The Culture of Patriotism
By: A Persian in America - New York

In an article entitled ‘Is Persian Language Dying?’ in the Essays Section, of Khorsheed Magazine the writer expressed concern about the state of the Persian language in our country today. His concerns stemmed from the tendencies of the Islamic Republic regime to open up our day to day language use to more Arabic words and expressions than is really called for as manifested by newspaper articles, official memos and literature and in other regime promoted venues. The article was thought provoking and prompted me to raise the subject of nationalism in general as it applies to us, Persians. I recall a rather lengthy discussion among some of your readers on some issues relating to Persian nationalism and identity on the pages of your electronic magazine in a course of a few months not too long ago. Such discussions, I believe can prove invaluable in making us think more attentively about these important issues especially in these trying times when our nation is fighting for its freedom and independence from the ruling regime. My article here bears some of the issues on this subject which I believe require special attention and I hope that it will open the door to a healthy discourse with exchange of ideas among your readers. May we all benefit from these discussions.

Actually the fact that the present regime in Iran encourages the use of Arabic words in our day-to-day Persian language is not an issue that should cause consternation. The anti-nationalistic stance this regime has taken from the beginning is not limited to the use of our language. It shows itself with regards to every aspect of our culture and identity. The regime in Iran constantly resorts to whatever means possible to downplay the importance of our national heritage. It was Khomeini himself who claimed that our revolution was not for Iran but for Islam or that the observance and celebration of ‘Nowrooz’ and other Persian feasts and ceremonies to be reactionary and anti-revolutionary . It was the other clergy, Khalkhali who at one point was advocating the idea of changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the ‘Islamic Gulf’! And again it was the same clergy who embarked upon an ill-fated attempt to level down the remains of Persepolis because they were reminiscent of the past glories of our country and not of Islam. Had it not been for the bravery of some of our people, who stood in the way of the bulldozers, he may have actually accomplished his plan. In view of such anti nationalistic tendencies this regime has demonstrated, it hardly comes as a surprise to see its attempts to engulf our language with Arabic words.

The efforts of the Regime to trivialize our Persian identity and impose upon us an Islamic or Arabic culture however have continuously backfired from the inside of our country in many forms. There has been a wonderful revival of the Persian arts and music after the revolution. Many of our Persian films in recent years have won prestigious international awards and honorable mentions. What our people are producing in response to their nationalistic calls in Iran in reaction to the anti-nationalistic stance of the regime, is a far cry from what was the norm before the revolution. In spite of the fact that our nation is committed to safeguarding its national identity amid the tendencies of the regime to the contrary however, one can not claim that there is no cause for concern about the possible endangerment of our Persian identity. Although our people have always demonstrated selflessness and bravery in defending their country and values, it takes more than that for a country to ensure its survival and maintain its national identity in the long run of historical events. Put another way, there are many dimensions to nationalism that need to be maintained and nurtured all at the same time in order to enable a people to secure its rightful place in the domain of the world cultures.

Nationalism, like most other traits has its own culture and the likelihood of its survival is a function of that culture. How we are made aware of our national identity and what we are taught in terms of its importance and ultimately how effectively we promote that identity are the determining factors of our success or failure in maintaining a healthy national identity. The culture of nationalism or patriotism is the focus of my attention in this article. In response to foreign aggressions in conflicts and wars we should defend our land and property, and our people have throughout the ages demonstrated their readiness to fulfill that prophecy. I am not sure however if we are as committed to defending our national values and Persian identity in the same way. I would like to point out here that the kind of nationalism I am talking about is one that involves ownership and preservation of cultural riches including language, arts, music, literature and customs and ways of life. It is the kind that would announce to the world our contributions to humanity and culture of the world through our 5000 years of recorded history.

In order to explain my views on this subject more clearly I would like to resort to some of my personal experiences in this regard. A number of years ago before the revolution in Iran, I left home as a young person to continue my studies overseas. After a short while living abroad and having exposure to new cultures I came to notice that there were differences in the way some of us Persians viewed our national heritage and identity and the way other nationals did theirs. I started to feel that there was something lacking in our nationalistic sentiments as I compared my fellow Persian students to those from other countries. I observed a stronger commitment, if you will, to national identity in students from other countries. I was stunned at the way some of my fellow Persians were so taken by some aspects of the new culture in which they were living while disregarding their own. Presently, as I am sure many of you in America and Europe have observed, many Persian parents show little commitment to have their children learn and speak their native Persian. Many of the younger Persians in America speak very little or no Persian at all in spite of the fact that they live with parents some of whom speak little or hardly any English! Also, a little attention to programming offered on most of the Persian television networks in America would reveal the non-Persian contents of most of them. And finally the most disturbing and unpatriotic of all attitudes demonstrated by some of our countrymen in recent months, support for possible military action against our country by the United States to rid us of the Islamic Regime.

