[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[Spenta]

very sad ...

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Hope for a miracle
Reflections on a recent visit to Iran

http://www.iranian.com/Travelers/2005/October/Rostam/index.html

Rostam Azadi
October 11, 2005
iranian.com

The foundation of Iranian culture and identity is under a mounting threat of complete devastation. Iranian society with its many diverse ethnicities, which has endured pounding by various waves of external adversaries in the past several millennia, has now a real chance of collapsing due to its ever shrinking ethical foundation. This danger does not only apply to the dire economic situation which has always existed in Iran, but also to how Iranians view and regard themselves. The predicament must first be fully acknowledged before any remedy can be pursued, otherwise the danger of remaining aloof for much longer may undeniably prove to be very costly.

As a twenty year-old Iranian American born in the United States, I have always felt pride being Iranian and for the unique historical culture my motherland has bestowed upon me. On my most recent extended journey to Iran, however, I found the societal fabrics deteriorating at an alarming rate. In the two years since I had visited Iran, the society has changed drastically, for the unfortunate worse.

The common thread of our cultural ills is economic in nature. Although I am not an expert in either economic, social, or political sciences, nevertheless, my observant eyes and critical thinking afford me the opportunity to deduce and analyze the information on my latest visit. My father and I took an eight day hitchhiking journey through nearly twenty cities: Qom-Kahsan-Natanz-Ardestan-Nain-Yad-Lerman-Bam-Bandar Abbas-Bandar Lanegh-Kish-Lar-Jahrom-Shiraz-Esfahan-Mahallat and back to Tehran where we spent an additional twenty days with a three day detour to Kandeloos in the mountains of Kelardasht.

I conclude the current state of health of Iran as acutely unstable and in dire need of help. Its land in addition to many renewable and non-renewable resources are detrimentally consumed and abused. Its human resources and once glorious culture are decaying faster than one could ever imagine. Corruption, prostitution, hypocrisy, embezzlement, extortion, cronyism and nepotism have become integrated with every day life practices to the point of acceptance by almost all, or self denial by the few. The following specific incidents as I personally witnessed and experienced are not over- exaggerations or imaginings from a young idealistic mind, but the stark truth which Iranians, especially the ex-patriots, have been ignoring for a long time. I’m simply stating the obvious facts, through my own unique perspective, but the interpretation is up to each individual reader.

When I say Iran is “dying” what do I mean? Several key factors are attacking the strands of the fragile society. The most significant and deadly one is the widespread use of drugs (mainly opiates) and drug trafficking. Everywhere in Iran, opium is becoming detrimental especially to the youth. From the streets of Tehran to the valleys of Natanz and down to bus terminals in Bandare Lengeh in the Persian Gulf drugs are destroying precious talent and lives and thus Iran.

Drugs in one form or the other have been a part of Iranian history for thousands of years, and indeed this was true during my last visit two years ago. Now, however, drugs are invading every sector of the Iranian society, including strata of society unthinkable even two years ago. In addition to the regular drug users in the parks and bazaars, people who have families, regular paying jobs, and comfortable lives are now abusers of not only soft drugs, but of opiates and heroin as well.

Drug abuse is a spreading epidemic in the country, bringing people down economically and socio-politically. I smelled opium in taxis, in the middle to upper class apartment quarters and in the mosques. Everywhere in the country the effects of opium were evident : from the shaking taxi driver, to the jittering college student, to men in the park with their heads drooping to the ground. In every little town and hamlet I visited or passed through, these scenes repeated themselves again and again. From multiple conversations with locals in different towns I was told 30-40% of the people use drugs on a regular basis. Smugglers and store clerks told me about why they sold them and the ever expansive growth of the counter-band market.

The most significant reason for the spread of drug use is of course economic. The profit made by smugglers and drug lords are godly in comparison to the wealth of others in the country. Individuals, or small groups of people smuggle these drugs by carrying 1-twenty kilos of it from locations, typically on the southeastern frontiers, to the rest of the country. I observed men and women from all ages smuggling “King Opium.” Considering the sheer amount of tons of drugs being smuggled annually, it points to the unbelievable number of smugglers who are in operation inside the country. I saw smugglers in my taxi, and in a hotel where I stayed in Bandar Abbas.

