Iran has been around for 10,000 years as we celebrate 250 years.

[pwb]

The cradle of civilization is expected to bend the knee to an administration of village idiots? Iran has us when it comes to brain power. IMO.

[Omnipresent]

1. We've always had a president over the past 250 years.

I don’t believe they always had a Cleric or Shaw as their head of state for those 10,000 years.

[LeftInTX]

12. They had a Shah for thousands of years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great

In the late 1940's, their parliament demoted the Shah, but he was still there. I think their parliament was founded in the early 20th century.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. He was quite different from the 20th century Shah

He was the start of the Achaemenids; but they were overthrown by Alexander the Great (330 BC), and his Greek successors the Seleucids ruled, until the Parthians took control of what is roughly now Iran, mid 2nd century BC. But they fell to the Sassanids in the early 3rd century AD. The Arabs conquered them in the 7th century. Then we get periods of independence, and rule by Turks, Mongols, or their successors. It's about 1500 that something like the independent state of Persia/Iran emerges and stays basically independent until today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran

[Whip-poor-will]

2. History ( still castrate the rapist )

Ever hear of the Road to Damascus starts in >>>>>IRAN , was there before Christ

History lesson I understand "sow the wind reap the whirlwind"

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. No, Saul was travelling north from Judea to Damascus

Iran is way to the north west of both. There was not "a road" connecting it all.

[LeftInTX]

14. Isn't it north east?

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Many apologies - yes (nt)

[LeftInTX]

15. Iran isn't mentioned too much in the bible. There was some old testament stuff with Persian warriors.

That's about it. By the time of the new testament, the Persians were confined to the east. Persians were known as the Parthians at the time.

[malaise]

3. Been thinking about this for days

The arrogance is breath-taking.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I don't think anyone would date Iran or Persia "10,000 years"

If you want a "cradle of civilization", most would suggest Mesopotamia, going back maybe 5,500 years. The history of who is in charge of areas ebbs and flows. The earliest "civilization" in what is now Iran was probably the Elamites, from around 5,000 years ago. "Persians" appear about 3,000 years ago.

[pwb]

9. It is older.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran

!2,000 yRS.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. "Tradition recorded in The Story of Civilization notes that the name "Ayranm Vujaa" was used about 12,000 years ago"

That's tradition, not reality. And it's Wikipedia - check the source given for that sentence (https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.21085/page/109/mode/1up?q=Vujaa ), and it turns out to not mention "Ayranm Vujaa" at all. It does mention Susa (a city of the Elamites) at 4500 BC, ie 6,500 years ago.

[City Lights]

6. I'm not celebrating "250," but I get your point. nt

[dalton99a]

7. They had a large empire

[LeftInTX]

18. Iran is estimated to be about 2500 - 3500 years old.

It is one of the oldest sovereign states in the world. I think it beats Egypt by several hundred years. But Egypt was ruled by the Ottomans starting in 1517 and became a British protectorate in 1914. This decreased Egypt's power and influence in the region.

Iran sat a bit on the sidelines during most the Ottoman Empire. It fueded mostly with Russia. I don't know too much about western involvement, except when the Brits came for their oil.

The Ottoman Empire was a thorn in Europe's side, so yeah... they got alot of attention...

[dalton99a]

22. +1

[Crunchy Frog]

23. Egypt was under Ptolemaic Greek rule 332-30 BCE, and then under Roman rule until 642 CE,

at which point they were conquered by the Arabs.

I believe that long term sovereignty in that part of the world tended to be the exception rather than the rule.

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

8. Posthumous Ronnie: "Don't bomb Iran, they put me in office!"

[Jose Garcia]

11. True, but the Islamic Republic of Iran is less than 50 years old

[LeftInTX]

20. Yeah, but have you seen that power structure flow chart?

It was based on something. I don't know what???

[Munu]

13. Not with organizational continuity. n/t

[EX500rider]

16. "Iran has us when it comes to brain power." Do they?

The United States has won the highest number of Nobel Prizes in science (Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine), with estimates indicating over 300 awards in these fields, or roughly 294 to 308 depending on the data source and methodology. As of late 2025, the US leads globally with over 425 total Nobel prizes across all categories.

Iran has been awarded two Nobel Prizes, both of which are in the category of Peace

[Crunchy Frog]

21. They don't have 10,000 years of continuous history.

Their language and major aspects of their culture don't go back further than the spread of Indo-European language to the region, which means no more than around 4,000 years.

Definitely an ancient culture, but that doesn't really make them any better or worse than our own culture which also traces back to Indo-European.