A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station in the city of Qom, Iran. Elections for Iran's parliament (Majlis) and Assembly of Experts kicked off on Friday, February 26, 2016. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)

Women walk on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, January 9, 2020. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Girls talk outside the Niavaran Palace in northern Tehran, capital of Iran, March 26, 2024. People visited the Niavaran Palace during the new year vacation of Nowruz, which falls on March 20 this year. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Faithful wearing face mask pray during the Arafah prayer ceremony ahead of Eid al-Adha, at the Tehran university’s mosque in Tehran, Iran, 30 July 2020. Iran will not hold the Eid al-Adha prayers and ceremonies over the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis in the country. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE)

A woman talks on her cellphone as she walks around Tajrish commercial district without wearing the mandatory Islamic headscarf in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 29, 2023. More women are choosing not to wear the mandatory headscarf, or the hijab, publicly in Iran. Such open defiance of the law follows months of protests over the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country's morality police, for wearing her hijab too loosely. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A woman prays during a gathering with other devotees for the ritual prayers for Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), one of the holiest nights during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, outside the Imamzadeh Saleh mosque in Tehran, on April 10, 2023. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

People watch fireworks light the sky as they attend a ceremony celebrating Noruz (Nowruz), the Persian New Year, at the Iran Mall shopping centre in Iran's capital Tehran, on March 20, 2022. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)