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Iranian History

Iranian History

Iranian History

Iranians have a long history of which they could be proud. As one scholar said, “the glory of Iran is its culture,” and its culture is shaped by its rich history. Iranian history is a story of triumphant conquest and cultural stability in the face of conquest. Iranian history is recorded as a far back as 4000 BCE, there are many surviving documents and artifacts from that time period. Iran is home to the great ancient city of Persopolis, over which the most famous of all ancient Persian kings reigned, Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Great is credited in all of world history to be the first king to grant all of his citizens equal protection under the law. This is a trait of Persian culture that would shape the rest of Iranian history.
The second major chapter in Iranian history marks the beginning of the Islamic period. The Arabs invaded Iran in the 7th century and brought Islam. Iran ran was converted to Islam. Iran, known to have a well established cultural infrastructure, had a great many of its citizens become Islamic scholars, philologists, and philosophers during this time period. The Iranians refined Islamic culture, in fact, they Persianized the formerly nomadic Arabs. During this time period to the late 15th century marks the greatest chapter in Iranian history. This part of Iranian history marks the point at which Iran was the culturally dominant country in that region. The Turks, Afghans, Kurds, and Turkmen all invaded the country but Iran had a strange way of changing the culture of the invader, never the reverse.

Iranian culture was very pragmatic throughout its history, it always took what it found to be useful of another culture. The invasions, however, lead to a great political shift in the Islamic world, the Sunni-Shi’ite split. Iran was the place where Shi’ite Islam was born. It was a political decision that came as a result of the political ambitions of rival leaders throughout the Islamic world. The central issue in the Sunni-Shi’ite split concerns the succession of the Prophet Mohammed. In the 13th century, Iran needed a more centralized authority because the many invading foreign tribes posed a threat to the empire’s existence. From the Sunni-Shi’ite split came a political dynasty called the Safavid Empire. This was the most glorious empire in Iranian history.

The modern period of Iran was marked by imperial conquests at the hands of the Industrial powers. Parts of the Greater Iran region were carved out by Russia and Great Britain. The age of oil was well underway and Iran was very rich in it. Unfortunately, at this time, Iran was politically and militarily too weak to fight the mechanized armies of Great Britain and Russia. Russia and Great Britain divided the nation into spheres of influence and had many interests in Iran. Not long after World War II, Iran attempted to modernize with a new secular republican government. They elected President Mohammed Mosaddegh in the early 1950′s. Mosaddegh was a charismatic leader that tried to assert Iran in rightful place in the world; as a free and independent nation. He wished to deport British oil interests in the country. The Central Intelligence Agency and the British Ministry of Intelligence launched a coup d’etat against Mosaddegh to prevent Britain from losing its oil interests. The nation was replaced with the reinstatement of the Shah, the historical monarch Iran. The Shah was named Reza Pahlavi and he ruled with an iron fist until 1979.

Iranian history met a turning point in 1979 with an Islamic revolution. The revolution was partly based on Iranian history, partly based on modern governments. The new Islamic Republic of Iran would impose Islamic law on the country. Iran went back to its history and choose its more religiously oriented government of the past with elements of modern representative democracy. Iran was again a theocratic country as it was in the Middle Ages.

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Iranian Culture

Iran has a unique culture that is shaped by its long history that dates back to 4000BCE. From that time to the present, Persians have conquered and have been conquered by many different cultures from the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. The Iranian peoples had a strong indigenous culture but their culture was never rigid allowing the culture to absorb what it felt to be useful.

Pre-Islamic Iranian culture was heavily shaped by the teachings of Zoroastrianism and the interaction between the great empires of Persia, Greece, and Rome. In the Pre-Islamic period, Persian culture was the rival of the Greek model of civilization. Iran, as one of the oldest civilizations developed its own model of civilization and religions. King Cyrus the Great whose reign lasted from 600 to 576 BCE is remembered by historians to be one of the first models of a tolerant multi-ethnic civilization. Cyrus the Great was the first king to provide equal legal protections to all of his subjects. Pre-Islamic Persian culture died out during the height of the Roman Empire as part of the Iranian empire became part of the Roman empire, this Roman Province was known as Parthia. Pre-Islamic Iranian culture needed a strong change.

That strong cultural change marked a new period in Iranian history, the adoption of Islam in Iran. The Islamic conquest of Iran happened in the 8th century of the Common Era and it shaped Iranian culture to the present. Not only did Islam change Iran; Iran changed Islam. Pre-Islamic Iran had always been a center of cultural exchange known for scholarship, music, and a heavily developed urban culture. Iran in the Middle Ages became a center of Islamic Cultural exchange. Persian culture influenced the development of Islam as many Iranian intellectuals became leaders within the Islamic empire. Arab and Turkic conquerors of Iran became patrons of Persian Art, literature, and architecture.

