The Glory of Reconstruction   The Bafgh-Bandar Abbas Rail Way project Incomparable in scope and size to any other projects undertaken during the last 25 years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the massive Bafgh-Bandar Abbas Rail Way Project includes 2,270 bridges with the total length of 26 kilometers and passes through giant tunnels, 17312 meters long. Bafagh-Bandar Abbas Rail Way consists of electric double-track and is also well equipped with modern information and traffic system, capable of handling fast trains with the maximum speed of 160 km per hour. As a vital linking rail way, this massive project connects the Central Asian countries as well as the Iran’s northern and central provinces with the warm waters of the Persian Gulf in the south, and thus plays a decisive role in prosperity of the three important provinces in the area. The completion of the mentioned project not only would facilitate the efficient transportation of the passengers and cargos in the region, but would also guarantee easier access to the copper mine in "Sarcheshmeh" and the rich iron ore in "Golegohar" which would altogether hasten the rapid development of the country's largest steel industries (Mobarakeh) and the Isfahan Iron Foundry. Tehran Subway Substantial and constructive change in the management of the country's large cities is yet another worthy accomplishment of the splendid reconstruction years. Accordingly, the following unceasing efforts have been made to overcome the obstacle of traffic in Tehran: n Designing and contructing necessary ring roads around the capital. n Constructing highways and freeways in all essential areas of the city of Tehran. n Facilitating the intersections and other sensitive areas with controlled-circuit cameras for monitoring the city traffic. n Increasing the inter-city transportation and adding adequate bus-stop all over the capital. n Designing and establishing two subway lines.   nitial steps for the construction of Tehran's Subway were taken in 1986 and further relevant efforts did not cease even during the most crucial days of the Imposed War. At present, Tehran's Subway is still under construction in two, north-south and east-west, directions and its first line linking Tehran with the suburban city of Karaj is due to be inaugurated early next year. The managing director of Tehran Metro Company in his report to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has indicated the following: "Merely relying upon the domestic workforce and country's public revenue 42 kilometers of underground tunnels, 53 subway stations, 60 kilometers on- the-ground routes, over 500,000 sq. m. of subway shelters as well as 100,000 sq. m. of business center have successfully been designed and constructed, for which 21 million cubic meters of drilling and 220,000 cubic meter concrete works have already been completed. Construction of the modern cities Attempts on designing and construction of new cities certainly constitute one of the remarkable endevours of the post-revolution years. Currently twelve new cities such as Hashgerd, Andeesheh, Mohajern, Sadra, A-L-ishahr, Pardis, Parand, Baharestan, Majlesi and Sahand are under construction. Appropriately, the ultimate goals of constructing such cities are the attraction of excessive population of the large cities as well as the establishment of employment-orientated industries, in appropriate regions possessing necessary potentialities. The total area of the developed lands in the stated cities presently amounts to 6800 ha. and it is also predicted that these cities would accommodate 150,000 to 200,000 households by the end of the Second Five-Year Programme. The tabulated results of 1986 national census demonstrate a more suitable housing condition vis-a-vis that of pre-revolution period. During post-revolution years 600 nation-wide housing projects, with a total area of 56,000 ha., would also accommodate an entire population of 6-12 million people. Petrochemical plants The petrochemical industry, for the time being, claims an exceptional and particular stature in the country. Petrochemical plants in numerous provinces and cities such as Khorasan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Bandare Imam and Arak have been established and are now fully operational due to unceasing efforts of highly competent Iranian experts. Further more, the capacity of petrochemical productions which amounted to less than only 2 million tons before the Islamic Revolution remarkably increased to over 10 million tons in 1995. As the most gigantic petrochemical scheme of the Second Five-year Programme, the preliminary construction stages of "the Khark Methanol Project" were materialised in 1995 and its production lines would be operational within the next three years -- with daily production capacity of 2,000 tons of methanol generating an expected annual currency revenue of US$ 130 million. It is also forecasted that total capacity of petrochemical productions would increase to 16 million tons by the year 2000 and thus raises Iran's present 8.5 % share of petrochemical productions to that of 16.8 %, amongst all the Middle East countries. Universities and the higher institutes of learning The number of state universities and colleges, benefiting from a 2.2% average growth, have increased from 244 centers in 1979 to that of 346 in 1994 academic year. Consequently, after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one such institute has been established every two months. Some of the significant statistics are as follows: n Augmentation rate of total number of students =12% n Total number of university students until the end of 1994 academic year =1072442 students n Total number of graduate and post-graduate students with a 10.5 % annual average growth = 88323 students for the 1994 academic year. n Total number of college graduates in 1994 academic year=153086 graduates n The median of active researchers, per one million population, has also increased from 48 to 82 researchers during post-revolution years