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120-499: Both states have history that extends for millennia into the past. Iran and Iraq share a long border (the longest border for both nations) and an ancient cultural and religious heritage. In ancient times Iraq formed part of the core of Persia (modern-day Iran) for about a thousand years. Modern relations between the two nations turned increasingly negative following the 14 July Revolution in Iraq in 1958, and subsequent overthrow of

240-873: A Kurdish rebellion led by Mustafa Barzani . In 1975, Iran and Iraq signed a demarcation agreement stemming from the Kurdish rebellion, which remained in stalemate. The Iranian Revolution in 1979 drastically changed Iran–Iraq relations for 24 years. War broke out between Iraq and Iran in September 1980. During the war, Iraq used chemical weapons and violence against Iraqi Kurds and Marsh Arabs , who were accused of colluding with Iran. Eight years of fighting left around 600,000 dead and caused huge disasters for both sides, thereby grimly blistering ties between Tehran and Baghdad. The United Nations (UN) issued Resolution 598 in July 1987, demanding an unconditional ceasefire between

360-709: A Portuguese force led by commander Antonio Correia invaded Bahrain to take control of the wealth created by its pearl industry. On April 29, 1602, Shāh Abbās , the Persian emperor of the Safavid Persian Empire , expelled the Portuguese from Bahrain, and that date is commemorated as National Persian Gulf day in Iran . With the support of the British fleet, in 1622 'Abbās took the island of Hormuz from

480-512: A brief period of Babylonian unrest ensued that climaxed in 522 B.C. with a general rebellion of Iranian colonies. Of the four residences of the Achaemenids named by Herodotus — Ecbatana , Pasargadae or Persepolis , Susa and Babylon —the last [situated in Iraq] was maintained as their most important capital, the fixed winter quarters, the central office of bureaucracy, exchanged only in

600-569: A combination of fresh and salt water for growth, and act as nurseries for many crabs, small fish, and insects; these fish and insects are the source of food for many of the marine birds that feed on them. Mangroves are a diverse group of shrubs and trees belonging to the genus Avicennia or Rhizophora that flourish in the salt water shallows of the Persian Gulf, and are the most important habitats for small crustaceans that dwell in them. They are as crucial an indicator of biological health on

720-642: A few coral reefs . Compared to the Red Sea, the coral reefs in the Persian Gulf are relatively few and far between. This is primarily connected to the influx of major rivers, especially the Shatt al-Arab (Euphrates and Tigris), which carry large amounts of sediment (most reef-building corals require strong light) and causes relatively large variations in temperature and salinity (corals in general are poorly suited to large variations). Nevertheless, coral reefs have been found along sections of coast of all countries in

840-605: A giant field across the territorial median line (North Field in the Qatari sector; South Pars Field in the Iranian sector). Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petrochemical industry. In 2002, the Persian Gulf nations of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE produced about 25% of the world's oil, held nearly two-thirds of the world's crude oil reserves , and about 35% of

960-715: A long siege. Both countries had conflicting interests over the Kurdish emirates . In 1802, the Shah of Iran, Fath Ali Shah , criticized the Mamluk governor of Iraq for his inability to counter the anti-Shia Wahhabis . Iran and Iraq invaded each other again during the 1820s, before the Ottomans ended Iraqi autonomy in 1831. Since the Ottoman–Persian Wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, Iran (known as "Persia" prior to 1935) and

1080-593: A powerful army westward. In the ensuing Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, the Egyptian army was defeated and driven back, and Syria and Phoenicia were brought under the sway of Babylon. Nabopolassar died in August of that year, and Nebuchadrezzar II returned home to Babylon to ascend to the throne. After the defeat of the Cimmerians and Scythians , all of Nebuchadrezzar's expeditions were directed westwards, although

1200-694: A powerful neighbour lay to the North; the cause of this was that a wise political marriage with Amytis of Babylon , the daughter of the Median king, had ensured a lasting peace between the two empires. Though Babylonia was annexed by the rising Persian Empire in 539 BC, the Sumero–Akkadian culture of the Mesopotamians significantly influenced the succeeding empires of the Indo-Iranian tribes of

1320-536: A stalemate. Iran later opposed the American-led coalition against Iraq in 1991. The fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the eventual rise to power by pro-Iranian Shia factions (i.e. Islamic Dawa Party and Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq ) led to the normalization of relations between the two countries. Since 2003, Iraq has allowed Shia Muslims from Iran to make the pilgrimage to holy Shia sites in Iraq. In March 2008, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became

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1440-551: A year, in addition to having to meet the extortionate demands of the local administrators, and they were responsible for feeding the Iranian court for four months every year. By the fourth century B.C., nearly all of Babylon opposed the Achaemenids. Thus, when the Iranian forces stationed in Babylon surrendered to Alexander in 331 B.C. all of Babylonia hailed him as a liberator. Alexander quickly won Babylonian favor when, unlike

1560-470: Is a diverse cradle for many species who depend on each other for survival. However, the Persian Gulf is not as biologically diverse as the Red Sea . Overall, the wildlife of the Persian Gulf is endangered from both global factors, and regional, local negligence. Most pollution is from ships; land generated pollution counts as the second most common source of pollution. Along the mediterranean regions of

1680-470: Is destroyed, or occupied by man-made structures. This has had a negative impact on the crustaceans that rely on the mangrove, and in turn on the species that feed on them. The Persian Gulf and its coastal areas are the world's largest single source of petroleum, and related industries dominate the region. Safaniya Oil Field , the world's largest offshore oilfield , is located in the Persian Gulf. Large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing

