Most books or documentaries start with the year 1979 when writing about Iran. And obviously so because they want to vilify Iran. 1979 saw the revolution which overthrew the dyasty and brought in conservative rule. And since then Iran has been consistently portrayed as the ‘bad boy’. But John goes back hundreds of years to write how did Iran really came to be seen as a villian and was it really so since ever? The answer is an emphatic no. As you may have read about my rants against mainstream media and the media cabal in some of my previous posts, reading this book reinforces that view even further.
John writes how Persia (that’s how the West referred to them, until many years later in 1935 the Iranian governenment asked itself to be referred to as Iran and not Persia) was considered a friendly, welcoming country and a land of enchantment. John’s deep research by going into newspapers, books, and even pamphlets show that people and media was smitten by the Persians and their rugs and culture. There is also how Christian missionaries went about converting and even propogating their kind of Christianity (the ‘right kind’) versus the ‘wrong kind’ which was being followed by Assyrians there. However, Persia was also treated as the ‘good one’ because it was Shia and the Turks and Afghans were Sunni. The Turks were especially despised because the Crusade Wars and the Afghans were being supported by the Turks to fight agains the Shias of Persia. And anybody against the Sunnis was good, and hence Persia became the good one. On top of it, the southern region of Persia was controlled by the British and the northern by the Soviets and the rulers of Qajar / Shah dynasty were more than happy to be subservient and let them plunder away the wealth of the country. America was out of such demeaning politicking, however could stay away for long when Reza Shah and his son took an American tilt and the Americans too had their eyes set on oil, the exploration rights of which had been handed over to the British on a platter for the sake of a loan by the Shahs.
I wouldn’t go into the whole political history of what happened after Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry, the coup against him orchestrated by the British and supported by Americans, and finally the 1979 Islamic Revolution which made Iran the ultimate, eternal arch-enemy of US and for Israel too.
This is a book so important that it should be made mandatory for anybody interested in international politics and diplomacy. John consistently shows how the mainstream media (I can’t stop my rants agains them) just parroted whatever the government wanted them to write about Iran and its various political leaders. John exposes how Israel has hyped up Iran as that one country which is an existential threat for the Jews despite of there being no evidence of it. Even the nuclear capabilities of Iran have been blown out of proportion to create an aura of fear so that the politicians like Netanyahu can rake up votes to be in power. This is one of those books which will leave you stunned and astounded at how the whole group of Western countries came together to crush Iran to its knees, making millions of people suffer and reducing their economy to a fraction of what it was earlier. Endless sanctions, American-backstabbing while gaining concessions from Iranian politicians, European malfeasance, and Russian selfishness, have all drained a country which was once vibrant and emerging and a cultural hub in the middle-eastern region.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
Withered Papyrus 