Iran’s long history shows a pattern of resistance and resilience against external powers.

The present conflict between Iran and its antagonists to its west has echoes of a very long stretch of time in which Iran’s enemies underestimated its resilience. Is this another such time?

The conflict means an increased number of Australian citizens are now familiar with the geography of Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, and we assume the same is true of Americans, who now find themselves inexplicably at war with a distant nation. But the history of Iran (Persia) demonstrates a long, dramatic and powerful position in its relations with its external rivals.

In the conflict that began on 28 February with Israel and the USA attacking Iran, a tragedy – another tragedy – is the apparent likelihood that the brave internal Iranian opposition to its ruling theocracy will not gain from the present situation. Having your nation bombed by Israel can bring its citizens together, if temporarily, rather than strengthen a domestic protest movement.

As Amin Saikal in Pearls and Irritations noted, the regime can remain strong. To progressive outsiders, it was another historic tragedy that liberal democratic reformers were unable to benefit from following the termination of the authoritarian reign of the Pahlavi family in 1976. Instead, it was the faction led by the Shia mullahs which came to acquire and quickly consolidate power, and the Pahlavi Shah went into his well-funded exile.

Memories are short: it is depressing that images of his son, the royal pretender........

© Pearls and Irritations