As I attempt to explain the somewhat apathetic attitude of some of us with respect to our national identity, I keep coming to the realization that nationalism is a trait that needs to be taught and the causes of our prevailing behaviors can be traced to the way we have been taught to view nationalism. It appears to me that the concept of nationalism in our country has never, at least in recent history, been treated as an end to itself. Instead it has always been used as a means for fulfilling other agendas. Before the revolution there was always a great deal of rhetoric about our Persian nationality by the regime but that brand of nationalism hardly amounted to anything our people could identify with. The pursuance of supposedly nationalistic ideas by that regime alienated a good many of us and to some extent helped to set the foundations of the Islamic fundamentalism in our country. Assurances the late Shah gave Cyrus the Great that we were alert and watchful of the country so that he could rest in peace turned out to be hollow promises that never moved his people to the gates of the greater civilization as was promised. That kind of unpopular nationalism caused reactions in people and provided a favorable setting for the supporters of the Islamic Republic to pursue their goal.

As children, growing up in Iran my generation was not taught the necessity of safeguarding and strengthening national identity. The history lessons we committed to memory in school were the report cards of shahs and rulers many of whom hardly ever identified with their people. The slogans we were bombarded with through the media and the prominent political discourse we were subjected to were all self-serving propaganda in the name of nationalism and Persianism and tended to promote only the interests of the ruling class. That kind of nationalism could be labeled the imposed brand. The mullahs on the other hand have never claimed to be nationalists. They are imposing on us a political philosophy that is totally alien to our way of life and values and as a direct result of that people are resorting to their Persian identity for answers. This brand of nationalism that is now precipitating in our country may be termed a reactionary nationalism if you will. What we need is a form of nationalism through which our people can see, appreciate and promote their Persian identity for the sake of being known and regarded by the whole world as an independent nation with its very own values and virtues. We should not resort to nationalism only as a means of expressing our frustration with the prevailing course of events (reference to our reaction to the Islamic Republic regime) as we should not abandon our Persian identity and embrace an alien culture, because we are wronged in the name of nationalism (reference to our reaction to the Shah’s regime).

Under both regimes, the Shah’s and the Islamic Republic, no investment was or being made to promote our national identity either with respect to our own perception of it or with respect to the worldwide view of it. The revolution, which was really a progressive nationalistic movement initiated by the nationalists for establishing democracy and political independence in our country could not have materialized without the support of the masses. Ironically, the achievement of our revolutionary goals required incorporating in the movement a religious dimension without which the masses would not have risen. The religious ingredient was meant to serve only as a catalyst to get the revolution going and bring about a nationalistic form of government in our country. An Islamic regime especially of the form we have today was never considered as a political alternative, at least not by the majority of our people. In recognition of this fact even Khomeini himself, while in France declared that upon successful completion of the first phase of the revolution he would resort to seclusion in the holly city of Qom and would leave the running of the government to elected officials of the people. Alas, the means changed to an end and the religious dimension of the process took over and the rest is history.

I consider it a social problem that our religion should serve as a more effective means of mobilizing the nation than would our nationality though I do realize that it was the misguided brand of the Shah’s nationalism, which was the underlying cause of it. Our new commitment to Persian nationalism that is now flourishing in our nation is our response to the tyrannies of this alien Islamic Republic regime. This could be viewed as a great opportunity for us to seize the moment and capitalize on this reactionary form of nationalism to further promote the cause of Persian identity. We need to learn that nationalism is an end to itself and should not be resorted to only as a means of confronting unwanted situations. The following approaches may serve as ways to accomplish this task.

