Taftan is a fictional country located in south west Asia (the Middle East). It's capital city is Aku.
Taftan has recently been taken over by the military junta, which promotes their actions as a liberation. Once in control, the new military government virtually sealed off the borders to the country, broke off all diplomatic relations with other nations, and invaded the American Embassy. (Winning Is Everything)
Dasht-i-Ravar[]
Race in the Ravar Desert.
One of the biggest tourist attractions in Taftan is the Dasht-i-Ravar International Race, which the new government allows to proceed as scheduled. The grueling 500 mile race attracts the top race car drivers from all over the world, and includes both a male driver and a female navigator. The course runs through the Ravar Desert, which the new military government pledges to preserve unmolested in all of its natural beauty. During the race, teams can travel through the desert at speeds reaching up to 100 miles an hour, while a helicopter flies overhead to provide a play by play of all the action. Having been featured in a tire commercial, the international race is well-known to Americans.
OSI agent Jaime Sommers is enlisted to participate in the race as the navigator to driver Tim Sanders so that she can retrieve a cassette tape full of top-secret information.
Ariram[]
A restaurant in Ariram.
Ariram is a small town in Taftan, located 400 miles outside of the capital city of Aku. The small town has been used as a short cut for the Dasht-i-Ravar International Race. However, due to the hazardous terrain, many drivers no longer use the route. For the one out of ten drivers that makes it through, time is cut by one hour.
Real World[]
Taftan appears to be an allusion to the south west Asian country of Iran, which would undergo its own revolution nearly three years after the broadcast of this episode.
- Taftan is Persian for "The Place of Heat".
- The Taftan Volcano is located in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran.
- Taftan is a city on the Iran-Pakistan border. It is Pakistan's only legal border crossing to and from Iran.
- Dasht is Persian for a "plain of arable land", while Dashti means "belonging to" or "originating from" Dasht.
- Ravar is a town located in Ravar County in the Kerman Province of Iran on the western edge of the Dasht-i Kavir (The Great Salt Desert).
Locating Taftan[]
- Taftan is a desert country.
- Taftan is described as a southwest Asian country rather than a Middle Eastern country.
- The nation covers suffiecient area to host a 500 mile race, although this is not likely a direct line route.
- The cities of Aku and Ariram are 400 miles apart. This is presumably a direct line distance ("as the crow flies").
- The name Taftan appears frequently in the area that includes Iran's southeastern region and Pakistan's southwestern border.