The most dramatic smuggling event I observed was on a bus we rode between Lengeh and Shiraz. The bus driver did not sell thirteen of the seats (for some mysterious reason), telling every suitor that the seats were reserved. Couple of hours into the ride on this treacherous narrow road atop mountains with the sun setting the bus came to a lurching stop. Most of the people in the bus, including the bus crew jumped out and joined a dozen others waiting outside to carry bags after bags of opium into the bus cargo. Like a well oiled machine a five hundred kilo batch of opium was dumped into the bus in seconds. Continuing the bus ride now with intense trepidations, it became apparent how the boss of the operation whose name was oxymoronically Cyrus, repeatedly smuggled on a regular basis and how he accomplished it by paying off the police along the route.

It was a thirty to forty person team operation; some were used as human covers. For instance, there were women in black chador and children who were used as cover to make the bus look normal to any law enforcement threat. It became apparent to my father and I, and another family of four that we were used unknowingly in this scenario without our approval. The rest of the passengers were the smugglers and their accomplices, who would carry these drugs in separate small groups from Shiraz to various destinations. At every police check point we encountered, Cyrus handed out a wad of cash and paid off the officials.

At some point two police officers signaled the bus to stop with a flashlight from their own makeshift motorcycle checkpoint. Cyrus complained that the two must have overheard about the approaching drug laden bus by radio and wanted to grab a quick profit. The cost of one kilogram increases many fold across the country, and even hundred fold when smuggled into Europe. Therefore, a combination of small and large scale smuggling of drugs is reaching every corner of Iran and the world; sadly the law enforcement is largely part of the problem. In fact, there were some rumors that the government itself may have already begun giving licenses to farmers to grow poppies for producing opium.

Another scourge ravaging the people of Iran is prostitution. Comparably as widespread as drug use, prostitution is taking its toll on society. Girls mostly traveling in duos look for clientele in cities and towns across Iran. There is also a vast cell phone network for the enterprise. Their perfectly made up faces and risqué covering draw in their money. I observed this repeatedly in cities, however in many different other forms as well. On a bus to Kerman before mid-night, I witnessed a woman in chador and a Samsonite briefcase who was picked up by the ugly cross eyed bus driver and four other men as clients for later times. The numbers and roundabouts were quickly exchanged and the deal was closed.

In Bandar Abbas I witnessed an old woman in the local Arab outfit leading three girls through the streets asking for any potential clients. In Tehran I witnessed a man approach groups of girls in the middle of Vali-Asr Square trying to hand out cards to them with his phone number on it, so that he could pimp them at a later time. In cities I observed girls in duos who stood along the streets and when taxis approached them they turned away because evidently that was not what they were standing and waiting for. Most of these girls do not use contraceptives and the potential of a widespread epidemic of STD’s is a very real threat if not already a reality. There is even the repeated talk of married women who resort to the same old profession, presumably with their husbands’ implicit approval, as they wish to supplement their sustenance.

Corruption has always been an undisputable part of Iranian society, but now it is defining Iranian society itself. Everything is about connections and who one knows to get things done. From jobs to obtaining the basic amenities of life, from discounting one’s overdue taxes, to civil and criminal disputes, one must know someone with influence who can pave the way, [mainly due] to an exchange of money. In companies throughout Iran the bosses on top pocket a portion of the profits for personal gain. If one is involved in the upper echelon of the government somehow they have a much better chance of receiving a job, a good spot in college or other subsidies. Everyone knows about the economic schemes in relation with companies and oil that the government agencies employ for personal profit. The magnitude of this corruption is mind boggling and can not be practically and completely described here.

