Iran is so beautiful - take a quick trip ...

by fulltimestudent 18 Replies latest social current

  • fulltimestudent
    fulltimestudent
  • Theocratic Sedition
    Theocratic Sedition

  • fulltimestudent
    fulltimestudent

    One of my study units this semester focuses on the Roman-Iranian wars between 226 and 363 CE. I selected this study unit because the eastern border of ancient Iran was China, and Iranians (particularly the people known as the Sogdians) were important merchants in the chain of markets that we now call the Silk Road.

    Our historical knowledge of this trading route extends back as far as 139 BCE when the Emperor Wu Di of the Han dynasty sent Zhang Qian west to explore (and, again in 119 BCE). He found in what we now call Afghanistan some Chinese made products. They realised they must have been exported from the area south of the territory controlled by the Han dynasty, (likely present day Yunnan province or the southern region of Sichuan), through India. An attempt to organise trade on that route failed through the hostility of the King who controlled the south. Nonetheless, that trade route and its trading markets where goods were sold or exchanged remained an important part of East-west trade and came to include vital maritime trade also.

    Frustrated in the southern attempt, the Han dynasty pushed west into what is now Xinjiang, and the complex mix of trade markets and routes in between was born, to be called 'the silk road.'

    When I travel to China, I've developed the habit of flying into Shanghai, a staying a few days in this (now) very exciting city. I usually stay in a small (i.e. cheap) hotel in Nanjing lu, sort of the tourist centre of Shanghai. A few years ago, we were surprised to find the place full of Iranians. I talked to one, and he told me that he was one of a large group of business people, who travelled to China every year to buy and sell. I realised then that I was watching the contemporary experience of trade that was more than 2000 years old.

    Maybe, the wars between the Romans and the Iranians were over trade (or maybe the right to tax the trade- what we would call customs duties were levied). The city of Palmyra grew rich on those levies.

    Were there trade links earlier than the links I've already discussed. We have no records, but there may have been. Many of the Jewish elite that were deported to Babylon for their rebellious attitude, decided not to "return" to hick-city (Jerusalem) after they had experienced big-city life in Babylon. They became traders and merchants and colonies of Jews developed in many other cities.

    The Iranian Empire under the rule of Yahweh's first 'messiah,' the one called the Shahenshah (King of Kings)Cyrus and his successors, became wealthy also, we can speculate that trade was the foundation of that wealth. When Alexander the Great led his army on what became the greatest bandit raid in history, he unleashed huge amounts of wealth that had been stored by the Iranians, onto the Hellenic world. The Seleucid empire that grew out of Alexander's conquests managed to dissipate a lot of that wealth (mainly on military adventures) in about 200 years. But the Seleucid rulers were soon challenged by another Iranian group who we know in english, as the Parthians. They in turn, lost out to the Sasanians (another Iranian group) - and these are the ones that competed with Rome in my study unit.

    And, there in a few paragraphs, you have (almost) the history of Iran

  • fulltimestudent
    fulltimestudent

    Thank you Theocratic sedition for reminding us of one of America's public enemies. But do you knwo who created that demon?

  • glenster
    glenster
  • free2beme
    free2beme

    I want a tour of where they held our hostages! Yeah.

  • BreathoftheIndianNose
    BreathoftheIndianNose

    Wow. I feel so brainwashed now. This country's beautiful. I want to go!

  • fulltimestudent
    fulltimestudent

    Thnx for your posted video links, Glenster. And, also the other links.

    We should never forget just how the political situation developed in Iran. I've got a lot to do this morning, so forgive my cut/past approach to this posting. Wikipedia tells the history of Iran fairly accuratedly, so I'm going to use it to get to the point I want to make - Iran's worst misfortune was to be found to have large deposits of oil at a time that the greedy, imperialistic west needed oil:

    Quote:

    "By the 17th century, European countries, including Great Britain, Imperial Russia, and France, had already started establishing colonial footholds in the region. Iran as a result lost sovereignty over many of its provinces to these countries via the Treaty of Turkmenchay, the Treaty of Gulistan, and others.

    The Great Persian Famine of 1870-1871 is believed to have caused the death of 2 million persons.

