Despite its geographical proximity to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iran is not part of South Asia. It is, by culture, history, religion, and strategic alignment, a nation firmly rooted in the Middle East. Confusing this distinction overlooks vital regional differences and downplays the global consequences of Iran’s behaviour as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Persian identity
Iran’s cultural and civilisational identity is rooted in its Persian heritage, which predates Islam and spans millennia. The Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid empires defined ancient Persia long before the Islamic conquests of the 7th century.
Persian language (Farsi), Zoroastrian traditions, and classical Persian literature - exemplified by poets like Ferdowsi and Hafez — are deeply ingrained in Iranian identity and are essentially unknown to the east – in South Asia proper.
By contrast, South Asia’s cultural foundations are built upon the Indus Valley Civilisation, Vedic traditions, and later Buddhist and Islamic influences. Its linguistic map is dominated by Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Tibeto-Burman languages. While Persian held a limited influence over northern India during the Mughal era, the transmission was indirect and filtered through Central Asian Muslim rule. It was not a shared civilisational identity.
According to the historian Richard N. Frye, “Iran has always considered itself distinct from both the Semitic Arabs to the west and the Indo-Aryan cultures to the east,” reinforcing the idea that Iran occupies a unique space in the cultural geography of Asia (Frye, The Heritage of Persia, 1963).
The Shi’a divide and theocratic rule
Religion offers up a further separation between Iran and its eastern neighbours. The Islamic Republic is the world’s leading Shia Muslim power, with around 90–95% of its population adhering to Twelver Shiism.
South Asia, by contrast, in areas Islam dominates, is predominantly Sunni. In Pakistan, approximately 75–85% of Muslims are Sunni. At most the population is 15% Shia. Many estimates drop this number closer to 10%.
Iran’s clerical establishment, dominated by the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council, enforces a theocratic model of governance that is unique among Muslim-majority states. While countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim-majority democracies, albeit with their own political challenges, Iran functions as an ideological state that combines religious authority with revolutionary nationalism.
This ideological stance has direct consequences for regional stability, particularly due to Iran’s support for armed non-state actors and proxies across the Middle East and beyond.
A state sponsor of terrorism
Iran’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States dates back to 1984 and continues today. According to the US State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Terrorism, Iran remains “the leading state sponsor of terrorism, facilitating a wide range of terrorist and militant groups across the Middle East.”
Foremost among these groups is Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militia and political party which receives substantial Iranian funding, training, and arms. Tehran also supports Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and is heavily involved in backing Houthi rebels in Yemen.
These activities have led to deadly consequences, including attacks on civilians, shipping disruptions in the Red Sea, and missile strikes against Iran’s adversaries.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly its elite Quds Force, itself plays a central role in coordinating these operations. The IRGC was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States in 2019 - the first time a branch of a foreign military received that designation.
Few elsewhere would argue against this designation.
And unlike with bona-fide South Asian nations, even beyond the Middle East, Iran’s terror-backed reach has been felt. In 1994, the AMIA car bombing in Buenos Aires - widely attributed to Hezbollah with Iranian backing - killed 85 people and injured over 300.
More recently, Iran has been linked to plots against dissidents in Europe and North America, according to reports by European intelligence agencies and US federal authorities, a UK Parliament Intelligence and Security Committee reported in 2023.
Such actions sharply distinguish Iran from South Asian nations, which do not pursue global paramilitary strategies through proxy militias. While terrorism is a problem in some parts of South Asia, it tends to stem from domestic insurgencies or regional rivalries, not state-sponsored revolutionary agendas.
Regional alliances
Geopolitically too Iran aligns with the Middle East. It is a founding member of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), alongside Turkey and Central Asian states, and plays a significant role in OPEC. Conversely, it chooses not to be a member of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and others.
Iran's foreign policy also prioritises its role as a counterbalance to Saudi Arabia and the influence of the United States in the Persian Gulf - a dynamic that has nothing to do with South Asian concerns. Its involvement in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon ties it closely to Arab geopolitics, not South Asian regionalism.
As such, the increasing normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab states through the Abraham Accords and beyond has also heightened Iran’s sense of regional isolation and aggression. This has led to proxy conflicts, cyber attacks, and diplomatic stand-offs that destabilise the wider Middle East and draw in global powers.
In no way are these actions similar to the way in which any other South Asian nation is run or even perceived.
Misplaced geography, misunderstood risk
To this end, to even attempt to categorise Iran as part of South Asia is to misread both its cultural essence and geopolitical posture.
It is a nation defined not just by its Persian past, but by a radical and often destabilising ideological project.
While it borders South Asia, it does not share its civilisational fabric, linguistic diversity, or any political traditions.
Iran is not simply another regional player - it is a revolutionary state with global ambitions, acting through asymmetric warfare and proxy militias. Its strategic identity is rooted in the Middle East, and recognising that is essential for any serious analysis of regional and international security.
