Ignorance is bliss

Activist's "caliphate" claim betrays a shocking lack of understanding of the past... and present

Recently, Kurdish ethnic activist Kaveh Ghoreishi made a shockingly ignorant tweet claiming that support for Reza Pahlavi among Iranians was akin to pledging allegiance to the Taliban or ISIS. He insulted Iranian people and victims of Taliban and ISIS terrorism, a betrays shocking lack of ignorance about the past and present of the region he comes from.

He seems to think Reza Pahlavi is aspiring to create a new “dictatorship” in Iran (he isn’t), and that a restored monarchy in Iran (which will be decided upon when the regime falls) is akin to the “caliphate” of ISIS. Never mind that the Taliban and ISIS, like the Islamic Republic, represent theocratic fascism more than the classical caliphates.

In fact, the Arab Islamic caliphates such as the Umayyads, Abbasids and Fatimids were monarchies, essentially Arab empires. All three of which came from the Quraysh, which makes Ghoreishi’s idiotic post even more ironic given his name. In fact, the Quraysh still have two kings ruling today in Morocco and Jordan, direct descendants of Ali bin Abi Talib. And many royal, noble and scholarly families today besides them.

Support for Reza Pahlavi is no different to being loyal to any other royal family, although there is a difference brought upon by circumstances to be rectified. The ignoramuses are desperate to make absurd comparisons because of their faulty understanding of history and politics.

Indeed, this also reflects the fact that opponents of Reza Pahlavi are desperate to get support from the corrupt cabal of politicians and lobbyists in the West, to make up for their lack of support among the Iranian people.