From burning Sardis to bombing Tehran: What Rubio got wrong about Persia

Tehran Times speaks with Touraj Daryaee, historian of ancient Iran and editor of encyclopaedia Iranica

TEHRAN – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s October 7 speech in Athens invoked ancient Greece as the foundation of Western civilization, linking the Persian invasion under Xerxes in 480 BCE to a broader call for Western ambition, national sovereignty and renewed American power. Speaking at the historic Pnyx, Rubio also criticized Iran’s leadership, contrasting his portrayal of Western heroism with what he described as Iran’s “cult of death.” 

By Sahar Dadjoo

Destruction of Iran's cultural sites by Israel, US tantamount to destroying a civilization

Historian Touraj Daryaee says international law is nearly powerless against superpowers, but UNESCO status could deter future attacks

TEHRAN – Since US and Israeli strikes began in February, over 130 registered monuments and museums across Iran have sustained damage, from the Golestan Palace to historic quarters in Isfahan, Kordestan, and Lorestan. In an exclusive interview with Tehran Times, Touraj Daryaee, historian of ancient Iran and editor of Encyclopaedia Iranica, discusses the emotional and scholarly weight of watching millennia-old heritage damaged within weeks, the limits of international legal accountability, and what the destruction means for how Iran's history will be told and remembered.