HISTORY

The Diplomat Media – Printed on 04/25/2026

By the editorial team of The Diplomat Media

A great civilization before the Islamic Republic

At a time when the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran is once again reshaping the entire Middle East balance and even the global order, it is important to remember a fact that is too often forgotten: Iran is not limited to the Islamic Republic or its militias. Iran is first and foremost the heir of one of the oldest and most refined civilizations in the world. From the Achaemenid Empire founded by Cyrus to the Parthians and then the Sassanids, Persia has carried a lasting idea of the state, administration, diplomacy, and imperial power. The Safavids, from the 16th century onwards, then reshaped an Iranian national framework by making Twelver Shi’ism the state religion, a major element in the emergence of a unified Iranian political consciousness.

This is precisely why Iranian history prohibits simplifications. Persia has not only produced an empire; it has carried a vision of civilizational continuity. This historical depth explains why Iran has remained, despite invasions, conquests, and dynastic ruptures, a synthesis of power, culture, and regional balance. Even the Islamization of the country did not erase this ancient Persian background; it instead built upon a political and cultural matrix that predates the Islamic Republic born in 1979.

Persians and Jews: An ancient, often fruitful relationship

It is this long duration that sheds light on the often positive relationships between Persians and Jews. When Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he allowed the exiled Jews to return to Judah and rebuild their temple; in Jewish memory, this gesture left a decisive mark. More broadly, the Judeo-Persian communities have been deeply rooted in the Iranian and Mesopotamian space, to the point that, under the Parthians and then the Sassanids, Jews had been living for centuries under Iranian sovereignty. Persian influence has also left a lasting imprint on certain dimensions of rabbinic Judaism and culture.

It is not about idealizing all of Iranian history: there were also discriminations, especially in certain pre-modern periods. But, over the long term, the Persian world has often provided Jews with historical continuity, coexistence, and even superior protection compared to other regions in the Middle East. This historical reality still weighs heavily on the strategic memory of the region.

The Shah, Israel, and the geopolitics of peripheries

This historical depth helps to understand another fact too often overlooked due to present-day ideological passions: between 1948 and 1979, the Shah’s Iran and Israel maintained strategic relations, albeit often discreet. This rapprochement responded to a clear geopolitical logic: Iran was a non-Arab, non-Sunni power seeking security and influence partnerships. Added to this were the existence of a significant Jewish community in Iran and ancient human ties between the two societies. The Iranian-Israeli alliance under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was not an anomaly but a convergence of interests consistent with Iran’s long history.

The Pahlavi reign was part of a national modernization attempt. The “White Revolution,” launched in 1963, aimed to transform the country through economic, social, and administrative reforms. It modernized Iran but also disrupted rural areas, accelerated urbanization, weakened traditional structures, and fueled political, social, and religious opposition. It is within this tension that the Shah’s regime was destabilized.

1979: The Islamic Revolution and Western blindness

The upheaval of 1979 was therefore, in the strict sense, a historical confiscation. The revolution did not just overturn an authoritarian monarch; it replaced a modernizing national state with a revolutionary theocracy centered around the “velayat-e faqih” or the sovereignty of the cleric-jurist. The tragedy is that the West bears a double responsibility in this sequence. First, through its past: the 1953 coup orchestrated with American and British support against Mossadegh nourished lasting anti-Western resentment. Secondly, through its blindness in 1978-1979: some Western elites wanted to see Khomeini as a mere moral or spiritual opponent, without understanding that he carried a radical theocratic project.

France itself played a significant role in this sequence. Arriving near Paris on October 6, 1978, Khomeini, wrongly considered by the entire left-wing intelligentsia and academic circles as a “Sage” and the new “Che Guevara” of oppressed peoples, then settled in Neauphle-le-Château, from where he could freely spread his messages to the world before his triumphant return to Tehran on February 1, 1979. For the West, this was a major analytical error: many did not realize that they were providing a powerful platform for a religious revolution that would quickly eliminate liberals, marginalize and assassinate moderates, and establish a total theocratic power (see Roland Lombardi’s work on this subject, “The Thirty Shameful Years,” 2020, VA Editions).

Since 1979, the real Persia subordinated to the mullahs’ ideology

Since then, the Islamic Republic has continued to subordinate real Iran to an ideological project. The grandeur of Persia, its balancing role, diplomatic genius, and national interest have been overshadowed by a revolutionary export logic inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood and adapted to Shiism. The regime has structured itself around the Supreme Leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and its Quds Force, which organizes and supports external armed networks; all of this has fueled what is now called the “Axis of Resistance,” including Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, and other allied militias. In passing, “the Palestinian cause” is nothing more than a simple “calling card” for the mullahs of Tehran in the Sunni world. It is no longer Persia speaking; it is an ideological apparatus that instrumentalizes the Iranian nation in service of a strategy of permanent regional destabilization and terrorism.

The current conflict should not overshadow Iran’s long history

The current conflict harshly reminds us of this. On April 22, 2026, Washington announced the indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran to continue negotiations, without clear alignment from Tehran or Tel Aviv. But this crisis should not lead to confusing Iran with the regime that governs it. The Islamic Republic is not the natural outcome of Persian history; it is the ideological twist. It has transformed a great civilization, long capable of diplomacy, coexistence, and balance, into a power of confrontation, attrition, and nuisance.

This is why the question of Iran must be raised with rigor. It is not about being “for” or “against” Iran, but about distinguishing Persia from Khomeini, the Iranian nation from the revolutionary machine, the long history of a people from the ideology that has held it captive since 1979. Until this distinction is made, the West will continue to misunderstand Iran, as it did when the Islamic revolution took hold. And as long as it persists, the Islamic Republic will continue to make the region — and first and foremost the Iranians themselves — pay the price for this immense historical confiscation.

Read also: ANALYSIS – Retaliation against the Houthis, a final warning to Iran?

(Tags: Iran, Persia, Iranian History, Geopolitics, Middle East, Iranian Revolution, Khomeini, Shah, Persian Empire, Persian Civilization, Iran 1979, International Relations, Strategy, Diplomacy, Iran-Israel Conflict, US-Iran Relations, Geopolitical Analysis, World History, Regional Power, Axis of Resistance, Shiism, Political Islam, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Geostrategy, Ancient Iran, Ancient Persia, Safavids, Achaemenids, Sassanids, Parthians, Modern Iran, Middle East Crisis, Regional Balance, International Politics, Iranian Nation, Theocracy, Iranian Power, Historical Analysis)