1800-498: Is home to many islands such as Bahrain, an Arab state. Geographically, the biggest island in the Persian Gulf is Qeshm island , belonging to Iran and located in the Strait of Hormuz . Other significant islands in the Persian Gulf include Greater Tunb , Lesser Tunb and Kish administered by Iran, Bubiyan administered by Kuwait, Tarout administered by Saudi Arabia, and Dalma administered by UAE. In recent years, there has also been

1920-655: Is known to have extended from Elam to the Mediterranean sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day Iran and Syria, and possibly parts of Anatolia and the Arabian Peninsula . The Third Dynasty of Ur (2119–2004 BC), or 'Neo-Sumerian Empire' was a Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur (southern Iraq). The Third Dynasty of Ur came to preeminent power in Mesopotamia after several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. It controlled

2040-430: Is negatively affected by new developments along the Persian Gulf coastline, particularly the construction of artificial islands by Arab states and pollution from oil spills caused during the "Persian Gulf war" and various other natural and artificial causes. Uncontrolled hunting has also had a negative impact on the survival of dugongs. After Australian waters, which are estimated to contain some 80,000 dugong inhabitants,

2160-408: Is now the Iranian province of Bushehr , is an example of such commercial port. Siraf, was also significant in that it had a flourishing commercial trade with China by the fourth century, having first established connection with the far east in 185 AD. Portuguese influence in the Persian Gulf lasted for 250 years; however, since the beginning of the 16th century, Portuguese dominance contended with

2280-620: Is still a deficit of 416 cubic kilometres (100 cu mi) per year. This difference is supplied by currents at the Strait of Hormuz . The water from the Persian Gulf has a higher salinity, and therefore exits from the bottom of the Strait, while ocean water with less salinity flows in through the top. Another study revealed the following numbers for water exchanges for the Persian Gulf: evaporation = –1.84 m (6.0 ft)/year, precipitation = 0.08 m (0.26 ft)/year, inflow from

2400-517: Is used by the International Hydrographic Organization . The dispute in naming has become especially prevalent since the 1960s. Rivalry between Iran and some Arab states, along with the emergence of pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism , has seen the name "Arabian Gulf" become predominant in most Arab countries. Names beyond these two have also been applied to or proposed for this body of water. The region of

2520-530: The 1968 Baathist coup and the concurrent withdrawal of British forces from the Persian Gulf region. Also in 1921, the British played a role in the 1921 Persian coup d'etat , which led to the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty as rulers of Iran in 1925. Reza Shah 's Iran was in economic trouble, and he sought good ties with his neighbors in the 1920s—including Iraq. Iran and Iraq were staunchly anticommunist and pursued pro-West policies. They also cooperated in preventing

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2640-814: The Al Qasimi tribe. This led to the British mounting the Persian Gulf campaign of 1819 . The campaign led to the signing of the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 between the British and the Sheikhs of what was then known as the ' Pirate Coast '. From 1763 until 1971, the British Empire maintained varying degrees of political control over some of the Persian Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates (originally called

2760-704: The Aq Qoyunlu of Iran, however the area centered around Basra was always locally dominated by semi-autonomous Arab tribes like the Al-Mughamis, Musha'sha' , and Muntafiq . Under them, the Emirate of Basra in southern Iraq often challenged the dynasties of Iran, until the Safavids subdued Basra in the early 16th century. Despite decades of Iranian suzerainty, the Muntafiq remained autonomous and allied with

2880-655: The Arsacids ruled until a new force of native Iranian rulers, the Persian Sassanids , conquered the region in A.D. 227. During the time of the Sassanid Empire , from the 3rd century to the 7th century, the major part of Iraq was called in Persian Del-e Īrānshahr (lit. "the heart of Iran"), and its metropolis Ctesiphon (not far from present-day Baghdad ) functioned for more than 800 years as

3000-611: The Baghdad Pact . However, the overthrow of the Hashemites in Iraq in 1958 brought a nationalist government to power which promptly abandoned the pact. On 18 December 1959, Iraq's new leader, General Abd al-Karim Qasim , declared: "We do not wish to refer to the history of Arab tribes residing in al-Ahwaz and Mohammareh [Khorramshahr] . The Ottomans handed over Mohammareh, which was part of Iraqi territory, to Iran." The Iraqi government's dissatisfaction with Iran's possession of

3120-541: The Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz . The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive reefs (mostly rocky, but also coral ), and abundant pearl oysters , however its ecology has been damaged by industrialization and oil spills . The Persian Gulf is in the Persian Gulf Basin , which is of Cenozoic origin and related to

3240-626: The Hashemite Monarchy which resulted in the country withdrawing from the Baghdad Pact . The Ba'ath Party gained power in Iraq in the 1960s , taking a more aggressive stance on border disputes. In the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Saddam Hussein launched an invasion of Iran over border disputes and a desire to gain control of oil-rich areas in Iran's territory. The conflict lasted for eight years and ended in

3360-642: The Indus River , he died in Babylon; most probably from malaria contracted there in 323 B.C. at the age of 32. In the politically chaotic period after Alexander's death, his generals fought for and divided up his empire. In 126 B.C., the Parthians, a nomadic Iranian people led by the Arsacid Dynasty, captured the Tigris–Euphrates river valley. The Parthians were able to control all trade between

3480-509: The Iraqi Ba'ath Party 's rise which took power in a 1968 coup , leading Iraq to take on the self-appointed role of "leader of the Arab world ". At the same time, by the late 1960s, the build-up of Iranian power under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , who had gone on a military spending spree, led Iran to take a more assertive stance in the region. In April 1969, Iran abrogated the 1937 treaty over

