Iran is not your next Iraq

Photo by Behzad Ghaffarian on Unsplash

So, the news has been blowing up in the past month on how the USA wants a war with Iran. Well, Trump wants a war with Iran...noo no, maybe? No, more like Mike Pompeo wants a war with Iran. Yet honestly what has Iran done to deserve to be invaded and attacked. It wouldn't be for "Our" defense because in reality all the shady things the country does, affects the Middle East and not the States. It would be an invasion, which would spark more extremist groups. Now, this isn't a love song for Iran, I love the United States...I just don't see any purpose in a useless war, that would destroy the beauty of Iran and many historical sites. Like the invasion of Iraq did and kill Americans in the process (and Iranians). It would also create another refugee problem.

Iranian revolution helped inaugurate a wave of religious political activism in the Muslim world. The Islamic Republic of Iran is unique among modern political systems as it is a theocracy infused with strong democratic elements. Being the world's only theocratic republic, Iran's political system is organized around the principle that Shi’i clergy has a divine right to govern because they are the qualified interpreters of God’s will. The first revolution in modern times that has led to the establishment of theocracy and the only recent social revolution in which peasants and rural guerrillas played a marginal role. The Iranian Revolution was second only to the Chinese revolution in the number of participants, of the poor. The revolution began because of the conditions created by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in the decades after WW2. The shah aimed to undercut the public importance of Islam which he regarded as a backward influence. He focused on a Western image and an old pre-Islamic Persian image; but not a Zoroastrian image. Iran ended up having two rival elites, which saw each other as illegitimate. There also was a big economic divide between the upper middle class of liberal technocrats and then the more tradition-minded lower classes and clergy. Two factors contributed to the revolutionary crisis. A 10% decline in oil prices in the late 1970s and a 20% rise in consumer prices dented economic growth. Second, the Carter administration's new emphasis on human rights coupled with criticism from western media and human rights organizations let to US pressure on the shah to lift restraints on political opposition. Economic and cultural discontent began to surge and show itself in Iran’s politics. 

The United States "hates" Iran because of the hostage crisis during the Iranian revolution. It also dislikes Iran because its two allies Isreal and Saudi Arabia do not like the country. While unwarranted to us, the attackers on the embassy were from poor classes who saw the West as a key problem. It doesn’t help that the United States put the Shah In power and many Iranians felt that the Shah answered only to the US. After the revolution, the poor were able to get roads, electricity and running water. So, while the Shah may have been trying to rebuild his country to more modernity, he really was ignoring the vast majority of the country which was poor. Laws against veiling, also caused stress upon the ultra-religious and poor, but also on those who saw the veil as cultural and religious but were of the middle class. The veil in Iran predates Islam, so many felt that it took away their Iranian identity. Yet many women who did not like the veil took the veil up during the revolution as a protest against the anti-veil laws the government had. Ironically now there are women who protest with no veil on because of the hijab laws.  The New Iranian government also managed to go into war with Iraq, causing the Iran and Iraq war that cost many Iranian lives. 

Yet the Iranian government has persecuted other religious sects at times; like not allowing religious minorities to hold office. Religious minorities include Sunni Muslims, Sufi Muslims, Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, and others. Zoroastrians often get the biggest blow to the gut, when times are tough. Some minorities like the Jews and Christians can still produce wine, as long as they have a license.  Yet Iranians are not what Western media likes to portray them as; ultra-religious fanatics bent on religion and being crippled by human rights violations. Iranians are very much active individuals, who fight against unjust laws every day. Women fought against the chador to get the hijab and now many are fighting the hijab by showing hair. Time will only tell when women will be able to go free of the hijab for good, but hopefully, no law persecutes women who do decide to wear chadors or hijabs in public or at schools. Iran has a unique culture of verbal marriages, in which a couple can verbally say they are married (and they are) have sex and divorce verbally all in one day. This is a Shia practice and Sunnis do not believe this is valid under Islam.  

