Views on the nuclear program of Iran inspect cargo to and from Iran . U.S. officials told "The New York Times" that the new sanctions went beyond the nuclear issue. "The new language was written to rein in what they [U.S. officials] see as Tehran's ambitions to become the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf and across the Middle East." In June, the P5 (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) plus Germany (the P5+1) offered benefits to Iran, including "legally binding" fuel supply guarantees. The deal offered by the P5+1 would leave Iran reliant on external sources of fuel, as is true for most
Provinces of Iran Provinces of Iran Iran is subdivided into thirty-one provinces ( "Ostān", plural "Ostānhā"), each governed from a local center, usually the largest local city, which is called the capital (Persian: , "markaz") of that province. The provincial authority is headed by a Governor-General (Persian: "Ostāndār"), who is appointed by the Minister of the Interior subject to approval of the cabinet. Iran has held its modern territory since the Treaty of Paris in 1857. From 1906 until 1950, Iran was divided into twelve provinces: Ardalan, Azerbaijan, Baluchestan, Fars, Gilan, Araq-e Ajam, Khorasan, Khuzestan, Kerman, Larestan, Lorestan, and Mazandaran. In 1950, Iran