Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Old grudges against Persia Iran

19 September 2019

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One of my favourite movies is Kingdom of Heaven (IMDb), albeit for different reasons than you might expect. The movie shows several historic events besides the Crusades: the weakening of the Sasanian Empire of Iran (Persia), the rise of Islam, and the fall of the Golden Age of Islam. This 2005 movie changed my perspective on that region.

Wiki: “Once a major world power, the Sasanian Empire [of Iran / Persia] had exhausted its human and material resources after decades of warfare against the Byzantine Empire“, which was the successor of the Roman Empire. Indirectly, the Christian Crusades are thus accountable for the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651.

The Arabs started attacking Persia Iran in 633. Its conquest in 651 may have been a Pyrrhic victory because it also led to the Shia versus Sunni divide in Islam. Also see my 2016 blog: Shia vs Sunni. Shia Islam is still dominant in Iran/Persia, while Sunni islam is dominant in Arab countries.

Despite the Muslim conquest, Persia/Iran retained its monarchies and dynasties. In 1979, the (U.S. supported) Iranian Pahlavi dynasty ended following the Iranian Revolution and was succeeded by the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2014, the Iranian President claimed that its “revolution ended the “humiliation” of western-imposed autocracy” (HuffPost-2014).

Arabs and Americans are still holding grudges against Iran following both historic events (ie, shia divide in 632 and 1979 Iranian Shia revolution). Both grudges still play a key role today (eg, recent drone attack on Saudi Arabian oil fields).

The complex relationship between Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince (eg, 9-11 attacksKhashoggi assassination), and Donald Trump’s USA is causing additional issues:

“As for Capitol Hill, where Saudi Arabia has fewer friends since the murder and dismemberment of [Saudi-American] journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said that, in this case, “the U.S. military is not authorized to retaliate on behalf of another country.” “(Bloomberg) Note: URLs in quote added by LO.

For the moment, Israel seems to be leading the military attacks on Iran. Iranian retaliation against Israel would be a major “gift” to Donald Trump. However, Trump is “a coward” and his bullying seems to confirm the old saying that a barking dog never bites. The Israeli PM should be wary of becoming Trump’s fall guy.

“To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.” A quote by Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC), a Chinese philosopher.

Bad Guy (2019) by Billie Eilish

artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2

So you’re a tough guy 

Like it really rough guy 

Just can’t get enough guy 

Chest always so puffed guy

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless stated otherwise

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