What is the point I’m trying to make here? These facts and factors in our homeland can not be ignored any longer. The political establishment in Iran is using these societal impediments to control the people’s aspirations for self-rule, empowerment, freedom, security and equity. In essence, the conservative theologians have won yet another overwhelming victory over any potential for economic and social reforms the people have yearned for since 1979 and before. This is the aura one feels in Iran. An aura of hopelessness and selfishness, which when wrapped in the charade of Persian Taarof, has led to increased degradation of Iranian culture. It is vital to know that governments have a significant effect on culture. In many cases, they dictate the pulse of the culture.

In Iran, culture and thus religion have been exploited by the government and are now being degraded to something Iran has never seen in its long history. When one walks through the natural wonders of Iran like the valleys of Shomal and witnesses garbage strewn about, the ubiquitous reckless driving or the fact people don’t stand in line at stores but crowd about in a random mass, one is simply perplexed. Is one observing a culture largely formed by the people or the government? I argue it is the government which is responsible for this deluge of problems in Iranian society.

If there were laws enacted, clearly publicized and enforced uniformly and transparently against polluters, speeders, or an effective bureaucracy not so inefficient and archaic, then the people would not act like they do. Other individuals in the same societal circumstances will act the similarly. In the past when there were no polluting laws in America, its natural resources were more polluted than Iran’s. However, the government changed this practice through regulations, laws and enforcement. Thus the majority of the blame for the current deteriorating condition of culture and society falls squarely on the government’s shoulders.

This could also be applied to the corruption, drug use and prostitution omnipresent in the country. The government is employing drugs, economic mismanagement, and societal regulations to create an atmosphere of ambiguity in Iran so that political dissent is all but a distant memory and despair. With a section of society living for drugs and the other parts of the society doing anything they can for themselves and their families to survive, politics has no place left. An overwhelming majority of the population doesn’t think about anything political, much less dissent. Everyone is in their own little bubble trying to scrap a space for their families. From the employed sector, and especially the educational sector this is the dominant situation: Students are either completely absorbed in their studies with the anxiety of not having a minimally paid job when they do graduate, or into having fun at parties to find the next sexual partner or drugs of every kind.

The case of the reform period five years ago is one of remote memory, the fact that people spilled out into the streets calling for change is forgotten. That call has long ceased and it is only a silly hope of ex-patriots in California thousands miles away. A call for other people to risk their necks so that the ex’s could return to their [beloved] homeland, back to their villas and cocktail parties next to the Caspian Sea, with little thought to the peasants and laborers who are widespread in the country. Revolution is also on the personal agenda of numerous groups, who preach from foreign lands, who want change for other reasons and not for the good of the Iranian populace.

The punishment for such political activity in Iran far out weighs any realistic benefits and that is the stark truth. Before any human rights or democracy the people are more concerned about economic reform and development. The government has ensured that flour, sugar, bread and gasoline are subsidized so that empty stomachs and tanks would not have excuses to enflame widespread public outrage against the system. The government has also pacified any peasant’s or farmer’s threat by building an infrastructure of running water, electricity, paved roads and phone lines to almost every town, hamlet and village in Iran.

The access to basic amenities ensures that peasants will not spark dissent as it is the case in so many countries such as the ones in Latin America. Thus, the peasants are, in every other aspect of life, ignored by the government and by economic mismanagement. They are guaranteed to remain quiet, because they do not know any better and are content with the bare minimum to survive. Therefore the government through its policies has built a societal atmosphere by means of religion, economic mismanagement, and drugs to stabilize this system of corruption and it has worked beautifully for them so far. So every time a teenager pops a pill, or a man smokes opium or a girl erases her dignity, it plays into this system for the benefit of the clergy and their associates.

Are other governments benefiting from this situation in Iran? Iran has one of the richest and largest amounts of non-renewable natural resources in the world. Its reserves of oil and gas rivals the greatest on the globe. Throughout its most recent history ( the past one hundred years) oil has been a foundation of policies by other governments toward Iran. From coups, to revolutions to wars, other governments have ensured to exert their hegemony over Iranian resources. This has proven to be true in the present situation. The governments of England, Europeans and America have profited from this situation in Iran. Their ships go to Buchehr where they come two-hundred feet above the waters of the sea and leave only twenty feet above the water laden heavy with “King Oil.”

