ABSTRACT
Iran, one of the world’s oldest continuing civilizations, is located in the tumultuous border region between the Middle East and Asia and shares hundreds of kilometers of border with the war-torn nations of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. Iran’s territory covers half the coastline of the Persian Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil supply moves.2 It borders the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus in Central Asia, and South Asia, where a great deal of the world’s heroin supply is produced, several major terrorist groups are based, and huge reserves of oil and gas are just beginning to be extracted.
