UAE has garnered
significant diplomatic support in the region in protesting these
Iranian actions; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among
Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

Illicit drugs: despite substantial interdiction efforts, Iran
remains a key transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin to
Europe; domestic consumption of narcotics remains a persistent
problem and Iranian press reports estimate that there are at least
1.2 million drug users in the country

======================================================================

@Iraq
----

Introduction

Background: Iraq lies in the lower part of the Tigris-Euphrates
valley, the heart of one of the four great ancient civilizations.
The area was overrun by Arab, Mongol, and Turkish conquerors and
became a British mandate following World War I. Independence came in
1932. Iraq's pro-Western stance ended in 1958 with the overthrow of
the monarchy. Its subsequent turbulent history has witnessed the
dictatorship of SADDAM Husayn, civil war with the Kurds, a bloody
conflict with neighboring Iran, and, in 1990, an invasion of Kuwait,
swiftly turned back by a Western coalition led by the US.
Noncooperation with UN Security Council resolution obligations and
the UN's inspection of Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological, and
long-range missile weapons programs remain major problems.

Geography

Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran
and Kuwait

Geographic coordinates: 33 00 N, 44 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 437,072 sq km
land: 432,162 sq km
water: 4,910 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Idaho

Land boundaries:
total: 3,631 km
border countries: Iran 1,458 km, Jordan 181 km, Kuwait 242 km, Saudi
Arabia 814 km, Syria 605 km, Turkey 331 km

Coastline: 58 km

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot,
cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and
Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy
snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive
flooding in central and southern Iraq

Terrain: mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border
in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran
and T