The other problem all Iranians face is.... well...religious police or moral police or government helpers. These men will beat couples that hold hands. They will hound women who might show hair and etc. Like in Saudi Arabia, these men (and women, yes Iran has women that do this) are often from poor families with little to no education and if they do, it's often with extreme religious training. Give poor men jobs that give them power, they are going to attack. I like to call it the cops that failed to get into the army so now they have to act all white manly and kill black men. Journalist are often taken to remote areas to be investigated and sometimes can spend days in jail. There are underground groups in Iran, just as they exist in Saudi Arabia. The average person is not extremely religious, yet the measures the Shah tried to put in place ignored the majority of the people’s wants and views. Unlike Turkey, Iranians were not having it. Islam became deeply intertwine into Iranian identity, Iranians (Iranian Jews and Christians) helped create the grammar for Arabic. Added to the Arts and Poetry of Islam as a whole, some of the greatest Saints were from the Iran region. The veil of Iran was spread throughout the Islamic world. One cannot think of Islam’s early period without thinking about Iran. Iran slowly became Muslim and by the 800s most were Muslim (Sunni actually), to say over 1000 years of this culture needs to be dropped over the night would be ridiculous for anyone to attempt. The Chinese cultural revolution killed thousands of people, including people who made traditional instruments or folk dances to professors, yet Chinese people today are slowly bringing that culture back for tourism and for private reasons. 

So, does Iran have problems? Yes, but it is a beautiful country with rich history and culture...that honestly, I would love to visit. Iran may be religious but it doesn’t prevent the women from going to school or have jobs or travel alone or own an apartment alone or etc.; unlike Saudi Arabia. Was the Iraq and Iran war pointless? Um yes, so was Iraq versus Kuwait and so was all the United States wars since WW2. The Soviets destabilized Afghanistan and the US helped destabilize it even more by creating the Taliban....so yeah. Bin Laden was always a weird religious man, and his work with the US made him bitter. So yes, the war with Afghanistan was justified enough but the war with Iraq destroyed the country and was not needed. What has Iran done recently to the United States? Nothing, as far as I am concerned. They have continued to follow the 2015 nuclear deal and have fought against the Taliban and ISIL. While some claim they supported the groups, it would be unwise for a Shia theocracy to support an Islamic terrorist group that sees Shia as demons that need to be exterminated. United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iran have all been accused of supporting the groups and three countries I listed created the Taliban. While the Taliban has even fought against ISIL......so yeah. Iran was accused of attack a US base in the 80s and honestly, I wouldn’t doubt it. 

The United States designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Pompeo believes the move will put “pressure on Iran” so it stops destabilizing the Middle East. Iran backed Hezbollah group is in power in the Lebanese parliament, this group is considered a terrorist group by most of the world including Islamic nations. The group fought the pro-Assad regime but also fought against ISIL, they are not a good group. Yet Iran is still considered a state that sponsors terrorism, which is ironic since all the case of terrorism in the West has been Sunni branches. These terrorists align themselves with ISIL or al-Qaeda or the Taliban, they even follow Wahabi and Salafi ideology, not Shi'ism. Yet does that mean Iran hasn’t backed random crazy destabilizing groups that target Israel or even Saudi Arabia? Of course, the country has, I mean the United States isn’t a virgin angel in sponsoring terrorist groups and killing thousands of innocents and destabilizing third-world governments. The US needs to leave Iran alone, watch from a distance. A war with Iran is pointless and will cost hundreds of lives from both sides. 

Is Iran safe? Yes, and No, a single female can travel here. Does Iran have police beating people down? Yes, you can watch videos on YouTube. Actually, check out Muslimgirl.com they have wonderful articles about the pros and cons of Iran. Regardless of these problems, Iranian citizens and American citizens don't deserve to be killed because of politics.

Fun books to read: 

So, I figured we all should read some non-anti- Iran books or articles and actually see the people living there as humans.... cause that’s the problem with media and politics. These are just some fun reads and facts! 

• Lipstick Jihad and Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni are wonderful books written by an Iranian American journalist that has to deal with the Iranian secret service. They are wonderful books to get to know the real Iran but it isn’t sugar coated like a travel magazine! The issues in these two books are modern. 
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, this is a wonderful book about an Iranian professor who goes through the Iranian revolution. 
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi...have you lived under a rock? This is considered a classic graphic novel by most...just check it out trust me. .