as the “Supreme Leader”. For more on this, see here.
The Supreme Leader is elected by a group called the “Assembly of Experts”. An “Assembly of Experts” (all religious) are elected by popular vote but a “Guardian Council” decides who is eligible to run.
Therefore the true power is vested in the Supreme Leader but the head of the government is the President.
13) The majority of Muslims worldwide live in:
A) The Middle East
B) Europe
C) Asia
Only about 20% of Muslims worldwide live in the Middle East. The country with the largest number of Muslims is Indonesia with over 200 million.
14) The majority of Muslims worldwide are:
A) Shi’ite
B) Sunni
Approximately 85% of the world’s Muslims fall into the general category of Sunni.
15) The majority of Muslims worldwide are:
A) Arab
B) Kurdish
C) Africans
D) Asians
By far the majority of Muslims worldwide are Asian, including large populations in the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
16) The number of times the United States has directly overthrown the government of Iran:
A) Zero
B) Once
The United States and Britain overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953 in Operation Ajax.
17) The number of democratic Iranian governments overthrown by the United States:
A) Zero
B) One
See above, the Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh was overthrown in a coup and replaced with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
18) The number of countries in Europe (not including Turkey) which are predominantely Muslim
A) None
B) One
C) Two
Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
19) The Kurds are a separate ethnicity distinct from Arab or Turks:
A) False
B) True
The Kurds are a distinct ethnic minority (considered to be an Iranian people). There are approximately 35 million Kurds worldwide, 21 million of them living in Turkey.
The Kurdish language is related to Farsi/Persian (and Dari) and therefore is also part of the Indo-European language super family.
20) Kurds are a significant minority in which countries:
A) Iraq
B) Turkey
C) Syria
D) All of the above
There are approximately 21 million Kurds in Turkey, 2 million in Syria and 4-6 million in Iraq.
21) Number of dictators the United States has supported in Iran during the last 40 years:
A) None
B) One
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who ruled from 1953 when he was installed in a US/British coup until the 1979 revolution. Known as “The Shah” in America. Ran the SAVAK (with the help of the CIA), the feared secret police/intelligence service who murdered and tortured thousands of dissidents.
22) Most Muslims in Lebanon today are:
A) Sunni
B) Shi’ite
Approximately 40% of all Lebanese are Shi’ite Muslim and the percentage is growing steadily.
Approximately 40% are Christian while the remaining 20% are Sunni or Druze. All of these figures are approximate.
23) The single largest social group in Lebanon today is:
A) Maronite Christians
B) Sunni Muslims
C) Shi’ite Muslims
Again, there’s been no official census since 1932 but the Shi’ite demographic has either overtaken or will overtake the Christian population due to a very high birth rate.
24) Hizbullah (Hizb Allah) is a Lebanese organization whose name means:
A) God is Great
B) Death to Israel
C) Army of God
D) Party of God
More here. Hizbullah is a religious organization founded and operated on Shi’ite Muslim principles.
25) Hizbullah (Hizb’Allah) was founded in:
A) 1918, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire
B) 1948, after the defeat of Nazi Germany
C) 1982, after Israel’s invasion and occupation of south Lebanon
Hizb’ Allah was founded in 1982 as a direct result of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
26) The current leader of Hizb’Allah is:
A) Hussein Talabani
B) Mohammed Sadr
C) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Hassan Nasrallah is the Secretary General of the party and is also a priest/cleric.
27) The government of Syria is predominantely:
A) Christian
B) Sunni Muslim
C) Shi’ite Muslim
Most of the people in power (including the president) in Syria are known as Alawi or Alawites, a sect of Shi’a Islam. This is a religious and not ethnic distinction.
28) The majority of the inhabitants of Syria are:
A) Christian
B) Shi’ite Muslim
C) Sunni Muslim
Syria is approximately 90% Muslim and 10% Christian. Approximately 75% of the Muslims in Syria are Sunni while the remaining 25% are either Alawite or Druze.
Note: these statistics are not as valid as before as there are currently several million Iraqi refugees living in Syria.
29) The majority of the inhabitants of Egypt are:
A) Christian
B) Shi’ite Muslim
C) Sunni Muslim
Egypt is the largest Arab country (by population) in the world, with approximately 79 million inhabitants. Approximately 90% are Muslim, most being Sunni with a small group belonging to Sufi sects.
Approximately 10% of Egyptians are Christian, most of whom belong to the Coptic Church.
