Why I am ashamed to be Iranian

One of the distinguishing factors among any nation is the national identity. But historically we Iranians have forgotten what our national identity is and frequently during the modern time, we have confused it with the religious identity (religion does not have any identity, it is adopted only by the Islamic terrorists of the 20th century). This has been deliberate; it is all because of devious imposters named “Mullahs and Ayatollahs”. This discussion is not religious and it is out of context to discuss the effect of religion, but the problem lies with the core and mindset of Iranian people. By the passage of almost thirty years, Iranians have not been able to distinguish what their national identity is. After so many atrocities done by this theological regime in Iran, most of the Iranians are still silent as to choose their national identity or their religion. In no country in the world, the identity of a nation has been set on the religion that the people of that country are worshiping, even Israel which its foundation is based on the religion; they still keep a national identity as Israelis.
I always thought at least the new generation is more prune to discover its roots and progress toward a national identity, but to my surprise, one caller from Iran to the Voice of America still defended the so-called religious sanctities rather than the national sanctities.
To understand the depth of our problem, we need to contemplate at the history of other nations. One nation who is vastly important in the modern times is Japan. In 1930’s and 40’s, prime minister Tojo took Japan into a world war. He committed atrocities beyond imagination. The acts of his defiant, caused two nuclear bombs to be exploded over the country, to the tune of more than 200,000 killed and millions of deformed generations sixty years after the war. But when after the war, he and eight other of his collaborators were executed, a Buddhist priest managed to steal and preserve their ashes and some of their hair. At present, there is a shrine made in Japan whose people are still making their respect to it. But in Iran, when Reza Shah Pahlavi the Great ended the British rule in Iran, and dragged the nation from 19th century to the 20th, people were dancing with joy, when British and Russian forces attacked Iran and exiled him. Subsequently, his mausoleum in 1979 turned into a public bathroom in disgrace. On the other hand, they set up and worship a mausoleum for someone like Khomeni who expressed no feelings to return home after 15 years of so-called exile (if he ever considered Iran as a home).

In Burma, there are Karen rebels who have been fighting the military rule of Burma for the past twelve years, and even in Afghanistan there was Ahmad Shah Massoud who single handedly with some ragtag army and old weaponry fought Taliban for four years to bitter end, but after close to thirty years, among Iranian patriots yet to find one to even try to organize one effective force against mullahs.
Still in Burma, when the lady Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Prize, she goes back to Burma and use it effectively to combat her country dictatorship, but in Iran when Shirin Ebadi wins the Nobel Prize, she does not know which mullah’s ass to kiss first.

In Tibet there is Dalai Lama, who goes around the world to speak of the misery of Tibet people under the Chinese rule, but Empress Farah Pahlavi quiet for close 30 years finally decides to go around the world trying to promote her literary detritus book, which has neither any historical value nor any educational value. In spite of the fact that there are more than 100 documents and films sent to her to show what the Iranian women are suffering under the mullah’s regime. Reza Pahlavi her son is not faring any better, instead of using the international media after the September 11, 2001 to show the misery of the people under the theological regime, he has been hiding right in the middle of Virginia surrounded by the U.S. government security. To his own delight, once in a while sends a written sympathy with the Iranian people. He can not even explain what it means and what he is trying to do at the end (end never justifies the means for him).

While UMAL_QULSUM the famous Egyptian singer, took the tour of her concerts around the Arab world to raise money for the Egyptian Army, GOOGOOSH our own beloved! singer first she becomes embedded with Mullah, then she dose not know where and with whom to hold a concert to stuff her own pocket with more money, and to show her so-called patriotism, she decides to sell some flags in her concerts too (what a patriot!). Or MOEIN who sells himself to anyone as longs as the occasion is not political and the sponsors are not opponents of the mullahs.

There were number of European athletes that they were refusing to go to Argentina or Chile in 1970’s, because of the crimes committed against humanity by Pinochet and Galtiery, but we have Khadem brothers (they were in the national wrestling team) that they wrestled each other to see which one to kiss the ayatollah Khamenii’s ass first. Or Ali Dahei who is in fact in bed with the daughter one of the regimes official, who becomes the symbol of theology of the regime in Europe.

In 2003, after the invasion of the Iraq by U.S forces, a new design for the flag of Iraq sparked a riot. In 1980, the national symbol of Iran (Lion and the Sun) was eliminated from the flag, and in Arabic, it was written on the flag in red and green portion of it “the God is great” and in the middle of it a symbol very close to the word Allah (of course, I do not know what and whom the mullah were afraid of, because the Iranian people did not care. They came up with a shape similar to the word of “Allah ﷲ ﺇ ” in Arabic, but they really wanted to write the complete Arabic word of “ALLAH”. This is the reason that for a while some people thought they were using the Indian sicks symbol). To this date, no one single Iranian has even protested this change and in the history of no nation has ever happened that a country without being occupied by a foreign power that it has changed its national symbol and symbolizes its flag with foreign words (Taliban were exception in Afghanistan, they could not be compared to the light of any human being). Yet, the strongest man in the world (our own REZAZADEH, the famous weight lifter) wears this shameful symbol on his chest with pride.

Another national disgrace is the picture of a poor woman being prepared for stoning to death. Most of these women can be spared with money, but the Iranian people instead of getting together to raise money to save them, they come to the place of stoning to throw their own stone on the head of the poor creature. This is a national disgrace. We have to be ashamed of ourselves as a nation.

At the end the exiled Iranians or so called opposition turns two controversial figures Richard Perle (who is known as prince of darkness) and Michael Ledeen into heroes, and suddenly treats them as they have become altruistic figures. They invite them to their so-called think tanks and award them with gifts. They do not realize that the same Michael Ledeen and Richard Perle were the president Regan’s advisor in the 1980’s. While the Iran-Iraq war was prolonged, the Iranians were called barbarians, the Iranian Airliner was shot down by U.S. Navy, they helped Saddam Hussein when he used chemical weapons against Iranians and Kurds (there is joke said by Ted Copple “we knew Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, because we had the receipt for them), and the secret agreements with mullahs were made to sell them more weapons so to divert the money to fund Nicaraguan guerillas (Nice heroes guys!). The only ones were missing that would have completed our heroes gatherings were Jimmy Carter, and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

We do not realize that figures like “Cyrus the Great”, “Ferdossi”, and “Reza Shah the Great” are rare in our history. They come about once every 1250 years. If we had the audacity to cherish these figures, at least we could have been like our neighbor to the west Turkey, which has created its national identity by one figure alone “Kamal Pasha Attaturk”. This is the reason they have an identity and we do not. There is not only a joy but also a big shame to be Iranian.

By: Dr. Allen Aria