This expression or word (hormat) we Iranians use may have several meanings in other Languages. The first English meaning that comes to mind is the word ‘respect’. This respect or ‘hormat’ in our daily speech refers to the respect and appreciation we feel and have towards another person. We know, that breaking the hormat, in a relationship will forever have a negative effect on it, same thing can be applied to all other relationships, be this a frienship, father and son, husband and wife, brother and sister….There’s a line that should ‘never’ be crossed and applying this to a larger scale of relationships same thing happens when the ‘hormat’ is broken between a government and its people. There cannot be respect when the whole relationship is based on fear. Few could possibly argue that it was long ago when the hormat between the Iranian people and the Islamic regime they brought to power, was broken. However, throught the years despite the international situation, Iranians in overall both in Iran and abroad, have kept and enhanced this hormat between themselves and the West. Through massive emigration and through art, Iranians have somehow managed to prove that the current Iranian regime does not represent them. Being one of the very few if not the only country that has managed to get a prestigious name among the European and Western filmmakers, by having created their very own and unique style in delivering their messages, Iranian directors, writers and actors have made most Iranians proud of thei country. In sports, their behavior has always shown the Iranian cultural base of respect and humility. Amongst the large Iranian population living outside Iran, they have been one of the most succesful and respectable communities, specially in the US itself, although part of it has to do with the possibilities this country has offered them. Doctors, surgeons, architects, teachers, artists, bussiness men and women and all others have shown that given basic rights they do not see themselves any different than the best of the world. There are many shortcomings when it comes to unity among the Iranian themselves, however this might be because of the very classist approach Iranians have towards others both outside and inside Iran. Despite all the propaganda on both sides, Iranian people in Iran have always had a love affair with the United States of America, appreciating this country’s freedom and way of life. I recall the actor Sean Penn saying, that he hasn’t met any people closer to the Americans that Iranian themselves (on Larry King show, after his trip to Iran) I feel that there still is ‘hormat’ between the Iranian and the US and the West. A large military attack on Iran, the way it seems it has been planned may break this ‘hormat’. The Iranian youth would see their country humiliated, burnt and destroyed by the very same country they so much like, the US. Iran is the best cultural ally the US has in the Middle East and Asia, there’re other ways of getting rid of the Islamo-Fascist regime of Iran, that both the Iranian and the Americans and many others despise. A war, or military attack of the scales planned may forever break the respect the Iranians have towards America. A still recall what one of my friends said, that during the last 30 years despite the appreances, the world likes us more, because they have known us, whereas before they simply smiled at us because we looked like someone that has all the sudden won the lottery prize, just like the way they smile at the citizens of the UAE. However, with time we have won some real respect, the real hormat, and this shouldn’t be broken.