30) The president of Egypt is:
A) Anwar Sadat
B) Gemal Nasser
C) Hosni Mubarak
Although A and B are former presidents of Egypt, now dead.
31) The president of Egypt has been in power since:
A) 2002
B) 1996
C) 1982
Actually it should’ve been 1981!
Mubarak was the vice president under Sadat, who was assassinated on October 6, 1981. Mubarak has been in power ever since.
32) In the last 40 years, which countries have been run by military dictatorships:
A) Pakistan
B) Turkey
C) Iran
D) Iraq
E) All of the above
Sadly, this is true.
Pakistan currently is run by a non-elected military leader who came to power in a coup.
Turkey has had several military governments, the last in 1980.
Iran’s dictatorship under the Shah was not purely military but immediately after he seized (full) power in 1953, he installed General Fazlollah Zahedi as Prime Minister, although Zahedi went into hiding shortly thereafter in fear of the Shah.
33) Of the dictatorships in the previous question, how many have been supported by the United States government:
A) Just Iraq
B) Just Iran and Iraq
C) Iran, Iraq and Turkey
D) All of the above
For various reasons, the United States has backed all of the dictators of the above nations in the last 50 years.
34) Most supporters of Al-Qaeda follow what kind of fundamentalist form of Islam:
A) Qutbism
B) Wahallism
C) Salafism
More here.
35) The governments of which countries fund, espouse and are based on Salafist theology:
A) Saudi Arabia
B) Qatar
C) Syria
D) A and B
Although the Qatari version seems much less drastic and harsh compared to the Saudi version.
26) There are large Shi’ite populations in which countries:
A) Iran
B) Azerbaijan
C) Pakistan
D) Bahrain
E) All of the above
Shi’ites are numerically superior in all the above countries except for Pakistan. Shi’ites compromise approximately 19-20% of Pakistan’s population.
27) Shi’ites are different than Sunnis because:
A) Shi’ites support terrorism and extremist violence
B) Differences over the leadership of the Muslim world after the prophet Mohammed’s death
The difference is purely based on religious dogmatic differences that grew out of disputes over who was the “rightful” successor to the prophet Mohammed as leader of the Muslim community.
28) Which religious book mentions Mary, the mother of Jesus, more often:
A) Jewish Torah
B) Christian Bible
C) Muslim Qur’an
By far. She plays an important role in Islam and has an entire chapter (sura) bearing her name.
29) Which religious book preaches toleration for different monotheistic religions:
A) Jewish Torah
B) Christian Bible
C) Muslim Qur’an
Although all three can be construed as having passages relating to toleration, only the Qur’an specifically addresses this issue with any detail.
30) One of the prophet Mohammed’s first allies were several Jewish tribes in Medina (now in Saudi Arabia):
A) False
B) True
After Mohammed and the first group of converts to Islam were forced to flee Mecca for Medina, Mohammed mediated a dispute in Medina between several local tribes, including two Jewish ones.
31) There is a functioning democracy in which country:
A) Jordan
B) Egypt
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Qatar
E) Bahrain
F) None of the above
There have been some tentative steps towards democracy in Bahrain and there is a sham democracy in Egypt, but all of the countries except for Egypt are monarchies.
31) Which of the following countries receives military aid from the United States:
A) Jordan
B) Egypt
C) Saudi Arabia
D) Qatar
E) Bahrain
F) All of the above
Egypt receives the lion’s share but the U.S. sends or sells weapons, trains and advises the militaries in all of the above countries.
The United States also has permanent military bases in Qatar and Bahrain.
32) Martial law has been in effect in Egypt since:
A) No longer in effect
B) 9/11 attacks in 2001
C) 1996
D) 1982
One of the first things Hosni Mubarak did after assuming power following Sadat’s assassination was impose martial law. It has remained in affect ever since and is one of the main bases for apprehending, torturing and jailing dissidents even today (as well as outlawing some political parties).
33) Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia is:
A) Encouraged
B) Discouraged
C) Illegal and prosecutable
Saudis who are followers of Shi’a Islam are rarely prosecuted but are often harassed. All non-Muslim religions are banned outright.
34) The United States financially, miltiarily and politically supports which Shi’ite governments:
A) None
B) Bahrain
C) Azerbaijan and Bahrain
Azerbaijan has access to fairly large supplies of petroleum. Bahrain hosts a United States Naval base.
Note: James Baker III, the “wise man” of the ISG report, among other things operates an office of his law firm (Baker Botts) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
35) Over the last 50 years, the United States has primarily supported:
A) India
B) Pakistan
During the Cold War, the United States primarily supported and was allied with Pakistan, even during the periods when Pakistan was ruled by a military dictator.