3600-472: The Latin mille , thousand , and annus , year. There was a public debate leading up to the celebrations of the year 2000 as to whether the beginning of that year should be understood as the beginning of the "new" millennium. Historically, there has been debate around the turn of previous decades , centuries , and millennia, but not so much for decades. The issue arises from the difference between

3720-751: The Medes and the Persians . In 539 BC, Persian forces led by Cyrus The Great defeated Babylonian forces at the Battle of Opis , east of the Tigris . Cyrus entered Babylon and presented himself as a traditional Mesopotamian monarch, restoring temples and releasing political prisoners. Upon assuming power, Cyrus appointed provincial governors (the predecessors of the Persian satraps ), and he required from his subjects only tribute and obedience. Following Cyrus's death,

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3840-563: The Nile in the west, as well as Sind waterway, in India. The Achaemenid high naval command had established major naval bases located along Shatt al-Arab river, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen. The Persian fleet would soon not only be used for peacekeeping purposes along the Shatt al-Arab but would also open the door to trade with India via Persian Gulf. Following the fall of Achaemenid Empire, and after

3960-577: The Treaty of Saadabad , and relations between the two states remained good for decades afterwards. The 1937 treaty recognised the Iran–Iraq border to be along the low-water mark on the Shatt al-Arab's eastern side, except at Abadan and Khorramshahr , where the frontier ran along the thalweg (deepest part of the river valley). This gave Iraq control of most of the waterway and required Iran to pay tolls whenever its ships used it. In 1955, both nations joined

4080-541: The Trucial States ) and at various times Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar through the British Residency of the Persian Gulf . The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War , in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers . It is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War , the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraq 's invasion of Kuwait . The United States' role in

4200-610: The United Arab Emirates ; Saudi Arabia; Qatar , on a peninsula off the Saudi coast; Bahrain , an island nation; Kuwait ; and Iraq in the northwest. Various small islands also lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states in the region. Exclusive economic zones in the Persian Gulf: Countries by coastline length : The Persian Gulf

4320-551: The Y2K computer bug . A third position was expressed by Bill Paupe, honorary consul for Kiribati : "To me, I just don't see what all the hoopla is about ... it's not going to change anything. The next day the sun is going to come up again and then it will all be forgotten." Even for those who did celebrate, in astronomical terms, there was nothing special about this particular event. Stephen Jay Gould , in his essay "Dousing Diminutive Dennis' Debate (or DDDD = 2000)", discussed

4440-450: The collared kingfishers were raised by conservationists over real estate development by the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Estimates from 2006 showed that only three viable nesting sites were available for this ancient bird, one located 80 miles (129 km) from Dubai, and two smaller sites in Oman. Such real estate expansion could prove devastating to this subspecies. A UN plan to protect

4560-617: The list of "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" , Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said he had talked to all sides and tried to stop the designation. In August 2019, Iran seized an Iraqi oil tanker in the Gulf and detained seven sailors for "smuggling fuel for some Arab countries". Iraq denied any connection with the vessel and claimed to investigate the matter. A 2019 article by the New York Times revealed leaked information detailing "years of painstaking work by Iranian spies to co-opt

4680-624: The subduction of the Arabian Plate under the Zagros Mountains . The current flooding of the basin started 15,000 years ago due to rising sea levels of the Holocene glacial retreat . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulf's southern limit as "The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman". This limit is defined as "A line joining Ràs Limah (25°57'N) on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh (25°48'N) on

4800-478: The two thousands period ). Those holding that the arrival of the new millennium should be celebrated in the transition from 2000 to 2001 (i.e., December 31, 2000, to January 1, 2001) argued that the Anno Domini system of counting years began with the year 1 (there was no year 0 ) and therefore the first millennium was from the year 1 to the end of the year 1000, the second millennium from 1001 to

4920-627: The " Persian Corridor ". Britain utilized the Persian Gulf as the entry point for the supply chain in order to make use of the Trans-Iranian Railway . The Persian Gulf therefore became a critical maritime path through which the Allies transported equipment to Soviet Union against the Nazi invasion . The piracy in the Persian Gulf was prevalent until the 19th century. Many of the most notable historical instances of piracy were perpetrated by

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5040-399: The "high" versus "pop" culture interpretation of the transition. Gould noted that the high culture, strict construction had been the dominant viewpoint at the 20th century's beginning, but that the pop culture viewpoint dominated at its end. The start of the 21st century and 3rd millennium was celebrated worldwide at the start of the year 2000. One year later, at the start of the year 2001,

5160-496: The Achaemenids, he displayed respect for such Babylonian traditions as the worship of their chief god, Marduk . Alexander also proposed ambitious schemes for Babylon. He planned to establish one of the two seats of his empire there and to make the Euphrates navigable all the way to the Persian Gulf , where he planned to build a great port. Alexander's grandiose plans, however, never came to fruition. Returning from an expedition to

5280-521: The Arabian Sea, including the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea , the Gulf of Kutch , the Gulf of Suez , the Gulf of Aqaba , the Gulf of Aden , and the Gulf of Oman , dolphins and finless porpoises are the most common marine mammals in the waters, while larger whales and orcas are rarer today. Historically, whales had been abundant in the Persian Gulf before commercial hunts wiped them out. Whales were reduced even further by illegal mass hunts by

5400-540: The British. As retaliation for Iraq's claims to Khuzestan, Iran became the main patron of Iraq's Kurdish rebels in the early 1970s, giving the Iraqi Kurds bases in Iran and arming the Kurdish groups. In addition to Iraq fomenting separatism in Iran's Khuzestan and Balochistan , both states encouraged separatist activities by Kurdish nationalists in the other state. From March 1974 to March 1975, Iran and Iraq fought border wars over Iran's support of Iraqi Kurds. In 1975,

