Iran

From RationalWiki

Iran, formerly known as Persia, is a large country that is on the border between the Middle East and Central Asia. As a non-Arabic country in a region dominated by Arabs, it has traditionally been viewed with suspicion by its neighbors. (Its neighbors are, of course, on fantastic terms with each other, because they are brother Arabs.) Like some other Middle Eastern countries, it has large oil reserves beneath its territory.

1 Another version
2 Islamic Republic of Iran
3 Hostage crisis
4 See also
5 Footnotes

[edit] Another version

This version has Iran being bordered by Arabs on one side, a couple of different former Soviet types on another side or two, Afghans elsewhere and Pakistanis somewhere else. Most of those are not Arabs, but many people (mostly Americans) have a difficult time with all of this. Yet another good reason to bomb them off the map?

[edit] Islamic Republic of Iran

The current government in Iran is a theocratic republic. This government was founded by the Ayatollah Khomeni after he deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1978-9. It is well-known for its particularly brutal treatment of homosexuals. ^[1] Iran's current president is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has drawn condemnation (particularly from non-Muslim countries and the sane) for his promotion of Holocaust denial.

This is the same Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who, according to Al Jazeera, caused some amusement by making the bizarre claim that: "In Iran we do don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon."^[2]

[edit] Hostage crisis

^{More detail!}

In 1979 a group of militant Iranian students stormed and took over the US Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 of the former occupants hostage for 444 days. This led to a proliferation of "Nuke Tehran" bumper stickers, and to difficulties for President Jimmy Carter in his bid for re-election in 1980. The hostages were released shortly after Ronald Reagan was elected President. Later, he repaid the windfall by allegedly selling arms to Iran illegally, in order to funnel the profits to the Contras in Nicaragua. We say "allegedly" because such anti-American nefarious behavior is obviously outside the realm of possibility for such a great American President.