The key player in U.S.–Iran relations wasn’t given an office in the United Nations this past winter, and hasn’t been spending time in a Washington office or eating lamb stews in Tehran. The key player in this relationship would be the people of Iran: the ones who have grown fiercely nationalist, who are weary of the fundamentalists running their nation and who refuse to forget the memory of nationalist hero Mohammed Mossadegh, a democratically-elected prime minister who was overthrown in 1953 by a U.S.-United Kingdom-backed coup for the sake of protecting their interests in Iranian oil.
While the Iranians have not forgotten this history, they surely have forgiven our mistake. Stuck with a government infatuated with Islam which has slowly been erasing the history of all those who governed the land separate from religion, Iranians are clinging to all memories of their past, willing to accept help from wherever it may come.
The Islamic Republic’s current attempts to erode nationalist sentiments among its people have reached new heights. Moving past tactics of killing those who currently oppose their leadership, the Ayatollahs in Iran have decided to erase the symbols of Persian heroes and kings who either fought against the spread of Islam from Arab lands into Iran, or did not follow Islamic law. Take, for example, the ancient city of Pasargadae where Cyrus the Great, the man who emancipated the Jews over 2,000 years ago, is buried. The site is being destroyed by water damage, facilitated by the government’s insistence that a water dam be built nearby. Next, the Tomb of Firuzan, where Persian hero Abu Lulu was buried and had been honored for centuries after fighting Islamic Arab invaders (who would come to spread their religion into Persia), was recently destroyed to please Arab sentiments. Both of these sites are a part of the foundation upon which Iranian nationalism has been built, and they are intentionally being ruined.
Acts like this are being committed throughout Iran with the intent to dishearten the Iranian nationalist movement, yet they are counteracting Tehran’s aims to quell this growing Iranian pride. Should the United States and the international community take advantage of the average Iranian’s disdain for their current government? Much more effective results could be achieved in terms of Iranian relations than through the current sanctions, which do very little to curry the favor of a proud population. The U.N., through one of its historical preservation programs like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), could do this by protecting such valuable tributes to Iranian history. Additionally, funding for nationalist political parties within Iran, such as the National Front and National Party, could do wonders in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
By angering the Iranian people with sanctions on their country, the Western world is permitting the chance to cement an alliance against the Ayatollahs to slip away. If Iranian cooperation is truly needed to win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then the 65 million people living in Iran are the ones who can help change the direction of their nation. While they may not be able to rid Tehran of the Ayatollahs who run the country, Iranians can vote in legislators and a president who can fight the power of the Ayatollahs, and one day bring change to the system of government in their country — with a little bit of our encouragement and help, of course.