5520-432: The Buyid Emirate of Baghdad. After the Seljuk invasion, the Abbasid Caliphate regained a degree of independence. During the reign of Caliph Al-Nasir , Abbasid Iraq expanded into Iran. Iran and Iraq both fell to the Mongols during the 13th century. In the 14th century, there emerged the Mongol Jalayirid sultanate which controlled Iraq and parts of Iran. They were later displaced by the Timurids , Qara Qoyunlu , and then

5640-443: The East and the Greco–Roman world. For the most part, they chose to retain existing social institutions and to live in cities that already existed. Mesopotamia was immeasurably enriched by this, the mildest of all foreign occupations of the region. The population of Mesopotamia was enormously enlarged, Iranians, and Aramaeans . With the exception of the Roman occupation under Trajan (A.D. 98–117) and Septimius Severus (A.D. 193–211),

5760-416: The Gulf of Aqaba), omura's whale , minke whale , and orca also swim into the Persian Gulf, while many other large species such as blue whale , sei , and sperm whales were once migrants into the Gulf of Oman and off the coasts in deeper waters, and still migrate into the Red Sea, but mainly in deeper waters of outer seas. In 2017, waters of the Persian Gulf along Abu Dhabi were revealed to hold

5880-464: The Iranian embassy on fire as a part of a series of protests and arson against the foreign power seen as becoming too influential in local domestic politics. On 27 November 2019, Iraqi protesters burned down the Iranian consulate in Najaf. Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334–2279 BC) was an Akkadian king who conquered Sumer and was the reason of moving the power from Southern Mesopotamia (southern Iraq) to central Mesopotamia (central Iraq). Sargon's vast empire

6000-438: The Iranian leader, Darius the Great , reimposed political stability in Babylon and ushered in a period of great economic prosperity. His greatest achievements were in road building, which significantly improved communication among the provinces, and in organizing an efficient bureaucracy. Darius's death in 485 B.C. was followed by a period of decay that led to a major Babylonian rebellion in 482 B.C. The Iranians violently quelled

6120-402: The Iranian rulers, themselves much closer to the Orient, were able to monopolize trade from India and other eastern points. As a result, Babylonia and Assyria , which together formed the ninth satrapy of the Persian Empire , became economically isolated and impoverished. Their poverty was exacerbated by the extremely high taxes levied on them: they owed the Iranian crown 1,000 talents of silver

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6240-460: The Iraqis launched an offensive into Iran using tanks , though the Iranians defeated them. Several other attacks took place; however, Iran had the world's fifth most powerful military at the time and easily defeated the Iraqis with its air force . As a result, Iraq decided against continuing the war, choosing instead to make concessions to Tehran to end the Kurdish rebellion. In the 1975 Algiers Agreement, Iraq made territorial concessions—including

6360-409: The Lakhum tribe , who lived in what is now Yemen, migrated north and founded the Lakhmid Kingdom along the southern coast. Occasional ancient battles took place along the Persian Gulf coastlines, between the Sassanid Persian empire and the Lakhmid Kingdom, the most prominent of which was the invasion led by Shapur II against the Lakhmids, leading to Lakhmids' defeat, and advancement into Arabia, along

6480-404: The Middle East adjacent to the Gulf. The world's oldest known civilization ( Sumer ) developed along the Persian Gulf and southern Mesopotamia . The oldest evidence in the world for seagoing vessels has been found at H3 in Kuwait, dating to the mid-sixth millennium BC, when the Gulf was part of an extensive trade network that involved the Ubaid settlements in Mesopotamia and communities along

6600-452: The Middle East are located in this region. The wildlife of the Persian Gulf is diverse, and entirely unique because of the Persian Gulf's geographic distribution and its isolation from the international waters only breached by the narrow Strait of Hormuz . The Persian Gulf has hosted some of the most magnificent marine fauna and flora, some of which are near extirpation or at serious environmental risk. From corals, to dugongs , Persian Gulf

6720-447: The Ottomans and Portuguese . Iran briefly reoccupied Muntafiq Iraq between 1623 and 1639. By 1667, the Afrasiyab dynasty became co-rulers of southern Iraq with the Muntafiq while Ottoman suzerainty was disrespected. In 1667 the pasha of southern Iraq offered to submit to Iran, but the Safavids had no wish to antagonize the Ottomans. Similarly, the Iranians suppressed a Muntafiq revolt against Ottoman suzerainty in 1697, and returned Basra to

6840-429: The Ottomans fought over Iraq (then known as Mesopotamia ) and full control of the Shatt al-Arab until the signing of the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639 which established the final borders between the two countries. The Shatt al-Arab was considered an important channel for both states' oil exports, and in 1937, Iran and the newly independent Iraq signed a treaty to settle the dispute. In the same year, Iran and Iraq both joined

6960-412: The Ottomans in 1701. Nonetheless, Iraq was always a place of great importance to Iranians because of the abundant Shia shrines. In the early 18th century, Iraq became unified under the Mamluks , and they assisted the Ottomans with their invasion of Iran in the 1720s. In turn, the Iranians invaded Iraq three times between 1730 and 1776, they failed to capture Mosul and only briefly occupied Basra after

7080-442: The Persian Gulf by the United Arab Emirates and Oman also raised concerns that habitats of species such as the hawksbill turtle , greater flamingo , and booted warbler may be destroyed. The dolphins that frequent the Persian Gulf in northern waters around Iran are also at risk. Recent statistics and observations show that dolphins are at danger of entrapment in purse seine fishing nets and exposure to chemical pollutants; perhaps

