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Iran

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Iran ēränˈ, ĭrănˈ [key], officially Islamic Republic of Iran, republic (2015 est. pop. 79,360,000), 636,290 sq mi (1,648,000 sq km), SW Asia. The country's name was changed from Persia to...

Husseini, Amin al-

(Encyclopedia)Husseini, Amin al- ämēnˈ äl ho͝osāˈnē [key], 1896?–1974, Arab political and religious leader. He was inveterately opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, and, suspected of co...

Aqaba

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba äˈkäbä [key], town (1996 est. pop. 52,000), SW Jordan, at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, on the border with Israel. It is the only Jordanian port with direct access to the Red Sea; it remain...

Abadi, Haidar Jawad Kadhim al-

(Encyclopedia)Abadi, Haidar Jawad Kadhim al-, 1952–, Iraqi political leader. A Shiite, Abadi received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the Univ. of Manchester (1981), then lived and worked in exile in B...

Panetta, Leon Edward

(Encyclopedia)Panetta, Leon Edward, 1938–, U.S. politician and government official, b. Monterey, Calif., grad. Univ. of Santa Clara, Calif. (B.A., 1960), Santa Clara Law School (1963). After serving in the army (...

Uruk

(Encyclopedia)Uruk ēˈrĕk [key], ancient Sumerian city of Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates and NW of Ur (in present-day S Iraq). It is the modern Tall al Warka. Uruk, dating from the 5th millennium b.c., was the lar...

Tepe Gawra

(Encyclopedia)Tepe Gawra tĕˈpĕ gouräˈ [key] [Kurdish,=great mound], locality in N Iraq, 15 mi (24 km) NE of Mosul. In 1927 the archaeologist Ephraim Speiser discovered it to be the site of ancient settlements....

embargo

(Encyclopedia)embargo ĕmbärˈgō [key], prohibition by a country of the departure of ships or certain types of goods from its ports. Instances of confining all domestic ships to port are rare, and the Embargo Act...

Schröder, Gerhard

(Encyclopedia)Schröder, Gerhard shröˈdər [key], 1944–, chancellor of Germany (1998–2005), b. Mosenburg, Germany. A telegenic lawyer and Social Democrat, he entered politics as a Marxist student in the 1960...

Abu Ghraib

(Encyclopedia)Abu Ghraib or Abu Ghurayb äˈbo͞o grĕb [key], infamous prison located in the town of Abu Ghraib, c.20 mi (32 km) W of Baghdad, Iraq. Built by British contractors in the 1960s, it occupies c.280 acr...