Then the brilliant part of their scheme is to sell [refined] gasoline back to Iran at an annual five billion dollars which proves to be more expensive than the oil they bought. Thus they are getting essential fuel and making a profit at the same time. They use the Iranian government and the situation on the ground in Iran to ensure control of this oil and its flow into their companies’ ships and ports. Having people living under low standards and diverting their attention from politics and thus oil profits is essential for both the Iranian government, and the foreign governments whose economies will shrink drastically without oil access. If these economic and military powers do not want revolution to occur nine times out of ten it does not. All revolutions and coups of the past were under their support and tutelage. The 1953 United States sponsored coup against the democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh and the Islamic revolution of ’79 are no exception.

I am not trying to degrade our Iranian people or their otherwise noble historical culture, or claim that they are the scum of the earth. I am simply trying to depict the reality in today’s Iran and perhaps the root causes of it. The situation on the ground is discouraging, however I did still see signs of Iranian culture trying to withstand the cultural attacks by the government. I saw the kindness of the people several times which has characterized Iranians for so long. I saw a love for a family and an uttermost loyalty to friends I have never seen anywhere else.

I got a glimpse of the love for the country and the complaining against the government, even though on a much smaller scale than four years ago. In the end however, the complaining is all talk and will accomplish nothing. Educating of the people to the realization of how governments control them to exploit Iran is an important step. This step however can not lead to change without action, and the mobilization of huge swaths of the Iranian population. Sadly this will not happen anytime soon, and will never happen if the American and European governments are content with the situation in Iran as they are now.

Shame on these governments, which on the outside claim to support democracy but in reality will quell it for their own interests. This is killing Iran as we speak. If the economic situation in Iran completely collapses for some reason and the people find themselves hungry then change has a chance. This will never happen in Iran because of its wealth of resources and the fact that the government schemes to make this scenario impossible. So for now we can only hope for a miracle to occur to wake up Iran from its zombie type sleep walk which allows governments to rape it and its people continuously in this ever faster downward spiral.

As the great German philosopher Nietzsche once said about corrupt society, “In these ages bribery and treason reach their peak, for the love of the newly discovered ego is much more powerful now than the love of the old, used up fatherland, which has been touted to death; and the need to achieve some security from the terrifying ups and downs of fortune opens even nobler hands as soon as anyone who is powerful and rich shows that he is ready to pour gold into them. There is hardly any secure future left; one lives for today , and this state of the soul makes the game easy for all seducers, for one allows oneself to be seduced and bribed only for today while reserving the future and one’s virtue.”

My dear friends the government has created a perfect atmosphere for the raping of Iran and its children. Not through Taliban style totalitarian state or bellicose nuclear threats, but by the way they make us look and treat ourselves and our fellow Iranian brothers and sisters. I have painted a hopeless situation, which it is, however it doesn’t have to be. Perhaps we as a people will wake up one day and see the way to save Iran for ourselves, for her culture, for her history, but most of all for the generations to come.

[AmirN]

Spenta, this article is indeed sad but true. For every educated person who is aware of the truth behind these calamities there are at least ten ignorant Iranians who are unaware of the wool pulled over their eyes. We who know, have an obligation to inform those who do not.

With wishes for a free, prosperous Iran.
_________________
I am Dariush the Great King, King of Kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great earth far and wide, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian, a Persian, son of a Persian, an Aryan, having Aryan lineage

Naqshe Rostam

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Interesting website, especially if you are interested in the Persian cuisine, there are all kinds of recipies with pictures....



www.PersianMirror.com


The history of Islamic terror in Iran
By Amil Imani
The aim of this letter is to address the future generation as well as the current Iranian youth. The time to keep silence has passed and the time to speak of the truth has begun. As I write this letter to you today, I am perplexed and frightened to think about what it will be like when you are born. My mind is filled with uncertainty for your future. My soul is filled with pain and agony of the unknown.