7200-437: The Persian Gulf grew in the second half of the 20th century. On July 3, 1988, Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down by the U.S. military (which had mistaken the Airbus A300 operating the flight for an Iranian F-14 Tomcat ) while it was flying over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people on board. The United Kingdom maintains a profile in the region; in 2006 alone, over 1 million British nationals visited Dubai . In 2018,

7320-426: The Persian Gulf has been inhabited since the Paleolithic . During most of the Last Glacial Period (115,000–11,700 years Before Present ), due to lowered sea levels (reaching around 125 metres (410 ft) metres below present values during the Last Glacial Maximum ) combined with the shallow depth of the Gulf (on average around 35 metres (115 ft) and at max around 100 metres (330 ft) metres depth) most of

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7440-422: The Persian Gulf in recent years. Aside from direct damage to the coral, the construction waste creates "traps" for marine life in which they are trapped and die. The result has been a dwindling population of the coral, and as a result a decrease in number of species that rely on the corals for their survival. A great example of this symbiosis are the mangroves in the Persian Gulf, which require tidal flow and

7560-410: The Persian Gulf was called Pūdīg , which comes from Avestan : Pūitika , lit.   'cleansing', a name mentioned in Bundahishn . The body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, and other countries and organizations have begun using Arabian Gulf. The name Gulf of Iran (Persian Gulf)

7680-410: The Persian Gulf was called many different names. The Assyrians called it the "Bitter Sea". In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis ( Pars , or modern Fars , also known as Persia), in the southwestern region of the Iranian plateau . Consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the "Persian Gulf". In

7800-455: The Persian Gulf was exposed as dry land, forming a flat floodplain where a number of rivers converged. This region may have served as an environmental refuge for early humans during periodic hyperarid climate oscillations. The modern marine Gulf was formed when sea level rose during the early Holocene , from around 12,000 to 6,000 years ago. The flooding of the Gulf may have stimulated the development of Neolithic farming cultures in regions of

7920-448: The Persian Gulf. Corals are vital ecosystems that support multitude of marine species, and whose health directly reflects the health of the Persian Gulf. Recent years have seen a drastic decline in the coral population in the Persian Gulf, partially owing to global warming but mostly to irresponsible dumping by Arab states like the UAE and Bahrain. Construction garbage such as tires, cement, and chemical by products have found their way to

8040-443: The Persian Gulf. Persian naval forces laid the foundation for a strong Persian maritime presence in Persian Gulf, that started with Darius I and existed until the arrival of the British East India Company , and the Royal Navy by mid-19th century AD. Persians were not only stationed on islands of the Persian Gulf, but also had ships often of 100 to 200 capacity patrolling empire's various rivers including Shatt-al-Arab , Tigris , and

8160-441: The Portuguese; much of the trade was diverted to the town of Bandar 'Abbās , which he had taken from the Portuguese in 1615 and had named after himself. The Persian Gulf was therefore opened to a flourishing commerce with the Portuguese, Dutch, French, Spanish and the British merchants, who were granted particular privileges. The Ottoman Empire reasserted itself into Eastern Arabia in 1871. Under military and political pressure from

8280-416: The Shah's government. Basra TV stations began showing Iran's Khuzestan province as part of Iraq's new province of "Nāṣiriyyah" ( ناصرية ), renaming all of its cities with Arabic names. In 1971, Iraq (now under Saddam's effective rule) broke diplomatic relations with Iran after claiming sovereignty rights over the islands of Abu Musa , Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf following the withdrawal of

8400-406: The Shah, from Iraq. Despite this, Saddam merely considered the Algiers Agreement to be a truce, rather than a definite settlement, and waited for an opportunity to contest it. According to Mohsen Milani , "From 1921, when Britain installed Faysal Ibn Hussein as the king of the newly formed Iraq ... until 2003 ... Iraq was Iran's most hostile neighbor." Their competition was especially fierce after

8520-531: The Shatt al-Arab waterway—in exchange for normalised relations. In return for Iraq recognising that the frontier on the waterway ran along the entire thalweg , Iran ended its support of Iraq's Kurdish guerrillas. Iraqis viewed the Algiers Agreement as humiliating. However, the agreement meant the end of Iranian and American support for the Peshmerga , who were defeated by Iraq's government in a short campaign that claimed 20,000 lives. The British journalist Patrick Brogan wrote that "the Iraqis celebrated their victory in

8640-456: The Shatt al-Arab, and as such, ceased paying tolls to Iraq when its ships used the waterway. The Shah justified his move by arguing that almost all river borders around the world ran along the thalweg , and by claiming that because most of the ships that used the waterway were Iranian, the 1937 treaty was unfair to Iran. Iraq threatened war over the Iranian move, but when, on 24 April 1969, an Iranian tanker escorted by Iranian warships sailed down

8760-473: The Soviet Union and Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. Along with Bryde's whales , these once common residents can still can be seen in deeper marginal seas such as Gulf of Aden, Israel coasts, and in the Strait of Hormuz . Other species such as the critically endangered Arabian humpback whale , (also historically common in Gulf of Aden and increasingly sighted in the Red Sea since 2006, including in

8880-426: The Strait = 33.66 m (110.4 ft)/year, outflow from the Strait = -32.11 m (105.3 ft)/year, and the balance is 0 m (0 ft)/year. Data from different 3D computational fluid mechanics models, typically with spatial resolution of 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) and depth each element equal to 1–10 metres (3.3–32.8 ft) are predominantly used in computer models. Before being given its present name,