First, the subject of our language and the concerns expressed in the article ‘Is Persian Language Dying?’ As I pointed out earlier, I do not believe our language should be viewed as in danger of extinction as a result of the anti-Persian policies of the present regime. Our language however is in need of nurturing, promotion, expansion and improvement. Facilities such as this magazine and other similar venues can play a major role in this endeavor by educating and informing. Persian is the language of one of the richest and most valuable treasures of literary works in the world. It is the language of Ferdowsi, Hafez and Sa’adi. It must be used accurately and with pride. Due to the fact that our country was attacked and occupied by Arabs after the precipitation of Islam and since Arabic was imposed on us for some 200 years, some Arabic words have inevitably found their way in our language and have stayed with us. By comparison with the other countries that suffered a similar fate as we did, we have been far more successful not only in maintaining our culture, language and identity but also in influencing the conqueror’s culture. What is today known to the world as Islamic Art is predominantly Persian. Persian art of ceramics, miniature painting, architecture and calligraphy are but a few examples of our artistic surge in the world of Islam.

At different points in time suggestions have been made by some to rid our language of all Arabic words all together. In the same way as it would be madness to abandon our art of ceramics and design because it has become known to the world as an Islamic phenomenon, it would be cultural suicide to try to purge our language from Arabic words. Most aspects of Islamic or Arabic culture that have penetrated ours have become so Persianized in nature that it is almost impossible to recognize their origins. For example Persian calligraphy which was developed by Persian artists utilizing Arabic alphabets (Kufi) acquired its own identity independent of its Arabic origin and is now also used by Arabs for artistic writing. Rather than trying to do away with the effects of Islamic culture we need to maintain and promote their Persian aspects and most importantly we must let others know about it. In other words we need to announce to the world our contributions and make efforts to let the world know the Persian origins of so many artistic, scientific and cultural contributions that presently are being credited to others by default. I maintain that in this respect we have been inexcusably negligent of our responsibilities. This is the aspect of our nationalistic behavior that needs to be reevaluated.

As I recall, even before the Revolution some of our people, especially from the older generations tended to use Arabic words in place of widely used Persian alternatives in their day-to-day conversations. For example referring to the ministry of culture as the “Vezarate M’aaref” instead of ‘Vezarate Farhang’. The use of harsh out-of-fashion words in place of more commonly used ones may have been viewed as a sign of being more educated without much consideration given the nationalistic (or lack thereof) dimension of such a behavior. Related to this problem are also the present tendencies of many Persian parents in America and Europe who encourage their children to speak and therefore only learn the language of the society in which they reside. These parents may think that in their respective adopted societies the knowledge of Persian language is inconsequential to the academic and professional success of their children. The people who use Arabic words and expressions to impress or the parents who do not facilitate for their children to learn Persian lack nationalistic conviction. This is not necessarily due to any disregard or disrespect for their culture; rather, it is due to an ignorance of the necessity of behaving nationalistically. Something we have not been taught to value and promote.

As I have made clear, I do not advocate the indiscriminate purging of our language from Arabic words as a nationalistic gesture. I do however maintain that we need to work on our language to revitalize its Persian character and uniqueness. One way this could be accomplished is through expanding the language to include more and more Persian words and expressions. At different points in time modest attempts have been made to do that, for example Reza Shah had ordered replacing many Arabic words with Persian words in academic books and government correspondence. Such efforts need to be pursued vigorously and continuously. Recently I have come across a little dictionary of Persian words and expressions after many years of looking for such a publication that gives the Persian equivalents of common Arabic words. This particular little dictionary, which was published in 1940 (Persian Year 1319) as part of efforts to Persianize our language contains many Persian equivalents of Arabic words frequently used in our language up to that time. This 130 page book was compiled upon the efforts of a number of great literary figures and intellectuals of the time such as Mohammad Ali e Foruqi, Badiozzamaan e Fruzaanfar, Ahmad e Matin Daftari, Hossein e Gole Golaab, Ostaad Purdaavud, Mohammad e Hejaazi and others. The Persian words that are offered in this book as alternatives for their Arabic counterparts have now become commonplace in our language and all of us use them all the time. Examples of these words are the Persian “sud” for Arabic “naf’e”; Persian “shahrbaani” for Arabic “nazmiyeh”; Persian “ziyaan” for Arabic “zarar”; Persian “hamchand” for Arabic “moaadel”; Persian “raayzani” for Arabic “moshaavereh”; Persian “saakhtemaan” for Arabic “emaarat”; Persian “gomaashtan” for Arabic “entesaab” and many more. It is interesting to note that many of these Persian words sounded alien to our ears before these efforts to promote them. Judging by the contents of some Persian books written before that time, these Persian equivalents were never in use or familiar to readers’ ears. The efforts of these people have resulted in the expansion of our common vocabulary without subjecting the Arabic equivalents to oblivion. Most of us know that “ziyaan” is the Persian word for the Arabic “zarar” and so on. We need more efforts of this kind today.