36) Number of military dictatorships that have ruled India since independence:
A) Five
B) Two
C) Zero
Despite many faults, India has been a democracy ever since it gained independence from Britain.
37) Number of military dictatorships that have ruled Pakistan since independence:
A) Zero
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
Mohammed Ayub Khan – 1958-1969
Yahya Khan – 1969
Mohammed Zia ul-Haq 1978-1988
Pervez Musharraf – 1999-present
38) Number of Pakistani military dictatorships supported by the United States:
A) Zero
B) Two
C) Three
D) Four
All of them, especially Zia ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf.
39) The current President of Pakistan is:
A) Shaukat Aziz
B) Farooq Lehari
C) Pervez Musharraf
Shaukat Aziz is the current Prime Minister while Farooq Lehari was the former President of Pakistan (democratically elected).
40) The current President of Pakistan came to power:
A) In a democratic election
B) First in a military coup but was then elected democratically
C) Military coup only
Coup was effected in 1999 and then Musharraf “assumed” the title of President in 2001. He has never run for the office.
41) Which countries recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan from 1996-2001:
A) Pakistan
B) Saudi Arabia
C) UAE
D) All of the above
The above 3 all did and only the above 3. They also provided extensive funding, partiularly Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, to the Taliban government.
42) The majority of the residents of Afghanistan today are ethnic:
A) Dari
B) Uzbeks
C) Balochs
D) Tajiks
E) Pashtun
Approximately 40%-50% of Afghanistan’s residents are Pashtun. There has been no official census so this number is just an educated guess.
The Pashtun seem to be the native or original inhabitants of the region (the term Afghan and Pashtun used to be identical). The Pashtun language is related to Farsi/Persian and is therefore a member of the Indo-European superfamily of languages.
It’s worth noting that roughly 1/3rd of all Pashtun live in what is now Afghanistan while 2/3rds live in what is now Pakistan.
Dari and Baloch are two ethnicities closely related to Iranian peoples.
Tajik and Uzbeks are closely related to Turkic peoples and the Tajik and Uzbek languages are Turkic languages.
43) The majority of the members of the current government of Afghanistan today are ethnic:
A) Pashtun
B) Balochs
C) Dari, Tajiks and Uzbeks
Although the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is an ethnic Pashtun most members of the government are either Dari or Tajik/Uzbek.
44) The current president of Afghanistan today is:
A) Sardar Mohammed Daud Khan
B) Yunus Qanuni
C) Abdul Rashid Dostum
D) Hamid Karzai
First “installed” by the United States and then more or less directly elected in 2004.
45) The current president of Afghanistan is a citizen of:
A) India
B) Afghanistan
C) United States
D) Both B and C
Despite this being illegal under U.S. law, Karzai has never renounced his American citizenship. Most of his family lives in the United States and several members, including a brother, run restaurants (including one in Baltimore).
46) Some of the chemical weapons used by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds were supplied by the United States and its European allies:
A) False
B) True
Sad but true. See more here. A Dutch citizen has been prosecuted for selling chemicals used by Hussein against the Kurds.
For a more direct article on American government’s involvement, also see here.
47) The first government to use chemical weapons against civilians in Iraq was:
A) Ottoman Turk Empire
B) Saddam Hussein
C) British Empire
Winston Churchill, later to become the Prime Minister of Britain in WW2, was directly responsible. See more here.
48) Poetry is highly regarded and deeply respected by much of the Muslim world:
A) False
B) True
Poetry is held in very high esteem by many Muslims, memorizing lengthy passages is a sign of erudition. Almost every literate person in the Muslim world can and does recite poetry on a regular basis.
49) The most respected and revered Iranian poet is:
A) Mohammed Khatami
B) Ayatollah Khomeini
C) Firdawsi
A semi-legendary figure, he composed the great Iranian national epic, Shahnama. More here.
50) Iran’s national epic, the most treasured literary masterpiece is known as:
A) Baghavad Gita
B) Qur’an
C) Kama Sutra
D) Shahnama
Written around the year 1000, the title means “Epic of Kings” or “Book of Kings” and tells the entire history of Iran/Persia from the creation of the planet until the 7th century.
Many Iranians study this epic poem of over 60,000 couplets at the university level. The poetry and language used in this poem continues to have a lasting impact on Iranian culture and language.
How’d you do?
Peace!