9000-473: The Strait of Hormuz. Writing the water balance budget for the Persian Gulf, the inputs are river discharges from Iran and Iraq (estimated to be 2,000 cubic metres (71,000 cu ft) per second), as well as precipitation over the sea which is around 180 mm (7.1 in)/year in Qeshm Island . The evaporation of the sea is high, so that after considering river discharge and rain contributions, there

9120-588: The UK opened a permanent military base, HMS  Jufair , in the Persian Gulf, the first since it withdrew from East of Suez in 1971 and is developing a support facility in Oman. Eight nations have coasts along the Persian Gulf: Bahrain , Iran , Iraq , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates . The Persian gulf's strategic location has made it an ideal place for human development over time. Today, many major cities of

9240-469: The United States originally withdrew and ISIS rose to power. In Basra alone, there are numerous stories of Iranian militant factions harassing and kidnapping civilians. On September 7, 2018, several months of protest and arson erupted into an attack against the Iranian consulate within Iraq, where it was set ablaze by rocket fire. On 9 April 2019, a day after the United States placed Iran's IRGC in

9360-677: The addition of artificial islands for tourist attractions , such as The World Islands in Dubai and The Pearl Island in Doha . Persian Gulf islands are often also historically significant, having been used in the past by colonial powers such as the Portuguese and the British in their trade or as acquisitions for their empires. The Persian Gulf is connected to the Indian Ocean through

9480-542: The book of Nearchus known as Indikê (300 BC), the word "Persikon kolpos" is mentioned for multiple times meaning "Persian gulf". During the years 550 to 330 BC, coinciding with the sovereignty of the Achaemenid Persian Empire over the Middle East area, especially the whole part of the Persian Gulf and some parts of the Arabian Peninsula , the name of "Persian ( Pars ) Sea" is widely found in

9600-595: The border. On April 24, 2011, Iran and Iraq signed an extradition accord. The high-level meeting by the justice ministers of both countries in Tehran followed in the aftermath of a raid by Iraqi forces on Camp Ashraf , home of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK). The MEK is designated as a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq. Iran has taken an increasingly salient role within the Iraqi government and security forces since

9720-535: The capital city of Iran. According to Sassanian documents, Persians distinguished two kinds of land within their empire: [the heartlands] "Īrān", and [the colonies] "Anīrān" ("non-Īrān"). Iraq was considered to be part of Īrān [the heartlands]. As Wilhelm Eilers observes: "For the Sassanians, too [as it was for the Parthians ], the lowlands of Iraq constituted the heart of their dominions". This shows that Iraq

9840-432: The celebrations had largely returned to the usual ringing in of just another new year, although some welcomed "the real millennium", including America's official timekeeper, the U.S. Naval Observatory , and the countries of Cuba and Japan . The popular approach was to treat the end of 1999 as the end of "a millennium" and to hold millennium celebrations at midnight between December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000, with

9960-453: The cities of Isin , Larsa and Eshnunna , and extended from the Mediterranean (north Syrian ) coast to the Persian Gulf and Western Iran . A salient feature of the dynasty is its establishment of the earliest known law code after the Code of Urukagina —the Code of Ur-Nammu . During King Shulgi 's reign, many significant changes occurred. He took steps to centralize and standardize

10080-453: The coast of Iran (Persia)". This inland sea of some 251,000 square kilometres (96,912 sq mi) is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz ; and its western end is marked by the major river delta of the Shatt al-Arab , which carries the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris . In Iran , this is called "Arvand Rud" (lit. Swift River ). Its length is 989 kilometres (615 miles), with Iran covering most of

10200-712: The compiled written texts. At the same period, there is the inscription and engraving of Darius the Great, which belongs to the fifth century BC: King Darius says: I ordered to dig this ( Canal of the Pharaohs ) canal from the river that is called Nile ( Pirâva ) and flows in Egypt ( Mudrâyâ ), to the sea that begins in Persia ( Pârsa ). Therefore, when this canal had been dug as I had ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, as I had intended. In Sassanian times,

10320-506: The conflict through talks on issues of prisoners of war and the missing in action. After the US-led war on Iraq started in 2003, Tehran strongly opposed the invasion, calling for a key role of the UN in Iraq's reconstruction. Iran then offered assistance to Iraq's post-war reconstruction and bilateral relations began to improve. In May 2005, a transitional government led by Ibrahim al-Jaafari of

10440-514: The convention of using ordinal numbers to count years and millennia, as in "the third millennium", or using a vernacular description, as in "the two thousands". The difference of opinion comes down to whether to celebrate, respectively, the end or the beginning of the "-000" year. The first convention is common in English-speaking countries, but the latter is favoured in, for example, Sweden ( tvåtusentalet , which translates literally as

10560-458: The country's leaders, pay Iraqi agents working for the Americans to switch sides and infiltrate every aspect of Iraq's political, economic and religious life". Millennia A millennium ( pl.   millennia or millenniums ) is a period of one thousand years or one hundred decades or ten centuries , sometimes called a kiloannum ( ka ), or kiloyear ( ky ). Normally,

10680-588: The cultural and psychological significance of the events listed above combining to cause celebrations to be observed one year earlier than the formal date. Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf , sometimes called the Arabian Gulf , is a mediterranean sea in West Asia . The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula . It is connected to

10800-678: The emergence of a Kurdish state . Iraq, supported by other Arab states, resisted Iranian influence under the Shah in the 1970s (which was backed by the United States as part of the Twin Pillars policy ). This took the form of supporting insurgencies against the Shah in Khuzestan Province and Iranian Balochistan . The Shah, in turn, attempted to organize a coup against Saddam Hussein in 1971 and helped Sultan Qaboos of Oman quell an Iraqi-backed rebellion. He also backed

