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November
22, 1999
This is
Chanda Baggarly. Today we traveled from Hamadan, Iran to Tabriz, Iran.
It is
getting colder every day as we are driving north. We put aside the
gearbox checks as several members of the team were sick and a bit out of
sorts. The hotel staff was up early and made us breakfast so we were
satiated, but cold. We had the goodies that we had bought the evening
before, so nobody was dying of hunger.
We were off
following our fearless guides, the roads were great and we were heading
northwest. As we drive northwest we grown increasingly closer to the
Iraqi border. It’s kind of funny. The two places that would scare me to
go to are Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which we very nearly approach in
the course of this trip.
Our guide,
Kamran, spoke of the Iran/Iraqi war two days ago while we were visiting
the sites of Esfahan. Apparently, Esfahan was the target of Iraqi bombing
raids. I had never seen such hate as Kamran spoke of the Iran/Iraqi war.
His eyes blazed as he described some of the destruction levied upon Iran
during the eight-year conflict. I realized at this time how little I knew
about the conflict, why it lasted so long and what it was about. It seems
as though the Western world was not concerned about the war and its
social and economic causes. The only consequence that mattered was how
the instability would affect oil prices.
Iran and
Iraq have been at odds for many years. Although Iran is a Middle Eastern
country, is not an Arabic one and does not practice the same kind of Islam
practiced in the rest of the region. The majority of Iranians are Shiite
Muslims, whereas most Iraqis are Sunni Muslims. The split occurred in a
dispute over the succession of the Caliph (Islamic leader). Mohammed had
not appointed a successor nor laid out a good method for choosing one.
The side that eventually called themselves Shiites wanted the Caliphs to
be from the same lineage as Mohammed, whereas the Sunnis believed that
the Caliph should be selected from a larger pool. The first three
successors were not from Mohammed's line, however, the fourth Caliph, Ali
Bin Abi Taleb, was a descendant. The rift between the groups became
permanent when Ali was assassinated and his son became the disputed fifth
Caliph.
This rift
prevented close cooperation between Iran and its Islamic neighbors, and
subsequently impacted the history of the Middle East. Iran was always a
power in the Middle East, while Iraq and many of the other Arab nations
where gathered up within the Ottoman Turk empire. Over the years, the border
between Iran and Iraq fluctuated, some parts of Iraq becoming sacred to
Iran and vice versa.
Peace
treaties were negotiated and signed with the help of the Turks, and
later, the British, but there was never any real satisfaction between the
two disputing parties. There was too much history to solve a longstanding
problem with a simple treaty. Besides the British, were looking out for
their oil interests in Iran, and always attempted to instill some kind of
artificial peace.
More
changes came to the region after the Turkish Empire crumbled as a result
of World War I. Foreign interest increased in the Middle East as the
world made their bid for the region’s lifeblood - oil. Iraq was becoming
more and more independent and learned how difficult it is to control a
country populated by several prominent ethnic groups. Although I stated
earlier that Iraq had a Sunni majority, I neglected to mention it also
had a large Shiite minority, as well as Kurdish populations of the North.
The Iraqi
government treated these ethnic minorities like second-class citizens.
The Shiites in the south seemed to take this abuse, but the Kurds fought
back. To make the problem worse, oil fields were located in the Kurdish
territory, which meant the Kurds had to be moved. The Kurds are a unique
ethnic group that doesn’t really share much in relation to their
neighbors. They are mentioned in the bible as the Medes, and possess a
language that is most similar to Farsi, but they do not have any close
ties with anyone in the region. Iran, seeking someone do its dirty work,
was all too eager to support the Kurds. The Kurds, being fierce fighters,
forced the Iraqi leaders to spend significant amounts of resources and
manpower to fend them off.
Finally in
1975, a non-interference treaty was signed in Algeria between Iran and
Iraq. The two nations agreed not to criticize each other nor interfere in
each other's affairs. The treaty was not able to curb the Shah's
insatiable appetite for arms, so as Iraq rebuilt its social policies,
Iran continued to stockpile weapons. This was good news for the Iraqi
Shiite minority as village projects were now being funded and they were
becoming a little more respected in the eyes of the law.
With the
exile of the Shah, the Iranian revolution quickly gathered momentum.
Ayatollah Khomeini secured power and called for a worldwide Islamic
revolution. He lived in Iraq for many years and knew the plight of the
Shiites, the secular Iraqi government and the infidels who ran it. Saddam
Hussein, on the other hand, was hoping to capitalize on the instability
caused by the revolution to make a land grab. However, many of his
advisors had been exiled with the Shah and Saddam terribly underestimated
the power of the Iranian military.
In
September 1980, the war began. Instead of creating chaos, it galvanized
Iran and its revolutionary factions. The war lasted for over eight years
and cost many lives, resources, and entrenched the hate that seethed
between the two nations.
Mindful of
this history, we continued our journey through Iran. We traversed across
more hills and mountains before stopping for lunch and debating whether
we would seize the opportunity to see Takht-e Soleiman. Our guide said it
was a wonderful thing to see and really shouldn't be missed. I am
interested in seeing everything, so I voted to stop. But the rest of the
group was tired and vetoed the idea. I wouldn’t give up so easily so it
was decided we'd leave it to fate, a flip of a coin. Heads we'd see it,
tails we wouldn't. The coin came up tails, and so it was decided. But I
still didn’t relent, especially because I knew I could rally a vote or
two. Kamran rallied with me, and the group acquiesced. Doug made the
stipulation he would only see it if I drove the rest of the day. Taking
this detour would put us into Tabriz after dark. He knew I didn't like to
drive at night, so he decided that was a fair price for me to see Takht-e
Soleiman.
It took us
about 40 minutes from the turnoff to arrive at this place. We drove
through some neat small towns and even passed a volcano (Zendan-e
Soleiman). As we continued our drive, we saw the land rising to a
plateau. We weaved around to the backside of this plateau and drove
almost to the top. We got out of the Rovers and walked the rest of the
way up to the walled area. Inside there was an amazing spring and many
ruins. Some of the ruins date as far back as 500 B.C. and were used in
Zoroastrian worship, which was the primary religion before the coming of
Islam.
These old
ruins are amazing and it is weird to think of people building these
structures 2500 years ago. You can’t go anywhere in the Americas and find
structures this old, apart from some Mayan pyramids, so this was a unique
opportunity. I don't know about the rest of the group, but I think this
detour was well worth our time. Thanks guys for accommodating me!
Sure
enough, it got dark before we arrived at our final destination. We were
all tired as long days of driving and sightseeing took their toll. I have
loved Iran, the sights, the people and the history and hope someday to
come back. This is Todd signing off.
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