Iranians Today Might Rightly See Their Country as Having Long

Iranians today might rightly see their country as having long played a pivotal role in the affairs of the wider world because

A) it had a strategic location that was a crossroads for those traveling between the Mediterranean on the one hand, and China and India on the other.
B) the Persians successfully mediated between the Muslims and the Hindus of India.
C) their peoples had emerged from the central Asian steppes with a highly organized government already in place.
D) with their entrance into Persia, the Persians brought much-needed agricultural skills.
E) though mostly nomadic in the beginning, the Persians quickly settled down and established important trading centers.