10920-777: The empire, alongside the Akkadian language . In the preceding Middle Assyrian period (14th to 10th century BC), Assyria had been a minor kingdom of northern Mesopotamia (northern Iraq ), competing for dominance with its southern Mesopotamian rival Babylonia . In 647 BC, the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal leveled the Elamite capital city of Susa during a war in which the inhabitants apparently participated on an opposing side. A tablet unearthed in 1854 by Austen Henry Layard in Nineveh reveals Ashurbanipal as an "avenger", seeking retribution for

11040-419: The end of 2000, and the third millennium beginning with 2001 and ending at the end of 3000. Similarly, the first millennium BC was from the year 1000 BC to the end of the year 1 BC. Popular culture supported celebrating the arrival of the new millennium in the transition from 1999 to 2000 (i.e., December 31, 1999, to January 1, 2000), in that the change of the hundreds digit in the year number, with

11160-462: The entire Gulf coast. For most of the early history of the settlements in the Persian Gulf, the southern shores were ruled by a series of nomadic tribes. During the end of the fourth millennium BC , the southern part of the Persian Gulf was dominated by the Dilmun civilization. For a long time, the most important settlement on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf was Gerrha . In the second century

11280-614: The fall of the Parthian Empire , the Sassanid Empire ruled the northern half and at times the southern half of the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf, along with the Silk Road , were important trade routes in the Sassanid Empire. Many of the trading ports of the Persian empires were located in or around Persian Gulf. Siraf , an ancient Sassanid port that was located on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf, located in what

11400-474: The first Iranian Head of State to visit Iraq since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution . Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has made several state visits to Iran since 2006 and expressed sympathy with Iran over its nuclear energy program. Iran has since become Iraq's largest trading partner. Iran and Iraq are very close allies supporting each other against the Islamic State . The relationship between

11520-607: The governor of the Ottoman Vilayet of Baghdad , Midhat Pasha , the ruling Al Thani tribe submitted peacefully to Ottoman rule. The Ottomans were forced to withdraw from the area with the start of World War I and the need for troops in various other frontiers. In World War II , the Western Allies used Iran as a conduit to transport military and industrial supply to the USSR, through a pathway known historically as

11640-640: The heat of summer for some cool spot in the highlands. Under the Seleucids and the Parthians the site of the Mesopotamian capital moved a little to the north on the Tigris —to Seleucia and Ctesiphon . It is indeed symbolic that these new foundations were built from the bricks of ancient Babylon , just as later Baghdad , a little further upstream, was built out of the ruins of the Sassanian double city of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . Between 520 and 485 BC,

11760-512: The humiliations the Elamites had inflicted on the Mesopotamians over the centuries. Assyrian rule succumbed to Babylonia with the Fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. In the golden age of Babylon , Nabopolassar was intent on conquering from the pharaoh Necho II (who was still hoping to restore Assyrian power) the western provinces of Syria, and to this end dispatched his son Nebuchadnezzar II with

11880-635: The local powers and the Ottoman Empire. Following the arrival of the English and the Dutch, the Safavid Empire allied with the newcomers to contest Portuguese dominance of the seas in the 17th century. Portuguese expansion into the Indian Ocean in the early 16th century following Vasco da Gama 's voyages of exploration saw them battle the Ottomans up the coast of the Persian Gulf. In 1521,

12000-461: The mangroves as a biological reserve was ignored by the emirate of Sharjah, which allowed the dredging of a channel that bisects the wetland and construction of an adjacent concrete walkway. Environmental watchdogs in Arabia are few, and those that do advocate the wildlife are often silenced or ignored by developers of real estate many of whom have governmental connections. Real estate development in

12120-461: The most alarming sign is the "mass suicides" committed by dolphins off Iran's Hormozgan province, which are not well understood, but are suspected to be linked with a deteriorating marine environment from water pollution from oil, sewage, and industrial run offs. The Persian Gulf is home to over 700 species of fish, most of which are native. Of these 700 species, more than 80% are reef associated. These reefs are primarily rocky, but there are also

12240-423: The most lucrative world supply of oil, and the lack of cooperation between Arab states and Iran, have had a negative impact on the survival of many marine species, including dugongs. The Persian Gulf is also home to many migratory and local birds. There is great variation in color, size, and type of the bird species that call the Persian Gulf home. Concerns regarding the endangerment of the kalbaensis subspecies of

12360-539: The new city of Baghdad and welcomed non-Arab Muslims to their court. During the reign of its first seven caliphs, Baghdad became a center of power where Arab and Iranian cultures mingled to produce a blaze of philosophical, scientific, and literary glory. This era is remembered throughout the Muslim world, and by Iraqis in particular, as the pinnacle of the Islamic past. Abbasid Iraq eventually became part of Buyid Iran as

12480-405: The northern coast and Saudi Arabia most of the southern coast. The Persian Gulf is about 56 km (35 mi) wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. Overall, the waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres (295 feet) and an average depth of 50 metres (164 feet). Countries with a coastline on the Persian Gulf are (clockwise, from north): Iran; Oman 's Musandam exclave ;

12600-574: The oil-rich Khuzestan Province , which the Iraqis called Arabistan and had a large Arabic -speaking population, was not limited to rhetorical statements. Iraq began supporting secessionist movements in Khuzestan, and raised the issue of its territorial claims at an Arab League meeting, though unsuccessfully. Iraq showed reluctance in fulfilling existing agreements with Iran—especially after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser 's death in 1970 and

12720-429: The population increasingly adopted Akkadian . Future Babylonian Kings carried the title 'King of Sumer and Akkad', however, for some fourteen centuries to come. The title would also be claimed by Cyrus of Persia in the 6th century BC. The Neo-Assyrian Empire (934–609 BC) was a multi-ethnic state composed of many peoples and tribes of different origins. During this period, Aramaic was made an official language of

