During the last three decades, we’ve seen an Iran that has amazed and surpised most Iranians, as if what we see is a mutation of the Iran we knew to a new entity that simply carries the name of Iran while representing something non-Iranian to many of us. We then come to realize that this Iran that many of us decided to leave behind and many others wish to leave behind, cannot have happened overnight, the forces behind this ‘new’ Iran must have been present in Iran itself in a passive way, in hybernation.
Few could deny Iran’s deep connection with its pre-islamic times, this goes beyond ruins of Persepolis or pasargad. This is not simply a turistic attraction that reminds tourists how sofisticated and great the old Egyptian civilization was, whereas the Egyptian people todays barely see themselves identified with those magnificent and ancient monuments of their own country. In Iran’s case, even if every single historical remain is destroyed and erased, the deep cultural connection of the Iranians with their ancient ancestors will be present and alive. We haven’t survived as a distinct nation ‘because’ of our Persian language, names or culture, actually it seems the other way around, these traits have survived thanks to our Iranian and Persian essence. As Sandra Makcay tried to express in her book : The soul of a nation, despite cultural and historical blows to Iran, some of them quite severe which may have been the caused the current caos in Iran, there’re visible common traits between today’s Iranians and their Persian ancestors. This essence is what sets us apart. Our Persian language and names, our Persian art or the Persian and Iranian way of expressing art, our rich literature, all this is what sets us apart. On the other hand, the religion of the vast majority of Iranians, the arabic names and customs so much present and enforced in today’s Iran, in other word the religious aspect of Iran is not necessarily what sets us apart from our neighbours. A Persian name matters, a Persian word matters, our language matters our Iranian customs matter, more so nowadays! Iran’s name is not compatible with this ‘new’ and bizarre entity called the ‘Islamic Republic’!
