Mr. Rubio, Have Some Shame, Stop the War Against Persian Culture!
An Open Opinion Letter by prominent Iranian German lawyer, Dr. Iranbomy:
Speaking beneath the Acropolis, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio calls upon Europe to awaken from its "long slumber" and rekindle the "fire ignited millennia ago." As a lawyer based in Frankfurt—a defender of human dignity and a human rights advocate—I must ask: Which fire is he referring to?
When he speaks of 2,500 years of Western civilization—of Michelangelo, Newton, and Cortés—he fails to mention that those 2,500 years also encompass the history of Iran.
*1. Who saved the Jews?* In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great liberated the Jews from the Babylonian Exile and enabled the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Book of Ezra). The Cyrus Cylinder in the British Museum—a replica of which stands at the UN—is the first human rights document. Iran was a savior of freedom, not an enemy.
*2. Who burned what?* Rubio laments the prospect of a burning Acropolis. But who burned *Sardis in 498 BCE* (Herodotus V.101)? Who burned *Persepolis in 330 BCE*—now UNESCO World Heritage Site No. 114—at the hands of Alexander? Under *Art. 8(2)(b)(ix) of the Rome Statute and the ICTY judgment in the Strugar case (Dubrovnik)*, this would today constitute a war crime against world cultural heritage.
*3. The Huntington Trap:* This speech represents a revival of Huntington’s "Clash of Civilizations." Yesterday it was Islam vs. the West; today, it is Iranian humanistic culture vs. the West. This is not strength; it is *cultural discrimination*—a violation of *UNESCO Declaration 2001, Articles 1 and 4 (no culture is superior)* and of the *CERD*.
It harms the West’s only true allies in Iran: the wise, peace-loving, liberal Iranians of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. And it benefits religious extremists on both sides.
Those who have not reckoned with 246 years of slavery and the genocide of indigenous peoples (Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee 1890)—as defined by the *1948 Genocide Convention*—should not brand another culture with a 2,500-year history as an "enemy of freedom."
Iran and the wise Iranians—promoters of peace and friendship, heirs of Cyrus—are part of the West.
Sincerely,
Dr. Dr. Shahram Iranbomy, Human Rights Advocate
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