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[Zipporah]

Curious.. are Iranians categorized as semitic?

[Publius6961]

Why Iran is NOT an Arab country

Who asked?
Who cares?

It's a sandmaggot terrorist country.

[DallasMike]

I dated a Persian girl in college. Very beautiful and very smart. But she was very adamant that she was Persian, not Iranian, and she DEFINITELY was not Arab. The Persians are descendants of those from northern India who moved west and eventually populated Europe. In fact, the work "Aryan" has the same root word as "Iran." They are not Semitic peoples.

[armed_in_sydney]

Who thought that Iran was an Arab country?

[KriegerGeist]

I have read elsewhere and at other times that Iranians are more related to Europeans (like Kurds and us) than any of their neighbors.

I have also read that there is a larger number Christians (an not just in name, but practice) than in any other Middle Eastern country...i.e. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan...etc.

I have also read that the Iranian Christian Church has been growing steadily since the persecution following the overthrow of the Shah and under the Mullahs.

Also, according to the Iranians ex-patriots and particularily the Iranian resistance, the Iranians love America and Americans and everything about us and want to be like us. That it won't take much to set them free...easier than Iraq even.

[Verginius Rufus]

I would question several of those countries on the list...Djibouti and Somalia are not really Arab even if most of their people are Muslims...and the Comoros Islands (a few specks of land between Mozambique and Madagascar) is hardly an Arab country even with a Muslim majority.

Iran has an area where Arabic is spoken--Saddam invaded it thinking the people would welcome Iraqi rule. They are probably descended from the ancient Elamites who were neither Semitic, Indo-European, or Sumerian. (Elam is mentioned a few times in the Bible, as in Genesis 14.1 and Acts 2.9.)

[KriegerGeist]

As Many as 1 million 'Secret Christians' in Iran

Link to Iranian Christians interview

Iranian Christians Finding Refuge in Turkey

Link to Iranian Christians article

[Hoplite]

To say that the Iranians aren't Arab for language reasons is a farsical argument, IMO.

[ZULU]

Id say that Arabs are a south Semitic spealing people who originally came from the Arabian Penninsula and invaded the Levant, and North Africa, intermixing with or displacing the original inhabitants.

Clearly Iranians are NOT Arabs. Neither are Berbers, Copts, Assyrians, Chaldeans, or a host of other minority ethnic groups in that area, regardless of whether or not they speak Arabic or are Muslim.

There are a small minority of non-Muslim Arabs, mainly Christians.

[Little Bill]

Persia, Iran was the only country that was forcibly, manitory conversion, converted to Islam. Another thing to think about is, "There where no Arabs before Mohammid", Gibbon.

[austinTparty]

I never operated under the assumption that it was... :o)

[Cogadh na Sith]

Good article. I like the Persian culture. I hate what the Islamicists did to Persian....

[JohnnyZ]

Wow, no Turkey reference yet. Although of course they're in a different boat altogether.

[Golden Gate]

...and modern Persian is the official language.

What about Farsi? If you are discussing and enlighting people about Iran, - & discsussing the language of Iran, why not mention / briefly explain Farsi?

One Google hit says: "Farsi, the most widely spoken Persian Language - The spoken language in Iran - History of Farsi. Farsi - Persian Language. ... Farsi (Persian). ...
www.farsinet.com/farsi/ - 44k -

I don't have the time to visit the link. In your next article, if you could put at least a sentence or two about Farsi, it might help people's understanding of the spoken language of Iran. ...how Farsi relates to Persian, vise versa... When is Persian spoken or written, when is Farsi spoken...??

AND   -   From Post #52 -
...but the overthrow of a pro-West Secular ? - democracy - ? - ????
Are you talking about the overthrow of the Shah? Shah = democracy ?? At the time, I thought it was common knowledge that the Shah = brutal dictator. Explain this, if you can.

[maui_hawaii]

Persians and Arabs are different bump

Kind of like Mexicans and Brazillians.