Footballers selfies with singers and fans despite warning by the government

Iran—with a population expected to reach 82,684,353 by 2019 and buttressed by ample oil reserves—is one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East. Its resurgence in the first decade of the 21st century was one of the many unintended outcomes of US military adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. Suddenly rid of two hostile regimes on its borders—the Taliban and Saddam Hussein—Iran extended its power into the Arab Middle East, cementing its growing power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.