12840-691: The pro-Iran Islamist Dawa party was established in Iraq. In mid May, Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi visited Iraq and Jaafari paid a visit to Iran in July. In November, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani visited Iran, becoming the first Iraqi head of state to visit Iran in almost four decades. Iran–Iraq relations have flourished since 2005 by the exchange of high level visits: Former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki makes frequent visits, along with Jalal Talabani visiting numerous times, to help boost bilateral cooperation in all fields. A conflict occurred in December 2009, when Iraq accused Iran of seizing an oil well on

12960-461: The procedures of the empire. He is credited with standardizing administrative processes, archival documentation, the tax system, and the national calendar . The last Sumerian dynasty ended after an Elamite invasion in 2004 BC. From this point on, with the growing Akkadian presence in the region , the Sumerian language declined, after more than three thousand years of cultural identity, as

13080-591: The river, Iraq—being the militarily weaker state—did nothing. ( Joint Operation Arvand ) Iran's abrogation of the treaty marked the beginning of a period of acute Iraqi-Iranian tension that was to last until the 1975 Algiers Agreement . In 1969, Saddam Hussein , Iraq's deputy prime minister, stated: "Iraq's dispute with Iran is in connection with Khuzestan, which is part of Iraq's soil and was annexed to Iran during foreign rule." Soon, Iraqi radio stations began exclusively broadcasting into "Arabistan", encouraging Arabs living in Iran and even Baloch people to revolt against

13200-565: The southern shorelines. During the seventh century the Sassanid Persian empire conquered the whole of the Persian Gulf, including southern and northern shores. Between 625 BC and 226 AD, the northern side was dominated by a succession of Persian empires including the Median , Achaemenid , Seleucid and Parthian empires. Under the leadership of the Achaemenid king Darius the Great (Darius I), Persian ships found their way to

13320-437: The surface of the water, as the corals are to biological health of the Persian Gulf in deeper waters. Mangroves' ability to survive the salt water through intricate molecular mechanisms, their unique reproductive cycle, and their ability to grow in the most oxygen-deprived waters have allowed them extensive growth in hostile areas of the Persian Gulf. However, with the advent of artificial island development, most of their habitat

13440-761: The two countries is strong in part due to the fact that both governments are dominated by Shi'ite Muslims. Increasing influence of Tehran in Iraqi politics has led to civilians protesting the foreign involvement and presence of Iran-backed militias harassing and attacking citizens. Iran has an embassy in Baghdad and four consulates general in Basra , Sulaymaniyah , Erbil and Karbala . Iraq has an embassy in Tehran and three consulates general in Kermanshah , Ahvaz and Mashhad . On 7 September 2018, Iraqi citizens set

13560-659: The two nations. Both nations adopted the resolution ending the war in August 1988. Although Iran condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait , the former enemies reestablished diplomatic relations in October 1990; one month later, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati visited Baghdad. In January 2002, one year before the U.S.-led Iraq War , the bilateral relations improved significantly when an Iranian delegation led by Amir Hussein Zamani visited Iraq for final negotiations to resolve

13680-506: The uprising, and the repression that followed severely damaged Babylon's economic infrastructure. The first Iranian kings to rule Iraq followed Mesopotamian land-management practices conscientiously. Between 485 B.C. and the conquest by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., however, very little in Babylon was repaired and few of its once-great cities remained intact. Trade also was greatly reduced during this period. The established trade route from Sardis to Susa did not traverse Babylonia , and

13800-470: The usual manner, by executing as many of the rebels as they could lay their hands on." The relationship between the governments of Iran and Iraq briefly improved in 1978, when Iranian agents in Iraq discovered plans for a pro-Soviet coup d'état against Iraq's government. When informed of this plot, Saddam ordered the execution of dozens of his army's officers and in a sign of reconciliation, expelled Ruhollah Khomeini , an exiled leader of clerical opposition to

13920-408: The waters off Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia make the Persian Gulf the second most important habitat for the species, hosting some 7,500 remaining dugongs. However, the current number of dugongs is dwindling, and it is not clear how many are currently alive or what their reproductive trend is. Ambitious and uncalculated construction schemes, political unrest, ever-present international conflict,

14040-444: The word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (initial reference point) of the calendar in consideration and at later years that are whole number multiples of a thousand years after the start point. The term can also refer to an interval of time beginning on any date. Millennia sometimes have religious or theological implications (see millenarianism ). The word millennium derives from

14160-520: The world's largest population of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins . One of the more unusual marine mammals living in the Persian Gulf is the dugong ( Dugong dugon ). Also called "sea cows", for their grazing habits and mild manner resembling livestock, dugongs have a life expectancy similar to that of humans and they can grow up to 3 metres (9.8 feet) in length. These gentle mammals feed on sea grass and are closer relatives of certain land mammals than are dolphins and whales . Their simple grass diet

14280-412: The zeroes rolling over, is consistent with the vernacular demarcation of decades by their 'tens' digit (e.g. naming the period 1980 to 1989 as "the 1980s " or "the eighties"). This has been described as "the odometer effect". Also, the "year 2000" had been a popular phrase referring to an often utopian future, or a year when stories in such a future were set. There was also media and public interest in

14400-606: Was not simply part of the Persian Empire—it was the heart of Persia. The Abbasid Caliphate of circa 650 A.D. was the second of the two great Islamic caliphates . It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad (Iraq). The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads . Abu al-'Abbas' successor, al-Mansur , moved their capital from Damascus to

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