Read some of the replies on youtube from Iranians.
They write things like, “Down with Arabs” “No more desert religion. Persian culture and freedom.”
It’s shocking because I tend to think of the Islamic world as a monolith.
It seems at least the young people want no part in militant islam. They just want to get on with their lives.
Ever heard of Sunni and Shi'a? They are Islamic, and have been killing each other, most visibly recently in Iraq, where both sects are Arab. Iraqi Shi'a tribes have been severely opressed under Saddam.
Iranian Muslims are mostly Shi'a (minority of Islamic world) and Iranians are Persians, not Arabs and there is no love lost between them.
It’s not shocking at all.
First of all the islamic world was never monolithic and is today less than ever. Just look at the countless inter-muslim wars. Also the ethnic divide between Turks, Iranians and Arabs contribute to the separations. Not to forget the Shia-Sunni split, and the secular-religious division.
Most educated, middle upper class Persians, the urban youth and intellectuals despise the arabification of their culture, and anti-islamism and anti-arabism have become core parts of the view of many many Iranians during the 50+ years of Pahlavi monarchy, which emphasized pre-islamic Iranian culture.
Patriotic, nationalist, pro-Western Iranians hate islam/arabism with a passion. They prefer secularism or Zoroastrianism or Bahaism as genuine Iranian faiths.
There are also many underground Evangelicals.