TEHRAN – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's October 7 speech at the Pnyx hill in Athens, in which he invoked ancient Greece to call for Western revival and labeled the Islamic Republic of Iran a "cult of death," has triggered a wave of angry reactions across Iran — from senior officials and former diplomats to academics, newspapers, and social media users.

While Rubio framed his address as a defense of Western civilization stretching from ancient Athens to the United States, Iranian respondents have described it almost unanimously as a selective, politicized reading of history aimed at providing an ideological cover for the ongoing US-Iran war.
Officials: Contradiction and distortion

The most detailed official response came from Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, who wrote on X that Rubio had reduced Western history "from ancient Greece to Trump's America" into a straight, unbroken line.

"This is precisely an instance of anachronism: distorting historical time by clumsily mixing concepts such as Greece, Rome, Christianity, Europe, America and finally America First," Baghaei wrote. "It is as if America has concluded that instead of naked bullying in cowboy language, it is better to justify its policy of intimidation and force under the beautiful neon lights of philosophy of history."

Baghaei added that Rubio had detached the Greek concept of thumos from its historical and philosophical context and redefined it as praise of power, competition and national will: "What he offers is not philosophy of history; but a manipulated and distorted version of history designed to justify the combative and warmongering policies of the US administration."

"The danger of this deviant narrative of history lies not merely in misreading past events, but in appropriating the past to legitimize naked force and sanctify it in the present," he said.

Ali Akbar Velayati, senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, focused on the "cult of death" remark:

"There is a glaring contradiction in Rubio's recent speech: Standing firm 'to the last man' is praised in the context of ancient Greece, yet the steadfastness of the great Iranian nation is disparaged with the label of a 'death cult'."

"Mr. Rubio, your problem is not with the Islamic Revolution; it is with a strong and independent Iranian civilisation," Velayati added. "Glorifying resistance in the 'self' and despising it in the 'other' is not civilisation, but philosophy in service of domination."

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Parliament's National Security Commission, wrote on X: "A country whose history began with the massacre of indigenous peoples and has never ceased from colonialism and bloodshed accuses the Achaemenids – who wrote the world's first declaration of human rights – of crimes! Your vile nature has a problem with Iran and Iranians."

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf both responded by recalling the capture of the Roman Emperor Valerian by Sassanid King Shapur I in 260 CE, warning: "Anyone who brings history into this must be prepared for its repetition."

Minister of Cultural Heritage Reza Salehi Amiri said: "Iran cannot be defined by one war, one king or one government. Iran's civilizational roots are deeper and more enduring than the lifespan of many of today's powers. Iran must be spoken to in the language of respect."

Former foreign ministers: Recycling Huntington

Former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted twice. In one post, sharing a photo of the IRDEXPO exhibition of rural and nomadic capabilities, he wrote that it offers "a glimpse of Iranian civilization; a country with a rich cultural and artistic heritage spanning several thousand years," and added that "Rubio is so ignorant and blinded by power that he cannot understand how Iran absorbed invaders into its rich culture."

In remarks on Rubio's objectives, Zarif said: "This is an attempt at narrative-building that presents the Western world's enmity with Iran as a civilizational enmity. In fact, they are recycling what Mr. Huntington put forward in the 1990s, but at a very vulgar and unscientific level. As I said, not only Mr. Rubio, even his speechwriter did not understand what he said."

Former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said briefly: "Mr. Rubio! What do you think about Trump's threats? The land of Cyrus has no enmity with civilization."

Vali Nasr, professor at Johns Hopkins University, wrote on X that Rubio is presenting a second version of Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" theory. "Instead of a confrontation between Islam and the West, he draws a civilizational confrontation between Iran and the West. In this way, the era of Islamophobia gives way to 'Iranophobia'."

Diplomatic mockery and social media anger

The Iranian Embassy in Bosnia joined the backlash on X, posting a photo of an ancient Iranian ewer and writing: "The Iranian ewer is 10 times older than your country."

On social media, reactions have been extensive, with Iranian users mocking and criticizing Rubio in different forms.

One user wrote about the speech: "Rubio recalls ancient Iranians as the enemy of the cradle of Western civilization, ancient Greece, and calls Xerxes, the Achaemenid king, an invader and aggressor. But the backward, regressive Iranian still thinks that by saying 'I am Persian, not Muslim' he can whitewash himself and pose as Western."

Another user wrote: "Rubio in Athens began his speech with Xerxes' and the Achaemenids' attack on Greece. 25 centuries have passed, but the US Secretary of State still uses Iran's war with ancient Greece to explain 'today's threats against the West'."

Front pages in Tehran

The controversy dominated Iran's Saturday press. Three national dailies — Jam-e Jam, Farhikhtegan and Vatan-e Emrooz — devoted their front pages to the speech, publishing reports and commentaries criticizing Rubio's remarks.

Vatan-e Emrooz ran a symbolic front page depicting Rubio in ancient Roman military dress with shield and sword, arguing he is trying to build a historical-ideological justification for America's war against Iran.