ABSTRACT
Iran is one of the three mega states in the Middle East. Its population is higher than that of either Turkey or Egypt and its area is second only to that of Saudi Arabia. Its coastline in the south embraces approximately half of the Persian/Arabian Gulf and, with Oman it controls the Strait of Hormuz. Iran therefore lies between the countries with the major petroleum resources in the world and the Caspian Basin, which is also set to become a significant producer. During the 1980s, Iran achieved prominence on two other counts. First, in 1986 came the revelation of the Iran-Contra Affair, whereby the sale of military equipment to Iran was used to finance forces opposed to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, a left-wing organisation in Nicaragua. Relations with the West sank again when British authorities refused to ban the publication of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, a work considered deeply offensive to Muslims.
