Don't confuse Iran or its citizens with the unpopular clerical government.
Comment: Reza your father was just a brainless puppet of the US government. Please accept that and keep your big mouth shut!
Comment: If there was a real election in Iran with Reza Pahlavi running, he would be elected in a landslid, because Iranian were exponentially better off before 1979, and yes it is true he does represent what existed then which were a growing and stable economy, a growing and educated middle class and fantastic prospects which were inexistent in that period of cold war in any third world country. The Islamic republic on the other hand represents a dark age mentality, growing poverty, totalitarianism, corruption and belligerence most of all towards the people of Iran. There is no comparison between the Islamic republic and its predecessor, not at all.
Comment: If there was a real election in Iran with Reza Pahlavi running, he would be elected in a landslid, because Iranian were exponentially better off before 1979, and yes it is true he does represent what existed then which were a growing and stable economy, a growing and educated middle class and fantastic prospects which were inexistent in that period of cold war in any third world country. The Islamic republic on the other hand represents a dark age mentality, growing poverty, totalitarianism, corruption and belligerence most of all towards the people of Iran. There is no comparison between the Islamic republic and its predecessor, not at all.
Comment: Can we say Ahmad Chalabi. Here is a man who's father was forced to flee by a truly popular revolution that was made up of so many factions who were united by their revulsion against the tyrannical monarchy that lead Iran for so long. If people like him were so interested in democracy they should have done something about it when they had the chance. Instead his father looted the country and terrorized the people. These type of people have absolutely no credibility what so ever.
Comment: The March of Shiism
Even without nuclear weapons, Iran has become the hegemonic power over the world???s richest oil region, thanks to Washington???s elimination of the Sunni Wahhabi Talibans in Afghanistan and Saddam???s Sunni regime in Iraq.
On April 9, 2003, the U.S. won the battle against a tattered Iraq. But Iran, without firing a shot won the war for Iraq. The occupation transferred control in Mesopotamia to Iraq???s 60% Shii majority after a thousand years of Arab Sunni control. The British think tank, Chatham House, concluded in august 2006: ???The greatest problem facing the U.S. is that Iran has superseded it as the most influential power in Iraq.???
To Sunnis, Shiis are heretics. In Wahhabi Saudi Arabia, Shiis are treated like non-Muslims. Shii towns and villages are pathetically poor despite being at the heart of Saudi Arabia???s oil region. In Bahrain, the Sunni ruling minority discriminates against the 60% Shii majority. In Iraq, until the U.S. occupation, the Shii majority was deprived. In Kuwait, Shiis, almost one-third of Kuwaitis, are second-class citizens. In Lebanon, Shiis, a third of the population, are underprivileged. In Syria, until seizing power in 1970, the Alawites, a Shii sect, lived in abject poverty under Sunni rule. In Yemen, the Zaydis, a Shii sect, are a third of Yemen???s twenty million people. Zaidis accuse the Sunni government of genocide.
Little wonder that the Arab Shiis look to Iran for deliverance. Egyptian President Mubarak declared recently that Shiis in Arab states were more loyal to Iran than to their own countries.
As a minority of about 15% of Muslims, Shiism draws Shiis together. In Southern Iraq, Najaf and Karbala (Ali???s and Hussein???s burial places) are the holiest Shii cities. Kazimayn, nearby, has the tombs of the Seventh and the Ninth Imams. Samarra has the tombs of the Tenth and the Eleventh Imams plus the Mosque of the Occultation, from where the Twelfth Imam allegedly disappeared. In the cemeteries of these holy cities, many illustrious personalities from the world of Shiism are buried. In Iran, the Eighth Imam is buried in Mashhad, and in Qumm his sister is buried. Outside Damascus in Syria, Zainab, the Granddaughter of the Prophet is buried. In commemorating the suffering of the Imams, pilgrimages pull millions of Shiis together. In the grand seminaries of Najaf, Karbala, Mashhad, and Qumm the finest clerics teach. The prominent families of Najaf and Karbala trace their roots to long lines of marriages with the great families of Burjurid, Isfahan, Kirmanshah, Mashhad, and Qumm. Ayatollahs have cross-country followings. From Najaf and Karbala, Iranian clerics often led the Shii world. The so-called ???historical ethnic enmity??? between Arabs and Persians is an exaggeration. The conflict has always been between the rulers, not the masses.
Washington has little choice today but to negotiate with Tehran Iran has become an unstoppable locomotive in the march of Shiism.
