The engineer who worked in Chabahar half a century ago calls the region Iran’s “gold mine.” The geography Iran had promised to make the foundation of its economic future became central to the conflict. Iran never treated the south as a place whose inhabitants deserved to share in the prosperity their region generates. It offered, at least in theory, a different relationship between the Iranian state and its coast. Instead of using the south to support the rest of the country, here Iran would build its economic future.