For some 1,800 years from 200 B.C to the 16th Century A.D, Iran served as a pivotal link for inter-community trading between the eastern and western hemispheres of the globe as manifested by the Silk Road, formerly the most important and well known trade artery in the world.
Originating at Xian in eastern China, the road traversed via Iranian cities such as Sarakhs, Tous, Mashad, Neishapour, Gorgan, Rey, Qazvin, and Hamedan before connecting eventually to Antioch, the Mediterranean shores and finally Rome and Venice. Having derived its name from silk, one of the most precious and primary goods carried across this route, other significant items included gems, porcelain, spices, furs and other exotic goods from China, India and Siberia via Iran. In return, goods such as ivory, cosmetics, amber, silver and gold flowed from the mercantile centers of Europe, Arabia and Africa. Supplementing the Silk Road in ancient Iran, were many other trading paths, connecting the eastern, western, northern and southern spheres of the country with their neighboring regions, further buoying Iran's position as a major transit point for goods and traders.

Today, as the world approaches the 21st. Century, the Islamic Republic of Iran's position as a pivotal link between nations has again emerged. With the world now witnessing the increasing economic integration of nations, economic and technical

factors are now the main impetus between inter-communal relations as the efficient movement of goods and services have become the pre-dominant themes and tools by which countries strive to develop their standards of living. Nowhere is this fact made more clear than by the geo-economic importance and special place that Iran holds in regional equations.

Because of its geographical position on the East-West junction, Iran's access to important waterways such as the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and the Caspian Sea and their linkage via Iran to the former Silk Road land routes of Central Asia enable her to serve as a connecting bridge between Asia and Europe. This bridge has now once again become the focus of international attention and has created new geographic realities in the wake of the emergence of the Central Asian Republics and Caucasus following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. East of the Caspian Sea, are the five Central Asian countries, namely Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzystan, and Kazakhstan , and the three nations of the Caucasus region, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, all being the focus of great international attention.

Located in the heart of Eurasia, having a strong historical nexus with West Asia and the Indian sub-continent and rich with huge oil and gas resources, vast fertile plains and rich mines, most Central Asian Republics and the Caucasus (apart form Georgia) are land-locked states whose direct and indirect economic connections pass through Iran. This unique position is exemplified by the fact that only China shares borders with a minor part of Central Asia; Afghanistan is a completely land-locked country and Turkey shares its borders with Armenia and is itself reliant on Iran's linkage routes for its economic transactions with the Caucasus and Central Asia. As such, only Russia and Iran share borders with the Caucasus and Central Asia, however Russia, unlike Iran, remains restricted by its historical lack of access to free warm water ports.

It is within this context that the future integration of the Caucasus and Central Asian Republics into the international economic system will be reliant on Iran's linkage routes. By utilizing Iran's top notch road and rail system (explored further ahead in this Chapter) excellent port facilities in the northern and southern sectors of the country and experience in cargo handling, these countries will gain direct and trouble free access via Iran's 1800 km. of coastline on international waters - waters that are in effect at the worlds cross roads where vessels call from all over the world at such important ports such as Dubai and Bandar Abbas. Given the fact that these nations are now linked to Iran's rail networks their rail networks will also be connected, via Iran, to those of North East Asia /Asia / Europe. In the broader context, the development and expansion of these routes will also lead to a new cycle of exchanges between eastern, western and southern Asia as precipitated by this new found ability to tie Central Asia to the sea routes of the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean in the south and west and China and the Pacific Ocean in the north and east via the Malaka Strait. As such, Canton, Shanghai and Yung Ang Port ( a port in northern China where the rail road known as the Second Asia-Europe Bridge reaches the coasts of China's Eastern Sea) and subsequently Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and the South East Asian countries will be effectively linked by the establishment of these routes.

Mashad - A Regional Core of Influence

Located in northeastern Iran and strategically proximate to the markets of Central Asia / Caucasus and China, Mashad in the past served as one of the threshold cities of the Silk Road and is today positioned to be one of the most strategically located cities on the Iran - Central Asia railway. As Iran's second largest city, its favorable climate, large pool of skilled manpower and mineral and raw material resources has led to the development of a regional economic powerhouse influencing the trading, cultural, scientific, economic and strategic activities in the region. The strategic attributes of Mashad include:

Transit facilities to regional markets: Though the city has no direct access to ports, the city has gained a central role as a transit and warehousing center for the import and export of goods following its linkage to Bandar Abbas with the implementation of the Bafgh - Bandar Abbas railroad in 1995 (explored elsewhere in this chapter). With the forthcoming completion of the Mashad - Bafgh - Kerman, Kerman - Zahedan and Zahedan - Chahbahar Railroad projects, Mashad will have railroad access to the Oman Sea and Pakistani border.

Infrastructure Links: There is a wide assortment of warehouses located in and around Mashad enabling people transiting their goods to Central Asia / Caucasus to store their goods. Additionally there are numerous large scale refrigeration plants, including several 6000 ton freezers located in Mashad's Saam and Tous districts which enable the storage of perishables. Mashad's international airport is Iran's second largest and registers some 400,000 incoming and outgoing passengers per year. Over one million passengers utilize Mashad's rail lines annually while some ten million per year utilize its inter-city bus terminal. The city also has excellent telecommunications links with close to 200,000 new phone linkages per year being installed.

Educated Workforce: Mashad is home to Ferdowsi University, Khorasan province's largest University and home to some 35,000 students and the Islamic Azad university with an enrollment of some 6,000 students. Both these Universities have close working relationships with sister universities in Central Asia and the Caucasus including exchange programs, affording the possibility of recruitment of graduates with first rate educations as well as acculturation to the economies and cultures of the region.

A reality of today's global economy is the growing importance of information technology which has vastly expanded the range of services and goods that can be traded internationally. To operate in a 21st Century economy a country needs to have a 21st century infrastructure, or, perhaps more appropriately 'infostructure'. As this Chapter will show, today Iran is now responsible for the "Silk Road" of the global 'infostructure' and it will be the main provider of the regional content to be traded via electronic means. The increasing integration of the region into the global economy represents a major , if not the most important opportunity to increase the welfare of its people, and as the regional pace setter, Iran has risen to the challenge.

It is within the above context that in light of Iran's key geo-economic position and its infrastructural and infostructural support that an informal guide is provided below so as to highlight the facilities available for the effective utilization of the greater speed, cheaper rates and extra security afforded by the use of Iran as pivotal regional gateway.