Iran Overview Nations // Middle East/North Africa

  OVERVIEW The Islamic Republic of Iran is bordered to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the north by Turkmenistan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Iran's Western-backed monarchy was overthrown in 1979 and replaced with a Shi'ite Muslim theocracy. The government has since been guarded in its relations with the West, and hostile toward the United States, Israel and numerous...