Relations between Iran and the Arab States

Abstract

Some scholars believe that the Iran—Iraq War arose from a differentiation between Shi’a and Sunni Islam about 450 years ago;¹ some trace the origins back a thousand years or more. The real origins go back at least 4000 years and, indeed, into prehistory. There is a geographic, cultural and linguistic divide somewhere along the current Iraqi—Iranian frontier, a division made all the more immutable by the Zagros Mountains barrier between the two countries. East of that divide is the great Iranian plateau, the heartland of Persian civilization. To the west of it is the vast Tigris—Euphrates river basin and great deserts beyond and in between, peopled by Semites. The basin has been dominated for 1400 years by Arab and Turkish rulers. It has been peopled by Semitic speakers long before that.