The next wave of conquerors to shape Iranian culture and history were the Turkic Mongols who further shaped Iranian culture. The political concerns of the successive Mongol invasions prompted the Iranians to break away from the rest of the Islamic world with the creation of the Shi’ite sect of Islam. This move was made due to the political rivalries that characterized the political structure of the Islamic conquerors. This Sunni-Shi’ite split in Islam would have many different consequences in the course of Iranian history and the history of Islam. In the short term, Iranian culture thrived as a new Iranian empire emerged, the Safavid empire. The empire ranged from the Caucasus mountains to northern India.

The Afghans and Turks then tried to conquer the Safavid empire. The result, as always, resulted in the conqueror’s adoption of Iranian culture. This is the pattern throughout Iranian history. The interim period between the 14th century and the early 20th century were not culturally formative years in Iranian history. The period was marked by conquests from the industrialized European powers and Russia. In this period Iran was weak to the industrialized world and it desperately tried to modernize. Iran struggled to modernize Iranian culture and technology. This period was marked by imperial conquests and in spite of cultural resiliency, Iran was not successful in asserting its historical cultural strength.

It was not until 1979 that modern Iranian culture emerged out of the pit of imperialism. The 1979 Islamic Revolution marked a shift in Iranian culture that prompted Iranian culture to go back in its history. The most important cultural message it took from Iranian history was its religion. The modern Iranian government is strongly rooted in Islamic background. However, Iranian culture is also flexible enough to accommodate the few religious minorities of Christians, Jews, and Zoroasters in their constitution. Iranian culture is a culture that is strong and respects its history.

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Iranian Music

Iran has a rich culture with its own musical traditions. As a crossroads of Central Asia and the Middle East Iranian music reflects the variety of cultures in Iran. Iran, throughout its entire history, has had Each respective ethnic group has its own form of folk music. Iran has its own tradition of classical music with many of its own musical instruments. Traditional Iranian instruments include:
• the Ney, a flute-like instrument
• the Kamancheh,a violin like instrument
• the Setar, similar to the Indian Sitar.
• The Ud, similar to the European lute, a distant cousin of the Guitar.
• The Tombak, a type of drum.

Iranian music uses the same seven note scale with half-steps as European music. Stylistically, Iranian music is typical of music of the Middle East. However, Iranian music puts more of an emphasis on melody than rhythm as tradition Arabic Music does. In fact, modern traditional Arabic music is heavily influenced by the Iranian tradition of music.

The Iranian music tradition is one of the oldest and when the Arabs brought Islam to Iran, the Persians introduced music to Islam. Islam has always had an ambivalent relationship with music. Many Islamic scholars do not believe there to be any need for music for religious reasons because it distracts the observance of God. The Sufi tradition of Islam that emphasizes the esoteric nature of God believe that music is important to exploring the esoteric nature of God. The famous Sufi poet Rumi sang songs in his native tongue, Parsi of the Middle Ages. Rumi, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, was born in the 13th century of the Common Era. The beautiful words of his poetry are full of wonder and mystery and speak of topics that are universal of the human condition. Many of Rumi’s poems were put to music. Iranian songs are very poetic in nature and many modern genres are rooted in Sufi tradition of music and Rumi’s verses.

Iranian Pop and Rock Music

As strong as Iranian culture is, the influence of modern Western music is inevitable. Iranian popular music is stylistically Western but the lyrical content of Iranian pop is telling of Iranian cultural norms. Iran’s pop and rock music is very popular among the youth and is a product of the cultural exchanges that are typical of the age of modern communications. Iranian rock an popular music became popular in the 1970′s before the 1979 revolution. Even American style hip-hop is popular in Iran. The rap lyrics are said in the Parsi language.

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Iran Economy

Iran has made the reduction of foreign debt one of its top priorities following the end of its war with Iraq. Since then, the country’s credit rating has improved dramatically as the country has worked hard to pay off foreign debts. Iran’s economy is centrally planned with eventual efforts to privatize the economy. Iran’s other major goal is to combat inflation.

Iran’s economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector as a source of wealth and revenue for the government. The state sector of the economy is markedly inefficient. The market viability of the rest of the private sector is heavily distorted by the oil industry. Most of the economy is controlled by the state. The state fixes prices and subsidizes certain industries, which put undue market pressures on the economy. The private sector is generally limited to small scale workshops, agriculture, and services. State controls over the economy have stymied any potential for private sector led market growth.

As a result of a state run economy that is very inefficient, Iran is known for a large informal economy. The informal economy trades items and services without the state’s knowing and thus avoids the collection of taxes. This inability to collect the taxes of the informal economy further prevent the Iranian economy from growing. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the legislative branch passed laws that reduce subsidies on food and energy to combat governmental price distortions. The bill will eventually phase out all subsidies of other products. The phasing out of government subsidized products will benefit Iran’s upper and middle classes. The last time government subsidy reform was attempted was in the 1990′s and the lower classes aggressively protested against the policies.

As an oil producing and exporting nation, Iran had benefited from the higher price of oil in recent years. This could function as a cushion on the transitional periods of its economic reforms. In 2008 Iran secured over $100 billion in foreign exchange reserves as a result of high oil prices. However, in 2009 with the decline in the price of oil at $55 per barrel and a decrease in the production of oil, Iran is currently experiencing budget constraints that hinder any attempts at economic reform.

