It has been 1,400 years since Islam took control of Iran so current conversations about whether the uprising against the regime controlled by the ayatollahs could see a return to Iran’s ancient faith is utterly fanciful. Islam is very securely anchored in Iran today and while Iranians have been protesting against the repression of the current Islamic regime, that cannot be seen as a rejection of the religion itself. Now Islam is as Iranian (or Persian) as its ancient faiths.

Thus, the possibility of a revival of Zoroastrianism in the land of its birth would only find resonance in India. Iran turned to Shi’ism during Safavid rule in the 16th century, which triggered persecution of Sunni and other Islamic sects, besides the remaining Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews. As the world’s largest Shi’a Muslim nation, it supports Islamic outfits from Hezbollah and Hamas to Houthis and is the arch enemy of Israel and the US. Can it really change again?

The optimism of some Indians is understandable as indigenous faiths of ancient Iran (Eran/Airan) and India (Aryavarta) have startling similarities, including a common link to Aryans. Many Indians, for instance, will hear echoes of our own Sanskrit writings in the 5th century BC inscription on the tomb of the Achaemenid ruler Darius I: “Aham Darayavoush…Parsa Parsahya Putra Ariya Ariya Chitra" (“I am Darius, Persian, son of a Persian, Aryan, of Aryan lineage…")

Now called Zoroastrianism and Hinduism thanks to 19th century western scholars eager to ascribe a structure to organic proto-historic belief systems, the divergent fate of these faiths must be noted as Iranians rise against the Islamic regime—the first country in modern........

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