"Are you saying that the PERSIAN Empire was a threat to WESTERN Culture and Civilization?"
Of course...why are you confused about that?
First becuz you are wrong! 2nd becuz you are dead wrong! and 3rd WE TAUGHT THE WORLD how to live peacefully and we were the first to declare the Human Rights as a basic need for every one in the world...
Whenever Persian kings invaded little greece, they helped them learn more things and help them be educated!
we taught you how to sit on furnitures. (If you have furniture at your home!)
We educate you how to respect each other
And Moreover
your knowledge of history is completely bad. You should learn more on this topic!
Ask me if you wanna know more!
It's really difficult to declare the Greeks the West and the Persians the East at the time. The only concept that could possibily seperate them is the later embraced concept of Democracy in Greece, but even their idea of Democracy wasn't a representative one we have.
Persians were probably actually closer to the west because they were monotheist Zoroastrian while the Greeks were worshipping several mythological Gods.