Today, Iran is under the occupation of the most savage form of the Islamic butchers. These are the descendants of the same Islamic butchers who conquered Persia 1400 years ago with the sword of Islam. These are the same creatures that plundered and burned Iran and took Iranian women as slaves to the desert of Arabia. Even now the Islamic Republic is selling the Iranian women in Dubai and other Persian Gulf Shaikhdoms.

We have been witnessing the exact brutalities, savageries and barbarism for the past twenty-six years by the Arab-Islamic fascists upon Iran as our forefathers saw 1400 years ago. There are thousands upon thousands of our countrymen spending their youth in the Arab-Islamic dungeons. People's rights are being violated on a daily basis in the name of the same Islamic barbarism of 1400 years ago. It is ironic how history keeps repeating itself.

I am telling you this story, partly because it is timely, partly because it is good to know the lessons that history teaches us. Iran did not have to turn out as it did. Truth and provocative ideas ought to be welcomed in our society. Yet, with provocative ideas and opinions one must be ready to embrace death. As we have witnessed, the Islamic zealots do not tolerate opinions contrary to their own. Euripides said many years ago, “A slave is he who cannot speak his thoughts�.

However, death is the last thing on my mind. Actions are needed to correct the past mistakes and that starts with you. You, the born and unborn, must know what is happening in your country and what has led us to where we are today. You must know this and do everything in your power to save your country and her people.

So, this is a message to you and to the future generation. We cannot allow the same ruthless Islamic zealots who went on their roofs calling upon an Arab God, “Allah-o Akbar,� to impose an Islamic revolution on our society, to control and interpret our history. Also, we cannot allow the guardians of the status quo to define and control our future.

You must adhere to the wisdom of Zartushtra, who was a messenger of peace and longevity and eternal love and wisdom. He was also a messenger of “Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds�. History has shown if only Iranians had adhered to those “three� principles, Iran would have remained eternally prosperous and exalted.

Let me tell you who and what the Arabs were before turning Islamic and bringing the wrath of their “Allah� upon Iranians and other nations. Before the advent of Islam, the Arabs were idol worshipers. According to Vaqqidi, the Arabs had 360 gods for each day of the year and the largest and the main God was called “Allah.� They were pagan, a polytheistic culture. One wonders how could a group of desert dwellers, nomads, who lacked culture and civilization, possibly attack an old Empire and advance so quickly!

The Sassanid dynasty, despite being a great and powerful Iranian dynasty had become extremely corrupt and very unstable towards the end. Four centuries of theocratic oppression of different religious groups, suppression of the peasants and lack of tolerance had caught up with the dynasty. The decay and abandonment and growth are part of the circle of evolution and also the birth of enlightenment and blossoms of the truth. The rule of nature dictates to us that anything that does not change with time stagnates and degenerates.

While the Sassanid dynasty was in a chaotic and frenzied stage, across the desert a new religion was forming and foaming with fever and zealousness. Being deprived most of their lives from earthly pleasures and splendor and for centuries looking toward the Persians and the Romans with a certain awe, envy and fear, the Arabs were uniting under the new flag of Islam and marching toward the Persian lands and later the Roman lands.

King Yazdgird III, with the help of the Commander of Persian forces Rostam Farokhzad, became the last King of the Sassanids. It fell to him to pay for the sins of his forefathers. Before the war broke out with the Arabs, his vanity and overconfidence, as shown by Iranian rulers and nobles time and again, brought disaster to the nation. He was an inexperienced and arrogant ruler. [[this is not true… this explanation is used when destruction of monarchy in Iran is in min]]

Rostam Farokhzad, a very courageous and brilliant Persian commander, foresaw the consequences. Yazdgird, sitting on the throne of the Aryan Empires, thought that the Iranian Army, like the previous Armies was invincible. Farokhzad knew that the time had changed. These were not the same Arabs and his military was not the same military. [[ this is a kind of mixing and meddling in our history and legends]]

Rostam Farokhzad had realized that these newly motivated Muslims were fearless as the today's suicide bombers in our era seem to be fearless and do not value human life. He knew that his soldiers were thinking about how to survive a war, yet, the Arab Army, similar to today's Islamic overzealous militants, were embracing death. The Arabs did not fear death because of the promise of a better life after death by “Allah�. He knew he couldn't possibly win this war and the best option was a diplomatic one.

