Iran

Iran is a major West Asian power with a distinctive theocratic-republican system in which a Supreme Leader (Ali Khamenei) holds ultimate authority above the elected president (Masoud Pezeshkian) and parliament. It sits at the strategic crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, controlling the northern shore of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran leads the so-called 'Axis of Resistance' through allied and proxy forces (Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Shia militias) and aligns increasingly with Russia and China, while maintaining deep rivalries with the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. Key fault lines for readers include its nuclear program, sanctions diplomacy, sectarian regional competition, and recurring domestic unrest over economic hardship and social restrictions.