Just off the top of my head, I would guess that Persia was the official name of Iran in the Western world before 1935, but the Iranian people inside their country since the time of Zoroaster (probably circa 1000 BC), or even before, have called their country "Aryānām" (the equivalent of "Iran" in the proto-Iranian language) or its equivalents.
On 21 March 1935, the ruler of the country, Reza Shah Pahlavi, issued a decree asking foreign delegates to use the term "Iran" in formal correspondence.
Members of the Persian intelligentsia were not happy with this decree, seeing a pro-Nazi motive behind it. After Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, the Nazi Economics minister, commented on the Aryan origin of Persians, Reza Shah's ambassador in Germany encouraged him to issue the above-mentioned decree, asking all foreign delegates to use the word "Iran" as used by Iranians inside the Iran (meaning "Land of the Aryans") instead of "Persia" in formal correspondence.
As the New York Times explained at the time,
Quote:
At the suggestion of the Persian Legation in Berlin, the Tehran government, on the Persian New Year, March 21, 1935, substituted Iran for Persia as the official name of the country. In its decision it was influenced by the Nazi revival of interest in the various Aryan races, cradled in ancient Persia. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set forth in its memorandum on the subject, 'Perse', the French designation of Persia, connoted the weakness and tottering independence of the country in the nineteenth century, when it was the chessboard of European imperialistic rivalry. 'Iran', by contrast, conjured up memories of the vigour and splendour of its historic past.
A few years later some Persian scholars also protested to the government that changing the name of the country in Western languages had separated the country from its past and its culture.
To avoid confusion between the two neighboring countries: Iran and Iraq, which were both involved in WWII and occupied by the Allies, Winston Churchill requested from the Iranian Government during the Teheran Conference for the old and distinct name "Persia to be used by the United Nations for the duration of the common War." His request was approved immediately by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The American side, however, continued using "Iran" as it had at the time little involvement in Iraq to cause any such confusion.
In 1949 Mohammad Reza Shah announced that both "Persia" and "Iran" could officially be used interchangeably. Nowadays both terms are common; "Persia" mostly for historical and cultural texts, "Iran" mostly for political texts.
In recent years most exhibitions of Persian history, culture and art in the world have used the term "Persia." In 2006, the largest collection of historical maps of Iran, entitled "Historical Maps of Persia", was published in the Netherlands. However, the name has held problems for some Iranian ethnic groups inside Iran who do not identify themselves as Persian, or whose native language is not Persian.
Serious argument on this matter began in the 1980s, when Professor Ehsan Yarshater (editor of the Encyclopędia Iranica) started to publish articles on this matter (in both English and Persian) in Rahavard Quarterly, Pars Monthly, Iranian Studies Journal, etc. After him, a few Persian scholars and researchers such as Prof. Kazem Abhary, Prof. Jalal Matini and Pejman Akbarzadeh followed the issue. Several times since then, Persian magazines and websites have published articles from those who agree or disagree with usage of 'Persia' and 'Persian' in English.
It is normal in many countries that native name is different from international name but for Persians/Iranians it has been very controversial. Main points on this matters:
* Persia is the western name of the country, and Iranians were calling their country "Iran" for many centuries.
* Persia shows the old culture and civilization of the country and should be used.
* Persia and the name of a province of Iran (i.e "Pars") are from the same root, and may make confusion.
* The origin of the name Persia comes from 'Pars' but the meaning became general for whole country.
* In Western languages all famous cultural aspects of Iran have been recorded as "Persian" (eg. Persian Carpet, Persian Food, Persian Cat, Persian Pottery, Persian Melon, etc.)[12]
Also some people from Afghanistan or Baluchistan call themselves Persians, referring to the ancient empire which covered those lands and "Iranian" as mentioned in "Shahnameh", the Iranian epic.
There are many Persians (Iranians) and non-Persians in the West who prefer "Persia" and "Persian" as the English names for the country and nationality, similar to the usage of La Perse/persan in French. According to Hooman Majd, the popularity of the term Persia among the Persian diaspora, stems from the fact that "`Persia` connotes a glorious past they would like to be identified with, while `Iran`, ... says nothing to the world [outside of Iran] but Islamic fundamentalism."
But anyway, unless Antonio is going to weigh in here, or someone who knows him is going to let us know what Antonio has been saying about things in Iran, this is a politics topic. If you are Antonio or know him and want to contribute something here, PM me and I'll re-open the thread.
Last edited by gregorio; 06-24-2009 at 01:56 PM.
Reason: cliffs: If you are Antonio or know him and want to contribute something here, PM me and I'll re-open the thread.
