The Geopolitics of Iran
Introduction, Geography and History
Iran is a country in the Middle East, it is bordered to the North by the Caspian Sea and to the South by the Persian Gulf and Oman. Its neighboring countries are Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, by sea it is also a neighbor of Saudi Arabia. The country is populated by 83 million inhabitants who are mainly in the west and the north of the country, its capital is Tehran. The country is quite heterogeneous in terms of languages and ethnic groups (Persia in the center, influence of neighbors on the edge). The dominant religion is Shiite Islam for 90% of the population and Sunite Islam for 8%. The country is characterized by its very mountainous relief and its semi-desert areas, the only forests are near the Caspian Sea. This geography has always been an advantage for the country because it creates a natural fortress.
This region was taken by dynasties for many years, such as the Medes (1st millennium BC), the Achaemenids, the Seleucids, the Parths (first century AD), the Turks, the Mongols, the Turkmens. Despite these dynasties and their invasion, the territory remains Persian in character. The country becomes a republic when the last king Pahlavi is forced into exile following the revolution, in 1979 the Islamic Republic of Iran was born. This revolution began to settle for a long time, in particular by the middle and well-to-do classes in the big cities and the middle and poor classes in the suburbs, who were against the authoritarianism of the king's regime.
The power of Iran can be explained in 5 points
First of all, its geographical position is at the crossroads of geopolitical issues...
Large as three times the size of France, Iran occupies the 18th place in the world with its 1,648,000 m2, in the Middle East, only Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan are larger. With about fifteen border States and three accesses to the seas (Caspian, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea), the country is located at the crossroads of the Arab, Turkish, Indian and Russian worlds. Its foreign policy is deployed both in the South (Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean), in the West (Arab East), in the North-West (Turkey, Caucasus), in the North-East (Central Asia), and in East (Afghanistan and Pakistan), i.e. five strategic orientations in key areas of current geopolitics.
...This shows that Iran is a regional demographic giant...
the 19th most populous country in the world, Iran sees only two countries in the Middle East containing a larger population: Egypt (86.9 million) and Turkey (81.6 million). Its population represents that of seven of its Persian Gulf neighbors combined.
...Which possesses substantial military power...
The total of Iran's armed forces in 2013 amounted to 563,000 people, including the national army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, as well as paramilitary forces. Outside the borders, the country can count on relay armed arms such as the elite Al-Quds force (Jerusalem) of the Revolutionary Guards, the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Badr organization or some of the many Iraqi and Syrian militias which emerged five years ago.
...As well as energy resources in great quantities...
Iran holds one of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in the world, even if production and export are not commensurate with these reserves.
Iran ranks :
4th in the world in terms of proven oil resources with 9.3%, behind Venezuela (17.5%), Saudi Arabia (15.7%) and Canada (10.2%) )
1st in terms of gas resources with 18.2% of proven reserves, ahead of Russia (17.4%).
19th economic rank behind Australia, in terms of purchasing power parity.
... And finally a science-oriented soft power.
Since 1999, Iran has overtaken Pakistan, Malaysia and South Africa in scientific publishing. The excellence of technical, higher and university education institutions where girls are numerous (52%), is demonstrated in particular by the number of articles published in international academic journals by Iranian researchers, the UNESCO report " The current status of Science around the World" (2010) numbered 13,569 for the year 2008.