Avoid Haste in Persian Gulf-Related Issues
The first ’Persian Gulf’ Conference was held on 29th of April in Tehran in the Center for Great Islamic Encyclopedia. Following comes an excerpt of Sadegh Kharrazi’s speech.
Foreign Ministry’s Department of Educational and Research Affairs, which I presided in 1998, focused on basic research to foster a foreign diplomacy which could constructively defend principles and values of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Evidently, Iran’s territories, its neighbors and Persian Gulf were the topping concerns of the research. Forming think tanks at those years was the first step towards identifying necessary areas of research. Members of the think tanks might have had different ideas, but were all unanimous in serving the rich culture and history of our country.
During the past two centuries, the main function of our diplomatic apparatus has been defending our territory and our historical rights. Although Iran’s political borders are way smaller than its cultural borders today, the best has been done to keep alive the memory of our honored ancestors, those who spread the name of Iran and Persia from Kashgar to Kazan, from Kazan to Kairouan, from Kairouan to Zanzibar and from Zanzibar to Bengal.
All the heritage from the ancient times calls for further attention of our academic community to restudy our identity, history, geography, economy and politics in our sphere of influence, particularly the Persian Gulf.
Setting the priority for our concerns is probably the first step we should take to determine which areas have fallen victim to appropriation and manipulation. How should we react to threats against our historical and national identity?
Defending ’Persian Gulf’ and enthusing over its historical roots neither stems from nationalism nor are the result of demagoguery of a regime, but are honest efforts to render people conscious about their origins. The historical role of Iranians and their rule over Persian Gulf can not be denied by petrodollars.
In relation to Persian Gulf, we are inflicted by ’haste in decisions’ and ’stagnation in research’. Against such a backdrop, our rivals have made attempts to coin alternative titles and histories for Persian Gulf. Our appeasing reactions such as labeling the Gulf with titles such as ’Islamic Gulf’ and ’Friendship Gulf’ aimed to cover up our misconducts in research.
Research carried out by European and American researchers –and recently Chinese and Japanese scholars- are funded by our rivals and presented via articles, books, weblogs and the network of media. However, these efforts could not be merely attributed to imperialism and Arab chauvinism. [Arabs’] quest for their identity and history is also another factor which we could not disregard.
Back to my responsibility in the department, collecting historical maps of the Persian Gulf, restudying documents, organizing the rich archive of Foreign Ministry, publishing multilingual atlases and supporting local researchers to write brief but definitive essays were a part of the collective efforts made at those years.
Documentation and publishing references were set as our priority a decade ago and now, with the invaluable efforts of the Islamic Encyclopedia [to compile a Encyclopedia of Persian Gulf], I would like to refer to some possible directions for future:
- We should accept that the readers of encyclopedia are not only the educated class and lovers of history, culture and geography. The multitude of travelers, corporate owners, media and politicians from different countries are those who are going to judge, despite all their shortage of knowledge about our region. Diverse, detailed entries in the encyclopedia are what serve their needs best.
- Diversifying the subjects, even at the expense of reducing their volume, will move us from general descriptions towards fresh issues that would optimally depict the historical presence of Iranians in the Persian Gulf region.
- Applying ’Persian Gulf’ as an umbrella entry for all subjects on regional issues –including those related to Iran- should bee another feature of the new approach. We have witnessed that how our cultural heritage have been appropriated by Turks, Arabs and newly-independent countries of Soviet Union. Turks claim that Avicenna, Khwarizmi and Imam Bukhari were Turks and Arabs say that they’ve had Arab roots. Our scholarly argument could invalidate their manipulation and promote our national culture globally. Putting all topics which have been claimed by our rivals under a single cover entry, that is Persian Gulf, will make all readers aware of our rich culture.
- Our rich history has sometimes diverted our attention from manipulations and interventions. UN Security Council is not a reliable authority for us to stake our rights and register ’Persian Gulf’ as the authentic name of our southern waterway, since its mechanism is based on international politics and public opinion, not historical studies. And our efforts must focus not only on underpinning our rights, but by refuting erroneous claims.
During the past two centuries, the main function of our diplomatic apparatus has been defending our territory and our historical rights. Although Iran’s political borders are way smaller than its cultural borders today, the best has been done to keep alive the memory of our honored ancestors, those who spread the name of Iran and Persia from Kashgar to Kazan, from Kazan to Kairouan, from Kairouan to Zanzibar and from Zanzibar to Bengal.
All the heritage from the ancient times calls for further attention of our academic community to restudy our identity, history, geography, economy and politics in our sphere of influence, particularly the Persian Gulf.
Setting the priority for our concerns is probably the first step we should take to determine which areas have fallen victim to appropriation and manipulation. How should we react to threats against our historical and national identity?
Defending ’Persian Gulf’ and enthusing over its historical roots neither stems from nationalism nor are the result of demagoguery of a regime, but are honest efforts to render people conscious about their origins. The historical role of Iranians and their rule over Persian Gulf can not be denied by petrodollars.
In relation to Persian Gulf, we are inflicted by ’haste in decisions’ and ’stagnation in research’. Against such a backdrop, our rivals have made attempts to coin alternative titles and histories for Persian Gulf. Our appeasing reactions such as labeling the Gulf with titles such as ’Islamic Gulf’ and ’Friendship Gulf’ aimed to cover up our misconducts in research.
Research carried out by European and American researchers –and recently Chinese and Japanese scholars- are funded by our rivals and presented via articles, books, weblogs and the network of media. However, these efforts could not be merely attributed to imperialism and Arab chauvinism. [Arabs’] quest for their identity and history is also another factor which we could not disregard.
Back to my responsibility in the department, collecting historical maps of the Persian Gulf, restudying documents, organizing the rich archive of Foreign Ministry, publishing multilingual atlases and supporting local researchers to write brief but definitive essays were a part of the collective efforts made at those years.
Documentation and publishing references were set as our priority a decade ago and now, with the invaluable efforts of the Islamic Encyclopedia [to compile a Encyclopedia of Persian Gulf], I would like to refer to some possible directions for future:
- We should accept that the readers of encyclopedia are not only the educated class and lovers of history, culture and geography. The multitude of travelers, corporate owners, media and politicians from different countries are those who are going to judge, despite all their shortage of knowledge about our region. Diverse, detailed entries in the encyclopedia are what serve their needs best.
- Diversifying the subjects, even at the expense of reducing their volume, will move us from general descriptions towards fresh issues that would optimally depict the historical presence of Iranians in the Persian Gulf region.
- Applying ’Persian Gulf’ as an umbrella entry for all subjects on regional issues –including those related to Iran- should bee another feature of the new approach. We have witnessed that how our cultural heritage have been appropriated by Turks, Arabs and newly-independent countries of Soviet Union. Turks claim that Avicenna, Khwarizmi and Imam Bukhari were Turks and Arabs say that they’ve had Arab roots. Our scholarly argument could invalidate their manipulation and promote our national culture globally. Putting all topics which have been claimed by our rivals under a single cover entry, that is Persian Gulf, will make all readers aware of our rich culture.
- Our rich history has sometimes diverted our attention from manipulations and interventions. UN Security Council is not a reliable authority for us to stake our rights and register ’Persian Gulf’ as the authentic name of our southern waterway, since its mechanism is based on international politics and public opinion, not historical studies. And our efforts must focus not only on underpinning our rights, but by refuting erroneous claims.