Urban Development of the Persian Gulf

So, I recently came across an older thread about the idea of Iran having a colonial empire in the 19th century in which arguments about the geography of Iran’s southern coastline were leveled with regards to the necessity of developing it to be able to engage in such a venture. I also have seen the Sisters of Sandalwood timeline floating around, though I haven’t read it.

With that in mind, I was interested in getting you guys’ thoughts on what changes would need to be made by the people of Iran’s coast to facilitate urban development? Is this a problem of pastoral v. agricultural economies? Is it possible for there to be enough urban development in this region to spur further growth around the Indian Ocean?
 
I feel like you need to have a food source from either Mesopotamia or the Indus valley to reliably feed really big cities, I don't see though why cities there would spur growth around the Indian ocean, I mean the region already had cities where possible and eventually the importanceof petroleum is going to fuel that anyway.
 
There's a reason as to why it's they way it is until this very day, it's just too dry and isolate to sustain big cities. Your best shot is to consolidate Mesopotamia and make Basra some kind of Venice of the Indian Ocean.
 
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