    A new era in the History of Persia dawned with the Constitutional Revolution of Iran against the Shah in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Shah managed to remain in power, granting a limited constitution in 1906 (making the country a constitutional monarchy). The first Majlis (parliament) was convened on October 7, 1906.

    The discovery of oil in 1908 by the British in Khuzestan spawned intense renewed interest in Persia by the British Empire (see William Knox D'Arcy andAnglo-Iranian Oil Company, now BP). Control of Persia remained contested between the United Kingdom and Russia, in what became known as The Great Game, and codified in the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, which divided Persia into spheres of influence, regardless of her national sovereignty.

    During World War I, the country was occupied by British, Ottoman and Russian forces but was essentially neutral (see Persian Campaign). In 1919, after the Russian revolution and their withdrawal, Britain attempted to establish a protectorate in Iran, which was unsuccessful.

    Finally, the Constitutionalist movement of Gilan and the central power vacuum caused by the instability of the Qajar government resulted in the rise of Reza Shah Pahlavi and the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.

    In 1921, a military coup established Reza Khan, a Persian officer of the Persian Cossack Brigade, as the dominant figure for the next 20 years. Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabai was also a leader and important figure in the perpetration of the coup. The Iranian coup of 1921 was not actually directed at the Qajar monarchy; according to Encyclopædia Iranica, it was targeted at officials who were in power and actually had a role in controlling the government; the cabinet and others who had a role in governing Persia. In 1925, after being prime minister for a couple of years, Reza Shah became the king of Iran and established the Pahlavi dynasty. ..."

    ... At the Tehran Conference of 1943, the Tehran Declaration guaranteed the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, when the war actually ended, Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran not only refused to withdraw but backed revolts that established short-lived, pro-Soviet separatist national states in the northern regions of Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan, the Azerbaijan People's Government and the Republic of Kurdistan respectively, in late 1945. Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May 1946 after receiving a promise of oil concessions. The Soviet republics in the north were soon overthrown and the oil concessions were revoked.

    Initially there were hopes that post-occupation Iran could become a constitutional monarchy. The new, young Shah Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi initially took a very hands-off role in government, and allowed parliament to hold a lot of power. Some elections were held in the first shaky years, although they remained mired in corruption. Parliament became chronically unstable, and from the 1947 to 1951 period Iran saw the rise and fall of six different prime ministers.

    In 1951 Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddeq received the vote required from the parliament to nationalize the British-owned oil industry, in a situation known as the Abadan Crisis. Despite British pressure, including an economic blockade, the nationalization continued. Mossadegh was briefly removed from power in 1952 but was quickly re-appointed by the shah, due to a popular uprising in support of the premier and he, in turn, forced the Shah into a brief exile in August 1953 after a failed military coup by Imperial Guard Colonel Nematollah Nassiri. Shortly thereafter on August 19 a successful coup was headed by retired army general Fazlollah Zahedi, organized by the American (CIA) with the active support of the British (MI6) (known as Operation Ajax). The coup - with a black propaganda campaign designed to turn the population against Mossadegh - forced Mossadegh from office, and was remembered with anger by Iranians. Mossadegh was arrested and tried for treason. Found guilty, his sentence reduced to house arrest on his family estate while his foreign minister, Hossein Fatemi, was executed. Zahedi succeeded him as prime minister, and suppressed opposition to the Shah, specifically the National Front and Communist Tudeh Party.

    Here's a trailer for a film about Mossadegh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0dJKcenA-8

    The ensuing government by the Shah became so unpopular, that it opened the way for Islamic fundamentalists, with popular support to rid the country of the Shah, and set-up an Islamic republic.

    We can't say for sure, that the Mossadegh government would have established a stable government, but things did not get better when the stupid elite of Britain and America interfered in Iranian affairs in order for the British to retain their cheap oil supply.

    Dr Mossadegh - America and Englands Chief Demon in the 1950's

    Mohammed Mossadegh

  • Iamallcool
    Iamallcool

    I would think that Iran would be more beautiful if I can see some naked gorgeous women on the beach over there.

  • Iamallcool
    Iamallcool

    Winter Clothes on the beach!

    [42-15785311.jpg]

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