Nonetheless, the war began and the Arab army under its ruthless commander, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas approached. The Persian Army was defeated in the decisive “Battle of Qadisiyah.� Rostam Farokhzad, the courageous Iranian general was murdered and Yazdgird's last attempt to gather forces to counter attack fell short. He wandered around the country for many years and it is told that he was slain in one of the villages in northern Iran. [[Close but Not exactly like that, Iranians stood fought, and they did it over and over, because Arabs were brutal enough to hit people in their wives and children, cut their head never followed the War rule created huge fear between people, they hit Iran at home instead of war zone. ..]]

Just how decisive was the “Battle of Qadisiyah�? Even though the “Battle of Nahavand� was the last war of the Arabs with the Persians in which Yazdgird's Army was completely defeated, the “Battle of Qadisiyah� had already sealed the fate of the Sassanids Empire just as the “Battle of Yarmuk� had sealed the fate of the Byzantine Empire in the West and was the start of a new chapter of the Islamic world and Islamic Iran.

This was an unusual defeat for the Persians. The Arabs were not satisfied with the spoils of the war. They wanted an Islamic Persia. They had come to convert the Persians by hook or by crook. "La ilah ilallah, Mohammed ur Rasulallah" (There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his Prophet). Those who resisted uttering those words were faced with death or burdened with heavy taxes and other unjust punishments.

It is the belief in the same “Allah� that brought upon the Iranian people the greatest catastrophe of the Islamic revolution. This is also the same belief that brought the twin towers down in the United States of America. This belief in this “Allah� will not stop until the entire world bows to its will.

History had taught the Arabs to plunder anybody anywhere. They burned one of the greatest libraries that ever existed at that period. With that, they destroyed not only the collections of previous Persian cultures, but other collections as well. It made no difference whose belongings they were. And now, with their newly found ideology, it made all their crimes more justifiable. The same can be said about today's Islamic rulers.

Fearing prosecution and death by extremely ruthless and merciless Arabs, great numbers of Iranians left Iran for safe haven in India. In a similar fashion, thousand of Iranians left Iran for safety place in the West after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Parsis moved to a different world to save their religion, race, culture, language, identity and tradition from extinction. Today Iranian Parsis are one of most successful strata in India. The Iranians took refuge in the West to be immune from the wrath of a mad man and the rejuvenated Islamists in Iran. Today, Iranian communities in the West are one of the most successful groups of people in the country.

Historically, when a traditional religion encountered a society with a world or universal religion, the followers of the traditional religion converted, either by choice or by force. At any rate, the remaining Persians either accepted it or were forced to become Muslims and retain Islam as their state religion even after they gained their independence and developed the Persian language.

The struggle for liberation from the Arab fanatics never stopped Iranians. There were numerous Iranian uprisings against the Islamic Caliphs. Abu-Moslem Khorasani's revolution almost freed Iran from the Arabs. It created a strong drive throughout Iran and revived the Persian sense of pride and dignity.

All these liberation movements, from Abu Moslem Khorasani in Khorasan, to Sinbad from Nayshabor, who followed the path of Abu Moslem Khorasani to Babak Khoramdin from Azerpaigan, who fought against the Arab army very fiercely, until he was betrayed by another Iranian, Afshin and was decapitated by the Arab Caliph, to Maziar, who led freedom fighters in the North against the Arab Army and envisioned of reviving the Iranian tradition; to Mardaviz-e-Zeyari, from Daylaman revolutionary leader and a Persian renaissance, to the Great Yaghoob-e Leis-e Saffari and Astadhsis, carried out five basic virtues: wisdom, bravery, courage, justice and a never ending struggle for an independent Iran. The spirits of these Persian heroes will live on and so does the Iranian struggle. This is something you must pursue.