Another way we can improve our language and give it more Persian uniqueness is by purging our alphabet from redundant Arabic letters that serve no purpose in our language. This approach tends to further Persianize Arabic words we need to keep in our language; it makes reading and writing easier and more regulated and also has the tremendous advantage of making the learning of Persian easier for our children. An example of this would be to do away with the 11th, 18th and 20th letters of the alphabet, the Arabic “zaal”, “zaad” and “zeyn” in favor of the 13th letter, the Persian “ze”. This way we would write all of the words that are now written with any of these letters with one letter, the “ze”. For example presently we write the word “naazem” with the 20th letter of the alphabet. This could be written with the 13th letter just as well without any change in meaning or pronunciation. In our language we do not produce the sounds that these Arabic letters represent, therefore we have no use for them and they might as well be replaced .

Another disturbing mistake is to incorporate purely Arabic letters (refer to footnote 3) in the spelling of Persian words or names. For example writing ‘Tehran’ with the 19th letter of the alphabet or ‘Esfahaan’ with the 17th letter or ‘Kiumars’ with the 5th letter or ‘Tapaancheh’ with the 19th letter. There is a Persian television station that airs programs in America by the name of ‘Tapesh’. Unfortunately the owners of this station spell their trade name ‘Tapesh’ with the 19th letter of the alphabet. Not only is this nationalistically irresponsible behavior it is also a mistake, a definite misspelling! The word ‘Tapesh’ is what we refer to in Persian grammar as ‘Esme Masdar e Shini’ which is derived from the verb ‘Tapidan’ meaning ‘to pulsate’ and we all know that the ‘T’ in ‘Tapidan’ is the 4th letter of the alphabet.

One other thing that we could do with respect to our language to enhance its Persian identity is to, so-to-speak re-Persianize all of the Persian words and expressions that have been replaced with their Arabic versions. The very first examples that come to mind are of course the words ‘Paarsi’ and ‘Paars’. I challenge anyone to provide a convincing argument for having kept these Persian words in their Arabic format (‘Faarsi’ and ‘Faars’) in our language for so many centuries. Why are we not bothered by this? Is there a good literary reason for not having resorted to ‘Paars’ and ‘Paarsi’ or is this merely a reflection of a flawed sense of patriotism? I see this as a shortfall in our culture of identity. This is where a cultural re-evaluation is due. What reason could there be for us Persians to refer to our language in the same way as Arabs, who do not pronounce the letter ‘P’, do? Initially when our country was occupied by Arabs we were forced to replace the ‘P’ with the ‘F’, but what about now or all of these centuries ever since we have reclaimed our country and language? I believe we need to go back to the use of ‘Paars’ in place of ‘Faars’ and ‘Paarsi’ in place of ‘Faarsi’ when we converse in Persian. Other examples of this kind would be the conversion of such words as ‘Firuz’ to ‘Piruz’, ‘Dezful’ to ‘Dezhpol’ and ‘Esfahaan’ to ‘Espahaan’ spelled with the 15th letter of the alphabet.

Another habit among our people living in America which, I am sure many of you have noticed is to Americanize the pronunciation of their Persian names. This is done by replacing those letters of one’s name that are hard for Americans to pronounce with substitute letters. I know of a number of my compatriots the new pronunciation of whose Persian names are totally unrecognizable by Persian ears. An example of that is when “Mokhtaar” is converted to “McTar” (seemingly changing a Persian name to a Scottish one! – I am making reference to such names as Mokhtaar and Ja’afar as Persian despite their Arabic origin, as they have become a part of our name culture). Other examples are “Ron” for “Mehraan”, “Jeff” for “Ja’afar” and “Betty” for “Batul”. I do not recall having come across other nationals who would change their names or even the pronunciation of their names to accommodate for or receive approval from those who may have difficulty pronouncing them. These tendencies are disturbing to me since they could be viewed as tantamount to a lack of national self-confidence.

Another observation that I find rather disheartening is to watch some of my countrymen who have lived in the West for a while use knife and fork when eating traditional rice-based Persian dishes. As far as I can remember the utensil commonly used for eating Persian food has always been spoon and fork and not knife and fork. I think it is even easier to use spoon and fork to eat ‘chelo-khoresh’! Contrast this with the behavior of say Chinese people who even eat their soup like dishes with chopsticks irrespective of the length of time they have lived in the West. Some may view this as a trivial issue but I maintain that these little things speak a lot about our conviction to our ways and practices, which in turn form the basis of our identity.

