History, Religion, Politics, Culture, and Travels in the Islamic World
Since the Iran War has become a Sitzkrieg, I am returning to writing about what I love: Iranian history and culture. What were Iranians doing in the “Stone Age”? Inventing fun stuff. The yakhchal (“ice pit”) is from ca. 500 BC. It is a pre-modern fridge.
The bombing of the Rafiei-Nia Synagogue in Tehran prompted this brief note, which includes a link to an excellent documentary about Iranian Jews. I will write later about the pending settlement of the Iran War. I will only say that it’s a clear strategic victory for Iran—and resounding defeat for Iran haters!
Trump and Hegseth threatened to send Iran back to the “Stone Age.” However, in the Stone Age (to 4,500 BC), Iranians had thriving civilization; and by the Bronze Age (3,300—1,200 BC), had empires that predated Ancient Greece by 2,000 years and Rome by 2,500 years. The the world has discovered that the Iranians are civilized while savages run the United States.
Arab states are being pummeled by Iran and US is not helping them. Gulf Arabs have realized that the Washington Mafia took their “protection money” but never intended to protect them. Breach of contract. Even the Genovese crime family that ran my NYC neighborhood met their obligations. Arab states will fall under Iran’s sway.
US and Israel view assassinations as a straight line to “victory.” But killing leaders and generals will not collapse nation-states with sound political-military structures. The assumption that the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) rests on a “cult of personality”—Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei—is facile. Assassinations have unintended consequences.
The “collective west” pontificates about democracy, freedom, civil rights, and civil liberties in Iran, but Iran’s experiences (ca. 1860s to 1979) with foreign powers are of political domination and resource extraction. Organic democratic reforms in Iran were quashed by the west.
St. Matthew writes of men from the east visiting Jesus. His narrative reflects a Zoroastrian prophecy. The “Wise Men” who came to Bethlehem from Iran were Zoroastrian priests (magi) who had seen the star and believed Jesus was their expected Savior—“Saoshyant.”
Reza Shah Pahlavi, Maryam Rajavi (Mujahideen-e Khalq), and María Corina Machado have sold “regime change” to their U.S. and Israeli patrons, but sales pitches of troops being “greeted as liberators,” with freedom to plunder the victim’s oil & gas, will prove bogus and deadly. Ahmad Chalabi, the darling of Iraq War neocons, is the example.
On UNESCO World Cities Day 2025, Kashan was recognized by UNESCO as a “creative city of architecture,” joining cities like Rome, Paris, and Barcelona. Kashan is “celebrated for its sustainable architecture and rich civilizational heritage.” But Kashan is renowned in history not just for Iranian-Islamic architecture, but also for Islamic art, magnificent silk and cotton woven carpets, and ceramics (Kashan ware). Survey of an ancient and thriving Iranian jewel, accompanied by videos, photos, and links for further readings.
Deaths of Iranian generals in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and war against ISIS (2014–18) prove that Iranian Army and IRGC generals lead from the front. Whereas U.S. generals lead from behind: Vietnam (11 KIA); Iraq (0); AFG (1: REMF, killed in the rear). On 13 June, when Israel murdered almost two dozen generals, Iranian Armed Forces swiftly re-grouped and retaliated. The Iranian military is accustomed to losing generals in action and has planned for losses.
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