It should also be noted that in the evolution of Persia, the Arabic Muslim invasion displaced Zoroastrianism, but because the Indo-European Persians intensely disliked Arabs and their culture, they embraced the Shiite version of Islam, so they would be Muslim, but “not like those guys”, the Arabs.
And the Persian upper classes rejected all of it, remaining Zoroastrian to spite the Shiite lower classes as well as the Sunni Arabs. And thus it remained until the fall of the Shah, when the Shiites took over and eventually displaced the Zoroastrians.
Even at the time of the Iran-Iraq war, there were still Zoroastrians in the military command, but the Shiites replaced them with incompetent, but loyal to the Mullahs, Shiites, who proceeded to butcher vast numbers of Iranians, stupidly, by using them as cannon fodder against the Iraqis.
You wrote:
“And thus it remained until the fall of the Shah, when the Shiites took over and eventually displaced the Zoroastrians.”
The Zoroastrians have been of little influence in Iran for the last few centuries actually. Muslims displaced them a long time ago. The “upper classes” by the way were among the first to convert. See Ricahrd W. Bulliet’s, Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History (1979). Look especially at page 59.
Right, but not in senior command ranks. Even during the Iran-Iraq war the Zoroastrians were only permitted to carry guns under Shi'ite supervision, and were disarmed out of battle.
After & since the Arab-Islam invasion of Iran, in the the 7th century AD, Zoroastrian-Iranians have only been able to hold top military ranks during the Shah (Pahlavi) era.
The “upper classes” by the way were among the first to convert (to Islam).
Correct. Most converted to save their properties, livelihood & avoid maiming & genocide committed against them, firstly, by moslem-Arabs & then by Iranians converts to Islam.