Comment: The March of Shiism
Even without nuclear weapons, Iran has become the hegemonic power over the world???s richest oil region, thanks to Washington???s elimination of the Sunni Wahhabi Talibans in Afghanistan and Saddam???s Sunni regime in Iraq.
On April 9, 2003, the U.S. won the battle against a tattered Iraq. But Iran, without firing a shot won the war for Iraq. The occupation transferred control in Mesopotamia to Iraq???s 60% Shii majority after a thousand years of Arab Sunni control. The British think tank, Chatham House, concluded in august 2006: ???The greatest problem facing the U.S. is that Iran has superseded it as the most influential power in Iraq.???
To Sunnis, Shiis are heretics. In Wahhabi Saudi Arabia, Shiis are treated like non-Muslims. Shii towns and villages are pathetically poor despite being at the heart of Saudi Arabia???s oil region. In Bahrain, the Sunni ruling minority discriminates against the 60% Shii majority. In Iraq, until the U.S. occupation, the Shii majority was deprived. In Kuwait, Shiis, almost one-third of Kuwaitis, are second-class citizens. In Lebanon, Shiis, a third of the population, are underprivileged. In Syria, until seizing power in 1970, the Alawites, a Shii sect, lived in abject poverty under Sunni rule. In Yemen, the Zaydis, a Shii sect, are a third of Yemen???s twenty million people. Zaidis accuse the Sunni government of genocide.
Little wonder that the Arab Shiis look to Iran for deliverance. Egyptian President Mubarak declared recently that Shiis in Arab states were more loyal to Iran than to their own countries.
As a minority of about 15% of Muslims, Shiism draws Shiis together. In Southern Iraq, Najaf and Karbala (Ali???s and Hussein???s burial places) are the holiest Shii cities. Kazimayn, nearby, has the tombs of the Seventh and the Ninth Imams. Samarra has the tombs of the Tenth and the Eleventh Imams plus the Mosque of the Occultation, from where the Twelfth Imam allegedly disappeared. In the cemeteries of these holy cities, many illustrious personalities from the world of Shiism are buried. In Iran, the Eighth Imam is buried in Mashhad, and in Qumm his sister is buried. Outside Damascus in Syria, Zainab, the Granddaughter of the Prophet is buried. In commemorating the suffering of the Imams, pilgrimages pull millions of Shiis together. In the grand seminaries of Najaf, Karbala, Mashhad, and Qumm the finest clerics teach. The prominent families of Najaf and Karbala trace their roots to long lines of marriages with the great families of Burjurid, Isfahan, Kirmanshah, Mashhad, and Qumm. Ayatollahs have cross-country followings. From Najaf and Karbala, Iranian clerics often led the Shii world. The so-called ???historical ethnic enmity??? between Arabs and Persians is an exaggeration. The conflict has always been between the rulers, not the masses.
Washington has little choice today but to negotiate with Tehran Iran has become an unstoppable locomotive in the march of Shiism.
Comment: We can't trust this guy's opinion. Or any of the other commentators so far. The Iranian people, or at least some 50% of them probably REALLY DO hate Americans. It is the one thing that unites them. They rally around American flag burnings. So to think that we in the U.S. can do anything that will be appreciated by them is foolish. Best to just keep out of their buisiness and let them handle their own affairs. And stop them if they try to hurt us.
Comment: i AM GLAD THE TRUTH IS BEING HARD. THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION UNDER 35 WANTS CHANGE. IT IS TIME FOR THIS REGIME TO GO. LET'S ANNIHILATE THE IRIANIAN REGIME(not the country itself) AND SET IT'S PEOPLE FREE. SANCTION ONLY EMPOWER THE REGIME AND WEAKEN THE MOVEMENT FOR CHANGE.
Comment: I am an iranian student inside iran. i appreciate prince for this article. world community should separate us from the mullahs and terrorists which govern us. but i have an critic on prince idea, which is against military action. I beleive everything should compare by the cists. cost of everyday being governed by this regime for Iran is very very heavy, so I think we need a drug, even better, but cure the ill. military attack -if its target be overturn of islamic regime- will be best solution. unfortunately I think decisions from world community and US government and sunctions ahead will make us like Iraq 1990 which had to suffer 13 years isolation and poverty and then war! so I agree with military action if its target be clearly "ONLY OVERTURN OF ISLAMIC REGIME"!
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