In addition to Iran’s economic and budgetary concerns, Iran has had a continuous trend of double-digit unemployment despite a decreased rate of inflation. Unemployment in Iran currently stands at 11.8%. Underemployment is another problem in Iran. The highly educated youth are starting to move away from Iran to seek better employment elsewhere resulting in a trend of “brain drain.”

Iran has made the reduction of foreign debt one of its top priorities following the end of its war with Iraq. Since then, the country’s credit rating has improved dramatically as the country has worked hard to pay off foreign debts.

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Iranians

Iranian national identity is mostly a territorial distinction as the inhabitants of Iran represent various ethnic, religious, and ethnic groups. There are over 70 million citizens of Iran as of 2006 census. Iranian national identity is grounded in a strong national culture shaped by a history that can be traced as far back as 4000BCE. This strong national culture functions as a great unifying force among the diverse demographic groups of Iran

Modern Iranians consist of several linguistic groups speaking different dialects of the Iranian language. 75-80% of Iranians speak a language of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of the Indo-European language family. The most important Iranian language spoken by Iranians is Parsi, sometimes spelled Farsi. Farsi is generally considered the improper name because it is an Arabism of the name of the language due to lack of a “P” sound in the Arabic language. Iran is a geographically diverse nation with mountains and the Caspian sea in the north and deserts and the Persian Gulf in the South. This variety of geographic area leads to a variety of accents and dialects in the country. Most dialects of Parsi are mutually intelligible along with other sister languages in the family like Pashto, Urdu, and Kurdish.

Iranians have a plurality of different ethnic groups as well. There are Azeris and Kurds in the north, near the border with Azerbaijan and northern Iraq. There are Arabs in the south near southern Iraq in the western part of the country. Lurs in the deserts of the south. Minor pockets of Turkmenis near the border with Turkemenistan. The largest ethnic group in all of Iran are the Persians who are approximately 65% of the population. The percentages of the minority groups are: Azeris 16%, Kurds 10%, Lurs 6%, Arabs 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmens 1%, Turkic tribal groups 1%, and non-Persian, non-Turkic groups 1% (CIA World Fact-Book). After 2001, Iran has been home to many refugees of the Iraq and Afghan Wars.

There are also Iranians living abroad as members of the Iranian diaspora. Most Iranian-expatriates and people of Iranian ancestry live in North America and Europe. Los Angeles, California has the largest concentration of Iranians living outside of Iran with a community of over 72,000.

Iranians are mostly Muslim. The break down of Muslims along Sunni and Shiite lines are approximately 9% Sunni and 89% Shiite. However, there are several religious minorities that are constitutionally able to practice their religion peacefully. Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians are able to practice and collectively consist of 2% of the entire population. Zoroastrianism is a religion that predates Islam and is a religion of Iranian origins. Iranians who are of Bahai’i faith, Iran’s largest religious minority, are not constitutionally protected and are persecuted in Iran.

Iran is a young country with a median age of 26.4 years. The life expectancy of Iran is approximately 69 years for men and 72 years for females.

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Iran News

The showdown between Iran and the United States and its allies has been a common on-going news story among all members of mainstream and alternative press. The latest development in the political conflict against Iran having nuclear capabilities is the negotiations between the nations and the possibility of the UN Security Council imposing economic sanctions against Iran. Iran says its ready to its ready to discuss the negotiation package that was offered to Iran by the P5+1, which consists of the five powerful member states of the United Nations Security Council: Russia, China, France, United States, and the United Kingdom plus Germany. The statement came from an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman named Ramin Mehman-Parast.

A possible problem with the new shift in the dynamics between the sides of the conflict is that it may be too late. Iran’s new motion to discuss its nuclear program with the P5+1 is happening at the same time that the United States and its allies are calling to impose sanctions on the country. The debate over the imposition of sanctions is currently under deliberation. Turkey is the country with the strongest arguments against the imposition of economic sanctions. The Prime Minster of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reported recently to the French newspaper, Le Figaro, that sanctions would not do anything to resolve the dispute.

The topic of sanctions is being discussed a little over six months after last summer’s Iranian Election Riots that challenged the government. The Iranian government committed many human rights violations against the Iranian people as a result of the rioting. The people of Iran are questioning the legitimacy of their own government, the possibility of sanctions might alienate the Iranian people. Sanctions could also cause the people to put more pressure on the government, eventually causing the government to topple. In any case, sanctions are a risky move and always result in the unnecessary deaths of people who are denied of their human rights. There is chance that talk of sanctions would be abandoned shortly after Iran made this important step in the peaceful resolution of this conflict.

Iran argues that its nuclear program is for solely for peaceful purposes. However, the United States and its allies denies the validity of that claim. It recently announced that it would be organizing and hosting an international conference on nuclear disarmament on April 17th, 2010. At the conference, Iran will promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Ironically, this will occur four days after the United States hosts a international security conference in the District of Columbia. This Iran news developments are all happening in light of Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s rejection of US efforts to engage in diplomatic talks over Iran’s nuclear program.