With the first invasion of Arab-Islamic values, history has shown that the Arabs had not come to Persia merely for its vast spoils, but rather, they wanted an Islamic Arab Persia. They succeeded in making Iranians Islamic by the sword, but they miscalculated and gravely failed to inject the Arabic way of life into a very sophisticated and highly elevated Persian culture and tradition. They never accomplished their goal of taking away the Iranian identity as they did with Egypt, Libya, Morocco and other ancient African countries. [[Arabs came to Iran not for establishment of Islam, but to loot and destroy, to get more gold and silver, the evidence is the cut off of large carpet of Tisfoon Palace]]

As we have witnessed again 1400 years later, the third invasion of Arab-Islamic values of 1979, lead by its extremely brutal satanic Islamic revolutionary man, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, also has gravely failed to convert a highly complicated and sophisticated Persian culture, tradition and identity, into an Islamic way of life. History has shown time and again that the crown of Islamic Arab values simply does not fit the Persians. It never has and it never will.

There exists much duplicity within the Iranian culture. Originally, Iranians accepted Islam to save their lives, but deep inside the heart of every single Iranian alive to this date, the burning sensation and resentment of the Arab-Islamic invasion of their culture is everlastingly enflaming. They confess of being Muslims; yet, the overwhelming numbers Iranians have never read the Quran or understand its language. The events in history have toughened Iranians gravely. They have become great pretenders.

During the next two centuries, a silence rolled over the once dynamic land. The heroic efforts by the Persian national heroes never allowed the Arab occupiers to live at peace. The Arabs keep fighting the rebellions constantly and at the same time emptying out the wealth of Persia. Iran was under the rule of the Caliphs, from Medina and later from Baghdad. These Caliphs were determined to obliterate all vestiges of Zoroastrianism and the great Sassanid dynasty.

Anywhere the Arabs would find a Zoroastrian temple, they would burn it down. Any Persian books were obliterated and those who wrote or spoke in Persian were faced with death. Their mission was very similar to the third invasion of Arab-Islamic values of 1979. Each invasion diverted from its original goals. Each went after Persian culture and identity and each gravely have failed.

The historical division of Islam went underway under Shah Ismail. He declared Ithna Ashari Shiitism as the official and compulsory religion of his new Qizilbash State in 1501 A.D. This period has been noted by some as the second invasion of Arab-Islamic values on Persian values and religion. It is interesting to note that the Prophet of Islam had never put his foot on Iranian soil, but his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib had fought in the wars of succession within the boundaries of the country.

Caliphs had passed into the hands of the close associates of the Prophet starting in line with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn and Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad's son-in-law. It should be noted that Ali never claimed to be an Imam or an innocent one. He was simply an Arab Caliph.

After the death of the Prophet, the Arab world followed by an elective process to nominate the next in line successor which started with Abu Bakr. This group is known as ahl alsunnah wa-l-jama'ah, "the people of custom and community," or Sunnis. The imamate or "leadership" -- in non-elective manner would become what we know today as Shiitism. Shiites say that succession must remain within the family of the Prophet, a blood-line -- with Ali the first valid caliph. It should also be noted that this division occurred after the assassination of Imam Ali in Kufa by Ibn Muljim.

After the assassination of Imam Ali, his older son Imam Hassan became rightful Shiite leader. Not long into his Imamate, Imam Hassan also became victim to Bani Umayyad family. Now here is the defining moment for the entire Shiitism division and especially leading to the Iranian version. After Imam Hussein inherited the Imamate, in a decisive battle with Yazid who was the son of Mu'awiya sealed the everlasting fairly tales of Shiitism. It has been said Imam Hussein who was out numbered was beheaded by the Yazid's Army in an unfair battle. Imam Hussein, like his father becomes martyr, hence, the start of a new era of Shiitism.

