Call signs in the Middle East are unique identifiers for telecommunications and broadcasting in the Middle East. Call signs are regulated internationally by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and nationally by local government and international agencies in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, The Palestinian Authority, occupied territories and other nations or DXCC entities. About 9,100 licensed operators in the Middle East have call signs. Since callsign allocation from the ITU is administered by national political authorities and international mandates, it is a story of transition, compromise, and internationally unrecognized operation to follow the history of such allocations in the 20th century in this area. Call sign blocks for telecommunication The ITU has assigned countries in the Middle East the following call sign blocks for all radio communication, broadcasting or transmission: The DXCC deleted entities list notes that for the British Protectorate prefix of ZC6 and the Palestine prefix of 4X1, only contacts made June 30, 1968, and before, count for Palestine as an entity. Contacts made July 1, 1968, and after, count as Israel (4X). 4W used to be a prefix for Yemen, but only contacts made May 21, 1990, and before, count for this entity. With the merger of North and South Yemen, only "7O" is used. However, amateur operation from this entity is extremely rare. While not directly related to call signs, the ITU further has divided all countries assigned amateur radio prefixes into three regions; the Middle East is located in ITU Region 1. It is assigned ITU Zone 39 with Egypt being mainly in ITU Zone 38 and Iran in ITU Zone 40, and CQ Zones 20 & 21 with Egypt mainly in CQ Zone 34. History of call sign allocation The callsign allocation history of this region is complex and follows the political interests of various countries who exercised political control in the region. It also changed in relation to various independence movements, particularly following World War II. However, as early as 1931 the prefix "AP" (i.e., for Asia/Pacific) arose for the region. Today that is used for Pakistan. Before 1945 the prefixes ZC1 and ZC6 were used for Transjordan and Palestine respectively, still seen as a British Protectorate. International Radiotelegraph Conferences The conference held in 1927 assigned call prefixes to Persia (RVA–RVZ), Egypt (SUA–SUZ), Turkey (TAA–TCZ), and Iraq (YIA–YIZ). These, however, did not necessarily include amateur radio operation. Middle East areas administered politically by mandated