Iran’s presidential election will be held in less than two weeks and Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the country’s judiciary, appears to be the top contender. This raises the question: Who exactly is he? Born in 1960 in the city of Mashhad, Ebrahim Rais Al-Sadati attended a Shiite seminary in his home town during the era of Mohammed Reza Shah. He later moved to Qom’s seminary. As
Can Iran and America Escape the Cycle of Hatred?
Most Americans view Iran as a wild-eyed fanatic Muslim country out to spread terror throughout the Middle East, and with a deep hatred for the United States. The truth, however, is a bit more complicated.
Most Americans view Iran as a wild-eyed fanatic Muslim country out to spread terror throughout the Middle East, and with a deep hatred for the United States. The truth however is a bit more complicated. With the continuing dysfunctional relationship between two nation-states that in other circumstances would be close allies, perhaps a look into the history between the two countries is worth a look and will reveal a way forward for them to find common ground.
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Chalk one up to Jean Baptiste Tavernier, a 17th century French diamond trader who left us an account of his travels in Persia. After years of interaction with Persian merchants, ministers and monarchs, he concluded that, “The Persians are naturally great dissemblers and flatterers; and they make it their study to acquire esteem and applause,” while, at the same time, being “mightily addicted to ill language, and foul-mouthed reproaches.”
Being French, Tavernier must have felt a certain kinship. Indeed, it wasn’t long before many Western scholars and historians were arguing that Persia was to the Muslim world what France under Louis XIV was to Christian Europe: the epitome of sophistication, elegance, high culture and, last but not least, cynical arrogance.
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