My hope is that the next regime that will hold power in our country will be a nationalistic one devoted to the concept of democracy and justice for all with an extensive agenda for promoting Persian values, principles and culture. It is up to us to lie the foundation of such a system by taking advantage of the opportunities afforded us by such mediums of discourse as this very magazine. One way this and other Persian magazines could help with the process of further Persianizing Persians, would be by promoting discussions on various issues relating to our Persian nationality and identity. There is a need for us to convey to those Persians growing outside of Iran, whose numbers by the way are already quite considerable and are ever growing, the importance of identifying with the homeland through the maintenance and practice of Persian language and ways. Persian television stations that operate in America have a long way to go in terms of producing programs in that context. At this time the contents of most of their programs hardly ever offer a hint of the fact that we are a nation in exile. For the most part what they offer are second hand imitations of superficial American TV programs.

In the same manner as the concept of nationalism does not occupy an independent position separate from other considerations in the behavior patterns of most of us, these business entities also tend to act in a nationalistic vacuum. Nationalism per se does not motivate their practices. I admit that some of them do offer discussions and satirical shows and programs aimed at reflecting the plight of the Persians since the revolution or the atrocities of the ruling regime in Iran, but most of these do not serve much purpose beyond entertainment. I think what our history books in schools failed to convey to us in terms of the importance of being Persian and honoring our history, should now be the foremost priority of the Persian media outlets inside and outside of Iran.

As I mentioned earlier, I recall a rather interesting but alas short-lived discussion on the subject of Persian nationalism and identity on the pages of Khorsheed Magazine that started with the question of “should we refer to our country as Iran or Persia in the outside world”. These questions are exactly the kind that could power beneficial debates on the subject and arouse the interest of many of us who otherwise have no position on these topics. The question of “Persia or Iran” is a very relevant one in this context. I support the motion to return to calling our country Persia outside of Iran as some of your readers had suggested. As one participant in the discussions had pointed out, more than anything this question relates to the concept of ownership; ownership of heritage and culture which form the basis of identity. All patriotic Persians should assume that ownership. Thousands of years of history, civilization, arts and humanity that form the backbone of our social culture must not be taken for granted. Already disturbing disconnects are evident in the world with respect to our Persian identity. Too many people consider Iran and Persia as two separate countries.

A very annoying recent development, at least in the United States is the gradual replacement of the name of our language, “Persian” with “Farsi” in many venues such as dictionaries and newspaper articles. Interestingly enough in support of my argument, the new version of Microsoft Word that I have used for the compilation of this article did not identify the word “Farsi” as a misspelling whereas an earlier version did! “Farsi” is fast replacing Persian! The problem is that people in the West know that ‘Persian’ is an adjective applied to anything from Persia, however most of them are unaware of the sameness of Iran and Persia and as a result as far as they are concerned there is no link between the country they know today as Iran and the country their history books identifies as one of the cradles of civilization in history. Making reference to our language as “Farsi” instead of Persian does not connect us to Persia and it also has the added problem of replacing an English version of a Persian name not with the Persian version of that name but with its Arabic version. As was very elegantly put by one of the participants in those earlier discussions, a return to the practice of calling our country Persia and our language Persian when we speak in English gives each one of us Persians the ownership of a priceless treasure of a history filled with greatness in the eyes of the world.

I also recall that at one point you took a poll of your readers on the issue of “Persia or Iran” and I believe the result was more in favor of not going back to Persia and staying with Iran. The result of the poll was not surprising to me in spite of the very convincing arguments put forward in favor of this proposal by some discussion participants. The poll in my view was rather premature, as the discussions had not gone far enough to establish a foundation for opinions to form. The poll only confirmed the argument I have been making, which is that many of us Persians really do not take the issue of national identity seriously.

One of the opponents of the idea argued that we need not announce to anyone who we are and what our contributions to the world civilization have been. That person believed that a return to calling our country Persia again could endanger the unity of our society as not all Iranians are Persians! He further argued that upon realizing that Persia and Iran are the same, Americans and Europeans may just give us a polite nod which could hardly serve any of our interests. I believe the implication of this argument is that as long as we know who we are and what we are about we should be content and that is all that matters. My response to that line of argument would be that the whole purpose of establishing identity is to facilitate for others to know and recognize us otherwise there would be no need for identifying ourselves. If you lived alone in a desert island isolated from the rest of the world it would not matter if you had a name or not because nobody would be calling you. If you lived with others then your name becomes an important part of you. Your name provides a mental image of who you are and what you represent. In the same fashion if we are recognized as Persians by other nationals then we are linked to thousands of years of history and civilization. And that is just too important not to take seriously.

