The Iran-Iraq boundary can be viewed as unique within the Middle East region, as it has long displayed the classic characteristics of a political frontier zone or a border march. This contrasts sharply with the twentieth-century framework imposed largely by European colonial powers elsewhere in the Middle East. The period under review covers three principal phases of diplomatic activity which have shaped the course of the Iran-Iraq boundary. Each has resulted in the signature of treaties defining or modifying the boundary. This collection contains the key primary documents from British Government files in a single major reference work. The historical evidence for the evolution of the Iran-Iraq border may be considered as a common background for negotiations following the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq. Included are treaty texts in facsimile and detailed accounts of negotiations between British, Russian, Turkish, Persian and latterly Iraqi sides.