Up to this day, Iranians mourn for the first Imam and the third Imam, Ali ebn-e abi taaleb, and Hussein-ebn-e Ali, (Majaales-e Rozehkhaani va Azaa daari), After Iranians were forced to become Shiite by Shah Ismail, this practice became extremely prevalent and popular in the mosques and “Takaayaa, Huseinieh haa� and in many people homes. Especially in the month of Safar and Ramadan, they were devoted to the ceremonies of (Sineh zani) beating oneself on the chest, (Zanjir zani), beating oneself with metal chain, (Sang zani), beating oneself with rocks, and (Ghameh zani), wounding oneself with poniard. “Ghameh zani or Shah Husseini,� was conducted in what is called on the days of Aashoora and Taasooaa, on the 9th and 10th of Moharam.

Everyone is wearing grave-cloths, wounding themselves with a poniard (Ghameh) until their heads or their foreheads are cut open, filling their entire head and face with blood. This was a barbaric practice which was abolished during the later reign of the late Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. It is said this practice has also been banished recently in the Islamic Republic as well. While abusing their bodies, they were shouting “Yaa Hussein, Yaa Abdullah� and repeating it over and over again and another group reciting mourning. Each year many people died as a result of self-inflicted wounds to the head.

Even though 2500 years has passed since Cyrus the Great declared the first Charters of the human rights, yet, at the down of the new millennium, Iranians are still struggling for their simple and basic human rights. What went wrong?

I hope by now you have a clear idea what went wrong and why after two millenniums of supremacy by the Persian Empires over the vast land of the known world, Iranians are at the bottom of the civilized world today. The newly selected president of the Islamic Republic recently spoke at the United Nations, confirming my anxieties of Iran's future are justified.

Our nation for centuries has struggled valiantly to survive. The history of our nation is all about struggle. Our nation, once again is struggling for its independence from the most vicious and barbaric system known to the history of man. It is one of the most tyrannical and oppressive regimes in the modern time. What makes this era the most sensitive era of the Persian history, is the fact that the Islamic Republic is playing games with people's life, by creating the most devastating bombs, ( the nuclear bomb) and opening the doors from outside with a full fledge war on Iran.

The current rulers in Iran are simply vicious, malicious, and dangerous. They are doing everything in their power to make sure there won't be a new generation, and if there is going to be an Iran, they want to make sure that you become one of them. That means an Islamic terrorist. Being part of party of the Islamic terrorism is prerequisite part of the selection process of being accepted in the Islamic government.

History is filled with ironies. What the Arabs had come to Persia to eradicate, it made Ferdowsi to recreate. Hakim Abol-Ghasem Ferdowsi Toosi is one of the greatest heroes of Iran and father of the “Book of Kings,� the Tales of Ancient Persia. He is known in Iran as the father of the Persian language. For more than thirty years, Ferdowsi spent his valuable life to revive, not only the Persian language, but a nation.

Namiram keh az in pass man zendeh'am,
Keh tokhm-e sokhan raa paraa-kardeham
(I am deathless, I am eternal Lord,
For I have spread the seed of the Word)

Ferdowsi is dead. But, his spirit lives in the hearts and minds of all freedom-loving Iranians.

The volatile situation in Iran now calls for all of you urgently learn from the mistakes of past and educate the young people about the plague of Islam on the Persian society and perhaps other societies.

Let us regain our dignity of a human being
And to seek out the truth,
Let us enjoy our Persian pride
And to fulfill our destiny.
Let us pursue the true unity and peace on earth
And regain our religious freedom.

Amil Imani is an editorial contributor for PersianMirror from Washinton DC. He is a poet, writer, literary translator, essayist, novelist, and a political activist who speaks out for the struggling people of his native land.



Write a Letter to the Editor about this topic or submit your own to PersianMirror.

[Spenta]

Dear Blank

Good site and good article

Dear AmirN

Hopefully they're getting re-educated

I spoke with someone who verified that indeed things are very bad, and this is someone who has always been very optimistic ...

Doesn't look good ... but what will come out of it I don't know.

If the west was smart, they would disrupt the supply of drugs into Iran, then you would have millions of angry frustrated people with no opium or heroin to sedate them.