The same opponent also indicated that a return to Persia would be a risky proposition as it could potentially alienate some of our countrymen as, according to this person not all Iranians are Persians. Again my response would be that nothing could be further from the truth than this statement. Some people mistakenly think that Persia in English language refers to the province of Faars (preferably Paars). All English dictionaries and literary sources consider Persia to mean Iran as a whole and Persian as an adjective for that; anything relating to Iran. As an example, the Oxford English dictionary very simply defines Persia as ‘Ancient and (now) alternative name of Iran’. To argue that not all of our countrymen are Persian is a much riskier proposition in my view that could provide the perfect setting for division among our people; a dangerous path to cover. Again, as one of the participants in the earlier discussions pointed out, one needs to remember how devastating this separatist mentality proved to be for India. People of the same nationality and origin who once lived in harmony together in their unified country are now threatening to blow each other up with nuclear armaments thanks to British imperialistic policies and Indian nationalistic ignorance.

Another opponent of the idea accused the supporters that by wanting to resort to Persia the proponents of the idea want to detach themselves from the name Iran because they are ashamed of the Islamic Republic and its policies! Yet another opponent asked the question that if we called our country the Islamic Republic of Persia, would that have changed things for us? My response to these questions is that first of all the atrocities being committed by the present regime in Iran are indeed shameful but not for us Persians but for the Regime. The whole idea of calling ourselves Persians in English language is to reaffirm our great ancient history in the eyes of the world in the first place and in the second place to divorce ourselves from an evil regime, which does not represent Persian values. Indeed it would have been better if we were known as the Islamic Republic of Persia instead of the Islamic Republic of Iran as that would have been indicative of a great nation going through a difficult phase in its long history. Please note that I have underlined the phrase ‘in English language’ to reaffirm that this proposal does not promote the idea of doing away with the names Iran and Paarsi. I would like to point out again that as was reiterated many times in those discussions by promoters of the idea, nobody is advocating replacing Iran with Persia in Persian language. The whole thrust of this argument is to set the record straight with the rest of the world as to who we are. The promotion of our unique national values and Persian culture among our own people requires the adoption of ideas similar to what I have enumerated above. The successful implementation of a viable approach to promotion of national identity requires efforts being expended on two fronts; internally and externally. Returning to the use of the name Persia and Persian in place of Iran and Farsi facilitates the achievement of that objective on the external front. I further submit that the creation of an enormously positive image in the eyes of foreigners, one in which we are looked upon as coming from the same country and culture as Ferdowsi and Hafez, can prove very rewarding in terms of improving our own self image and perception of our great culture.

In conclusion, I would like to enumerate the points I have made in this article as follows. Our language and culture will prevail and our present enemy, the Islamic Republic regime will not be able to destroy our Persian identity as nationalistic fervor of our people is on the rise in response. Our country in its long and turbulent history has confronted many formidable adversaries and our nation has usually emerged victorious but often at high human and cultural cost. Many of the upheavals and setbacks we have experienced could have been avoided had we had a stronger sense of national identity. A stronger nationalistic commitment means assuming a more aggressive ownership of our great past and contributions to the world civilization and humanity. The shortfall in our patriotic sentiments is the result of a cultural deficiency in which patriotism is not valued for its own. Patriotism as it relates to country and culture rather than to any other trait such as religion, is being utilized by our nation as a means of expressing frustration with the present regime. It is crucial for our people to understand and appreciate the greatness of our Persian culture and utilize it as a unifying force to ensure our survival. Our Persian culture with its Islamic dimension should be nurtured and promoted without allowing these components to work as opposing forces. Rather, we should view both of these as complimentary pieces of the same trait with an agenda of strengthening the Persian dimension further and further without too drastically undermining the Islamic part. The secret of the success of the present regime to maintain itself for so long in Iran in spite of all its atrocities against our people and country is that we have allowed the Islamic aspect of our culture to overshadow the Persian aspect. Our people have now realized the incompatibility of this regime and its ideas with their aspirations and in response are promoting their real identity. This provides an invaluable opportunity for us to take advantage of this new national mindset and promote our Persian identity by such means as the expansion of our language to include more Persian words and by promoting the idea of introducing ourselves to the world as Persians and our country as Persia. Long live Persia and Persians.